AlpacaMania the annual alpaca show which is organised by the State of Jefferson Alpaca Association.
Is now firmly back in the calendar for Columbus Weekend. Which in 2008 is October 10th through 12th inclusive. As always it is at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Central Point, Oregon. Monday the 13th is Columbus day.

This is a great show and billed quite rightly as the most friendly alpaca show in the world. You get to meet a great crowd of people show your animals and then head off on Sunday afternoon and you are on holiday on the Monday so you have a whole day to recover - perfect!

We are hoping that the judge of this years show will be David Barboza. David is an alpaca rancher and AOBA show judge from California so he won't have that far to travel to our show and being on the board of AOBA he may well have some interesting insights into what is going on in the US Alpaca Industry - communication has never been a strong point of the Alpaca Breeders and Owners Association.

Well I must press on I have to write my regular alpaca column for the UK Alpaca Magazine. Its amazing how the months roll around....happy farming.

Buying alpacas is very easy...selling them can be much more of a challenge...so SoJAA the local AOBA Affiliate of which I am president is organising a seminar to help our members and other alpaca breeders improve their marketing.

You bought 'em, barnd 'em, breed 'em and birth 'em, -----------now what??

The State of Jefferson Alpaca Association (SoJAA) has just the thing to help you out.
We are putting on a Marketing Seminar presented by Julie Wassom.
Julie is known as the "alpaca marketing lady". She is President of The Julian Group, Inc., a training and consulting firm with a specialty in alpacas marketing and sales. Her practical ideas work to help alpaca breeders increase sales opportunities, profitability, and the image of their farms and animals.

SoJAA is happy to have Julie for a full day of marketing education, Saturday March 15, 2008, at the Rogue Regency Inn in Medford, OR.
From 9:00am- 4:00pm you will receive loads of tips and have many discussions on
alpaca business marketing, with a buffet lunch in between. So, come one, come all.
Learn from the best and have a wonderful time.

SoJAA member's cost is $25.00 per person/$45 for two from the same ranch

Non-members cost $100.00 per person/$175 for two from the same ranch

For more information and registration contact

Diana Shultz @ 541-472-4060 or dshultz@uci.net

This morning we were up early and off to meet a neighbour we don't know who has rescued two llamas. We were giving a demonstration / teach -in on how to cut llama toe nails. Fortunately for us the two llamas concerned were packing animals in a previous life and so were very easy to handle.

Everything went well and despite some gusting winds which always get alpacas and llamas excited the storm that was coming up the valley held off until we ere safely home and had wrapped ourselves around a hot cup of coffee.

This afternoon we will be working on the web site which is of course an ongoing process. Sometimes I call this business a labor of love but recently it has become more of an expensive mistress....

Today was the day when we pick out one of our SOJAA volunteers and reward them with an all expenses paid trip to a major alpaca event sometime in 2008.

Its a great incentive for members to volunteer and stand a chance of winning a really decent prize. I mean the odds are less than 20 to 1 so much better than Powerball....

This years winner was Dorothy Otten and she has elected to attend the 2008 AOBA Nationals in Sandy Utah as the official representative of SOJAA. It couldn't have gone to amore deserving member. Dorothy puts in a huge effort each year on the silent auction at our annual show Alpacamania and works away without ever complaining or asking for recognition.

Congratulations Dorothy...we are looking forward to hearing your report when you return from the Nationals.

A group of local citizens has joined together to create the Oregon Animal Sanctuary. The work already done includes:
preliminary research and business planning
formed board of directors
incorporated/registered with State of Oregon and IRS
found suitable property and completed due diligence
raised 1/3 of property cost
hired consultant to guide strategic planning and much more.

Lloyd Matthew Haines, the sanctuary's founding donor, is in the process of purchasing a 55-acre farm for the Oregon Animal Sanctuary. It's located in the scenic Applegate Valley. We're calling the acreage Double Oak Farm in honor of a pair of magnificent Oregon White Oak trees on the property.

Double Oak Farm has a large irrigated pasture, year-round spring water, and plenty of room for spacious animal habitats. A pristine cold-water creek with steelhead trout runs alongside the property. The farm abuts thousands of acres of undeveloped national forest with a scenic hiking trail leading up into the Siskiyou Mountains.

Double Oak Farm will be an ideal temporary or permanent home for farm animals and house pets who would otherwise be euthanized or slaughtered. They will rescue a wide variety of domesticated animals, including llamas, alpacas, horses, cows, burros, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese, rabbits, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, and others.

If you would like to donate simply go to the Sanctuary web site and pay using Pay Pal.

Today was the annual general meeting of the State of Jefferson Alpaca Association and the last meeting of 2007.

We had two directors standing down and two new directors appointed.

The meeting didn't have a huge turnout but that isn't unexpected giving the vast geographical area that we cover.

The year as a whole has been quite a success and a good time was had by all. Thanks to White City Fire District Number 3 for the use of their meeting room.

One of the many activities that SOJAA (State of Jefferson Alpaca Association) are involved with is the encouragement of local veterinary practices to become involved with the care and treatment of camelids and alpacas in particular.

As part of this we provide books, scholarships for veterinary staff to attend alpaca courses at leading universities and specialist equipment.

This weekend we delivered an alpaca chute to Crater Animal Clinic who provide care to a number of SOJAA members in the Rogue Valley.



Here you can see Dr Kaiser on the left and Dr Richardson on the right checking out the new alpaca chute made in the USA by Shaul Manufacturing

The gentleman in the hat is Richard Gyuro the vice president of SOJAA.

A quick search on Google shows that Mulberry Alpacas have just made it onto the first page for the search term alpacas....

Managing vet check for our annual alpaca show AlpacaMania is nothing if not interesting.. most alpacas arrive at the show in trailers of all different shapes and sizes but a handful arrive in minivans.



English Collie dogs up front riding shotgun and Suri alpacas down the back. I imagine it gets a bit smelly in there during the hot weather but you certainly don't have to slow down when there are trailer speed restrictions...

For anyone interested in buying alpacas for the first time or even for those who want a refresher there is good article in the Mulberry Alpacas library on purchasing alpacas.
If you are interested in finance we even offer finance options on our production females who are all pregnant to Studmaster males.

Once again the mighty show is upon us.

Last week we had a staggering 425 entries which was causing us something of a problem...as that number means we need two show rings and two judges..... fate helped out and the recent outbreak of a virus which is sometimes reffered to as The SNOTS is among our animals. Some of us believe it to be Adenovirus but we are not certain at this time.
See my previous entry on Adenovirus yesterday and the day before.

All of which has reduced our number of entries to the 385 level or there abouts...never underestimate the power of Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. Or FUD for short.





You can see in this picture that there are two types of micro chipp system which are sunstantially incompatible...the latest universal readers are now available but sell for about $400.

The big day is now only about one month away and planning and preparation are running at almost fever pitch..... the dates are October 19 - 21, 2007.

Along with AlpacaMania a level III AOBA show we have Its A Fact an exhibition of fibre arts using alpaca, which Had its first year last year and was the largest alpaca fibre arts show in America based on the number of entries.

The show is now sold out with a waiting list for owners of alpacas but there is still plenty of room if you want to enter the fibre arts competition.....

Check out the AlpacaMania Wen Site.

Its a great local show and everyone says just how friendly it is ...so if you are in the area call in and meet some amazing alpacas and their friendly owners.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

You wouldn't believe it but we are still finding and fixing damage from the flash storm which hit us hard last Thursday. We endured about 3 inches of rain in as many hours and some of that fell as hailstones which trashed the plants and some of the vegetables in the garden.

As a result of the storm we lost power and I missed the conference call that was set up for the board of the local alpaca affiliate. The meeting went ahead without me and the board approved the rental for two awnings at the forthcoming show so that there is extended protection for the show alpacas in the event of inclement weather.

My project to forecast the growth of the north American domestic alpaca herd is moving along and i am taking some time to bounce my assumptions of various industry experts before trying to model the numbers and get a forecast. As always I will keep you posted and as always one step ahead of the pack.

The long weekend is now upon us and my daughter is 17 on Monday so it looks like it will be an action packed event.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

The day started off as usual for this time of year then at about 3.30pm suddenly the skies clouded over and the weather changed dramatically. Heavy rain followed by a violent electrical storm and a flash flood topped off with hail stones.....



By 7pm it was all over as quickly as it arrived several trees were down but not on our property fortunately.



Lets hope we are back to normal tomorrow..thank goodness we live on the top of a hill..

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

This morning we stacked away all the second cutting hay into the main barn and around twenty bales into the alpaca barn ready for winter. Always best to cover up hay even if you stack it inside a barn in order to keep off brid droppings.

It always starts to feel like fall once the hay is put away even though we will take a third cutting of hay later this year.

Then i headed out to the Expo show grounds where we hold our annual alpaca show. A group of us were meeting up there to discusss layout and how various changes in the format might be accomodated into the buildings by moving a few things around.

We had one small panic when for a while we were under the impression that the show ring had to be 60 feet by 80 feet according to the AOBA show rules. but luckily this turned out to be a false alarm and the size mentioned is simple the "suggested" size.....which just goes to prove that it always pays to read the small print in these contracts.....

Meanwhile back in the UK the Foot and Mouth regulations are still in place. 97 cattle were culled from the first outbreak - 64 from infected premises, 33 from neighbouring premises.
102 were culled in the second outbreak.
Among farm stock, cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats are susceptible, as are llamas and alpacas. Some wild animals such as hedgehogs, coypu, and any wild cloven-footed animals such as deer and zoo animals including elephants can also contract it.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Today is the regular meeting of SOJAA

Quite a few members were away so there were only about 20 of us at the meeting today. For farmers like me who don't get out and about on other farms as much as I used to its good to get together with other farmers and catch up on all the news.

One of the most interesting ideas to come our today's meeting was that we will be hosting a Marketing Seminar and Workshop in early November if all goes to plan. Its going to be a "one size fits all" event so whether you are new to this business or have been in it for twenty years there will be something for you.

In fact while I am typing I think it would be a good idea to maybe survey the members to try and discover what the most interesting areas are. I know some members want to know more about the web...and we all know that takes longer than 45 minutes. While others are interested in actually learning how to talk to prospective buyers either on the farm or at a show.

In a way its a shame we can't get this event in place before the September national Alpaca Farm Open Day. But as I sometimes say "you can do anything you want but you cant do everything you want........"Meanwhile back at the ranch the temperature has climbed back almost to the seasonal norm and the irrigation is in full flow.

The big question is do i irrigate the hay field one more time on Monday and Tuesday or do I leave it so that we can take a second cut sooner rather than later.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

For some reason there is an inbalance between demand and suppply in the market for orchard grass this year and while some growers I know have sold their entire production for $3.50 per bale and are very happy prices here in southern Oregon are now up to $7 per bale (thats for a 65 lb bale.

Meanwhile down in California in the horse areas grain and feeds tores are selling 100lb orchard grass bales for $18.95 and alfa;fa for $13.95.

Now that is a whopping $380 per ton !!

Prices like that might not impact the alpaca breeder to much but if you have horses or cattle thats a significant part of your costs...

If anyone has an explanation as to how this has happened i would be delighted to hear it.

Meanwhile its the regular meeting of SOJAA tomorrow so i need to get my act together.

Happy farming.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.