More than one person has e-mailed to say what is the point of measuring and doing all that analysis of the alpaca fibre. Its a great question and fortunately there is an equally great answer!
The whole purpose of analyising the alpaca fibre in so much detail is establish EPD's.

So what are EPD?s?

An alpaca EPD is an estimate of the genetic merit of an alpaca for a single trait. In other words the EPD is the anticipated difference between the average performance of all alpacas in the herd for a given trait and the performance of a given alpacas progeny for that same trait.

Establishing EPDs is no mean feat. It requires participating breeders (IAC members) to embrace an agreed alpaca breed standard, use common herdsires, make breed selections based on heritable traits that are of commercial benefit together with the meticulous collection, recording and sharing of data. Finally, the larger the herd, the better, which is why the members? alpacas are pooled to create a very large virtual herd.

The Ideal Alpaca Community (IAC) is designed to help alpaca breeders identify the best genetic stock for their breeding programs. The IAC will also give breeders reliable information that they can use to advertise and sell their breeding stock. EPDs have been used extensively in the dairy, beef cattle and pig industry for many years and more recently with sheep.



The IAC system will work through the member breeders to deliver across-flock EPDs. Breeders use these EPDs to guide them in their selection and genetic improvement programs. An alpaca breeder who is a member of the IAC will receive reports on the genetic values for every animal in a herd, based on the performances of those animals and all the animals that are genetically related to them, over many years and a variety of local conditions. By using EPDs, an alpaca breeder can make genetic improvements efficiently and reliably. EPDs allow a breeder to rank all his or her alpacas by genetic value, identify high-producing replacements, and cull poor-producing animals.

An EPD is reported in the normal units of a trait, such as +0.5 inches (for staple length) or -0.3 microns (for fibre diameter). It is important to note that an EPD value is not a ratio or an index. EPDs are expressed as deviations (+ or -) from the average population value, which is considered to be zero. Therefore, EPDs always have a positive (+) or negative (-) sign in front of them.

The positive and negative symbols do not always mean better or worse -- it depends on the trait. For example, a Mean Staple Length EPD of +0.5 inches is good, but a Fiber Diameter EPD of -0.3 microns can also be good ( smaller diameter fiber, which is more valuable to fine wool producers). Not only can we compare alpacas with positive and negative EPDs, but we can also use EPD values to compare animals that both have positive EPDs. For example, a stud with a Mean Staple Length EPD of +1.0 is good, but a different stud with a Mean Staple Length EPD of +2.0 is better.

EPDs may take a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of them, they give the most objective and reliable estimation of genetic value possible.

Adrian Stewart