All Any of Us Really Have to Sell is Our Integrity

Whether selling widgets, services or alpacas, in today's economy more than ever, all any of us really have to sell is our integrity. Will the product or service stand up to the expectations of the buyer and will the seller be ready to support that purchase long after the ink has dried. You already know we are in business to sell alpacas--but we want you to be a client not just once, but for years to come. And to that end, here are our terms.

1. All females sold include one year's free agistment.
2. All inclusive agistment fee includes routine husbandry issues such as nail trimming and shearing as well as customary veterinary care (only care requiring a trip to the veterinary clinic or the veterinary hospital will be your responsibility).
3. Lifetime live birth guarantee to the owner of the dam at the time of delivery. Should the cria ever die while owned by the owner at the time of delivery AATC will provide a free breeding to the dam. Transportation costs not included.
4. Small farm feel—large farm experience. In operation since 2003. To date we have had 108 cria at Alpacas at Tucker Creek.
5. Ideal Alpaca Community member—purchase of any of our animals will allow your entire herd the benefits membership allows.
6. Studmaster™breedings—reduced fees for drivebys and repeat customers.
7. All adult females are sold bred along with a breeding for the following year.
8. Discounts for multiple purchases and repeat buyers.
9. Flexible payment programs including package and or cash discounts; payments via cash, check, credit card or Paypal with terms to meet your individual needs. Current rates as low as 4%.
10. Halter and lead ropes with each purchase.
11. Assistance with farm planning--from business plans, to farm layout to breeding selections to marketing. And, all seminar registration fees are waived for clients of AATC.
12. Your purchase of a female alpaca also includes free transportation (not to exceed $500).

We look forward to working with you whether you attend one of our seminars, come by for a farm visit, decide to purchase some of our beautiful alpacas or just want to bounce some ideas off of us.

Breeding Decisions - Use ALL the Tools Available to You

Our alpacas are beautiful animals and they are very calming to the spirit--but in the final analysis of our individual business plans if we are not trying to develop a business with a profit motive involving more than the sale of the alpacas themselves then what are we really offering. Developing an alpaca with low micron, high density, bundled fiber which remains consistent throughout the fleece with excellent conformation should be our goal. As we see it consistency is almost more important than the micron count as it facilitates the ease of processing the fiber. All classes of fiber can be used for a variety of purposes but if we aim for consistency it will help to minimize the overall costs of processing.

As we make our breeding decisions each year we need to be sure to use all of the tools currently available--such as fiber sorting records, EPD (estimated progeny differences) and histograms. And, of course, prior breeding history is a resource that costs us nothing--incrementally--as those costs are in the past. Each breeding decision is critical to the success and growth of our respective farms.

Those of you who are regular readers know how committed our farm is to the philosophy and benefits of using the Certified Sorted™ method. Because of that commitment we will start posting the newsletters we receive from Coarse Broads on this blog. Their newsletters are a wealth of information helping us to understand the process and the path to developing our herds into a sustainable business--and isn't that what we are all trying to accomplish. Here is the link for Coarse Broad's April Newsletter as well as the archive of prior newsletters. Note the subscribe button toward the top of the page.

If you have purchased animals from us or any other farms affiliated with the Ideal Alpaca Community then you have the benefit of being connected with the only active Alpaca EPD program in the country. Follow this link to learn about the IAC--and membership is currently free. One of the great benefits of membership is that it helps you coordinate and manage your shear list. Once your herd information is entered, selecting the sequence of shearing your animals is simple and the system is also designed to print all the transmittal forms required for submission of fiber samples. As the size of your herd grows these tools become more and more valuable--especially when you have histograms processed for all the alpacas in your herd.

Bottom line--look at the tools available to you. Does the cost out weigh the value provided. Fiber sorting is $15 per animal; histograms for the IAC $9.50 per sample--the benefits of using this information--priceless. They are the ultimate tools for making your breeding decisions.

Snow River Alpacas Annual Shearing

Tomorrow Peggy is traveling to Colfax, CA to help Snowy River Alpacas with their annual shearing day. Robyn Kuhl from Coarse Broads will be there to sort the fiber.

And don't forget on Saturday, June 27th Carrie Hull from Coarse Broads will be presenting the seminar "A Good Yarn" at our farm in Astoria, OR. The cost is $50. As with all seminars presented at our farm, the cost is waived for clients of Alpacas at Tucker Creek. A continental breakfast will be served at 8:30 am with the seminar scheduled for 9:00 am. We will be shearing the following two days. If you would like to help please contact us on or before Friday, June 26th so we can include you in our duty roster (our email and phone numbers are in the box to the right). If you wish to watch the event but not get dirty (and we do tend to get dirty) the cost of admission is a nonperishable food item for the Clatsop Community Action Regional Food Bank or the Clatsop County Animal Control Shelter.

If you are near Snowy River Alpacas this weekend through Tuesday and would like to learn more about the Certified Sorted™ method please contact Hailey at 530-346-6885 so she and Robyn can be expecting you.

Willamette Alpaca Breeders Association

The Willamette Alpaca Breeders Association invited me to join them for their meeting on February 12th to discuss the current tax laws and the impact the economy has on the alpaca industry. As part of that invitation, Maren Anderson from Evergreen Terrace Farms interviewed me for their on-line series Paca Talk. The link to that interview is below.

http://www.pacatalk.com/2009/02/paca-talk-6-peggy-stevens-interview/

Between traveling and getting sick, this is the first chance I have had to share this interview with you. We would also like to thank Maren and WABA for their kind invitation.