Well if you like watching paint dry then ARI is the organisation for you.

The EPD issue was first raised into the consciousness of the AOBA membership in January 2008 and so in the last 9 months what has happened?
Well apparently ARI have developed an EPD Survey...... but hold on a minute because the AOBA survey is coming along soon.

Confused? You will be......there are two surveys. The Ari survey is about EPD's the AOBA survey about Strategic Direction....now I wonder why Tim McCarthy just resigned from the AOBA board?

The ARI site which is generally well constructed and designed contains no reference to the EPD programmes running in North America or in other countries for alpacas. Doesn't that strike you as odd !

And the list of potential traits is exhaustive there is no chance and I mean no chance of ever tracking so many variables across a large and meaningful virtual alpaca herd.

All you do by listing out so many traits is confuse and set expectations that will never be met. Plus there are traits listed which are derived from other traits which strikes me as a illogical.

If you ever wanted a great example of what happens when a committee puts together a survey this has to be a classic.

There is no mention of us ever seeing the results from this survey all we will ever see is the carefully crafted summary...why am I not surprised....

If you are serious about Alpaca EPDs then visit the EPD Library which contains a comprehensive set of articles on EPDs including the alpaca programmes that are currently running both here and in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

I think anyone who is interested seriously in EPds for alpacas and has the discipline to gather and report the data already belongs to the EPD programme that is already running in North America thanks to Virginia tech and is producing EPDs for the alpacas that are in the programme.

To be honest I think the EPD train left town some time ago....

When I was first getting started here in the USA more than one alpaca farmer told me that the smart thing to do with gelded alpacas is to donate them to 4H and take the tax write down.

What I eventually learnt from talking to accountants and 4H is as follow.

Firstly 4h is a non-profit but does not want any alpacas. What they want you to do is donate (or sell) them to the 4H members. Of course the 4H members do not enjoy non profit status so your donation is not tax deductible.

Further more if the gelding was produced on your farm it has no documented value and so even if 4H did want to receive the alpaca as a charitable donation there would be no write associated with it.

Bottom line as far as i can discover there is no tax benefit to be gained by giving away geldings from your own ranch.

I would very much like to hear from anyone who has an accountant with a different opinion.

Long time friend and beneficiary of SOJAA funding, Dr. Christopher Cebra, DVM and colleagues at Oregon State University are about to embark upon a study to:

1) determine the incubation period from infection to symptoms with coronavirus (CoV),
2) the length of time that virus is shed from both the feces and nasal mucosa,
3) the length of time the virus remains in the environment and
4) whether or not the strain of CoV that causes diarrheal disease in alpacas is capable of producing a respiratory infection such as was seen in the ARS outbreak of 2007.

Dr. Cebra’s work is based upon a previous study conducted by Ling Jin, PhD at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. Dr. Jin sequenced the genome of a CoV from an alpaca with diarrheal disease and compared it to that of several common bovine CoVs.

Her study has been published in the Journal of Virology, 365, 198-203, 2007. Overall, alpaca CoV was found to be very similar to the type II bovine CoVs that cause diarrhea and respiratory disease in cattle.

Close analysis suggests that the alpaca CoV shares a common ancestor with two of the bovine type II viruses. An interesting finding of this study was that the structure of the alpaca CoV is different from the bovine CoVs at a particular region of the genome that plays an important role in determining species specificity. This finding may explain the increased susceptibility of alpacas to the unique virus isolated from alpaca.
Dr. Crossley, and her colleagues at the Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, Davis California, will undertake the sequencing of the genome of a CoV isolated from the lung of an alpaca with ARS. From the sequence they will determine whether the alpaca CoV is the same or different from the CoV that it causes diarrhea in alpacas and causes both respiratory disease and diarrhea in cattle.

Both studies will increase knowledge within the alpaca industry of the many factors that surely contributed to the Fall ’07 outbreak in our alpacas and hopefully provide valuable data for preventing further outbreaks.

Having written yesterday about the amount and quality of Peruvian products coming into the US I was inspired to take a look at the Michell web site.
The Michell Group of companies is quite impressive and there are fully three generations of the Michell family working in the family business. It is well worth taking a trip to their web site and looking at the various brands they have developed.



So go take a look and I will see you back here later.

Meanwhile its time to do some more spit testing on the (hopefully) perganant female....

For some time now I have been receiving marketing e-mails from a company in Peru that is producing alpaca garments for men, women and children. When I first got into this business some years ago now we were as an industry always sceptical about the quality and style of garments coming out of Peru and other South American countries.

However, that has changed and both the quality and style have greatly improved.





One company in particular is now targeting small retailers around the globe and offering comprehensive support in terms of own label branding and even custom marketing services.
They are far ahead of our own North American Fiber Cooperative and it does make me wonder how we will ever catch up.

A magazine called Wild Fibers has started a Non Profit called Keep the Fleece.

They are producing a calendar that will be distributed in the fiber circles (all fibers are welcome including alpaca).

It will be one of the main fiber events in the US and will have a large kick off this fall in New York.

With their calendar comes the opportunity to have events listed. This is a great opportunity especially with 2009 being designated the International Year of Natural Fibers. Here is an extract frome the Newsletter:


How It Began by Linda Cortright
Editor and Publisher
Wild Fibers Magazine

Last year, Fernando Alvarez president of Jacques Cartier Clothier and I had a meeting at the UN in Rome to discuss the IYNF. It was clear at that time that the goal of this global celebration was to educate and increase awareness about the natural fiber industry. The ultimate objective is to create new relationships that could evolve into long-term sustainable enterprises. There is little question that certain sectors of the natural fiber world need to realize an increase in market share in order to ultimately withstand the continued growth of synthetics.

I applaud the UN's efforts but believe that many of us involved in the natural fiber community share an interest at a more personal, grass roots level. Whether we are actively involved in raising fiber animals or simply have a passion for fleece and fibers that rivals the average person's need for food and shelter - our connection with the fiber community is truly of a 'high touch' nature. And though we are not exactly the audience the UN has envisioned, I believe our commitment to natural fibers is every bit as strong (if not more so) than the urban-based corporations who buy and sell natural fibers on a daily basis.

What Is Keep the Fleece?

As a result of the meeting in Rome, I conceived Keep the Fleece as a simple international fiber contest promoting the use of natural fibers within the handcrafter community. With only a few dozen flyers and a barebones Web site it soon became clear to me that the contest concept was in fact "not so simple" and definitely "not enough".

As many of you know, I have spent the past five years traveling to some fairly remote places on this planet in search of people who are engaged in all levels of fiber production, from animal to artisan. I have shared many of my adventures in Wild Fibers Magazine but I have not always been able to tell the whole story.

Meanwhile back on the farm we will be spit testing Minne again to make sure she is holding her pregnancy - hopefully sometime tomorrow morning. the farm where she is going are just about to have a new barn installed so I am sure she will be very comfortable in Bills capable hands.

If you think you are able and willing to help then follow this link and complete the survey.

Keep the Fleece Survey

Apparently National Alpaca Farm Day is almost upon us and I know this because AOBA just sent me an email to remind me.......

You need a break from all the media frenzy for the election and back to school sales. You need to close your office door and make your plans for National Alpaca Farm Days! Let your creative side come out and have fun with your ideas!
Won’t it be a lot more fun to share your love of alpacas with interested people? Wouldn’t it be relaxing to share your knowledge, show your favorite juveniles to folks that think you’re the smartest person they’ve ever met! It’s always satisfying to demonstrate your knowledge of livestock and then tell them before you became an alpaca breeder you didn’t know how to give an injection on an animal, what EPD meant or how much hay cost!!!

All of which makes me wonder if registration is well down this year....only two weeks to go and they are still beating the marketing drum...

But what really pleased me was that EPDs were mentioned as something alpaca farmers should know about!

Well I can't argue with that - in fact I couldn't agree more. So if you don't know what EPDs are or what they will mean for your alpacas then take yourself off to www.epdlibrary.org and do some armchair research into alpaca EPDs....you will feel much better for it.

One of the most useful companies in the alpaca industry is the appropriately named useful alpaca items

Useful alpaca items are now carrying a great product which I saw on one of my clients farms only recently.

The Grazer introduces alpaca's to a natural way of eating hay.

The Grazer allows the alpaca to eat in a slower, healthier manner - just 20 pounds of hay and your alpacas will be "entertained" for hours. The end panels support the springs that pull a plate up from the bottom. As the alpacas feed, the amount of hay lessens and the bottom plate is pulled upwards, providing your alpacas with endless hours of trouble free feeding.



This product is a great tool: it minimizes wasted hay, lessen dust inhalation and so quite possibly reduces the risk of chocking in my opinion The Grazer can be mounted at ground level for a secure hold and can also be mounted to a stall, piping or metal barn.

Mounting brackets are included. The Grazer can hold up to 20 pounds of hay.

Weight: 69 lbs Manufactured from 12 gauge steel

Assembled Dimension: 27.75 L x 27.75 H x 12” W

Price a reasonable $159.50

When I first saw this product on the internet it was selling for about $390.00 and you will find several companies still selling at this high price. Dont believe me well check it out for yourself.

Or these people who will lease it to you for $50 per week!! Which is a massive $2,500 per annum. Check it out.

No one was more surprised than I was when I heard that the 2008 Monterey Pronk Alpaca Show had been cancelled. Always billed as the premier fall show I thought it was here to stay.

I guess that not only can we describe Alpacamania as the friendliest alpaca show in the world but we can also say "never cancelled"....

Quite how you come back from this I don't know it must really shake confidence in the show and people must wonder even if it comes back next year, whether they will plan to attend on the basis it could be cancelled again.....it almost becomes a self fulfilling prophecy....

The message on the Pronk website...

We are sorry to announce that the
2008 Monterey Pronk
has been canceled

A combination of circumstances came together, including timing of the show, poor economy, gas prices, and other factors.

Calpaca would like to extend a huge Thank You to Naomi Flam and Dianna Jordan, the Pronk co-event managers, for all of the time and effort they put into this event.

A sad day for CALPACA the organising AOBA affiliate and a sad day for AOBA who will lose a large slice of their show income.

I wrote about this new initiative yesterday and today I wanted to say a few more words about this enterprising venture.

AAFF has been searching the world for a major end user for our Alpaca fiber. That search ended with AAFF entering into a joint venture agreement in May of this year with GFM Telas Parras. Telas Parras is one of the largest denim manufacturers in the world, having been in business for almost 110 years. Telas Parras has 5 textile mills in both Mexico and Italy.

Basically they offer to the world market fashion denims you may even have heard of: CDI Limited Edition, The Collection, Diffution and The Essentials. Major international customers of Telas Parras include Levis, Dickies, Wranglers, Liz Clayborne, Kohls and Wal-Mart .

Part of the pitch here is an eco angle and that is something I have been pushing for quite a while now and there is an article in the library about organic alpaca that may well interest you.



Imported jeans are big in the USA and despite sales being down in the first quarter of this year the numbers are huge.

In the first quarter of 2008 there 42.74 million pairs of women's jeans imported and 43.94 million pairs of men's jeans imported. Giving a total of about 86.60 million pairs of jeans which is about 9% less than the same quarter last year. So simple math tells me that there must be about 346 million pairs of jeans imported into the USA each year. WOW ! Believe it or not the average price of these jeans is about $6 imported. The real upmarket jeans cost more to make and have big marketing budgets and retail for over $60 per pair.....but the market for jeans over $60 is tiny.... which is just as well because I figure that even if by some miracle AAFF collects 250,000 lbs of fleece (say 50,000 alpacas at 5lbs each) then with an 80:20 cotton blend that is about 6ozs of alpaca fibre per pair of jeans which means about 600,000 pairs which is not many given the different styles and sizes that are needed....in fact it represents about one fifth of one percent of the total US import market for jeans........

Still I wish them every success and I will be selling them some of my fibre and will probably be inviting their truck to our alpaca show. I might even buy the jeans....

The Time Has Come…Cash For Your Alpaca Fiber. After much talk and a little doubt on the part of some including yours truly it looks as if there is action on the alpaca fibre front...

As they promised, the American Alpaca Fiber Federation LLC, will start on September 1, 2008.

Their plan is to travel the length and breadth of the USA purchasing alpaca fibre.



If you want to become a member of the American Alpaca Fiber Federation LLC and have them come to your area to purchase your fiber, simply look here for details of pricing and membership information.

At the time of writing the Blog prices were as follows;

Note listed prices on web site are in US dollars per kg. One kg is equal to 2.2046 lbs.

Current Pricing for the week of July 31, 2008.

Adult Top Pricing - $4.54 per pound

Adult Neck/Leg Pricing - $2.00 per pound.

Note: Price deductions (docs) will be applied to but not limited to fiber that is extremely dirty or very heavy in vegetable matter.

This is a great new initiative and the collected wool will be shipped to Mexico where it will be blended with cotton to create a new brand of denim jeans available by August of this year !

I will be writing more about this exciting development tomorrow.

mail@americanalpacafiberfederation.com
215 W. Bandera Rd,
Ste 114-459, Boerne,
TX 78006
Telephone 210-792-3442

I have been preparing a presentation on alpacas and alpaca EPDs for a web based seminar on Wednesday evening. In updating the numbers I discovered that there are now 20,000 alpacas in the UK. Many more than when I left back in 2004.

Then I started to play around with the numbers:

UK human population 60.5 million

USA human population 303 million

UK alpaca population 20,000

USA alpaca population 120,000


UK density = 3025 people per alpaca

USA density = 2525 people per alpaca


UK land area 251,490 SQ Kilometers

USA land area 9,161,923 SQ Kilometers

USA land area less Alaska 7,684,646 SQ Kilometers


UK density = 12.6 SQ Kilometers per alpaca

USA density = 76.3 SQ Kilometers per alpaca

USA (less Alaska) = 64 SQ Kilometers per alpaca

I haven't really concluded what this means but its sort of thought provoking don't you think?

Well its now the first of the month and..........
National Alpaca Farm Days is less than 2 months away, September 27 & 28!
National advertising begins September 1st. can start your own local promotion for your farm right now.

National Alpaca Farm Days posters can be customized with your farm name. Go to www.AlpacaOwners.com. Sign in to the AOBA membership website with your email address and password.

Then select on "Farm Days Sign up " in the left hand menu where you will find all sorts of goodies:
Down loadable posters
sample press release
proclamation samples
National Alpaca Farm Days planning outline

Key to success for National Alpaca Farm Days is to be selective with your invites. If you cast your marketing net too wide you will just turn your farm into a petting zoo for two days and sell nothing. Much better to invite a select few prospects and get the opportunity to talk with each individually. Unless your business plan is to sell alpaca socks and keep fibre animals in which case "go large" with radio advertising and mass invitations.....

I read today that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that it had launched an emergency operation to save 18,000 Peruvian alpacas at risk of dying and endangering local livelihoods.

The organisation's branch in Peru has doled out 36,800 doses of treatment to alpacas owned by poor farmers in the country's highlands, where livestock are suffering due to a severe cold spell.

"Forced to go without food, perhaps for days at a time, their alpacas have become weak and susceptible to disease," said Marc Vandersmissen, FAO's Emergency Coordinator in Peru.

Cold weather arrived three months earlier than expected in the Peruvian highlands this year, preventing farmers from harvesting crops and from feeding the alpaca upon which many derive their entire livelihood.

The national government of Peru declared a state of emergency in 11 of Peru's 25 provinces in response to the situation. Funded by the government of Belgium, FAO's emergency relief came in the form of anti-parasitic medication, antibiotics and vitamins delivered between July 14 and 19 in coordination with Peru's National agricultural safety service.

Practical Action have been working with alpaca farmers in Peru for some years now. Practical Action technical staff teach locals about alpaca husbandry and farming techniques such as irrigation.

The training is delivered in Quecha the local language , the topics include general animal health as well as specific training for alpaca herders. This training takes one year and participants are given a certificate. Once trained, then they join the Association of Kamayoqs, which meets 6 times a year for 'revision classes'. About 240 Kamayoqs have been trained (approx. 20 -25 a year) since 1996.

This years alpaca show is on August 2nd and 3rd, 2008 – the AFCNA (Alpaca Fiber
Cooperative of North America) are the sponsors and this is the third annual AFCNA Continental Fleece Show, which is the largest independent Alpaca Fleece Show in the world.

Apart from showing fleeces there are some interesting seminars


How to Manage the Future of the Fiber Industry
By Al Beatty, Belasera Alpacas,

How to set up Your Farm Store
By Brian Chavez, Peruvian Perfection,

Fleece Preparation for Processing
By Heather Arenas, Long Skinny Ranch,

Marketing 101 – How to get Free PR for Your Farm
By Robin Gilmore, Illusion Ranch Alpacas,