From The Farm Weekly newspaper, Thursday, March 10, 2011, written  by Caitlyn West:

" In an Australian first, a bale of alpaca wool, believed to be the only one ever offered through the Australian auction system, was sold at Fremantle last week for 2800 cents a kilogram greasy.  

The single bale was the result of a two year process for Suncloud Farm owners, Peter and Carolyn Richards, who sold the alpaca fleeces to a Chinese buyer with the assistance of Primaries Central Wheatbelt wool broker Greg Tilbrook.  

Peter and Carolyn's dream of breeding alpacas for the commercial fleece market were finally realised when the auction hammer went down last week, after navigating through a unique process to get the bale onto the show floor ....

The Australian wool Testing Authority (AWTA) tested the bale using the manual core method and produced a guidance report including details such as 19.6 micron average, 97.5 % comfort factor and 91.5 % yield....

The Richards said the sale was a significant move forward for the Australian alpaca industry, as they believed alpaca wool needed to be pushed through the channels other fleece producers used.

"For alpacas to be commercially viable, their fleece has to be presented and showcased through the normal international wool market," Mr. Richards said....

(Peter and Carolyn Richards are members of SRS(R) Alpacas) 

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

Merry Christmas and a happy 2012

Date Article Listed: 24/12/11

As the year draws to a close we would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and successful 2012. Although there are plenty of challenges ahead the baling weekend indicated that really positive gains are been made in the fleece area.

Thank you to everyone who attended workshops, assisted with displays, helped with baling and who contributed to the success of the year. May this time be a time for family and friends and a time to relax. Have a safe and happy break.

Fleece Baling Weekend

Date Article Listed: 24/11/11

Over the last weekend 19th & 20th of November a number of us met at Frank and Julienne Gelber's property at Orange to class and bale fleeces for the Primaries wool auction in December. Although it took a long time for those present it was an excellent learning experience and one all subscribers should try and be part of in the future. Some of the fleeces were very well prepared while others required further skirting. Thanks to those subscribers who contributed to the collection. In total over 700kgs of fleeces was classed and a number of bales of 110kgs were pressed and branded ready for sale. Some are still waiting to have enough fleece to make the necessary weight.

Many thanks to the Gelbers for their hospitality, to Jim Watts who classed every fleece and to Stuart Marshall, Richard Brennan, Julienne Gelber and David Mitchell for sorting , skirting, pressing and branding the bales. Go to the photo gallery for some pics of the days. By the time we finished all were exhausted but more informed by the experience. We wait to hear how the fleeces test and how they sell on the open wool market.

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