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!

Oops . . . made a mistake on last entry

In the prior blog entry there is reference to the most recent tax law regarding bonus depreciation.  It was stated that the 50% bonus depreciation was extended through 2010.  That was an error . . . here is the corrected info:

A 100% writeoff in the placed-in-service year of the cost of property eligible for bonus depreciation under Code Sec. 168(k) . This will apply for property acquired and placed in service after Sept. 8, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2012.

A 50% bonus first-year depreciation allowance under Code Sec. 168(k) for property placed in service after Dec. 31, 2011, and before Jan. 1, 2013.

So bottom line, Bonus Depreciation is going to be around through the end of 2012.  Now that is a planning opportunity.  And remember . . . there are no offset limitations to bonus depreciation . . . it can offset earned income, interest, dividends, pensions, rental income, capital gains . . . any kind of income.  The only stipulations . . . the assets must be NEW and placed in service by the end of the year to be eligible as a deduction for that year.  A new alpaca is a male or female of breeding age who has not yet produced a cria.
 
Sorry for the error . . . but what great news!

Expanded Tax Deductions + Great Sales Prices = Exceptional Year End Opportunity

Just the basics for this entry. The IRS has expanded the Section 179 Deduction available for 2010 and 2011 to $500,000 with a purchase ceiling of $2,000,000. They have also extended the 50% bonus depreciation through 2010. Both of those deductions make year end buying a great tax strategy.

When you couple those deductions with our year end sale, you have an opportunity to maximize your tax deductions while getting exceptional values. Select any alpaca on our sales list and get the second one for free (of equal or lesser value). For example, if you were to select Bella (list price $7,750) and Chloe ($6,750) you would get them both for $7,750.

So start pondering your tax situation and pick out the alpacas that will enhance and or diversify your breeding program.  Just make your decision by midnight on December 31st for it to apply to 2010.