Our Farm Philosophy

Suri Futures keeps its herd at Riverside Alpaca Farm, 16 beautiful acres of pasture near the Illinois River about 25 miles North of the Oregon- California border.

We brought our herd to Riverside Farm in 2007, after raising alpacas in Clackamas County Oregon for 7 years.  This is a wonderful low-elevation (1200 ft above MSL) climate for raising suri alpacas, with approximately 300 days of sunny weather and pronounced summer and winter seasons.  This farm is well suited to caring for 60-80 alpacas throughout the year.

This farm is a demonstration for small-scale sustainable agriculture, integrating this small livestock into our local food production systems.   We offer several products for sale from our farm.

When cleaning the barns each day, we provide a layer of bedding with wood shavings and straw.  The wood chips catch and absorb the 'paca-pee', and the straw catches the 'paca-poo'.  When we scoop the poop, we produce a raw compost product for sale on our local market to farmers and gardeners of the Illinois Valley.  This "paca-poo" is a scientifically designed blend of carbon and nitrogen for an optimum compost product that needs 3-6 months to decompose before it's ready to grow the best vegetables and flowers possible.  We offer about 2.5 cu.yds. of paca-poo for sale at $50 per load plus $1/mi delivery.  If you'd like to order your delivery of paca-poo, please call John or Christine at 541-592-6696.

A flock of Buff Orpington chickens live in the mobile chicken house called a Chicken Tractor.  We have 22 hens and one very happy rooster!  This means our eggs can be incubated to grow more Buff Orpington chickens.  These chickens get lots of space, fresh air and exercise, as well as green grass, weeds and bugs in their diet.  They eat a commercial organic feed, oyster shell, flax seeds and freshly sprouted barley and oat grains.  The flock follows the alpacas as they rotate around the pastures, and the chickens eats any parasites that may be on the ground.  This means we need to use deworming drugs very little, and that means healthier alpacas!   These are very happy chickens who produce flavorful, beautiful eggs, for sale at $4/dozen.  Please call for availability of our fresh eggs.

We shear about 350 lbs of suri alpaca fiber each year, and process that fleece into some of the finest suri alpaca yarns available in the US today.  We create new prototype yarns each year, including suri blended with other fibers such as silk, huacaya, cormo sheep wool and others.  If you're looking to partner to get your suri fleece processed, or looking for high quality suri alpaca yarns, please call to speak with Christine.

The suri herd produces pacapoo each day, and is shorn each year in May.  We breed for spring (April-June) and fall (Sept-Oct) babies, avoiding the weather extremes of summer and winter.  We've found that the best insurance for our suri alpaca clients is to offer breeding livestock as proven dams, girls who have given birth at least once.  Maidens can be difficult for many reasons, but once a girl has her first cria, she's easier to rebreed and a lower risk for her new owners.

One very viable strategy for anyone considering the alpaca business is to start with a small herd of gelded fiber males.  For a very modest investment, one could learn how to care for alpacas, how to halter them, trim toes and other basics.  If you like this lifestyle, then breeding suris may be right for you.  We offer a superb line of gelded suri alpacas, in whom we take great pride.  If you think our gelded boys are nice, you should see the ones we breed with....!  Please contact us if you'd like to see a generic business plan for those thinking of starting with geldings to produce fiber - our fiber-boys are outstanding in their field!