Andes native

In Peru vast herds of alpacas roam the high Andes. Of all the exotics that graze our fields, alpacas are the most widespread, but then who doesn't secretly covet these teddy bear animals with their comical faces and elegant legs? They are the first choice of smallholders and hobby farmers who have a few acres and want their own stock. Linda Heap of Old Hutton WI fell for the alpacas' charms in 2002 when she and her husband, John, moved from Bury to the Lake District. Now there are 17 'Little Eskrigg' alpacas about the place and eight more - crias as the babies are called - were expected in the spring.

The first alpacas were imported 25 years ago and they have gained steadily in popularity ever since. However they still inhabit the fringes of farming and because of this there is no equivalent to the British Wool Marketing Board. Owners must either sell the fibre to hand spinners, spin themselves or else join a co-operative to transform their fibre into yarn and cloth. Profit from alpacas still lies in the animals themselves for a pregnant female may sell for as much as £3,000.

Llamas may not be as common, but like their smaller, camelid cousins, they are in Britain to stay. Famously, a pair of llamas even found a home in the radio series The Archers and where fiction goes real life often follows. Pets they may be but llamas can be profitable, especially when they take up their traditional job of pack animal. Moira and Alastair Fraser's llamas have been trekking through the ancient Forest of Dean for five years and the forest community has taken them to their heart. The llamas invariably begin their trek from the historic Speech House Hotel where Moira is General Manager. In Wrexham's Ty Mawr park Laurence is a 'municipal llama' with a purpose - guarding the park's flocks of rare sheep from attacks by foxes at lambing time.

The Smiths of Castle Caereinion are one farming family that has taken the concept of diversification to heart. Steve and Helen Smith farm 600 acres in Welsh border country with 1,500 ewes and 90 suckler cows, but the sign outside the old farmhouse reads "Mid-Wales Falconry Centre". This is diversification on an altogether wilder scale.

Just about every WI group in the area, including Helen's own, has gone along for an evening out watching the birds fly high to the lure before returning to the great barn and tucking in to Helen's homemade cooking. Cheep, the Great Grey owl, is undoubtedly the favourite, not only of the visitors but of Helen too. Cheep arrived as a 14-day-old chick and was, so Helen says, the ugliest baby that she had ever seen. Not any more, for she is the most charming of all the centre's birds of prey.

For farmers willing to diversify, water buffalo offer one way forward. Farmers like Tony and Liz Dawson say that they are healthy and long lived and best of all, their milk can be sold at a premium. The Dawsons hit the headlines in 2000 when their farmhouse, on the banks of the river Severn, became a small and very crowded island. Sheep nibbled the wallpaper on the landing and water buffalo calves were brought into the kitchen.