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ALPACA GAIN PROGRAM When Jude and I look back at our success in the alpaca industry and try and identify what stimulated that success we always come back to one principal cause, and that is mentoring. We’ll never forget in 1991 when we bought our first alpacas in Australia. We were just so excited. It was unfortunate that those breeders who sold them to us seemed not to want to share in that fun with us. Everything we asked became a chore for them to answer. It was very fortunate that our next purchase was with the Haldane brothers of the famous Purrumbete bloodline in Australia. Both Roger and Clyde became our mentors. Although we did have farming experience from our family background these guys just made everything accessible for us. They had a huge farming experience to fall back on from Merino sheep to Angora goats and Holstein dairy cow farming. They even farmed dairy buffalo! Apart from the show winning stock they sold us and the farming tips, they tutored us with classing, breeding and marketing tips. And it was through them and our good friend Mike Safely at Northwest Alpacas that we were able to meet the famous Don Julio Bareeda from Estancia Accoyo in Peru. We corresponded and visited the Accoyo farm high in the Altiplano to gain some of the most significant guidance that no money could buy. You see, you just can’t buy experience and hands on practice. I knew as an award winning builder in Australia that having experienced teachers and knowledgeable trade experts mentoring me meant that I could virtually build anything…and we did. And we treated our clients like royalty so in the end we never had to advertise for work. So it is with these values in mind that Jude and I want to introduce to our clients our mentoring program. Its called the Alpaca Gain Program. It is a simple consultancy program that helps any breeder who is a client of ours to advance their breeding program. The alpaca industry is just in its infancy. In numbers alpacas have only been outside South America for 20 years. There are barely 200,000 alpacas not living in South America. Whilst we have an extraordinarily vibrant industry here in the US we do not have an infrastructure which supports breeders seeking information and data pertaining to the animals. Sure lots of farms offer seminars and the regional and national groups offer conferences and the like. They do a great job of that. In fact there is not a whole lot offered form the home of alpaca, Peru. Very few breeders there have recorded and analysed production. If you look at other livestock industries they have an immense amount of literature and research to base decisions on. They have true experts who can give thoughtful instruction on the many facets of animal breeding and care. They have a rich pedigree of farming background and often higher education. The amazing results these industries have achieved through research and production analysis is the result of there being available a means of support and education via these experts. The Angus and Holstein industries here in the US and the Merino industry in Australia are prime examples. Jude and I are very proud to have helped Mike Safely at Northwest alpacas set up the Studmaster Program and the Ideal Alpaca Community. It is the first real attempt to give alpaca breeders a means to improve their livestock through recording and sharing production statistics. And as long as the breeders involved share the vision that Mike had in beginning the program it will work. The same thing has worked in the form of progeny improvement programs in livestock industries all over the world. Eventually as a result of this program breeders will have more certaintity in their decisions by being able to use breeding values based on recorded production statistics. The Alpaca Gain Program is our attempt to help our clients overcome the shortage of expert assistance and research in the alpaca industry. It will simply be having Jude and I help a breeder make the best breeding decisions based on what we understand of alpaca classing ( judging the phenotype ) and alpaca pedigree. Understanding what each alpaca bloodline brings to the table at the time of a mating is crucial. Its great that a herdsire may have a championship or two to its name. That’s good for marketing but it tells you nothing of what it will produce in its progeny. It just may be the result of a lucky knick of very poor genetics that by the laws of inheritance will produce to its genetic makeup , not its phenotype. Meaning, he may look great but his babies won’t! Is its fleece style a contrast to that of the dam you are mating. Do its fiber stats tell us anything? Does your dam have physical/soudness problems that need correcting. Do you understand the rates of heritability to be able to make those correct decisions? We are the first to say we are not alpaca experts. In fact we don’t know any alpaca breeder who has anywhere near the history and knowledge that a Don Julio Bareeda or a Roger Haldane has. Wal Merryman one of the best known Merino sheep breeders in Australia is a seventh generation sheep farmer. His father was knighted for his services to the Australian economy via his advances with the production of wool. He farms over 200,000 sheep. His sheep dominate the market place in price and volume of production. That’s expertise! It’s the same with the Te Mania Angus cattle line. If you look up Holstein dairy cattle on the internet you’ll be able to go to an industry born ranking for very bull and cow registered putting a lot of science in the value of each animal. Jude and I certainly do not want our alpacas looking like sheep or cattle. But we are prepared to look at these industries to see how they achieved breeding success. And we have. Genetics do not often lie! If you understand them you can to a degree put some control into your breeding decisions. We feel confident enough to be able to advise clients based on our experience of farming alpacas here and in Australia for 15 years. The Alpaca Gain Program involves Jude and/or I coming to your farm to class your alpacas, take fiber samples and make recommendations for breeding. We will match your females to herdsires and wil assess the worth of potential or existing herdsires. We will not limit breeding recommendations on herdsires we own or campaign. We will include herdsires from many farms, most of which we do not have commercial ties to. We may in fact recommend one of your herdsires if we think they match. So to a degree you will get an objective recommendation for each alpaca you want classed. We will also advise on farm matters and marketing if you wish. We will ask for all traveling expenses to be paid, a farm fee based on how many animals are to be classed and a fee per animal classed. Apart from the show winning stock they sold us and the farming tips, they tutored us with classing, breeding and marketing tips. And it was through them and our good friend Mike Safely at Northwest Alpacas that we were able to meet the famous Don Julio Bareeda from Estancia Accoyo in Peru. We corresponded and visited the Accoyo farm high in the Altiplano to gain some of the most significant guidance that no money could buy. You see, you just can’t buy experience and hands on practice. I knew as an award winning builder in Australia that having experienced teachers and knowledgeable trade experts mentoring me meant that I could virtually build anything…and we did. And we treated our clients like royalty so in the end we never had to advertise for work. So it is with these values in mind that Jude and I want to introduce to our clients our mentoring program. Its called the Alpaca Gain Program. It is a simple consultancy program that helps any breeder who is a client of ours to advance their breeding program. The alpaca industry is just in its infancy. In numbers alpacas have only been outside South America for 20 years. There are barely 200,000 alpacas not living in South America. Whilst we have an extraordinarily vibrant industry here in the US we do not have an infrastructure which supports breeders seeking information and data pertaining to the animals. Sure lots of farms offer seminars and the regional and national groups offer conferences and the like. They do a great job of that. In fact there is not a whole lot offered form the home of alpaca, Peru. Very few breeders there have recorded and analysed production. If you look at other livestock industries they have an immense amount of literature and research to base decisions on. They have true experts who can give thoughtful instruction on the many facets of animal breeding and care. They have a rich pedigree of farming background and often higher education. The amazing results these industries have achieved through research and production analysis is the result of there being available a means of support and education via these experts. The Angus and Holstein industries here in the US and the Merino industry in Australia are prime examples. Jude and I are very proud to have helped Mike Safely at Northwest alpacas set up the Studmaster Program and the Ideal Alpaca Community. It is the first real attempt to give alpaca breeders a means to improve their livestock through recording and sharing production statistics. And as long as the breeders involved share the vision that Mike had in beginning the program it will work. The same thing has worked in the form of progeny improvement programs in livestock industries all over the world. Eventually as a result of this program breeders will have more certaintity in their decisions by being able to use breeding values based on recorded production statistics. The Alpaca Gain Program is our attempt to help our clients overcome the shortage of expert assistance and research in the alpaca industry. It will simply be having Jude and I help a breeder make the best breeding decisions based on what we understand of alpaca classing ( judging the phenotype ) and alpaca pedigree. Understanding what each alpaca bloodline brings to the table at the time of a mating is crucial. Its great that a herdsire may have a championship or two to its name. That’s good for marketing but it tells you nothing of what it will produce in its progeny. It just may be the result of a lucky knick of very poor genetics that by the laws of inheritance will produce to its genetic makeup , not its phenotype. Meaning, he may look great but his babies won’t! Is its fleece style a contrast to that of the dam you are mating. Do its fiber stats tell us anything? Does your dam have physical/soudness problems that need correcting. Do you understand the rates of heritability to be able to make those correct decisions? We are the first to say we are not alpaca experts. In fact we don’t know any alpaca breeder who has anywhere near the history and knowledge that a Don Julio Bareeda or a Roger Haldane has. Wal Merryman one of the best known Merino sheep breeders in Australia is a seventh generation sheep farmer. His father was knighted for his services to the Australian economy via his advances with the production of wool. He farms over 200,000 sheep. His sheep dominate the market place in price and volume of production. That’s expertise! It’s the same with the Te Mania Angus cattle line. If you look up Holstein dairy cattle on the internet you’ll be able to go to an industry born ranking for very bull and cow registered putting a lot of science in the value of each animal. Jude and I certainly do not want our alpacas looking like sheep or cattle. But we are prepared to look at these industries to see how they achieved breeding success. And we have. Genetics do not often lie! If you understand them you can to a degree put some control into your breeding decisions. We feel confident enough to be able to advise clients based on our experience of farming alpacas here and in Australia for 15 years. The Alpaca Gain Program involves Jude and/or I coming to your farm to class your alpacas, take fiber samples and make recommendations for breeding. We will match your females to herdsires and wil assess the worth of potential or existing herdsires. We will not limit breeding recommendations on herdsires we own or campaign. We will include herdsires from many farms, most of which we do not have commercial ties to. We may in fact recommend one of your herdsires if we think they match. So to a degree you will get an objective recommendation for each alpaca you want classed. We will also advise on farm matters and marketing if you wish. We will ask for all traveling expenses to be paid, a farm fee based on how many animals are to be classed and a fee per animal classed. |
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