AlpacaConnect

Once alpaca fleece is in the bag, what is it worth? The textile manufacturer could not care less whether the fleece available for sale came from a prize winning stud or the herd's ugly duckling. Understanding what qualities the buyer desires most is the key to getting maximum value from alpaca fiber production.

All natural fiber falls into one of two categories, carpet or apparel. Carpet is coarse, apparel is fine. Apparel fiber is more scarce than carpet fiber and sells for considerably more money per unit of measurement on the international market.

The textile market is dominated by sheep wool. All other animal fiber, including alpaca, is known as "specialty fiber." The results of processing trials conducted by fiber experts Bray, Long, and Van Bergen rated mean fiber diameter as the most important quality of sheep wool immediately affecting its value for manufacturing purposes. Their studies rated the relative value given to various fiber properties as follows:

According to Van Bergen and Lang, the reason fineness impacts price is due to its effect on a yarn's "spinning limit," which means that, at any given count of yarn, the finer the fiber, the greater number of fibers in a cross section. This, in turn, leads to a more uniform yarn diameter, greater yarn strength, and greater softness of handle.

Soft garments which can be worn next to the skin are most expensive. Cashmere, with its soft, seductive feel, sells for high dollars in exclusive shops. Why is cashmere always soft and wool often itchy? Fiber fineness.

Over 30% of American consumers surveyed claimed to be allergic to wool. These same people can wear cashmere or alpaca with no adverse reaction. The International Wool Secretariat and CSIRO, the Australian research organization, with its wool technology and animal production divisions, were extremely concerned by the perception that wool commonly caused allergic reactions.

Extensive research has identified the cause of the allergic reactions in consumers who wore wool. The research began by administering common tests for allergic reactions. This involved grinding wool to a fine consistency, suspending it in liquid, spreading it on the allergic consumers and pricking the skin with a needle. The result was that consumers, originally thought to be allergic to wool, didn't react.

What was finally found to be the cause of this so-called allergic reaction to wool? Fiber diameter. The prickle factor was guilty; the coarser the fiber, the more severe the "allergic" reaction.

Researchers found that coarse hairs extending from the yarn or fabric prick the skin and stimulate the pain receptors, thereby causing redness, irritation, and itching. Once fiber diameter was identified as the culprit, studies were done to decide at what mean diameter prickle occurred.

Fiber that averages 21 microns or less tends to be soft to the touch. Fiber with a "coarse edge" over 30 microns almost always itches. Yarns that contain more than 5% fiber over 30 microns create garments that only fleas could love.

Consumers, who previously claimed to be allergic to wool, experience no negative reactions as long as the average micron count of the garment they are wearing does not exceed 21. Further research has conclusively proven that any fabric which is made of any fiber (man-made acrylic, hair from cashmere goats, etc.) averaging more than 21 microns causes pain on the skin and a so-called allergic reaction (see the attached diagram).

Alpaca is no exception. Coarse alpaca itches. Fine alpaca feels smooth and silky next to the skin. That's why fiber diameter is by far and away the most dominate value affecting fiber prices.

Bruce McGregor is a senior scientist with the Victorian Department of Agriculture in Australia, specializing in improving the production and quality of specialty animal fibers. He wrote an extensive article for Alpacas Australia (issue 13, 1995) entitled Alpaca Fleece Development and Methods of Assessing Fibre Quality. His article ranked, in order of importance, the qualities of alpaca fleece that processors have valued over many years, as follows:

1. Fiber diameter
2. Fiber length
3. Fiber color
4. Freedom from contamination
5. Degree of medulation

McGregor does not include tensile strength as a quality affecting value. The strength of alpaca fiber is so superior to other natural fibers, such as wool, that it is not considered an issue in pricing.

Alpaca fiber's staple length is important. Length commands a premium in the market. This is because length increases the manufacturers' ability to spin finer and stronger yarns for weaving. But McGregor still concludes that "Markets usually discriminate against length to a lesser degree than fiber diameter."

The best way to increase uniformity is to reduce the average micron count. A finer fleece has less standard deviation. This is just another reason why micron count is the primary determinate of a fiber sale price.

Another reason for fiber diameter to be the dominate value is that the fiber diameter distribution (FDD) can not be accurately measured on large sale lots. There is too much variability from one fleece to the next. Furthermore, textile manufacturers almost always combine fiber from several lots to make tops. They purposely mix fiber with various micron counts, strength, and length to create a top that meets a certain specification. Finally, the cost of measuring standard deviation in large lots is prohibitive.

There is considerable research which establishes the fact that a more uniform fleece is more "spinnable." A fleece with a co-efficient of variation that is 5% less than a fleece of comparable micron will spin a yarn that performs as if the fleece is one micron finer.

The most dramatic evidence of the influence of micron count on price was the million dollar bale sale which occurred at the annual Australian wool sale. Each kilogram in this one bale of sheep fleece sold for $10,030 Australian. The entire bale made up of 100 kilos of fine merino sheep wool sold to a Japanese textile manufacturer for $1,030,000. The fleece, the finest sheep wool ever tested, averaged 13.8 microns.

Alpaca Breeding for Maximum Value

Any business needs a plan. It really doesn't matter whether you are manufacturing cars, growing corn, or raising alpacas. See How to Buy, Breed, and Succeed in the Alpaca Business. You need a plan. A sound plan begins with an inventory of your product's strengths and weaknesses. If you believe that the ultimate goal of the alpaca business is to produce fiber as opposed to pets, please continue reading.

Alpaca fiber is known as a specialty fiber. In fact, every fiber, other than sheep wool, is known as a specialty fiber. Wool is grown world wide in huge quantities - 432,000 tons in 1994 alone (source: Wool International). Specialty fiber production totals about 142,000 tons per year. Of this, approximately 4,000 tons is alpaca. Scarcity or rarity is one way alpaca fiber competes.

R.C. Couchman, a well known Australian fiber expert, authored an extensive series of articles for Llama Life about alpaca fiber. He made the following point many times over, "Fineness is what specialty fiber is all about." Alpacas shouldn't compete with sheep, which produce large volumes of coarse fiber, when they have an excellent potential to produce fine, soft fiber and receive a significant price premium upon sale.

The business plan at Northwest Alpacas is based on breeding alpacas which produce fine fiber in high volumes. This strategy should enable us to compete effectively at several levels: 1) the textile market, which pays a significant premium for fine fiber; 2) with sheep wool, the bulk of which is coarse; 3) the South American alpaca fiber producers who sell their fiber based on volume, not fineness; and 4) with other ranches selling bloodstock that produces alpacas having coarse hair and lower fleece weights.

Source: The Ideal Alpaca Library, IAC Community

The alpaca breeder's idea of type is created by their visual picture of the characteristics that are considered ideal for the breed. An ideal breed type is often based on the details of conformation and color that are not necessarily related to the economic productivity of the animals. In alpacas, examples of this might include the exotic colors or patterns, fleece coverage on the face or legs, eye color, pigmentation, or a particular style of lock or crimp.

Breeders pay attention to breed type mainly because it is, in a sense, a trademark offering additional evidence that the animal in question conforms to the ideals of the breed. For example, Don Julio Barreda says that "the heads of Accoyo's alpacas are my trademark." Breed type is a matter of beauty to the breeders who have long been breeding and admiring a particular breed. But beauty is subjective. Most of us can bring ourselves to think that any particular type is beautiful if we work with it long enough, have our money invested in it, and find it profitable. The breeders of other breeds may not share our enthusiasm for alpacas, but that will never diminish our devotion to the beauty of our animals.

Breed type often originates unconsciously with breeders who embrace the traditional animal or their perception of the ancient purity of a breed. It is easy for breeders to persuade themselves that the best animals of the alpaca breed with the purest blood are thus and so, and to believe that any deviations from that description indicate impurity. This happened, to a certain extent, in the U.S. alpaca industry with the introduction of Peruvian imports, which come primarily from a select few alpaca co-ops and ranches in Peru.

WHY IS BREED TYPE IMPORTANT?

 Breeders pay attention to outward appearance or type in making their selections for two reasons. First, the breeder may want to breed a certain type because it has a market value. If a market demand exists for a certain type, the breeder may not care whether that type really will furnish the maximum production profit. The fact that the buying public wants it and is willing to pay for it is the thing of immediate practical importance. Second, breeders may believe that type and productiveness, in fleece or breeding, are closely correlated: if they select for type, they will get productivity. Type has some sale value in all classes of livestock. In extreme cases, beauty may be the main object. This is often encountered in pet and fancy stock, such as dogs, and is an important feature of horses. If breeders' customers center their demand on type, breeding for productivity becomes secondary. If breeders' customers are looking for productivity, breeders may only be interested in type if it helps them achieve productivity. 

THE IDEAL ALPACA

 Everyone would like to buy, breed, and sell perfect alpacas. To do that, we must first have a vivid picture of "perfect" in our mind's eye. The ideal alpaca will always be a goal that moves away as we come near. That is the way animal breeding is; founded in evolution.

First and foremost, an alpaca is a production animal. The product it creates is fleece. An alpaca's ultimate value flows from its ability to create fine, dense fleece that is coveted by the makers of luxury garments.

It also so happens that the fleece characteristics which make an alpaca valuable are heritable. When mated properly, alpacas pass these fleece traits on to their offspring. At the end of the day, the ideal alpaca produces an elite fleece and quality cria with high breeding value. I found the following quote in the classic sheep breeding text from Australia, The Merino Past, Present and Probable, 1943, by H.B. Austin:

"If the sheepbreeder, then, goes to his woolbroker for advice; distrusts, on principle, all stud 'sales talk' and other propaganda; heeds the scientist; endeavors to buy rams that will breed truly, and feeds his sheep properly, the increased profit collectively, to the whole industry, may well be 'hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.'"

If you simply substitute the word "alpaca" for "sheep" or "merino," you will begin to see what it takes to create the ideal alpaca. In other words, avoid the hype, use genetically sound selection and breeding systems, always use impact herd sires, and feed your herd correctly. 

THE IDEAL ALPACA: Suri and Huacaya

An ideal alpaca's look begins with the head, a dense top knot, and well-covered cheeks converging with the wool cap to form a close V at the eyes, which are brown. The ears are shaped like an arrowhead and erect. The muzzle is soft and wedge shaped. The jaw should fit together correctly, with the lower incisors meeting the upper dental pad. The head and neck make up about one-third of an alpaca's height, the body makes up one-third, as do the legs. The neck connects to the shoulder at approximately a 45° angle to the back, which is straight, dropping off a bit at the tail. When the alpaca is alert, the neck and back form almost a 90° angle with the head slightly forward. The perfect alpaca has a squared off appearance, with four strong legs setting squarely under it, giving it a graceful stance which translates into a fluid gait. The ideal alpaca has a soft, dense fleece, which is completed with abundant coverage down the legs.

The alpaca's head is a window into its quality and type: both huacaya and suri. The head of the ideal suri should exhibit well-covered cheeks and a bearded chin. The suri's fleece should begin independently locking at the forehead and continue uniformly down the neck, across the body and down the legs, finishing at the toes. The head of the ideal huacaya should exhibit a dense top knot which is crimpy. The cheeks should be well covered, and the bridge of the nose, clean. The crimp in the top knot should continue down the neck, across the blanket, and into the tail, finishing down the belly and legs.

The stars of any herd will catch your eye with an alert, erect appearance. Their fleece opens into well-organized locks or staples of soft, bright, and lustrous fleece, which handles like silk or cashmere. Above all, an ideal alpaca will never be mistaken for a llama. 

THE IDEAL SURI FLEECE

The primary characteristic which distinguishes a suri from a huacaya is the phenotype of its fleece. The suri's fleece falls close to the body, moves freely, and gives the animal a lustrous, flat-sided appearance. The luster found in the suri's fleece is the primary indication of the animal's quality. In addition, the fiber should be fine, and have good handle (a more slippery handle than huacaya) with a well-nourished, almost greasy feel. The locks or ringlets that make up the fleece should be round, form close to the skin, and have uniform twist to the end. Ideally, the style of lock should be uniform from the top knot to the hock; particular attention should be paid to uniformity and independence of lock across the mid side. The legs and underbelly should be well covered.

A more rounded or fluffy appearance can indicate volume rather than density in a suri's fleece which is undesirable. There should be no crimp in the staple, but a low wave is desirable along the length of an individual fiber. Due to the compactness of the fleece, suris often give the appearance of being smaller than the huacaya, but this is an optical illusion. The suri should be every bit as big and robust as a huacaya. Think of the ideal suri as producing a curtain of silk to grace its sturdy frame. Suri alpaca fiber is woven into cloth and made into coats or jackets that exhibit a warm, luxurious luster.

The suri's locks should have a well-defined architecture, which relates to the degree of twist or curl and the solidity in the lock. Locks should be compact, independent (swinging out freely from the skin when the animal is in motion or the fleece disturbed), uniform, and start close to the skin. Locks may be twisted, curled, or penciled and should start from the forelock and continue through to the hocks. Spirals in the locks may twist from either left or right. Locks can be with or without a wave which should not be confused with crimp, which is a fault. A suri, when compared to a huacaya of similar age and fiber micron size will have a longer lock (staple in huacaya) in the fleece. The locks should hang straight and hug the body, giving a curtain like appearance. When the fleece is opened, the inside locks should be as well-formed as the outside layer and exhibit luster at their base. 

THE IDEAL HUACAYA FLEECE

 The ideal huacaya's fleece should be: fine, dense, uniform, and grow perpendicular to the skin. The fleece, which grows from individual follicles in the skin, should be made up of defined staples of crimpy "bundled" fleece. These bundles should organize themselves into staples which create a dense presentation across the animal. The huacaya alpaca should be well covered with a soft, uniform fleece, except on the ears and the bridge of the nose of mature animals. The muzzle and ears should be soft to the touch. The elite alpaca has a well-defined crimp in their top knot, which continues down the neck, into the blanket the belly, and on to the tail. There should be very little medulation. The fleece should be well-nourished, exhibit a brightness or sheen, and be void of dull, dry, chalky fiber. The ideal huacaya will produce fleece as soft and as fine as cashmere. Huacaya alpaca is spun into luxury garments that can be worn close to the skin.

Study the pictures of the suri and huacaya alpacas that appear in this journal. Examine the pictures of their fleeces. Burn these images on your mind and make them part of your quest when you search for or work to breed the ideal alpaca. Always remember that an alpaca is valuable for both, its fleece and its ability to produce excellence in its progeny.

Source: The Ideal Alpaca Library, IAC Community

There are two ways that Huacaya breeders think about crimp in the United States. One group believes that crimp is not an important trait. The other camp says crimp is highly desirable. The show rings in all countries value crimp and many breeders around the world select for crimp. Is it important, or not?

Animal breeders are constantly faced with subjective decisions: Who to cull and who to keep. They often rely on subjective, type characteristics to make these decisions. If the type traits that they select for are positively correlated or linked to economically important characteristics then their decisions produce good results. If, on the other hand, these subjective decisions are negatively correlated to important traits the results can be harmful to the breed.

Crimp in alpacas is a subjective, type trait. The first question is whether or not it is positively correlated to any important economic traits. If it is we should select for it; if not we should select against crimp or pay no attention to it at all. The second question, which may be more difficult to answer is, which crimp style or frequency is most preferable?

CRIMP IS NOT IMPORTANT

The argument that crimp is not important is primarily made by Eric Hoffman. Here is what Eric had to say in The Complete Alpaca Book published in 2003.

"Huacaya, as a breed, has some amount of curvature in fibers, in other words, crimp or crinkle. In some alpaca show systems, the various types of crimp are assigned different values. Such hair-splitting distinctions between styles of crimp may serve the purpose of identifying differences between individual animals in high-stakes alpaca shows, but the commercial processors in Peru who move tons of fleeces through their scouring vats based on handle classing (with some recently introduced micron sampling) are not making such distinctions in the fleece used to create their high-fashion end-products found in the top salons in Milan, Paris, and Geneva...

At the time of this writing, no research institution anywhere in the world has presented definitive information correlating crimp to other desirable fiber characteristics in alpacas."

Eric's primary argument is based on the fact that producers do not pay a premium for fiber with superior expressions of crimp.

CRIMP IS IMPORTANT

On the other hand, Dr. Julio Sumar of Peru had this to say about crimp in Huacaya:

"In the Peruvian conditions of alpaca breeding crimpness is highly appreciated for the breeders. They used to say, "In 90% of the cases a crimped fiber is a visual indicator of fineness." When I visited an alpaca textile factory in Peru, where the fleece sorting is carried out entirely by woman's hands, the highly crimped fleeces end up in the very fine fleece section.
Dr. Sumar's remarks were made at the Gold of the Andes Seminar at the Alpaca Western Extravaganza (AWE) Show at Redmond, Oregon in May of 2004.
 

WHO IS RIGHT?

 First, let's exam Eric's argument. It is true that fiber processors do not pay a premium for crimp. In fact, until recently, all fiber purchased in Peru was paid for based only on its weight. In 1998, Grupo Inca began paying a premium for fine fleece. They recognized that the market for finer fiber was strong and that their previous purchasing practices, of paying based on weight, were causing breeders to select for coarser fiber. The fashions they create depend on fine fiber.

There is a limited supply of fine fiber. If the alpaca industry can find a selection pathway to finer fiber then the breed as a whole will become more valuable. The Quechua Indians are some of the world's poorest people. They breed alpacas in the Altiplano and could increase the value of their only cash crop: alpaca fleece, if they had a proven selection marker for fineness.

The pathway to finer fiber may be as simple as selecting for Huacaya with better defined, more frequent crimp. Luis Chavez, who is in charge of purchasing and processing alpaca fiber for Grupo Inca in Peru, presented the following tables ( 1, 2, 3 and 4) at the Gold of the Andes Seminar in Redmond, Oregon. His presentation was entitled, What Alpaca Processors Want from Your Alpaca.

The OFDA gives a measure called curvature (deg/mm) which is related to crimp. The curve has a direct relation with the fiber diameter such as we show in the following chart

Curvature which is an OFDA measurement is defined as:

Fiber curvature is related to crimp. Average Fiber Curvature (AFC) is determined by the measurement of two millimeter (2mm), (0.0787 inch or 5/64 inch), snippets in degrees per millimeter (deg/mm). The greater the number of degrees per inch, the finer the crimp. For wool, low curvature is described as less than 50 deg/mm, medium curvature as the range of 60-90 deg/mm, and high curvature as greater than 100 deg/mm. Source: Fiber Testing Terminology
Curvature loosely correlates to the number of crimps per inch. As you can see from Table 1, Vicuña (12-13 microns), which is the finest natural fiber used to manufacture garments, has more curvature or crimp than Guanaco at 14.6 microns. Both are finer and have more curvature than cashmere. Cashmere, which compares with Royal and Baby alpaca but is a little finer, has a little more curvature.

Grupo Inca is a vertically integrated fiber processor who owns a chain of retail boutiques called Alpaca III. One of their primary concerns is how to reduce the weight of alpaca garments. The solution is simple; they need to work with finer fibers. Chavez says, Alpaca fiber and wool have almost the same density (1.32 vs 1.30 grams per centimeter) but the wool garments are lighter than the alpaca.

Chavez goes on to say, "If you have a small box filled with coiled springs made of the same diameter wire as a similar box filled with straight pieces of the same wire, the box filled with the springs will be the lightest." In other words crimped fiber is not only finer but the curvature allows for a lighter weight yarn to be spun.

You can see from Table 3 that finer fiber spins into much lighter garments. Royal alpaca at 19.5 makes into a sweater that weighs 200 grams or 0.441 pounds. A sweater of the same design, made from the mixed piece grade, weighs 600 grams or 1.32 pounds. This is a 300% increase in weight, but the fiber itself is only a little more that 50% coarser.

Luis says, "that there are fleeces, particularly suri, that have low crimp frequency and are fine". He finished his discussion about the relationship between fineness and crimp by saying, "According to our purchasing department the crimpy fleeces are finer than the flat fleeces." In other words, he agrees with Dr. Sumar's conclusions. He concluded his remarks by saying, "As a yarn producer, I think crimp is important for the business."

Table 4 demonstrates that alpaca fiber does not maintain the curvature found in the fleece when it is made into tops. Wool, on the other hand, maintains most of the original curvature in the tops. The increased curvature in wool is a major reason why it makes into lighter garments.

CRIMP STYLE
If you are selecting for crimp in Huacayas and it leads to finer fleeces and there are many styles of crimp, then the question becomes; which style of crimp is best? In sheep, the wool with the most frequent crimp count is often the finest. The style of crimp in sheep is also moderately to highly heritable. In alpaca the style of crimp is variable. There are no bloodlines identified with a particular crimp style or frequency. The following illustration defines the various attributes of crimp.

1. Amplitude is the height of the wave as measured from the crest to the trough.
2. Frequency is the number of crimps for a given measurement, i.e., crimps per inch.
3. Deep crimp is defined as having high amplitude.
4. Bold crimp is low frequency wave that maintains high amplitude.

It is likely that once alpaca breeders decide which style of crimp results in fleeces with the highest textile value that they will be able to fix that particular style. Grupo Inca's genetic improvement project at Paco Marca takes extensive measurements on each alpaca in their herd. They record fineness, curvature, staple length, and fleece weight for each fleece. Once an animal is shorn, and its measurements recorded, the individual fleece is transported to Arequipa where it is sorted for grade. Each grade in the fleece is sorted, weighed and valued at the current market price. This total becomes the textile value of the fleece.

The data that is collected from the Paco Marca herd should allow for correlations to be drawn between particular fleece traits such as curvature (correlated to crimp) or fineness and total fleece value. It will be a small step to visually identify the crimp style of each fleece and determine if there are positive correlations to a particular style of crimp. There may also be negative correlations such as fineness to staple length or fleece weight.

I am working with Alonso Burgos of Paco Marca and geneticists at a major university to analyze the data collected by Alonso and his team. We will also be conducting a similar study of suri lock style as it relates to textile value. The results of this analysis have the potential to revolutionize the selection criteria for Huacaya and Suri.

Copyright 2004 Mike Safley

Source: The Ideal Alpaca Library, IAC Community

Becoming involved in the alpaca business can be a life changing experience. It often begins by falling in love, maybe not in the romantic sense, but almost. When people see their first alpaca or maybe just an alpaca image on TV or in a magazine, something clicks. They are intrigued. They begin to inquire, search the internet, travel to a nearby alpaca farm, and slowly, but surely, their life changes.

Soon they are dreaming of a farmhouse in the country or of renovating that unused barn on the five acres behind the house. A young mother with children begins to wonder, can I really become self employed in the alpaca business? An older couple might ask, can this be what we are going to do when we retire? A professional man says to himself, can we really make a living in the alpaca business?

I have been raising alpacas for seventeen years and I think I have some answers to these questions. Alpacas.com is meant to be a resource for people who seek educated answers to the questions above. We offer help with alpaca business plans and farm plans. We help our clients use science and classic genetic breeding theory to increase their profit potential. We teach people how to select superior stock and how to market their production. Hopefully, in the end, people who become involved in the Northwest Alpacas Network will become successful alpaca ranchers.

Alpaca Education

The first step down the path to discovering whether raising alpacas might be a part of your future is to educate yourself. I would recommend that anyone entering the alpaca business read my book Alpacas: Synthesis of a Miracle, where you will find a contemporary history of alpacas, beginning in their South American homeland, and information on how to select and breed superior animals. There is also an excellent bibliography in the back of the book. Another excellent text is Maggie Krieger's Secrets of the Andean Alpaca. You can find many articles about alpacas in Northwest Alpacas library by simply clicking your mouse. There are also a wide number of alpaca orientated websites on the internet.

If you would like to have an actual hands-on alpaca experience, call us at 503-628-3110 and schedule an appointment to visit the ranch. Once you get here we will spend as much time as you would like answering your questions, showing you what qualities to look for, and how to care for your alpacas.

One of the best ways to learn about alpacas is to attend our seminar How to Buy, Breed, and Succeed in the Alpaca Business. The seminar is presented by myself and Fred Kraft

The seminar is based on the concept that alpacas are a business and, if managed correctly, can be very profitable. After spending a weekend at our seminar you will be prepared to draft a viable business plan and farm plan.

Alpaca Business Plan

An alpaca business plan should answer the following questions and contain the following elements:

1. Which alpaca breed do you intend to own, huacaya or suri, or both?
2. The identification of your market niche.
3. When do you require income from the herd?
4. How much income does your family require from the enterprise?
5. A breeding plan.
6. A farm expense budget.
7. Will you pay cash or buy on terms?
8. The tax benefits of alpaca ownership.
9. A marketing strategy.

All of these concepts are covered in great detail at our How to Buy, Breed, and Succeed in the Alpaca Business seminar. If you can not attend the seminar, call Alan at 503-628-3110 and he will help you develop your own individualized alpaca business plan.

Creating a Farm Plan

Designing a safe, well-organized plan for adding barns, fences, and accessory buildings is crucial to your success in the alpaca business. At Northwest Alpacas we have helped hundreds of people get started right.

We can give you practical advice on selecting the ideal location, the type of fences you will need, the size of gates, which type of pasture to plant, how to build effective shelter, where to place water troughs, how to select hay, layout your barn, protect against predators, and dispose of manure. About the only thing we won't do is scoop the poop. So call or email Fred (fred@alpacas.com) today and find out how we can help you get off on the right foot.

Animal Selection

One of the most critical decisions you will make involves selecting your breeding stock. If you learn nothing else from this article or our website, please learn how to select stock before you spend the money you have budgeted for animal acquisition.

New breeders have a unique opportunity to position themselves at the forefront of the industry by selecting animals that have superior traits. Knowledge of these traits and how to select them is often the difference betweens success and failure in the alpaca business. Our seminar and the books we have recommended will go a long way toward helping you make good decisions.

For instance most new purchasers come to our ranch knowing what breed and what color of animal they want to select but few are looking at several, even more important issues:

1. What pedigree they would like to have in their purchase
2. To whom is the animal they are buying bred
3. Who will they be bred to in the future
4. To whom the alpacas will their purchase offspring be bred.

The answers to the above questions can be even more important than whether or not the alpacas exhibit good fleece and conformation traits. At Northwest Alpacas, Alan and myself spend a lot of time educating our clients as to what they should look for in their breeding stock. You can call us anytime and start the conversation about what kind of stock will best suit your plans for the alpaca business, or check out our for Alpacas for Sale.

Whatever you do, take a little time to educate yourself before you spend your money. Remember you're going to be in the alpaca business for a long time.

Marketing Strategy

At Northwest Alpacas we believe that marketing is one of the most crucial elements necessary for the success of any alpaca breeder. I can tell you with 100% certainty that if you do not let people know that you have alpacas for sale, you will not sell any.

The first step to understanding how to market alpacas is to learn: 1) who buys alpacas in the first place; 2) how buyers find out about alpacas and where they go to buy them; and 3) what sales strategies work in today's marketplace. For an in-depth discussion of this topic, you can visit our library and read one of the many articles on marketing alpacas.

Northwest Alpacas Network

Another question you should ask any breeder that you buy stock from is: what are you going to do to help me after I buy these alpacas from you? At Northwest Alpacas we have an answer to that question. Everyone who buys stock from us becomes part of our network. This means we offer comprehensive after sale resources. For a detailed discussion of what it means to be part of the Northwest Alpacas Network, please visit our library.

If you have read this far, I hope we have added value to your alpaca journey. A friend of mine once told me that he had figured out why he loved raising alpacas so much. When I asked why he replied that he thought "God had intended all of us to be 'shepherds.'" Another answer to the riddle of why so many people are deciding to be alpaca farmers might lie in the observation made by a famous medical doctor who developed the highly profitable "Beefmaster" brand of beef. When he was asked why he decided to be a cowboy, he replied "I have known a lot of doctors that wanted to be cowboys, but I have never known a cowboy that wanted to be a doctor."

Source: The Ideal Alpaca Library, IAC Community

It is absolutely impossible to attain marked success in breeding domestic animals without breeding them to a certain standard. The man who makes the attempt to do so is like the mariner who sails the seas without a compass. He, himself, cannot tell whither he is drifting. He is playing at what may be termed a game of chance.

Definition of the Term - A standard of excellence is an ideal for the guidance of the breeder, and one which he should constantly aim to reach. This standard may be written or unwritten. Written standards are commonly prepared by the individual associations which protect the interest of the respective breeds. Unwritten standards are ideals in breeding which exist only in the minds of individuals engaged in the work. These ideals may be original and exist independently, or they may be based on wheat may be termed popular opinion; of the former class were the ideals held by the originators and improvers of breeds. These of necessity had to make their own standards. Of the latter class are those held by judges and breeders of stock in the absence of a written standard. The necessity for a written standard is based on the desirability of reaching uniformity and high excellence in the breeding of live stock. In the absence of a standard in one or the other of its forms, such uniformity and high excellence are impossible. Even with the aid of a standard, absolute uniformity can never be attained in breeding, because of the existence of the law of variation.

But it can certainly be more nearly approximated with than without a standard, and with the aid of a written standard rather than with that of one not written. Standards are also necessary to enable the teachers of the science of animal husbandry to do their work intelligently and with sufficient precision and exactness. The standard points of the living animal must be presented from a standard either written or unwritten. The advantage of the first method over the second will be at once apparent to all fair-minded men. Again, good judges of live stock have gone into the show ring with the boast upon their lips that they did not believe in standards. They claimed they were going to judge the animal on its merits, and not by paper made standards, oblivious of the fact that every award made by them was based on a standard existing in their own minds.

Standards for Purebreds – In nearly all instances the standards for purebreds are written, but there are some exceptions. Notable among these are the Shorthorn and Hereford breeds of cattle. [As of 1903.] That these breeds are yet without a written standard is not to be set down to the credit of the associations which guard the interests of the respective breeds. True, they have attained much celebrity without written standards, but that was before the era of standards and in spite of their absence rather than because of the same. The existence of written standards would have made impossible the Jew and Samaritan-like attitude that prevailed so long between the breeders of the Bates and Booth Shorthorns, and it would altogether have prevented the unfortunate controversy between the advocates of the white and mottled faced Herefords toward the close of the last century. It does seem unfortunate there should be any necessity to make a plea for the existence of written standards in this progressive age.

When not written, the standard for judging purebreds is regulated to a considerable extent by the awards made in the show rings by men who are generally recognized as good judges. The type of animal which more commonly gets the prize is recognized for the time being as the standard type. To some extent it is also influenced for a time by popular taste and the demands of the market. Some years ago the popular taste in this country proscribed white animals among Shorthorns and showed a decided preference for those that were red. To so great an extent was this unfortunate prejudice carried, that white Shorthorns became almost unsalable for breeding uses, notwithstanding their individual excellence, and roan Shorthorns were much discriminated against. Again, when the Cruikshank type of Shorthorns first came before the public, many of the breeders of the Bates and Booth types refused to introduce Cruikshank sires into their herds. But the dealers in meat gave the preference to animals low and blocky in type and thickly fleshed, hence, the demands of the market compelled the breeders of the Bates and Booth types to introduce Scotch blood into their herds.

The originators of breeds must make their own standards, as previously intimated. They are seeking what may be termed a creation that is something different in the line of live stock from anything that has previously existed. In the absence of a standard they must create one, whether written or unwritten.

Standard of Grades – The standard for grades is unwritten, except in so far as it may have been or may be committed to paper from time to time by certain individual breeders. From the very nature of things it must be so in the absence of organization to protect the interest of grades of any class. Because of this, uniformity in the breeding of grades can never be attained as in the breeding of purebreds with a written standard. But whether the standard is written or unwritten, the ideal type must be clearly fixed in the mind of the breeder. His work will not be that success which it ought to be unless his ideal is as clearly present to his mental vision as though it were on canvas or better still, a living presence standing before him.

Such a standard will or should rest upon utility. Fancy points may be tolerated in breeding purebreds since they may so far evidence pure and even high breeding. But there would seem to be no place for them in grades. It will take into account the performance of the animals, as, for instance, in relation to speed, milk, or meat production, and prolificacy, since in all these respects the relation is close between animal form and performance resulting there from. It will also take into account the demands of the market. If the market should demand lean pork with much side meat, or fat pork with but little side meat the grower must give heed to such demands and shape his ideal accordingly. This one influence has tended to modify the ideal in certain breeds, as for instance, in the bacon of swine in Britain. The same is also true of certain of the types of the American Merino in the United States. Happily those changes in the popular taste are not of frequent occurrence and they are made but slowly. Were it otherwise, the possibility of breeding to a fixed ideal would scarcely be practicable.

The Makers of Standards – From what has been stated above it will be apparent, that in nearly all instances the makers of standards are the members of the associations formed to protect and promote the interests of various pure breeds. The work is usually done by a committee appointed by the members of the association. Sometimes it is admirably done, but in instances not a few, standards are quite defective. The defects include, chiefly, a lack of clearness, definiteness and precision in statement, and a want of comprehensiveness in the points covered. Such phrases, for instance, as, "A head well set on," and "A good back," are well-nigh meaningless to the uninitiated in live stock lore. They arise, not from a want of knowledge on the part of those who frame them with reference to the requisite furnishings of the animal, but rather from a lack of felicity of expression in the use of language. The statement, though clear to the framers of the standards, may be far from clear to the average reader.

Some breeds are represented by several associations. The Poland China breed has a number of these. Usually this multiplication of associations is unfortunate, since it oftentimes results from strife that has sprung up in one of the associations previously formed. Happily these associations generally adopt the same standard. When they do not the interests of the breed suffer.

Two Classes of Standards – Two distinct classes of standards have been drawn up for some of these pure breeds. The first relates to the requisite furnishings of the animal, more especially as to external form, but it includes such evidence of disposition, stamina, and performance as may be gleaned from external form and also color. It is frequently spoken of as a scale of points, although, strictly speaking, a scale of points has reference to the numbers affixed to the various points in the standards. The terms scale of points and standard of excellence have frequently been regarded as synonymous, and interchangeable. But, from what has been said, it will be apparent that the second is the more comprehensive term, since it includes all kinds of standards as applied to live stock, not excepting the scale of points. The second class of standards is based upon performance. They are in a sense supplemental to the first, and are usually referred to as advanced registration. They seek to encourage higher achievement in the breeding and management of live stock.

A Scale of Points – A more extended description of a scale of points will make it to include: 1, size, symmetry, style, and weight; 2, evidences of disposition, digestion, constitution, and capacity; 3, what is termed quality and the amount and kind of bone; 4, the general outline of form as a whole and the development of each part as far as discernible to the eye, and 5, color and fancy points, as for instance, color markings. Symmetry relates to the harmony, as to form, that exists between the different members of the body. Style or carriage as it may be termed relates to the movement of the different members of the body and to the position of the same when in motion. Weight should always be included in a scale of points though frequently it is not.

Advanced Registration – Advanced registration usually records performance in animal production, absolutely or at different ages, and speed in trotting horses. It may be made to record performance in breeding and possibly in some other lines, as in wool production. Heretofore it has been confined more commonly to dairy cattle and to standard bred horses. When applied to dairy cows it takes into account performance in production of milk or butter, or both, for a term of days, weeks months, or years. Only purebreds have been admitted to advanced registration, among dairy animals, but it would also be possible to establish such registration with unrecorded animals, whatever might be thought of the expediency of such a course of action. When applied to trotting horses it records the time made in speeding on the track. Animals whose performance is recorded in the advanced Registry are also recorded in the ordinary pedigree standards kept for the breed.

Points in Standards – In drawing up standards, certain numbers are used to designate perfection in the particular part of characteristic considered. These numbers vary with the importance relatively of the part under consideration. For instance, in beef cattle, while but 1 point may be assigned to the ear, 10 or 12 points will be assigned to the back, because of its greater relative importance. In some records they also vary with certain features of development peculiar to the sexes. For instance, in dairy cows, many points may be allowed for udder development. In the male this could not be, but with him more stress is put upon other indications, as, for instance, those that relate to the evidences of constitution and other features of a well developed masculinity. In other instances the numbers are affixed not to a single feature of development, but to a group of these considered collectively. For instance, so many marks will be assigned to the head as a whole briefly described, rather than to each part of the head particularized in detail. To affix marks in detail rather than to certain parts grouped furnishes a more complete scale of points. And in yet other standards, objectionable features are stated even with some minuteness in detail, as it were, the valuable points. The numbers used in a scale of points are also sometimes called counts, and 100 of these are fixed upon as the standard of perfection.

Fancy Points – Fancy points are those which have little or no intrinsic value in themselves when viewed from the standpoint of utility. They are such as relate to color and color markings, the size and shape of the ear, wool on the head and legs, and dish in the face of pigs. It would not be correct to say that fancy points are of no value at all, but that they are only or chiefly valuable as indications of purity of breeding. While thus far they are valuable, the fact should not be overlooked that other indications could be made to substitute them in time without necessarily impairing the usefulness of the breed. They should never be sought at the sacrifice of important features of form unless when they are regarded as an essential evidence of purity of breeding. The red color, for instance, would not be admissible in an Aberdeen Angus, since black is the standard color. To select a Shorthorn bull, red in color, but inferior in from and pedigree, in preference to a roan would be carrying a fancy point to an extreme, as would also the choice of a Shropshire ram of but ordinary development because the covering of the head in the first was superior.

Advantages of Standards – It has already been intimated that standards are necessary to secure uniformity in breeding and to make it practicable to teach correctly the facts relating to form. In the absence of authorized standards, individual breeders set up standards for themselves which may and which do differ materially. The difference in type thus produced tends to confuse. An illustration is found in the Bakewell and Border types of Leicesters an din the Bates, Booth and Cruikshank types of Shorthorns. Where such differences in type exist, controversy regarding them arises, and the difficulty in placing awards in the show rings is increased, hence, the reputation of the breed suffers proportionately. It does not follow, however, that breed type should never be modified, but when so modified the standard should be made to accompany such modification.

Standards May Change – Standards may and do change, but when they do the changes are usually slight. They may change with the changing of fashion, with the changed demands of the market or to increase the usefulness of the breed. The favorite standard color in Poland China swine calls for much less white than formerly. The port market calls to a longer and leaner side to meet the changes in the popular taste and to maintain sufficient stamina in some of the breeds, stronger bone is needed. Modifications in some of the standards for swine have already been made in these directions and possibly further modifications may yet be made. However, after breeds are established, the aim should be to conform type to standard rather than standard to type, hence, the necessity for keeping standards abreast of the needs of the time.

Receiving Benefit from Standards –The merest tyro in breeding will receive benefit from standards, since they will furnish him with a guide in selection as far as he may be capable of using them. But the highest benefit from standards will come to those who understand best the laws of breeding. In the absence of knowledge regarding these, the information which standards bring cannot be turned to the best account. In the hope of simplifying the study of these laws, the attempt will be made in the chapters which immediately follow to so define and explain them that the essential features thereof may be so grasped by the ordinary intellect that they may be turned to good account by anyone engaged in the breeding of live stock.

Source: The Ideal Alpaca Library, IAC Community

There are four general industry prerequisites for rapid, breed-wide alpaca improvement.

1. Breeding objectives: There needs to be agreement on breed standards, which are, focused primarily on heritable, commercial traits for both suri and huacaya alpacas.
2. Performance evaluation: There needs to be a central record keeping system established that measures and records performance for specific commercial fleece characteristics. The records will form the basis for establishing heritability estimates for specific characteristics and estimated progeny differences Estimated Progeny Differences (EPDs) for specific animals.
3. Breeding systems: There needs to be mating systems established that maximize the rate of genetic gain in a predetermined direction.
4. Pedigree records: Clear, accurate records of ancestors should be recorded and available. (This is not always a precondition.)

It is the alpacas turn on the world's stage. They have long suffered the indignities of Peru's Spanish conquers. It is time for their redemption from five centuries of purgatory, inflicted on them by the Spanish colonists. Alpaca breeders, world wide, need to make it their passion to place alpacas at the top of the livestock pinnacle. The alpaca deserves to be returned to the glory bestowed on them by the Incan civilization when their 16-micron fleece was the coin of the realm. It is in our own self-interest to do all we can to reestablish their glory.

As alpacas expand into livestock markets around the world, breeders from the lesser markets are going to seek superior stock from the larger markets. Here in the U.S., as our market for seed stock matures, new and existing breeders are going to seek--and pay for--quality animals and they will discount the value of primitive and unimproved animals. There is a maxim in the pure breed livestock market: Quality animals sell for more money, more often.

The breeders, who hold out quality as a goal, set standards, and produce alpacas with ideal commercial characteristics, are going to make more money. The alpacas in demand worldwide will be those with high breeding value. We only need to look at Julio Barreda's Accoyo brand to understand the truth of this statement. Accoyo is currently the only alpaca herd that is universally recognized as elite. To buy that elite seed stock, breeders from around the world fly to Peru, travel to Macusani at 16,500 feet above sea level, and then they cross swollen rivers to reach Accoyo. More than one-half of Accoyo's total income each year comes from the sale of stud males.

The breeders who follow a proven system of genetic improvement are going to win the race to the top of the pyramid. The most immediate benefit to these breeders will be their ability to sell herdsire quality males and thereby double their cash flow from animal sales.

THE ELEMENTS NECESSARY FOR DRAMATIC ALPACA IMPROVEMENT

There are four basic genetic prerequisites for rapid breed improvement: 1) genetic variability, 2) selection intensity, 3) selection accuracy, and 4) generational interval. Genetic variation is extremely important to the rate of gain. The more variation for a particular trait in a population, the more potential there is for change. If breeders have a wide variety of animals to choose fromsuch as those with high or low fleece weightsthey can select alpacas with very different traits and breed for those traits. If those animals have high breeding value for the trait, improvement in the herd will be rapid.

Selection accuracy is important if any improvement or gain is to be made. This means the traits you select for must be heritable. Accuracy says that we have the ability to separate superior and inferior animals. If you select for a heritable characteristic, such as fleece weight, you must identify superior stud males who historically have produced offspring with higher than average fleece weights to insure the trait is passed to the offspring. The same goes for fineness, crimp, staple length, etc.

Breeders should also understand that selection accuracy costs time and money. The cost to progeny test 10 dairy bulls runs into the tens of thousands of dollars. Fleece histograms for alpacas are expensive. And finally, selection accuracy can cost you the time it takes to assess the animals selected as breeding stock and as Dr. Dorian Garrick, of Colorado State University says, "Genes don't get better with age."

Selection intensity means being highly selective of the progeny produced by the high-quality parents you have chosen for foundation stock, and retaining in your herd only the offspring that exhibit a superior expression of the heritable qualities for which you are selecting. This ensures that breeding values will remain high and that each generation of offspring should improve: The higher the selection intensity, the higher the rate of genetic gain.

Generational interval affects the rate of genetic change simply because the more rapidly one generation replaces the previous one, the faster the potential gain. Mice reproduce more quickly than humans, producing 150 generations in the time it takes humans to produce one. (This makes it much easier to effect change in mice than in humans. And improving people is also a problem because there is very little culling undertaken.)

Generational interval is determined by the average age of the producing males and females in a given herd. Alpacas have a generation interval of four to six years for females and approximately five years for males, although this interval will vary from herd to herd; the shorter the interval the faster the gain.

To construct an improvement model that allows each of these principles to work efficiently with our current industry organization, there should be a large group of alpacas sharing performance records and genetics, and this group must be owned by a community of breeders with common objectives. While it might be unrealistic for one ranch to have enough animals of its own to create rapid improvement it is not unrealistic for us to do it together.

ACROSS-HERD GENETIC EVALUATION

Across-herd or large-scale genetic evaluation can range from the assessment of large herds, to the assessment of nucleus herds, or even entire breeds. Large-scale evaluation in the instance of a reference sire system requires cooperating farms and individuals.

For cooperating breeders, the purpose of large-scale genetic evaluation is not complicated: They simply want to compare the performance of animals in different herds. Why is this important? Suppose an alpaca breeder has what he or she believes is the best stud male in the world. Without a method of comparing this male's performance to that of other males in other herds, the owner can never know the objective truth of their belief. Across-herd or large-scale genetic evaluation allows the truth of excellence to be proven and then shared with other members of the nucleus. Almost as important as the Estimated Progeny Differences (EPDs) of excellent sires is the identification of underperforming animals. The value of being able to cull inferior genotypes cannot be overestimated.

Across-herd evaluation provides an honest way to assess an animal's potential, and this creates the opportunity for rapid genetic gain. The process of evaluating individual alpacas through direct comparison with alpacas in different herds enables cooperating breeders to more accurately select from a more genetically diverse, yet increasingly improved, gene pool.

Richard Bourdon makes the value of large scale evaluation clear. "Just as it is easier to field quality athletic teams at a big school than at a small school because the big school has more athletes to choose from," Bourdon writes, "so it is easier to find truly outstanding breeding animals in a large population than in a small one."

When a group of cooperating breeders shares records by using a central database, they create for themselves an enormous advantage. They control for their collective benefit many times the information of a single breeder. In the animal breeding business, this information is the key to success. When across-herd data is gathered, the accuracy of prediction increases by the sheer volume of the information available. The EPDs, for the various sires and bloodlines, can be readily and accurately established.

Copyright 2004 Mike Safley

Source: The Ideal Alpaca Library, IAC Community