I am occasionally accused of wandering off the topic of alpacas and alpaca farming on my Blog. Well I make no excuse I delve into the detail and I skirt around the edges of this unusual lifestyle and the animals we work with. This next story is a camelid story and I think you will enjoy it.....

India plans to send combat-trained camels to solve the transport headache facing a fledgling UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region.



Members of India’s Border Security Force ride camels in New Delhi. India’s Border Security Force (BSF) said it received a request last week from the United Nations to send the specially schooled animals to the troubled African region.

"In principle the BSF has agreed to the request and will wait for the UN to approach it through the ministry of home affairs," said the chief of India’s elite 200,000-member frontier force, A. K. Mitra.

Last week the head of the UN department of peacekeeping operations, said they may fail to protect civilians in Darfur without the required air mobility and firepower.

The United States also said it was "deeply troubled" by the government of Sudan’s "foot-dragging and obstruction" on the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.

But diplomats say several Western countries able to provide hardware such as helicopters are reluctant to do so because of a lack of confidence in the command and control structure for the joint force.

The BSF in India also warned that any deployment of trained camels to transport foot soldiers in Darfur may be some time away.

"All our camels are engaged in border-guarding duties and this whole process could take a long time," said BSF spokesman Vijay Singh, adding the agency could currently spare up to 60 of its 700-plus battle-ready camels for Sudan.

Indian border security forces use camels for long-range reconnaissance, including night patrols to track arms and drugs smugglers heading into the western states of Rajasthan and Gujarat from nearby Pakistan.

India and South Africa are the only countries known to use camels for military purposes.

BSF deputy commandant Kamal Kumar Rathore, who heads the force’s camel division, said India could purchase the animals from the open market and transport them to Sudan after a crash course in combat.

"There is no dearth of camels and we can make outright purchases, put them through a capsule course of four months and dispatch them to that country," Rathore said.

He said the camels conscripted into the BSF are trained not to react to gunfire and are taught to crawl and follow other "soldierly movements".

"Our camels move up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) with short breaks carrying ammunition and two mounts and they would be perfect.... I would be happy to lead them into Sudan," Rathore said.

Transferring the animals could be a logistical headache — although the Indian air force is equipped with huge Russian-made Illushin-76 transport aircraft capable of handling tanks and trucks.

The deployment of camels would be another peacekeeping first for India.

Last November, the country sent 125 policewomen to Liberia — the first time the UN has deployed an all-female combat unit in a trouble zone.

Now isn't that amazing?

Recently I have been reading a book called 50 Places to Sail or some such name. I was "sailing" in Marblehead Massachusetts the other day and read about a local delicacy called Joe Froggers.

The Legend of Joe Froggers: A couple known as Aunt Crease and Black Joe lived at the edge of a pond in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Joe had fought in the Revolution as a young man. On election night, they would open their house, which on occasion was also a local tavern, and serve grog. Joe would play the fiddle and Aunt Crease would cook.

One of her specialties was a molasses cookie the size of a modern-day salad plate. She made them for fishermen, who found they stored well in barrels during long sea voyages.

In the early 1800s, the election took place at the end of May, a time when frogs were peeping in the pond, and by association the cookies were called Joe's Froggers. Over time the possessive was dropped, and the name today is Joe Froggers.



If you would like the recipe for edible alpacas a la Joe Frogger click here.

Meanwhile all is well on the farm and tomorrow I will be reporting on the latest edition of Hobby farm magazine and the profile on a certain alpaca farm..... enjoy your alpacas!

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.

A farm in West Cornwall, England has recruited two unusual security guards to protect its hens from harm. Tremayne Farm, near Camborne, has taken on two Peruvian alpacas - named William and Harry - to keep predators away.

Farm manager Giles Greenhough said: "Because of the alpacas' nature, they'll take up the role of becoming guardians of the flock."



Farm director Lisa Rowe added: "Alpacas are used extensively in Australia and New Zealand to safeguard sheep." She added: "We know that happy hens lay the tastiest eggs and for that reason, we recruited the alpacas."

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.

Alpaca farmers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.
Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor," local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.
Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.
Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache.
"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," he said

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.

PISCO, Peru, Aug. 17 — No area along the southern coast of Peru, which was ravaged by an earthquake that killed at least 510 people, appears to have been harder hit than this port city.
Most of the city’s homes and office buildings were destroyed, leaving survivors wandering the streets and mourning in the open air, surrounded by shards of adobe and cinderblocks.
Rescuers have been forced by the destruction to walk far out of their way as they carried bodies, sometimes in coffins on their shoulders, toward a makeshift morgue at the overwhelmed hospital. Coffins sat in front of many doorways in anticipation of the recovery of loved ones in the rubble.



At least 300 were killed in Pisco, according to local officials, including dozens inside the San Clemente cathedral, which was full for Mass when the quake caused it to cave in. Witnesses said the spire bell clanged horribly in the seconds before it tumbled down.
At least 17,000 people were displaced by the earthquake and wide areas are without power, telephone service or road access.
Just outside Pisco, mobs descended upon cars to loot food, water, lumber and other aid materials coming from Lima, the capital city about 125 miles to the north. Police seemed disoriented, but tried to disperse the crowds by shooting weapons into the air.
The road from Lima suffered serious damages in the earthquake and crevices in the pavement made passing difficult at several points.
Inside the city, power and water service were still out, and many residents slept outside again last night, afraid that aftershocks could topple more structures.

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.

I came across this story recently and wanted to include it in my Blog in the hope it will be seen by at least a few more interested parties and maybe something good will come from that.

The Aymara community of Cancosa on the Chilean Altiplano region of Tarapacá, bordering Bolivia, will spare no effort in its struggle to rehabilitate a wetland dried out by the Cerro Colorado Mining Company (CMCC), an affiliate of the Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton company.

Antonio Mamani, a Cancosa leader, describes how the "bofedales" of the Lagunillas river basin, where he swam as a boy and, until recently, grazed his llamas and alpacas have dried out. "Bofedales" are highland marshes, typical wetland ecosystems of the Andean highlands.

In 2005, the Chilean Government Directorate General (DGA) of Water concluded that this ecosystem had been dried out by underground water extraction by the CMCC copper mine.

The wetlands and bofedales, which are fed by surface and underground waters, have been legally protected since 1992. They supply pasture and water for vicuñas, guanacos, llamas and alpacas that are the main livelihood of many Aymara, Quechua and Atacameño indigenous communities.

Cancosa was a community of more than 80 families, comprising some 350 people, but now no more than 10 people remain in the village on the Andes, 13,000 feet above sea level.

Another 20 indigenous people visit the place regularly to look after their livestock and their fields of quínoa, a food crop. All the rest have gone to urban areas in search of jobs and education for their children. But in spite of having separated physically, the community maintains strong links in order to defend part of their land, to which they hope to return.

In 2002, the community noticed that the water level of the lake had fallen, and that the five freshwater watersheds and the bofedal had dried up..

The DGA found in February 2005 that "clear environmental damage had been done to almost the whole of the Lagunillas bofedal."

"The ecosystem's plant species have died off in large sectors of the bofedal, and in others their condition is extremely poor," a DGA report says.

There is legal action in process but that could take up to nine years and these poor people do not have nine years.

BHP Billiton need to correct the damage they have caused.
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.

Yes its me, today is the not only the longest day of the year it is also my birthday and I have now hit the big 51......

Masses to do on the farm as the sunshine is making everything grow...where do those star thistles come from?

But I will be having a day off to do some other stuff and get back to the farming tomorrow. i have been restoring an old east European hand cart for the last few weeks and today it finally saw light of day.



The official AOBA web site has finally overtaken me on Google when you search for National Alpaca Farm Day.... I guess it was inevitable and only right that the official site should be top...still it was fun while it lasted and who knows..... okay off to enjoy my birthday....enjoy your day.

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 has come at last and today I am transferring all my data to a new PC...wish me luck!
I have held out for 6 long years but the time has come.... Being cautious I have backed everything up to an external hard drive and to an internet based based system...just in case.

Hopefully I will be back on line later...in which case I will update the Blog for today....

Good news after 8 hours of trransferring data and installing software the system is up and running.....so the Blog will be back to full strength tomorrow....

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.

We have so many open alpaca females off the farm for breedings at the moment that the whole place is looking rather empty.

We often talk about stocking rates of 5 or 6 per acre based on the amount of forage an alpaca needs and the level of parasite control that's desirable. But there is also the aesthetic factor and two alpacas in some huge pasture just do not look anywhere near as attractive as two dozen romping over the horizon.....

Yesterday I had an very chatty e-mail from a fellow alpaca breeder down in Australia who had come across the Blog and wanted more details on the EPD programme that is getting underway. I haven't been to see the alpaca farms is Australia or even the sheep farms but I understand that they are outstanding.

Right now Australia is in the grip of a ten year drought and the Prime Minister said this week that if it doesn't rain in the next 6 weeks he will have to disconnect the irrigation to 55,000 farms....who together produce about 40% of Australia's fresh produce......

As my old mum often says "count your blessings" so I am not going to moan about the irrigation system today.....

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.
Click here to see a very pregnant female that's available until May 15th 2007.

I do not usually visit Portland twice in the same week, if I can avoid it…not just because of the carbon fuels involved, but also because it’s a long way to drive. Still who am I to argue with the US immigration service..if they want to see us at 1pm on a sunny Saturday in Portland who are we to argue?



Being in Portland gives me another excuse to swing by North West Alpacas and see how things are going with the five female alpacas I have there at the moment. Also an opportunity for my wife Jo to meet Mike Safley before heading home to Ashland.



Just a quick update about the AFCNA, 2007 alpaca clip collection is just around the corner.

The AFCNA board have negotiated with our receiving and sorting facility to open clip collection for a full 10 months. This is in response to AFCNA member feedback at the 2006 Annual Membership Meeting in Reno, Nevada.



Many of those members present had requested a year round collection of fiber. However logistics, and the needs of our contractor, do not allow for a year round collection, but the board are confident that this new 10 month window will better meet the needs of the AFCNA membership.

Collection dates for the 2007 alpaca clip are May 1, 2007 to February 29, 2008.

The AFCNA web site will be updated over the next few days with 2007 forms and shipping instructions.

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.

Click here to see a very pregnant female that's available until May 15th 2007.

Today I am driving to UC Davis in California for the alpaca symposium. Back on Monday.

Adrian Stewart

A very Merry Christmas to all our friends.

The livestock are cosy
With hay in the stall
The children are spending
Too much time at the mall
But soon we will gather
Together in thrall
Thank Heavens for Christmas
New Year, and all

Adrian Stewart

I have seena n increasing number of church nativity plays including alpacas this year. From Dallas Texas to Manchester England people are using alpacas to represent the camel that we all associate with the three wise men.

Here is just one example from a church Texas:

"The live Nativity presentation will be held in a 40-by-80-foot heated tent with a capacity for 150 to 200 people, he said. Live donkeys, hens, doves and "camel family" animals such as alpacas will be part of the dramatization."

So contact your local church and you may just land a leading role for your favourite alpaca this Christmas. The question I am pondering is whether watching your alpaca perform the nativity is more or less stressful than watching your children or grand children?



Adrian Stewart