Alpaca Farming with our New Tractor
Can you have an alpaca farm without owning a tractor? Yes, you can. We have grown our herd of alpacas from 17 to 51 over the past six years with no tractor. We have had a lovely little riding lawn mower that we called a tractor (to increase its confidence) who has done hauling and bush hogging in addition to its normal grass cutting duties. It has done remarkably well over the years no matter what we asked of it, but we finally reached the point where the work load was getting too much for us and our little “tractor” to keep up with.
This week we purchased a new Kubota tractor with a scoop in the front and a rotary cutter for cutting our pastures and brushy areas. Already we are amazed at the time it has saved us. It will allow us to keep up with cutting weeds that sprout up in the pasture as well as have time to work on clearing some of our 27 acres that is still overgrown. And that scoop has already come in handy with turning the paca poop compost and other jobs around the farm. The whole family loves the new tractors, even the alpacas who are quite curious about this big new orange pasture mate.
So, can you have an alpaca farm without owning a tractor? Yes, but it is a whole lot easier with one.