For those who may be interested my thumb is on the mend... see yesterdays blog for details.

The AOBA (Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association) annual ballot forms arrived. So now we have to elect two new directors for the board, vote on the budget and the decision about alpaca breed standards.
As I predicted some weeks ago the vote isn't a start "yes or no" on the breed standard but a vote about whether to continue the the process we set in motion some months ago or to halt that process. I can't for the life in me see why we would halt that process now that we have all invested hundreds of hours and thousands and thousands of dollars into regional type conferences for the purpose of developing a breed standard. Upon which we were all then meant to vote.... oh well time will tell the ballots are out and the members will now have their say.

Back on the farm the weather has changed and it is raining. This is good news as the ground was getting very dry and starting to crack. Cracks in alpaca pastures are bad news because when it comes to irrigation time the water runs into the ground and does not nourish the root system of the various grasses.

At the start of the irrigation season I like to have about three inches of good grass growth to protect the ground and prevent the formation of cracks. I have to confess that allowing certain areas to become over grazed has made this problem worse this year.

But our dry spring is as nothing compared to the harsh winter in Peru.
Peru's National Agricultural Service says that over 80,000 alpacas are affected by colder then normal conditions in the Andean region of Apurimac, Peru.

Jose Pereira Batallanos, stated that 34% of the region's quarter of a million alpaca population has come down with either bronchitis, pneumonia, or malnutrition due to the bitterly cold weather which has devastated alpaca grazing areas and a series of other crops.

Alpaca farmers in the region are desperate for antibiotics and vitamins to ensure the the region's alpaca population survive this catastrophe.

Adrain Stewart - clcik here to go to Mulberry Alpacas

Click here to sign up for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter