Times are changing and so are we

To say that I have been lax in updating our blog is truly an understatement.  But, that is about to change.  There have been lots of changes over the last couple of years for us personally as well as the alpaca industry. And where has the alpaca industry traveled . . . right to where David and I felt it should have been from the beginning . . . it is now a fiber business . . . imagine that.

 When we started raising alpacas in 2003 we were frustrated by the lack of quality alternatives to process the fiber (there were not sufficient mills that knew what to do with the fiber . . . even the co-op we first joined was sending the fiber to Peru bringing back a product with the words “made in Peru” on the label);  and what was fiber supposed to look like when it was ready to be sent to the mill for processing (no one really seemed to be able to define what sorted fiber should look like until NAAFP came along).  Now I know these are all issues that would probably not be issues unless you are anal like me . . . and thank heavens there were plenty like me who came up with answers to these questions.

So, here we are . . . 2012 is about to start and alpacas for the most part are selling for a fraction of what they were selling for when we started in the business.  So wise breeding decisions are still a huge issue maybe even more so. Back then just about any female could sell for over $10,000 . . . that is no longer the case.  Today's breeder needs to be even more aware of what they are creating as the fiber has become so much more important.  Maybe more members of your herd should be retired or removed from the gene pool as the dollars no longer can justify compromised members of the herd.  Years ago a trip to the nearest veterinary hospital could easily result in a $5,000 bill with no guarantee as to the results (we were in that position and were thrilled when our female returned home three weeks later). Those days are gone.  Today we need to have a reality check and truly analyze what we are trying to accomplish with each breeding (one of the areas where the certified sorted method and EPD's (expected progeny differences) come in so very handy . . . each year you can review your reports to see how their current yield compared to prior years and other members of your herd, how do their offspring look . . . was it better than the mom? Is it what you were looking for. If you are just getting year after year of texas rug grade fiber then there is no point in continuing to breed that female . . . unless of course your goal is rug making.

So, before you get the wrong idea on where I am coming from, let me cut to the chase.  The alpaca industry is not dead . . . just finally realistic. If you are an existing breeder, use all the tools at your disposal to make educated breeding decisions and be ready to make some hard decisions. If you are new to the industry, then you can start using all the available tools as part of your buying process.  The price of entry is much more user-friendly than eight years ago when we started.

So get ready to see a whole lot more action on our blog . . . a lot more fiber related, a lot more conversations on what to do with the fiber and what we are doing with our fiber. If you have questions, please feel free to send them our way and we will post your answers online so we can all learn.  Our farm store is now open on Friday and Saturday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm and, as always, by appointment and online. Hope you can drop by and see what we are working on. 

Wish you all a successfull and enjoyable 2012!

New IRS Mileage Rates for July through December = 55.5 cents per mile

IRS Increases Mileage Rate to 55.5 Cents per Mile

IR-2011-69, June 23, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2011. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business and other purposes.


The rate will increase to 55.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2011. This is an increase of 4.5 cents from the 51 cent rate in effect for the first six months of 2011, as set forth in Revenue Procedure 2010-51.


In recognition of recent gasoline price increases, the IRS made this special adjustment for the final months of 2011. The IRS normally updates the mileage rates once a year in the fall for the next calendar year.


"This year's increased gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans. The IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the recent increase in gas prices," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "We are taking this step so the reimbursement rate will be fair to taxpayers."


While gasoline is a significant factor in the mileage figure, other items enter into the calculation of mileage rates, such as depreciation and insurance and other fixed and variable costs.


The optional business standard mileage rate is used to compute the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business use in lieu of tracking actual costs. This rate is also used as a benchmark by the federal government and many businesses to reimburse their employees for mileage.


The new six-month rate for computing deductible medical or moving expenses will also increase by 4.5 cents to 23.5 cents a mile, up from 19 cents for the first six months of 2011. The rate for providing services for charitable organizations is set by statute, not the IRS, and remains at 14 cents a mile.


The new rates are contained in Announcement 2011-40 on the optional standard mileage rates.


Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

Here is the link for the changes per type over the last several years.

http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=156624,00.html

It's definitely time to start thinking taxes.  So, take this info and start planning for year end issues.  Tax time will be here before we know it.

Breeding decisions do not just affect the next years crias!

This is a great article that was in the most recent issue of The Coarse Broads Newsletter and I felt it very appropriate to share it at this time of year when many of us are shearing.   

Every time you make a breeding decision, you are affecting how alpaca fiber is perceived in the minds of not just the textile industry but also the minds of the consumer. Over the course of this year, we have seen a rather large increase in the size of primary fibers in relation to the size of the secondary fibers. Which is a step backwards in uniformity.

Why does that matter? When the primary fibers are 3 and 4 grades above that of the secondary fibers, it creates all sorts of problems in the end product.

This is what we call "hairy" and unfortunatly so does the majority of the consumers who are currently buying alpaca yarns commercially.


Bottom line, it makes an undesirable product that the consumer will never buy again.


We have the perfect storm brewing with Alpaca United generating an enormous amount of press about North American Alpaca Fiber. We need to do our part as breeders by making the best commercially viable fiber we possibly can. This is an opportunity we will not probably ever see again. If we don't step up, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.


We do this by breeding for more uniformity in the fiber. Specifically the primary and secondary fibers closer in grade and character. The wool industry is leaps and bounds ahead of alpaca in this catagory already. Check out the photos.

 Suffolk wool which is very uniform. The primary fibers are almost indistinguishable from the secondaries.

Alpaca fiber - You can see how much bigger the primary fibers are in comparison to the secondary fibers. This sample histograms at 20.4 microns. Even thought that falls within the grade one catagory, it would result in a "Hairy" product.

I challenge you to have 3 or 4 alpacas fiber (neck and blanket fiber) sorted by a sorter in the Certified Sorted® System. When the sorter is finished you will have 2 things you can get no where else.


1. An inventory sheet that outlines what these 3 or 4 alpacas produced by grade and also the amount of profit you stand to make at both Wholesale and Retail thru NAAFP. As well as a way to calculate what it cost you to grow your fiber, so you know just what you need to make off of it. (It cost me $21/ lb this last year)


2. The Alpaca Dating game. A way to use the sort records to make breeding decisions for improving your fiber.


Make 2 breeding decisions using The Alpaca Dating game. Next year you will be amazed at the results.

Joining A Fiber Cooperative . . . which one is the correct one?

This question was just posed to us and we don't really have a perfect answer.  You need to look at the characteristics of each one and work with the one that mostly closely fits your business model.  It is truly not a one size fits all question. We belong to two . . . NAAFP and AFCNA

We work with NAAFP (North American Alpaca Fiber Producers) because you have a certified sorter at the farm (or sorted at a later date from the bag) who sorts your fiber by color, length and micron so that by the end of shearing day you know what alternatives you have with each group of fiber. If you have a specific animal you want to save for your own purpose to send off to a private mill or process yourself, you can make that decision when it hits the sorter's table. The rest of the fiber you can choose to send to the cooperative to be used in its product line being returned to you as finished product or to remain in the cooperative to be sold at either the retail or wholesale level. Without a sorter, we don't feel there is sufficient information to make those decisions. Plus the sorting process gives you some really important information on the animal's fiber with which to make future breeding decisions. Here is the link for other farms who are members of NAAFP--just click on the link for your area of the country to see if any farms near you are members.

We are also members of AFCNA (Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America). When you send fiber to the coop you are given the opportunity to purchase from them and other vendors at a wholesale price. They have some nice products but we have not had the patience waiting for a return on our investment of fiber so we have not sent them any fiber since we started sorting. You can talk to AFCNA members in your area for more information.  Looks like there is a new link for members that is being slowly populated as members edit their profile information. Here is the link for their membership.

There are others coops around the country but before you join, you need to be sure what your farm's end goal is regarding the end use of your fiber. 

Sun Tzu is Breeding in California

Peggy is twitching cause our big guy is off the farm.  But if you are in the central valley of California, give Susan Moore and Brian Ellison a call and check this guy out. We have been very pleased with his offspring. For the first time ever Sun Tzu will be available at a farm other than Alpacas at Tucker Creek as he will be standing stud at Round Mountain Alpacas from mid-March through the end of June, 2011. Contact info: Office 559-240-6137; Cell 559-289-5032; Email susanm@roundmountainalpacas.com. 

Got the phone call early this afternoon that despite a timeout required at the beginning of the transport (I guess I should thank Randy Coleman for that one) he is settling in to his new digs . . . complete with a Pyrenees name Sonny.  Who knew he could be tolerant of a big white dog . . . or anything with four legs other than an alpaca . . . he typically chases everything that enters his domain.  At least for the time being he probably figures that the area where he is belongs to Sonny. 

So take advantage of this opportunity and check him out. 

Live Chat Added to Blog

Remembering back to when we first started researching alpacas, we had what seemed like a never ending list of questions.  And, we didn't have just one list, it seemed they were all over the place so we would not lose track of our questions.  Now that is not necessary.  We have just added AlpacaAnswers to our blog (and soon to our website as soon as I can master the html commands to activate it).  So now when you have a question just click on the LiveSupport button and ask it while it is still fresh in your mind.  Whenever we are on the computer it will be live so that we can begin a dialog to get you an answer quickly and if we are away from the computer it will leave us a message that we will respond to when we return.   Pretty simple! 

Social Media is lost on me . . . sorry!

I've tried Twitter and Facebook . . . so far have not been able to find a productive business purpose.  Goodness sakes . . . I don't even like texting.  I've finally resigned myself to leave the 140 characters required by Twitter behind and quit worrying about coming to terms with social media.  I seem to be able to handle the concept of a blog . . . though not as regularly as I would like.  That is one of my goals for 2011 . . . don't want to say resolutions . . . that would already be setting myself up for failure given the American propensity for not fulfilling resolutions . . . but I am going to try to be more regular in my postings on the blog.  You can all be my watch dogs.  If I'm not posting often enough send me a line and let me know what you would like to hear about or pose any questions you currently have.  We will do all we can to provide an answer or find someone who can answer your question. 

Wishing you the best for 2011.  We are definitely in a new era for alpacas.  The economy has had an impact on every segment of our lives and over the next few months we will be trying to share what can be done to maximize your alpaca bottom line in light of our current economic issues.   Stay tuned!  We would love to hear what you have to say!