Last month we reported on a local alpaca rancher who won national awards for her animal's prized fleece - a first for her and a huge accomplishment. For our Someone 2 Know feature, we wanted to learn more about the life of an alpaca rancher, and we met up with Stacey Payne in Carson, near Washoe Valley for a closer look at the cuteness.
Life on an alpaca farm starts early.
"I'm up about 3:15, I wake myself up with coffee and at 4:15 I'm out here to feed Ellie.”
Baby Ellie gets a bottle, the grown alpacas eat hay and grass - and love their pellet treats. To say Stacey Payne is devoted to the herd is an understatement; we catch her hugging and smooching one of her fur babies. "I love you, yes, I do."
She knows each of her 35 cud-chewing alpacas by name. “Gracie, Dani and Miss Betty", pointing out just a few.
Payne says to know alpacas is to love them.
“They have this peaceful, quiet, child-like innocence, they just don't even think there is danger in this world.”
They are gentle, curious - and funny says Payne, and she's not referring to their long necks or comical underbite. “They also have the ‘I'm a frustrated 17-year-old girl and I don't like anybody!’” laughs Stacey about the alpaca’s quirky attitude.
Payne began buying alpacas in 2017 and officially opened her business to the public in the Carson/Washoe Valley area in the summer of 2023.
"I breed, I show, I sell, I mentor.”
Once a year Payne enters her alpaca's fleece into competition, and this year - "My 10-month-old won his first champion.” Plus, one of the females won two ribbons!
What Payne really wants is to win hearts.
"To provide safe haven for kids aging out of foster care, or kids with autism,” or adults. Therapeutic care for anyone, via the gentle nature of the almighty alpaca. Payne is in the process of creating a foundation for that purpose.
"I couldn't imagine a different life, I couldn’t imagine life without them.”
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If you would like to meet the alpacas yourself, Stacey Payne's Ranch, called Old Lyfe Alpacas, offers a variety of hands-on experiences for as a little as $10.
For more details, click link -
