APRIL NEWSLETTER

Everything is waking up from the winter slumber! The mud is receding from the belly line of the alpacas down to their ankles. Its been the wettest year we've had in Oregon but finally we are seeing some sun.

Its birthing time, show time, judging time and seminar time. Add fertilizing, liming,seed planting, breeding and shearing. Fill it out with marketing and promotions, participation on industry committees and you get the picture. More of that after Tim's up date below.

NEWS AT BEACHWOOD CREEK FARM

Well, it looks like winter has finally come to an end here in Fowler, Ohio. The snow and ice have melted and now all we need are some dry days and we can start to move the mountain of alpaca manure that has accumulated. Winter got the last say by dropping over 2 feet of snow in 24 hours during the first week of March. However, the peepers are chirping at night and I’ve been swatting mosquitoes, which is a sure sign of the warmer weather to come.

In another week or so, I will be busy over-seeding the pastures and applying the nutrients needed to support their growth.

Every change of season means the emergence of different varieties of bugs. The change also impacts the microscopic world as parasites gain a foothold after the long period of deep freeze. We hade a rather abrupt bout of strongyle related diarrhea sweep through a number of alpacas. We were able to get after it immediately, impose an emergency worming regimen and get it under control before any serious health problems could occur.

I began shearing the herd this week by clipping 4-5 animals per evening. Shearing should be completed by 4-18 assuming it remains dry. Because so many of the cria were born in early fall last year, they were not shorn prior to winter. This means they still have their cria fleece which acts like Velcro in its tendency to capture every small bit of organic material like hay, cockle burrs, etc. resulting in a matted mess not worthy of showing.

These animals will be now shorn and will be well grown and clean for showing in the fall. As it appears today, there are a few of cria here with some real show potential. We’ll see how they re-grow their blankets.

Last year, we had some very successful seminars and we intend to continue with the Planning for Profit series here and the Thrive and Survive in Oregon again this year. The next PFP seminar is scheduled for May 10-11 at Beachwood Creek Farm.

We have developed some new direct mail marketing materials for use in promoting our seminars in addition to the email advertising we send to the AOBA membership and leads on a regular basis.

It will be interesting to see what impact the world’s current economic situation has on the alpaca industry. When you consider that a large portion of the wealth held in real estate and marketable securities has retreated over the last year and with our banking system and consumer confidence significantly weakened, discretionary capital is not as plentiful as in prior years. For this reason, I would not be surprised to see the alpaca market a bit softer this year. As in all prior years, seminar attendance and sales activity really starts-up at about mid-year since alpaca farmers are generally focused on breeding, birthing and attending shows in January – May.

The state of the economy does not scare or concern me. However, it does make me realize that the alpaca business is no different than any other in that we have to adapt to the changing times and work hard to make the program a success.

In addition to pushing the marketing efforts, we have made some progress in containing costs. For example, we were successful in obtaining a discounted premium for mortality insurance resulting in a decrease in the annual premium.

In February, you were each invited to a herd management meeting held at Beachwood Creek Farm. However, due to conflicting schedules, most were not able to attend. As always, I am happy to meet with anyone to provide an update and or to answer questions.

One of our suri Champions at the April AWE show.

Summer must be coming if the hot air balloons are back.

NEWS AT PUCARA

We're just back from our first show of the year at the Alpaca Western Extravaganza in Portland Oregon with every alpaca we took taking a ribbon. We took one barn alpaca Javier from Barn One who took fifth in a very strong class of about 15 huacaya juvenile fawn males. Jude and I were a bit dissapointed because we thought he was a denser and finer animal than the winner but hey thats shows and judging and all that. He gets his next chance at the Salt Lake City Nationals in late May.We are off to Lousiville Kentucky this Thursday. The poor animals are now enduring a four day drive over there. The Futurity is the most important show and also the most expensive. You only take the very best. We had what we thought was a weak show team for the AWE show in Portland but did extremely well. We cannot wait for the Nationals where we have a much stronger team which may include some barn alpacas if they can get a bit of size on them before late May.

Tim's speaks about the state of the economy above and I did in the January newsletter. We can see the affect on the industry but because we've been a lot more active in the late winter months we are seeing more activity than for the same time last year.Our April seminar here in Oregon has spawned what looks like some sales and we've had quite some interest from people from past seminars, open days and website hits that we have mentored along over the last 12 months. Compared to this time last year we are definitely in front sales wise.

We've always found hard work makes good luck and to that tune we have slatted twice as many seminars this year and Jude and I are actively pursuing clients for our Alpaca Gain Program where we do on farm consultancy for existing and new alpaca farmers. This leads to increased sales and a very worn out wife who has to also juggle that with judging alpaca shows all over the country. Looking at the industry as a whole we have seen a weakening in prices. At the Snowmass Alpacas auction in February prices on average were

down but some females still sold well over $50,000 and not much sold under $20,000. Herdsires sold up to $105,000. In fact I had friends over from New Zealand who purchased two female juveniles from the auction, one at $58,000 ( she was only 7 months old) and previously purchased a young male off the Snowmass Farm who we recommended for over $150,000...think Kiwi dollars!!! Earlier in the year I made a sale of nearly $400,000 of 9 Snowmass herdsires heading to theUK plus one of our suri boys. Jude and I are hoping to attend the British Bath and West show in late May to nurture these clients for later shipments of females off our farm and Tim's. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! We are trying to diversify and we are the only farm in the US doing it!!!!!

Having scared you with the price weakening statement our sales prices have been pretty good. Once the barns put a few more female cria on the ground we hope to start actively pursuing buyers for some of the original females if Dolan group think its makes good accounting sense.

After shearing in May and June we'll be submitting all the fleeces for the past two years to the North American Alpaca Co-operative. At last they seem to be making good decisions and whilst the prices are not great we feel its important to support their effort to make and promote North American alpaca product. If anyone wants to retain their fiber please give us a warning. We will split dividends from the co-operative amongst barn members.

We'll be over at Tim's for the May 10&11 seminar so if anyone wants to catch up please come and say hi.