My husband always tells visitors that he wishes we had gotten alpacas sooner. He believes the time he spends outdoors working, as well as the tranquility of farm life will surely add years to his life.

Recently, I was able to follow a discussion that took place between a potential farmer and several traditional farmers on the farm social networking site, Farmers of the Future. By traditional, I mean farmers of row crops and cattle, rather than this relatively new (since 1984 in the U.S.), outside the box, farming with alpacas.

I was surprised with the intensity with which they urged the person who was considering farming to “Jump in!” Here were some of the comments they made to the person who was unsure about exactly how and when to get into farming:

• “I wouldn’t wait on the economy, because if your thoughts turn that way, you will never be able to farm”.

• “I too would not even think about waiting. If you wait, you will never get started”.

• “I would not wait on the economy, once it starts to turn around interest rates will start to go up. If you have the ability to borrow the money you need go for it now while rates are still low.”

• “No, go at it now if you love to farm. There is not a better way to live your life”.

• “It is not going to be easy, but if it was everyone would farm!”

This reminds me of when people advise you there’s no “right” time to have a baby.  This IS a great time to invest in farming. Alpaca farming. Alpaca prices are lower, tax advantages are great, the animals compound your investment, and they are fully insurable.

Farming is not for everybody. But if it’s farming that you want to do, I ask you: If not now, when?

January 19th, 2009 | Tags: alpacas, cattle, Farmers for the Future, outside the box, row crops, traditional, traditional farming | Category: Farm Business | Subscribe to comments | Both comments and pings are currently closed