Our alpaca fiber Cooperative is ten years old!!

It was this day in March of 1998 that slightly less than 400 visionary alpaca owners formed the Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America (AFCNA) and incorporated the new organization in the State of Colorado.

The Co-op’s financial books are currently undergoing an independent audit, the data entry of 2006 clip data is being completed and preparations are being made to send out the first profit distribution in AFCNA’s history. It is quite appropriate that this should take place in conjunction with the 10th anniversary.

2007 Clip Collection

The AFCNA Board has struggled for some time with the issue of organizing regional clip collection. Having come to the conclusion that regional organizing begins at the local level, the Board decided to encourage members’ organizing themselves by subsidizing the shipment of alpaca fiber clip to the grading facilities in New Mexico.

This appears to have met with a great deal of success. Groups in several areas of the country came together, and by combining their clip were able to take advantage of the subsidized shipping rates.

For example:

• Alpaca Breeders of the Rockies – over 900 pounds
• Ohio – over 1400 pounds
• Washington – Over 850 pounds
• Georgia – over 500 pounds
• California/Oregon – over 1200 pounds

The preliminary totals of fiber shipped in 2007 is roughly 20,000 pounds! This is a 250% increase over what was collected in 2006 – a tangible demonstration of the increased support and participation of Cooperative members.

2008 Clip Call – Dates are still being discussed, now is the time to begin planning. AFCNA will once again subsidize regional collection efforts by paying some or all freight costs depending on the weight of alpaca fleece being shipped.

What an amazing turnaround...congratulations to the board of AFCNA.....

The official irrigation season won't start for another month or so which was starting to look like it might have to be pulled forward and then we had rain and hailstones so I would guess we are good for another two weeks or so. The weather is set to rain later this week so I am hoping to get some fertilizer down on Monday morning while the grass is dry so that it rolls to soil level off the grass then gets washed into the soil with the rain.



Today's Marketing Seminar went very well I thought and having started off quite cynically about the event I was pleasantly surprised...I was surprised how quickly the day flew by and just how much ground has to be covered when you are bringing people up what is really quite a steep learning curve. One area that is dear to my heart and because of time could only be touched on lightly was Internet marketing and while everyone in the alpaca industry agrees that a web site is essential knowing how to make a web site work for your alpaca farm is less well known. So I have decided to cover several aspects on web site design and optimisation over the next days.....I will cover all the usual stuff that happens on the farm and in the industry but each day will include a new topic on making your web site work for you.....each daily entry will probably be a summary of a larger article which I will post into the farm library.

So you will be able to read the summary in the blog and then click through to the larger article if it takes your interest. All feedback is as always most welcome.

Tomorrow is the date for the Alpaca Marketing Seminar that has been organised by SoJAA the local AOBA alpaca affiliate.

Julie Wassom is President of The Julian Group, Inc., a training and consulting firm with a specialty in alpaca marketing and sales.

Julie's interest in livestock began when she was a young girl living on a farm in Iowa, showing
4-H calves at local fairs and national stock shows. As she prepared to be a featured speaker at the 1994 AOBA Conference, she became "hooked" on alpacas. She has been involved with the alpaca industry ever since, as a marketing consultant to individual breeders, a speaker for AOBA and regional affiliates, and a contributing writer for Alpacas Magazine. Julie says she prefers alpacas over other livestock because “You don’t have to kill them and they don’t kill you.”

When she's not working directly with breeders who own alpacas, Julie is producing marketing and sales resources for the industry, including;
Marketing Alpacas: Tools for Getting Started $18.00
101 Ways to Market and Sell Your Alpacas $25.00

She also publishes “Wassom’s Marketing Wisdom”, the free monthly e-zine of alpaca marketing tips. All of these are available for you here today.

The seminar is sold out and we have almost 60 people from a wide variety farms coming to hear what she has to say. One farm don't even have alpacas yet and at the other extreme one farm has 60 alpaca and has been in the business over 10 years.

Having checked through the alpaca medical records yesterday I can see that we are very close to giving the last 8 way boosters to some of the mothers before they deliver their 2008 cria.

All alpaca vaccinations are “off label” therefore effectiveness and safety are not guaranteed by the manufacturers.

generally speaking it is best to avoid modified-live vaccines in pregnant animals.
Vaccines may not completely prevent infections but often moderate the disease symptoms experienced by the alpaca.

Individual animal response to a vaccine is variable and can be affected by many factors such as stress, immune status at time of vaccination, and proper storage and administration of the vaccine. A sick animal will not respond as well as a healthy animal. Vaccinate a week or two prior to a stressful event such as shipping or weaning.

Initial vaccinations generally require boosters to generate adequate protection due to the need to prime the immune system and the potential for interference from waning maternal colostral antibodies.

Vaccinations Commonly Used in Alpacas

CD/T

Clostridium perfringens type C, D, and C. tetani
A commonly used vaccine. C. perfringens has been implicated in diarrhea and sudden deaths in crias and occasionally adults. All animals are at risk for tetanus following infection primarily through wounds, castrations and so forth.

Other Clostridial Vaccines

“7 way” and “8 way” clostridial vaccines available. The number refers to the number of diseases the vaccine prevents. Vaccinates against a broad spectrum of clostridial bacteria.
Some contain tetanus.

As always these are just my own protocols developed in conjunction with my local vet and you should do likewise and develop your own protocols that take into account the environmental factors on your farm.

I was heading up through Lithia Park into the hills behind Ashland with my sons Jamie and one of the dogs when I came across the Sheriff taking his new toy out. I say new toy which is unfair really as I guess you really do need something like this to get up into the snow covered peaks around town during winter. Almost every year someone gets lost and dies on the mountain.



Time to go through the animal records this afternoon and start planning for birthing dates which now by some dreadful coincidence appear to be on or around the day we have selected to do our shearing....how stupid is that!

As so often happens in alpaca farming the best laid plans come to nought...which is when we reminded that this is farming and nature has a hand to play and that includes when your females become pregnant and therefore when they will be giving birth. It is fool gold to ever imagine you are in total control of this process or that you even understand all the variables.

March is the start of the spring burning season here in Jackson County. Over the winter quite a pile of dead branches leaves and other clutter accumulates on the ranch so once the weather is suitable its time to light the bonfire. I should perhaps point out at this point that i am a secret lover of bonfires, Not quite a pyromaniac but I have had a long running love affair with bonfires and fireworks.



The weather is still very warm and well in the mid 60's so the alpacas are starting to look just a bit warm in their winter coats.
But for other creatures now is a great time to come out, find a vantage point and soak up the spring sunshine. The barn cats are doing it the dogs and alpacas are doing it....



The chickens are also inspired by the sunshine and have started to produce eggs as though there will be no tomorrow...maybe they know something I don't?

One or two folks have been asking me about weaning alpacas and I am old school on this subject. I separate the cria from the mother and that's it....I feel that the alternatives simply draw out the stress within the alpacas and frankly we do enough projecting of human emotions onto alpacas as it is, without inventing a long and drawn out process that could never possibly be contemplated in any other fiber business.

Although you find anything on weaning alpaca cria there are some informational and entertaining alpaca articles in the farm library.

This event is now firmly fixed in the world of alpaca’s calendar. The dates for 2008 and subsequent years are listed below. So please put them into your diary / calendar right now!

National Alpaca Farm Day 2008 - September 27th and 28th

National Alpaca Farm Day 2009 - September 26th and 27th

National Alpaca Farm Day 2010 - September 25th and 26th

The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association marketing committee has designed a great plan to increase awareness of alpacas. Last year was the first year and went quite well. This year may be somewhat different given the state of the economy right now.

Over 1,000 alpaca farms participated last year and were open for visitors. Every alpaca farm had their unique style of welcoming and educating visitors.

If you have never seen or touched an alpaca then this is a great opportunity to get up close and personal with these adorable creatures. If you have been looking around for a while but don't have alpacas of your own yet why not contact a local farm and ask if you can help out on the big day? Its always a very busy time and farmers will rarely turn down the offer of a helping hand when it comes to shearing or to National Alpaca Farm Day 2008.

If you aren’t sure what to look for in an alpaca or what separates a good alpaca from an average alpaca check out this easy to use buyers guide which you can read before going on a farm visit.

It is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before,
The redbreast sings from the tall larch
That stands beside our door.

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

The weekend is now half way through and the research work I have been doing on EPDs is starting to come together. The goal is to have all the research on alpaca EPDs completed by the 17th of March so that we can then compile it into a sensible body of work which we can send out to the AOBA membership via the Affiliates...now this will inevitably mean some people get it twice which is a pain but it will also mean that those people who are not in Affiliates won't see it at all.

The weather forecast is warm and dry for the week ahead and the grass and weeds are coming to life it wont be long now before wee need to run irrigation in the pastures and elsewhere....and so the seasons turn around once more.

The alpacas are now heavy with fleece and shearing is only weeks away.

Well I better press on as we all lost an hour last night when we changed the clocks.......

Spent this morning in the sunshine walking around the farm and taking some new photographs of the boys. Just couldn't resist loading up this picture of Conman with his funky haircut...



Conman is quite a nice looking boy his full name is El Bellos Conman and he has his first cria on the ground already. A lovely little white boy.

The weeds are coming through thick and fast which has really surprised me as I thought I would have at least another two months grace before i had to start worrying about weed control. I am determined to try and blitz the star thistles this year. The locals always say that water will win in the need...I think by this they mean that if you keep irrigating then the grass will out compete the star thistles and I bet they are right it just takes 20 years........

If you are thinking about buying alpacas then you need to do your homework before hand and we have a simple and easy to use buyers guide which you can read before going on a farm visit just to whet your appetite.

There are some other informational and entertaining alpaca articles in the farm library.

Its interesting to see what comes your way if you write a Blog that slowly grows in popularity and then eventually attracts commercial interest from other companies.

Here is an example of an invitation I received today from a pat care web site that wants to offer you my loyal readers a discount...so I will check out the company and who knows you may be buying pet meds at reduced prices sometime very soon via this blog.

Check out their web site if you have a minute and let me know if you think I should add them to the alpaca blog...I would greatly appreciate the feedback.


Dear blogger,
I work for an online pet pharmacy, www.petcarerx.com, and I came across your blog, . We would like to offer you and your readers a discount at our store. Here is what we are looking for.
You can either place a link or a widget on your site (which we will supply) and we will send you two coupon codes, one coupon code for you and one for your readers. You will receive a coupon for 20% off your next purchase, regardless if you are a new or returning customer. You readers will be offered a coupon of $10 off $75 for new customers.
In addition, after you make your first purchase you are welcome to write a review about our site and we will give you an additional coupon as a thank you for the review.
If you are not interested in a coupon please contact me about other advertising opportunities.
Please let me know if you are interested.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Kalman
P.S. We are always looking for new ideas to promote our website using bloggers. If you have any ideas please let me know.

Nominations for the 2008 Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association Board of Directors election are now closed. In a previous communication from AOBA on February 8, 2008, the Nomination Committee announced the following candidates had been selected for the Board of Director election.

Jess Bowers
David Feller
Monica Kline
Bill Pearce

The AOBA bylaws permit nominations by petition when fifteen or more AOBA voting members in good standing nominate one or more candidates by a petition. The following two individuals have been nominated by petition and will be included in the 2008 Board of Directors election.

Janet Swift
Ian Watt

Board elections will take place by mail vote with packets sent to 2008 voting members by early April. To receive an election packet and vote you must be a Farm Member by March 31, 2008, 5:30 PM Central time.

Well as my old mum says you live and learn.
I was getting ready to start out on my usual Corid treatment for EMac which has shown up in my herd and then read an article by Dr Cebra from OSU (Oregon State University).

Well long story short his regime is now 5 straight days of Corid and no Thiamine.

If you want to read more about EMac and check out a what they look like then my previous blog entry can be found here.

If you are thinking of buying alpacas then you might want to dip into this article which is in the Mulberry Library.

Happy farming and remember to keep learning because things change around this industry.

No trip to Portland is complete without calling in to see our friends from the land down under Alan Cousill and Jude Andersen. Their place is in a constant state of expansion and just when you think you have seen it all they throw up another barn......







Well these are just a few shots to give you some idea of life at Pucara which is also home to a lovely collection of boys from Snowmass Alpacas so if you are heading past Salem in Oregon this farm is definitely worth calling at.

Today I was up at the crack of dawn...well it was 4.15 actually so well before the crack of dawn to load up two alpacas and head off to Northwest alpacas which is a good 5 and half hours drive north of here. That was when I made my first mistake i had been to lazy to close the barn door last night and just assumed the females would stay in there....wrong!

The alpaca females were out in the biggest pasture we have and if you have ever tried herding alpacas by flashlight in the pitch black you will know like I do that however well behaved they are in daylight when its dark they are just not happy at all....so a job that should have taken 5 minutes maximum ended up taking 45 minutes.....not fun at all. But it could have been worse it could have been raining.

After dropping off the girls for breedings I had lunch with Mike Safley who is just heading off to Peru to do some more work with the charity that he established down there and which supports the local alpaca farmers.

Then I went on a mission to find an aeroplane that now lives in Oregon but used to belong to the RAF (Royal Air Force) and was based in the small town of Kemble near where I lived in the UK.



And sure enough there she was at the Evergreen Aircraft Museum near McMinville in Oregon.

Quite strange being that close to something I only ever saw from the ground while it flew overhead many years ago...... who would imagine that we would both end up living in Oregon!

The AOBA Show Rules Committee has set a Face-to-Face meeting date with the AOBA BOD to review changes for the 2009 AOBA Show System Handbook. They will be meeting in Nashville on June 11-14, 2008.

The submission deadline for ALL feedback and suggested changes is APRIL 15th 2008.

All feedback and suggested changes MUST be submitted in writing to Betty Brock, the AOBA Show System Administrator at Admin@aobashows.org Additional feedback or suggested changes for the 2009 AOBA Show System Handbook will not be accepted after APRIL 15th 2008.

The SRC has requested that the AOBA Affiliate Congress submitour feedback and suggested changes as a single document.

Last year the Affiliate Congress was a key factor in the timely feedback from members as well as receiving the feedback in a more uniform, organized fashion.