| 11/7/2010 7:43:42 PM |
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starvalleyalpacas
Posts 3
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I just had an interesting email exchange from a farm I have seen advertised but do not know personally. Basically he is 6 years in the biz, has plenty of ribbons but no sales and the recent crash in prices has left him broke. I'm sure he is not the only one. One disheartening thing he did say is he has bags and bags of fleece.....Is that not what alpacas are raised for??
I realize I may be in the minority. I use 95% of the fleece from my animals to be made into products that I sell during open farms, farmers markets and craft shows. I joined NAAFP and send them 2/3rd's of my fleece to get products from them, send 1/3 to a mill for yarn, the leg and belly fiber is made into rugs and what is left over I sell to fly fisherman. No one told me about ANY of it when I got into this industry. I found out from other farmers who quickly realized, like myself, that the show ring is heavily stacked against the small guy and AOBA does not care. I too have yet to sell an animal. I have tried to auction off a couple here, but when you cannot even get an opening bid of $500 on a TB Full Peruvian male or $2000 for a rose gray Snowmass female, what am I left to think ?
I tell prospective buyers if they are looking for the days of 20, 30, even 40K an animal sale to not waste their time, even if they have more money than sense. It's over. The ones who are most interested in my animals now are ones, like me, who see the income derived form the products themselves. That is what we as an industry need to do to survive, or as the gentleman I was emailing said, we will have fleece covered Ostriches.
I will not renew with AOBA. I do not register all of my Males with ARI either unless I use them to stud. I will if a buyer requests. I do not see the need for it. It perpetuates the Show Ring myth. What we do need is a split from AOBA for those like me who could care less about the show ring and want to focus on growing the product side. That has REAL growth potential. Is there anyone else out there who also thinks this way?? Any one else with me on this??
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| 4/19/2011 4:01:48 PM |
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katy holland
Posts 13
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Wow!!! I don't know you but you hit the nail on the head. AOBA dosent care about us li guys and the fiber industry. I will not be renewing my dues either. We have a very divided industry- Either show animals and fiber that can be used for rugs because judges only look for the 1 type of lock structure (i'm talking Suri's here) or we have fiber animals great fiber but stay out of the show ring. We as an industry need to get it together!!!
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| 5/8/2011 1:05:16 PM |
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wildwestalpacaranch
Posts 6
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We're just getting started and focusing on building our herd for fiber production. We've taken a look at the show side of the business but hear so many nightmares about the conditions the animals are subjected to. It defeats the purpose of growing nice fiber when the animals are stressed out and picking up diseases in the name of a stupid ribbon that the textile industry doesn't even care about.
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| 5/8/2011 8:21:58 PM |
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sierranevadaranch
Posts 5
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There is a difference in what the judges look for and what the textile industry looks for. But I am a small farm and I still continue to show, it helps sales tremendously along with networking with some of the larger farms to get better prices on breeding to their "super studs." I see the judges/textile industry having a closer standard for huacayas than suri's, because lingering fineness, good density and staple length make for nice ribbons and textiles. In the suri's the judges are still looking for tight pencilled locks and most mills want those locks picked open or have a flat/fan shaped lock, but they still look for fineness and density.
Another reason I find shows helpful is having a judge look over an animal and placing it, is better than purchasing and animal sight unseen across the country who has never been shown. Especially since the placings and the number of animals in each class is posted publicly. I don't put much value on an animals that places 1st in a class of 1, etc....
I have been showing for 4 years now and have never had an animals get sick or have seen an animal mis-treated. To the contrary, I think that farms pay special attention to the health and wellness of their show animals. Animals can get sick from transport/stress, but if trained correctly they begin to like it so their first road trip is enjoyable and they avoid the sickness due to stress. Alpacas are just like any other living creature, they are most likely contagious the 24 hours prior to their symptoms, but that can't be helped.
I have sold over 100 alpacas in the last 8 years since I have been in business, we have sold 10 in just 2011, I am getting good prices for young alpacas with show placings and females with great bloodlines. No I'm not fetching $20,000, but $1500-$3000 easily. Sometimes I think new breeders/small farmers are taken advantage of, they go shopping for alpacas and get caught buying someone elses "junk" because they don't know any better. I think that this is where shows can help. I attended 3 or 4 before my first purchase. I knew from the beginning my goals and stuck with them. Occasionally I find a "bargain" that doesn't fit into my exact plan, but we make it work.
I use all my fiber too, it's very dis-heartening to see people leave the industry because the prices have fallen and they can no longer make a living off of sales, I never thought you could. I felt from the beginning that prices "had" to come down, they just didn't justify the finished products you got from the animals. There will always be high end farms/alpacas that will demand high breeding fees and large sales $$$, but it's like that in every industry.
I think in time it will all work out and the judges/textile industry will come together or else they will see more frustrated breeders, but I will continue to show and I will continue to purchase/sell.
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