Merredin Olympic Motel

Great Eastern Highway

Merredin

Web:     www.olympicmotel.com

Email:    olympicmotel@bigpond.com.au

Phone: (08) 9041 1588

Contact: Peter or Blake Gerrand

*8 rooms being held

Merredin Motel & Gumtree Restaurant

10 Gamenya Ave

Merredin

Phone: (08) 9041 1886

Contact: Paul or Kevin

*11 rooms being held

Merredin Caravan & Tourist Park

2 Oats Street (Kalgoorlie end of Great Eastern Highway)
Merredin W.A 6415                   
2 Oats Street (Kalgoorlie end of Great Eastern Highway)
Merredin
Phone: (08) 9041 1535       
Web:     www.merredintouristpark.com.au
Email:    info@merredintouristpark.com.au

Contact: Sandy

*1 x 1 bedroom Villa being held

*5 x 2 bedroom Villas being held

Further information and details about Merredin can be obtained by visiting the Merredin Wheatbelt website – www.wheatbelttourism.com

This report was kindly prepared by Susie Clark, Chachani Alpacas, Robertson, New South Wales:

Canberra Royal 2010 was a successful showing of alpacas with approximately 240 Huacayas and 65 Suris present. Also judged were 195 Huacaya fleeces and 22 Suri fleeces.

The judges, Kylie Martin and Peter Kennedy, spent a day and a half on both animals and fleeces and made particular comment on the softness (fineness and lack of medullation), lustre, density, bundling and uniformity of the winning fleeces, not to mention the conformation and size of the animals. They also asked for shearing dates which indicated they were looking at growth rates and length.

SRS® breeders were very well represented amongst the ribbon winners with:

Huacayas

Flowerdale

Champion Junior Female

Illawarra

Reserve Champion Junior Female

Chachani

Champion Intermediate Female

Reserve Champion Intermediate Female

Ngullaminya

Reserve Champion Adult Female

Wyndarra 

Champion Adult Male who was also Supreme Champion Senior Male

Illawarra

Reserve Champion Senior Male

Suris

Baarrooka

First Junior Black Female and 4 blues in the fleeces

Tularosa

Two firsts in Junior Male and the Reserve
Champion Junior Male was sired by a Surilana Male

Huacaya Fleeces

Chachani

Champion 6-12 months

Illawarra

Champion 12-18 months
Champion 18-30 months
Champion 48-60 months and Supreme Fleece

Currumbong

Champion 60 months and over

Jim and Murray Ventris, Breeding Advisor, for Western Australia held a workshop for breeders in Perth in early November. A number of subscribers attended with 4 new subscribers signing up at the workshop. Thanks to Suncloud Alpacas for organizing the event and bringing animals and fleeces. More detail to follow as photos come to hand.

At present animals to be skin tested needed to be 18 months of age or older and be weighed. From now on animals need to be 24 months of age for a skin test to occur. The reasons behind the changes are:

• Animals were being skin tested before 18 months and not weighed which meant that comparisons between animals were less valid as it has been shown that animals can change after 18 months of age while reaching mature sige.
• The fleece test that Jim has developed provides a good indicator of how an animal may skin test. This is especially so for subscribers wishing to use a male for breeding before he has been skin tested.
• To provide a quality control measure so that animals that are skin tested at an age greater than 24 months are not disadvantaged in relation to their usefulness in breeding programs.

Could subscribers please make this change in their "Subscribers Handbook" dated 10/09 as a version control measure. If everyone follows the same procedures it will benefit the SRS® breeding system, ensure its integrity and provide a common basis for comparisons between animals. For animals that are over 18 months the new fleece test provides a cheaper alternative yet gives very useful information.

Julienne Gelber, Michael Anderson, Bob Richardson and Jim have worked hard in developing the protocols and survey to assess the amount of alpaca fibre available, within various classifications, that could be collected for processing. This is a very important step in determining what quantities of fibre are available. As Julienne stated in her letter the process is time consuming but one that we trust will be of great benefit to growers at a time when world fibre prices are depressed. Please take the time to fill in the survey based on the classing data that you have available to you. Completed forms should be sent to Michael Anderson at mikando@bigpond.com.

LATEST NEWS UPDATES

30/08/10 - SRS® Conference in Western Australia - thanks Carolyn & Peter

On 21 and 22 August, 51 of us gathered at Carolyn and Peter Richard’s Suncloud Farm in Merredin WA for a series of talks, discussions, and demonstrations centered on the theme of working together to breed, consolidate, and deliver superior alpaca fibre to high end, luxury markets.  The write-up in the Weekly Livestock (Western Australian version of the Land newspaper) was titled 'Positive focus on Australian alpaca industry'. The article was very supportive of the work undertaken by SRS®, Breeding Advisers and working parties to push the industry forward into the fibre and textile market.

The facilities at Suncloud are magnificent, and Peter and Carolyn (a powerhouse pair) and their enthusiastic team warmly welcomed us all and ensured that we were warm, dry, instructed, entertained, and very well fed over 2 days; giving us not only a superb 4 course conference dinner in the Igloo on Saturday night, but a 3 course breakfast at 8am the following morning!    All our Western Australian subscribers attended – well done - and were joined by subscribers from New South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand.   

We are indebted to Carolyn and Peter and their team for the superb facilities we enjoyed at Suncloud, and for their great organisational skill in ensuring all who attended had such a wonderful and exciting 2 days. Thank you again.

12/07/10 - Sunshine Coast Alpacas on Show

This excellent event, organised by Australian Alpaca Association Ltd., Queensland Region, was held on 3 and 4 July 2010.  Approximately 160 alpacas were entered.  Judging was expertly done by Nerida Aldred. SRSAI breeding advisor, Jim Watts, presented a workshop on the Sunday which was well attended and received keen interest from alpaca breeders.

24/05/10 - Latest Newsletter

In Subscribers Resources- Updates for Subscribers is the latest newsletter. One from Dr Jim Watts detailing the genetic improvement in alpacas in the last 4 years as well as important changes to the fibre standards form 1 July 2010. The second is a report from Julienne Gelber and the Fibre Working Party.

22/05/10 - Alpaca workshop on 3 October 2010

SRSAI will hold an alpaca breeding and fleece preparation workshop at Pat Bova's property at Penrose, NSW, on Sunday 3 October 2010.  The workshop will be an opportunity to highlight the WA conference proceedings of 19-20 August and to invite subscribers to bring along their top alpacas and fleeces for display and inspection.

BULLETIN BOARD

New Subscibers Welcome

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