The American Alpaca Journal - Issue 3 - Little Creek Farm
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The American Alpaca Journal Issue 3 July 2020
Snagged, Not Stopped
We chose an image of barb wire for the cover of this issue of The American
Alpaca Journal for a reason, as the combination of tariff war-related wool
supply chain disruptions followed the COVID-driven interruptions in manu-
facturing, trade, and travel caused pain and a loss of forward momentum for
many if not most businesses in our value chain. And, certainly, as a sector
we’ll be healing for a while. But people who choose to breed animals that
have 11-month gestations and can only reproduce with live cover tend to be
very forward looking and unusually optimistic, so we suspect that many of
you share our feeling that there are as many opportunities as there are chal-
lenges in the current environment, and there will be at least a little fun in
hunting the former while dodging the latter.
Ohio’s governor Mike DeWine endeared himself to us recently when he
said “I have spent 40 years in public office and the mistakes I’ve made are
generally when I didn’t have enough information, didn’t talk to the right
people, didn’t drill down to get the facts.” We took those words to heart in
the preparation of this issue of the journal and consulted with many of our
fellow breeders as well as with owners of alpaca product manufacturing and
wholesale businesses to gain insight into how we might all best position our
businesses going forward. We also report the results of some drilling down
we did here to better understand the source of a prized fleece trait in alpacas.
As always we encourage you to contact us with questions or a funny joke.
Have a great summer!
In This Issue
Page 2
Breeding for Brightness
Page 12
Make More Money From Your Sires
Page 24
Planning For The 2020 Alpaca Products Retail Sales Season
Page 30
Dark Spots In Solid Colored Alpacas: What They Reveal
Page 40
Notes From Our Breeding Program
1
eoples’ eyes are drawn to reflective surfaces. Research has
also shown that we tend to make some positive subconscious
assumptions about bright-appearing things, like that they will
be pleasant to touch, uniform in nature and, sometimes, higher
in quality. Retail product designers know this, and all it takes
is a quick trip to the grocery store to appreciate how they ex-
ploit this understanding. Everything from salad mixes to potato chips are sold
in glossy bags. Cuts of meat are presented wrapped in reflective film in brightly
light cases trimmed with gleaming aluminum. The beauty aisle is full products
that will make our hair “shine” and our skin “glow.”
It is therefore no surprise that many alpaca owners have the goal of improving
the brightness of their animals’ fleeces in their breeding programs. However,
as we’ll discuss, the choice of method used to evaluate brightness will affect
the outcomes of such efforts. This is because brightness is not an independent
quality, but instead is derived from other attributes of a fleece. In this article,
we describe methods of subjectively assessing brightness and explore their
implications for selective breeding efforts.
Brightness and Its Sources
When Huacaya breeders use the term “brightness” to describe a fleece, they
are referring to an attribute known in other settings as gloss or luster. Luster
is defined as “the state or quality of shining by reflecting light.” When we com-
ment on the brightness of a fleece, we are thus describing its reflectivity.
When light hits an individual hair, some of it is reflected off the surface of the
hair, and some penetrates the hair cuticle and is reflected off its internal cells,
pigment molecules (which is how we see the color of the hair) and even the op-
posing cuticle layer. Light can be dispersed, or reflected at an angle to its source,
by both variations in the smoothness of the surface, for instance due to crimp,
scale height, or cuticle damage, and by its internal structures, and this disper-
sion acts to reduce the amount of light an observer sees reflected from the hair.
Thus, an individual fiber’s reflective qualities are determined by the translucen-
cy of the material of which it is made as well as the geometry of its structure.
Many of those attributes are presumably genetically derived or influenced.
However, alpaca breeders and for that matter most textile market partici-
pants do not ordinarily assess brightness by analyzing individual hairs. Instead,
they evaluate the aggregate reflective properties of numerous hairs organized
in particular ways, and the way those hairs are organized to create the larger
surface area of a fleece, yarn or fabric affects how those things reflect light.
For instance, researchers have demonstrated that the luster of yarn decreases
Breeding For as the number of twists per inch increases. They have also shown that weaving
patterns influence the luster of the resulting fabrics.
Likewise, when we assess a fleece on an animal, its organization and crimp
Brightness style affect our perception of brightness. Holding color constant, these at-
tributes of the fleece are more important to this perception than are the
3
characteristics of the individual fibers. Fleeces with superior staple organi-
zation and fiber alignment will disperse less light and appear brighter than
fleeces lacking such organization. So will fleeces exhibiting lower crimp
frequencies (and thus more uniform surfaces) compared to those exhibit-
ing higher crimp frequencies. This is true even if the reflective properties of
the individual hairs making up fleeces that vary in these way are otherwise
identical.
This begs the question of whether Huacaya breeders should selectively
Brightness in an intact fleece, on
breed for the brightness they perceive in intact fleeces. As compelling as it
the animal or off, is often indica-
is, the brightness that is produced by the superior organization and alignment tive of a higher degree of staple
of fibers on the animal has no intrinsic value itself, because that alignment is density.
eliminated in processing as the individual fibers are reorganized to produce
yarns, fabrics, and felt. However, it might be a readily observable and useful
proxy for other traits that do have such value. In addition, assessments of the
brightness of fiber samples taken from the fleece, made either subjectively or
with equipment designed to measure reflectivity, may provide other useful in-
formation for breeders. The following discussion explores these possibilities
in more detail.
Subjective Assessments of Brightness
Unlike an objective assessment which is based exclusively on measurement,
a subjective assessment is one that requires judgment. We rely on subjective
assessment when consistent measurement is either not possible or limited by
other factors, like cost or variation in the environment. Alpaca breeders tend
to rely extensively on subjective phenotypic assessments for insights into the
genotypic characteristic of their animals for breeding decision-making. We de-
cided to look for links between assessments of brightness and other informa-
tion we rely on to make breeding decisions in our own program.
Our first step was to assess whether different ways of subjectively assess-
ing brightness affected what fleece and hair attributes we were indirectly ob-
serving. To do this we brought in a well-trained set of eyes to evaluate eight
white fleeces, scoring them for brightness and other characteristics as they
would be scored at a fleece show and then individually evaluating the bright-
ness of both stretched individual staple samples as well as samples that had
been pulled apart to eliminate any staple structure before being stretched. The
fleeces and samples were presented in a random order and without identifica-
tion for each separate brightness assessment. Meanwhile, a single staple from
the mid-side of each fleece was weighed and a stretched length was recorded
so that a rough measure of staple density, grams per inch of staple, could be
calculated.
While the overall sample was small, we were interested to find that the sub-
jective scoring of unstretched fleece brightness — the one we make when we
evaluate a fleece on an animal or from a shorn but unstretched sample — was
highly correlated (.80) with our calculated measure of staple density, grams per
inch of staple. (It was also positively correlated with the subjective scoring of
staple density, though not as highly as with the objective measure, which may
in part reflect the challenges of scaling subjective judgments.) This suggests
that much of what we are seeing when we observe an especially bright fleece
on an animal is a high degree of staple density, which creates a more reflective
visual surface than that does a more open staple. By contrast, staple density
4 5
was not well correlated with either type of assessment of stretched fleece
brightness. Our takeaway was that selecting for brightness of the fleece on an
animal or on skirting table is the much like selecting for staple density.
Returning to our brightness evaluation, the correlation between the assess-
ments of brightness of stretched and unstretched individual staples was posi-
tive — suggesting that we observe some of the same attributes in each case
— but lower than the correlation we found between unstretched brightness
and staple density. But the brightness scores of the densest stapled animals
Colored fleeces can appear
dropped relative to those with more open staples when the samples were
eye-catchingly bright too, but
stretched. We believe this was because when we stretch the staples before as- because of the refraction of light
sessing brightness to reduce the impact of crimp style on our assessment, we off the pigment in the hairs, they
also distribute the fiber in a way that reduces the differences in density, and so will not match the brightness of
the best whites.
are evaluating other attributes of the fleece. Similarly, the correlation between
our evaluation of stretched staples and the stretched samples for which we
had eliminated the staple organization was also positive.
The main point to take away from this exercise is that different methods of
assessing fleece brightness will give you different results, and your choice of
method should be driven by the traits for which you wish to breed. For instance,
it is our belief that staple density and on-the-animal fleece brightness is val-
uable in the show ring and for selling animals — it’s the glossy, eye-catching
wrapper on a package. However, we are not yet convinced that staple density
is well correlated with fleece weights or other traits which affect the value of
our clip. Also keep in mind that you can improve the consistency of subjective
judgments both among individual assessors and over time by creating visual
reference scales, which can be as simple in concept as that shown in the photo
on page 8.
Assessment Challenges Due To Color And Environment
The darker the color of alpaca fiber, the less bright it will appear, holding
other attributes constant. This is because the pigment particles in the shaft
of the hair fiber disperse light shining from a viewer’s perspective, reducing its
reflectivity. For the same reason, dyed fiber appears duller than undyed fiber,
and the darker the dyed color, the more pronounced this difference is. That
said, most of us have probably seen dark colored Huacayas carrying fleeces
that we would describe as bright, even relative to those of many white ani-
mals. This is another reminder that when we judge the brightness of a fleece
while it is on the animal or intact on a skirting table, we are primarily observ-
ing staple organization and density, rather than traits of the individual hairs.
This source of brightness does not contribute to the brightness of processed
alpaca products.
Environmental impacts on the fleeces our animals produce can also be sig-
nificant and affect comparisons of brightness between animals on farms with
different conditions: A farm in an arid region where animals live on a dusty dry
lot will be challenged to produce fleeces as bright as those of animals living on
grass, and uncoated animals will struggle to look as bright as coated ones. Even
year-over-year comparisons at the same farm can be a challenge if conditions
vary significantly over that interval. This can make it more difficult to select
the seed stock with the genetics to improve brightness, as well to measure the
outcomes of such a selection effort.
As a result, when your breeding selection process requires you to assess the
6 7
relative brightness of intact fleeces produced in different environments, we
suggest you consider adding a measure of staple density to help choose the
animal that would appear brightest at your farm. Our grams-per-inch measure
was easily and quickly produced using only a ruler and a scale that cost less
than $12, but subjective assessments of staple density may ultimately be as
good or better, especially with some practice calibrating one’s judgment with
objective results.
You can improve the consistency A Case Study: Brightness Assessment At Snowmass Alpacas
of your subjective evaluations of
brightness by creating a scoring It has long been the practice at Snowmass Alpacas to subjectively score and
reference source for yourself, record the brightness of a stretched sample from each fleece at shearing time.
like these cards exhibiting fleece The scores are subsequently used to inform breeding decisions. In fact, Snow-
samples scored for different
mass’ internal measure of brightness has been one of the traits upon which the
levels of brightness.
greatest selection pressure has been applied over the duration of the program,
in the belief that it was both intrinsically valuable and correlated with other
traits of interest.
To make the brightness assessment, the butt end of a sample of fleece was
stretched tightly around an index finger to reduce the impact of differences in
crimp style on the assessment and then viewed in a consistent light. Bright-
ness was then scored on a scale of one to three, with one being brightest. His-
torically the great majority of samples scored between one and two. To look at
the correlation between brightness scores and other fleece traits, we consid-
ered a high brightness group of white and light females scoring either 1.0 or 1.1
for brightness at their 2019 shearing (58 in total), and compared them to a low
brightness group scoring 1.6 or higher at that time (63 in total.)
The average age of the females in the high and low brightness groups was
nearly identical, at approximately four years. So was the average AFD of their
fleeces (17.7 versus 17.5, respectively) and the average curvature (52.6 de-
grees/mm versus 52.9.) However, the high brightness group had a notably
longer average stretched staple length at shearing: 4.6 inches compared to
3.7 inches for the low brightness group. This correlation with staple length
was also evident in the averaged EPDs for the two group. The high brightness
group had an average EPD for staple length of -0.10, compared to -1.93 for the
low brightness group. This difference persisted after adjusting for relationship
between the unstretched staple lengths used for EPDs and curvature, which
explains some of the differences between stretched and unstretched staple
lengths, and makes us feel confident in asserting that staple growth rates are
positively correlated with subjective assessments of brightness generated by
the method we describe above.
It is possible that the growth rate of a fleece affects the hairs in a way that
improves their structural uniformity and therefore their reflectivity. As one ex-
ample of how that might occur, research in sheep has shown that faster fleece
growth increases the distance between cuticle scale edges, which is another
way of saying there are fewer scales per unit of length. It is also often the case
that Huacaya fleeces exhibiting more staple length also have a lower crimp fre-
quency which disperses less light than a higher crimp frequency fleece does,
increasing the observed brightness even when the fleece sample is stretched.
Finally, it could be that longer-stapled fleeces are also less contaminated by
brightness-dulling dust that are shorter-stapled ones, all else constant.
Comparing the other averaged EPDs of the high and low brightness groups,
8 9
we found that the high brightness group had a finer average EPD for AFD, and of hair and is used to validate product claims in the cosmetics industry. Unfor- also had better results for uniformity as measured by the EPD for SD, %>30 tunately, the cost of the instrument as well as the fiber preparation necessary and our EPD-derived measure for micron-adjusted uniformity. The differenc- for testing makes it an impractical option for the alpaca breeding industry. es were small, however. A more significant difference was evident when we Never ones to give up in the face of clearly insurmountable challenges that compared the skirted blankets weights of the two groups: The high brightness would deter smarter people, we decided to see if there was a way to produce group averaged a skirted blanket weight that was 50% higher than the low some information of value using a much less expensive instrument, a gloss- brightness group. meter. These are used in many industries to measure the reflectivity of paint, About half of this weight difference can be explained by the longer average metal, and packaging, among other things, and are available for a few hun- staple lengths of the high brightness group. While individual skirted blanket dred dollars. Long story short, the fiber preparation necessary to get consist- weights can also be affected by environmental and behavioral factors that pro- ent results from the glossmeter, which involves producing samples that are duce damage or contamination, we think it is likely that the variation in skirted highly uniform in both thickness and tension, was beyond both our capability average blanket weights in this case was linked to either higher follicular densi- and our patience. Results that could contribute meaningfully to breeding de- ty or greater extension of prime blanket characteristics on the high brightness cisions might have also required scouring. We were forced to conclude that animals (or both) in the group we considered. educated subjective assessments of brightness remain the primary tool at Blanket extension in particular is an important measure of uniformity not cap- alpaca breeders’ disposal. tured by any EPD measure, and it is possible that the subjective way of measur- ing brightness is correlated with this trait, although further analysis based on Implications For Selective Breeding animals unrelated to ours would be necessary to confirm this. This is because The results described here suggest it is very possible to breed for fleeces that both brightness and blanket extension have been under simultaneous selec- appear brighter on our animals and on the skirting table. Selecting based on tion pressure at Snowmass, so we can’t be sure if they are genetically linked or an intact fleece’s brightness favors the genetics for denser stapling fleeces, a just appearing together because of that simultaneous selection. characteristic that is favorably viewed in the show ring. When using the bright- We also performed aggregate pedigree analysis on the bright and dull groups ness of a stretched sample as the basis of selection, we are more likely to be to see if we could identify other genetically-linked patterns, and we found one indirectly favoring longer staple lengths and heavier blankets. Breeders should important one: The gene pool of the dull group included a proportionately thus base their methods of assessing brightness on the breeding outcomes greater contribution from darker-colored ancestors than did the bright group, they prefer and the genotypes they wish to establish in their herds. and in fact 43% of the animals in the dull group had at least one parent that was fawn or darker, as compared to 9% of the animals in the bright group. This did not come as a complete surprise, as we had previously been impressed by the ability of Snowmass founders Julie and Don Skinner to look at samples of shorn white fleece and, without knowing the identity of the alpaca, accurately guess whether or not it had darker colored ancestors in its pedigree based on the degree of brightness present. That said, part of the difference in our two sample groups’ average brightness may be due to the fact that the color of the dull group actually skews slightly darker than that of the bright group, with proportionately more animals registered as beige relative to white. It is possi- ble that the amount of pigment differentiating a white animal from a beige one (even if only at birth) is enough to be able to appreciably change our perception of brightness. Objective Brightness Assessments Using A Glossmeter Generally speaking, we prefer to use objective measures of fleece attributes rather than subjective ones, as this eliminates observer biases and allows for us to produce information in a process that can be replicated by other breed- ers in other programs to produce truly comparative data. We were familiar with the study of luster in Suri fleece produced in 2011 by C.J. Lupton and A. McColl, which compared instrument measures of luster with those of two alpaca judges, and found both a poor correlation between the judges and be- tween the judges’ assessments and those made by instrument. We inquired about purchasing the instrument that produced the luster measures in the Suri study, the SAMBA Hair System, which is designed to measure the gloss 10 11
ow are people converting their alpaca sires’ valuable genet-
ics into dollars for their businesses? We decided to study the
most successful young- to middle-aged Huacaya breeding
males to look for patterns in their monetization. We also sur-
veyed a large group of U.S. breeders to learn more about when
and why they access outside sires for their breeding programs.
When we considered all the information, some clear factors influencing what
breeders earn from their males emerged, some of which might be surprising.
We leave it to you whether to read through the information we collected first or
skip straight to our conclusions and then go back through the analysis to find
out why we think what we do.
Studying Recently Successful Sires
To study our successful male group we first had to assemble it, and that re-
quired a definition of success. For this purpose, it was obvious: A successful sire
was one that was being used a lot. Accordingly, we considered all Huacaya sires
born in 2013 or later that had produced at least 25 AOA-registered offspring in
the first two to three years of their breeding careers. At the time of our analysis
there were 21 males who cleared this threshold. Taken as a group, they had
885 offspring that had been registered at that point. If those offspring were all
salable at an average price of $5000 each, that would translate into average
earnings of about $210,000 per male in the first two to three years of their
breeding careers. That would more than keep the lights on at most breeding
operations, so it’s worth delving further into the demographics of these males
to understand the potential sources of the demand for their services.
The 21 males in the high-success group were produced by nine different
breeding programs and at the time of the analysis were owned solely or in
partnership by 25 different programs, some of which owned more than one.
Almost half of the males (48%) were fawn in color, followed in predominance
by greys (19%), and then whites/beiges and true blacks (14% each). There was
only one brown male in the group.
We found a lot of consistency in these males’ basic market profiles. Fifteen
of the 21 males had earned a champion or reserve banner in a show, five had
shown but earned lesser awards, and only two were never shown. Over half
had EPDs that were publicly available, and over 80% of those with EPDs had
at least one trait measure ranked in the fifth percentile or better. Their own
sires were produced by just five breeding programs, all with potentially helpful
national brand recognition. Two-thirds of the males had a Snowmass sire. Five
of the males had been exported at the time of our analysis, after starting their
Make More Money breeding careers in the U.S. Those five have been excluded from the portions
of the market analysis that follow.
We were interested to find that two-thirds of the U.S.-based males in our high
From Your Sires success group were not currently owned by the program that produced them.
The breeders who produced and then sold these high-producing sires were
13
Figure 1 on average smaller-sized than those which had retained males in this group
for their own breeding programs. This suggests a first monetization lesson:
Demographics Of Younger Huacaya Males Smaller breeding operations may earn more by selling an exceptional sire they
With The Most Registered Offspring produce than by retaining him for their own use over time, as they will have
fewer dams to use him with than a potential purchaser or purchase group.
The top-producing sires that were being used in programs other than their
OWNERSHIP COLOR programs of origin were typically owned by a partnership of two or more
breeders. These males had produced more registered crias on average than
those who were retained to work in the programs they came from (59 versus
36, respectively,) and 60% of them were listed as available for outside breed-
ings on farm websites or Openherd. None of the retained sires were offered for
outside breeding. Where available the average advertised stud fee for males in
the group was just under $3000.
The offspring registrations of males available for outside breeding showed
that the typical farm or partnership had conveyed breedings to an average
of 12 different breeding programs to date in their animals’ breeding careers.
(We estimate this number by counting instances where a breeder not in the
Owned by original breeder
White/Beige True Black/Grey Fawn/Brown male’s ownership group used their own herd identifiers in the animals’ regis-
Owned by single purchaser tered names. As there is no requirement to use the breeder’s herd identifier in
a name, and also nothing stopping an owner allowing another breeder to use
Owned by purchase partnership
their herd identifier if they wish, some misattribution of breeding decisions
may occur.) Partnerships listing purchased males as closed to outside breed-
ing at the time of our analysis had conveyed breedings to an average of 11 dif-
HALTER CHAMPIONSHIP/RESERVE EPDS AVAILABLE ferent breeding programs, which was so close in number to that of the “open”
males that we wondered if the difference in advertised availability was gener-
ally more a function of marketing than substance. By contrast, the typical male
being deployed within its program of origin had been used in this way by just
five outside breeding programs.
We think these differences in access to the males’ genetics likely reflect the
fact that farms and partnerships who purchased this type of marquee herdsire
are more likely to seek revenues from sales of breedings and sales of females
with a complimentary breeding as part of their monetization strategy, while the
farms that produced and then retained the sires are probably more narrowly
focused on selling the offspring, and perhaps also on managing the market
Yes No Yes No value for related genetics by exercising more control over their supply as well
as their subsequent use.
There is some anecdotal evidence to support these conclusions in the other
ADVERTISED AS OPEN FOR BREEDINGS market-related demographic data: 90% of the purchased sires were show
champions (a shorter-lived valuation measure) as opposed to only 50% of the
retained ones, and two thirds of the retained sires had EPDs (a longer-lived
valuation measure) compared to 40% of the purchased sires. This pattern
suggests a potential difference in the genetic investment timeline for these
sires’ owners.
Before we turned from our demographic analyses to other market informa-
tion, we compared the results discussed above for the high-success male group
to those of a random selection of males of the same age that had produced
between 8 and 15 registered offspring, to see if there were any systematic dif-
ferences between those males and the higher-producing ones that either sup-
ported or undermined the conclusions we had drawn. We found that the males
Yes No Exported in the lower-success group looked virtually identical to the high-success group
14 15
with regard to the proportion that had won banners at shows, or for which EPDs
were available. But they were more likely to be owned by the breeders that bred
Figure 2
them (47%, versus 33% of the high success group) and less likely to be owned How Many Outside Breedings Our Survey
by a partnership (13% versus 38%). This is likely part of the reason why they
are being used less. Not surprisingly, we also found that they had been used in
Respondents Conducted In The Last Two Years
fewer outside breedings, but interestingly, as a group they were being used in-
side and outside their programs in about the same proportion on average as the
high success males. In other words, programs and partnerships doing relatively 8%
few internal breedings with a male were doing relatively few outside breedings 6%
as well, while programs and partnerships doing more internal breedings were
also selling or distributing more.
Why this is, we don’t know. It may be that bigger breeding operations and 15%
partnerships have more market connections and find it proportionately easier 49%
to sell or otherwise distribute breedings. It could also be that potential cus-
tomers look at the degree to which a sire’s owner is utilizing a male in their
own programs as an important indicator of desirability. Whatever the case, the
10%
correlation between using a male more and distributing more breedings was
strong enough (nearly 70% in this sample) that we recommend taking it into
account in your male purchase and partnership decisions: Don’t purchase, or at 12%
least pay a lot for, a male that you don’t intend to use heavily in your own breed-
ing program, and if you run a small breeding effort, consider looking for a larger
partner who is willing to commit to using the male’s genetics to a meaningful None 1-2 3 4 5 6 or more
degree.
Polling Decision-Makers
Analyzing the market and production profiles of alpaca sires that have been
particularly heavily used in recent years provides some important clues about Figure 3
what has worked when it comes to positioning sires to produce a lot of off- Percentage Of Breeders Who Conducted At Least Five
spring and, hopefully, substantial value for their owners. But we don’t want to
substitute the past for the future. That’s why we also polled a large group of fel- Outside Breedings In The Last Two Years By Size Of
low breeders to learn what they consider when purchasing outside breedings, Breeding Program
and present the results here.
First, some demographic information. Over 90% of our survey respond- 90%
ents had conducted outside breedings in the last two years, and as Figure
2 shows, nearly half of the respondent group had done six or more. The poll 80%
results shown in Figure 3 also make it clear that outside breedings are a fun- 70%
damental part of the genetic management strategies of a majority of small
60%
breeding programs. As Figure 4 reveals, breeders sourced those breedings
in a number of ways, of which purchasing the breeding from the sire’s owner 50%
was most common, followed by receiving it as part of another animal pur-
40%
chase and buying a donated breeding at auction. Forty-one percent of our
respondents who had conducted outside breedings in the last two years re- 30%
ported having traded the services of their own sire for at least one of the 20%
breedings they did. Purchases of packages of breedings were relatively un-
common. Important to know: 77% of the breeders who had purchased out- 10%
side breedings in the last two years had also bought females with breedings, 0%
and an even higher percentage of those who had bought females were also 10 or less 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 or more
purchasing breedings outright. Almost all the breeders who had traded the Number of Females Bred Per Year
services of their male for an outside breeding had also bought breedings
and/or purchased females with breedings. In other words, breeders who are
16 17in the market for new genetics usually manage their acquisition in more than
one way.
Figure 4 We asked breeders what factors had historically motivated them to seek out-
side breedings, and their responses are shown in Figure 5. Almost 9 in 10 indi-
How Breeders Acquired Their cated that a desire for incremental genetic diversity was one of their motiva-
Previous Outside Breedings tions, which is not surprising given the small size of the average alpaca breeding
operation (43% of our respondents breed 20 or less females each year.) The
other most frequently cited motivations included a desire to produce an animal
Purchased breeding that would be retained in their breeding program (72%,) a desire to improve a
trait or traits faster than in-house breeding would allow (66%,) and a goal to
produce an animal that will do well at shows (64%). The desire to produce an
Received breeding with a purchase animal of a specific color was perhaps surprisingly far down the list, and there
seemed to be little demand-pull results in our data, as only 6% mentioned that
marketing for a particularly interesting sire was a motivation.
Purchased donated breeding
When we asked breeders to indicate factors they had considered in choosing
a particular male for breedings in the past and supplied a list of possible an-
Traded for a breeding swers, 87% of respondents said they had considered the male’s pedigree and
64% looked at histograms. Fifty-one percent considered the degree of genetic
relationship between the male and their female, and 45% looked at EPDs. The
Purchased package of breedings stud fee, location of the male, relationship with the male’s owner, and the likely
ease of marketing the resulting offspring rounded out the group of factors
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% most frequently considered in our survey group’s historical decision-making.
We also asked the survey group members to list what factors would matter
most for choosing the next outside male they would use, and to do so in their
own words. We then analyzed their responses for frequencies of reference to
specific words and concepts. The top ten most frequently mentioned consid-
Figure 5 erations are presented in Figure 6. They present a somewhat different picture
Most Commonly-Cited Motivations than the historical responses did, and may provide useful additional input into
stud marketing strategies.
For Outside Breeding The “fleece” or “fiber” quality of the prospective sire was the most frequently
referenced consideration mentioned by our respondents, followed by the
male’s “pedigree” or “genetics.” Twenty percent of the respondents indicated
Introduce genetic diversity
that they wanted to see quality offspring on the ground. Nearly as many specif-
ically mentioned conformation. Location of the male was mentioned by fewer
Improve rate of trait gain
than one in five, as was the color of the male or desired offspring. EPDs, histo-
Produce an animal for own herd grams, the relationship with or reputation of the sire’s owner, and the price of
the breeding rounded out the most frequently mentioned factors of interest.
Produce an animal to show Conspicuously missing from the top factors cited by the group was the male’s
show record, which was mentioned directly by only 5% of respondents.
Produce an animal for sale A number of respondents listed specific fleece attributes they would be look-
ing for in their next outside service sire, and we have shown how those broke
Produce an animal of a certain color out in Figure 7. References to “density” and “consistency” or measures of it
(like SD and CV) were mentioned by over half of those who referenced specific
Monetize own male with a trade fleece traits. “Fineness” came in third, with a number of respondents specifi-
cally mentioning “lasting” or “long-term” fineness in particular. Staple length
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% and fleece structure/staple organization rounded out the most sought-after
fleece characteristics.
Finally, we asked our survey participants whether they offered outside breed-
ings to their own males. Eighty-two percent said they did, and within that group,
the average percentage of annual earnings they earned via outside breedings
18 19was 14%. (Individual answers ranged from 0% to 35%.) For the typical program,
Figure 6 then, the direct contribution to earnings from outside breedings was low. How-
Factors Breeders Say They Will Consider ever, it is likely that the indirect contribution is higher, because of the percent-
When Choosing Their Next Outside Sire age of respondents who noted they trade breedings with other breeders and
the fact that those buying breedings are also often buying animals.
Fleece Quality Putting It All Together To Market Your Sire
The market data contributed by breeders and sourced from breeding records
Genetics/Pedigree
combine to suggest several important considerations to incorporate into your
thinking as you build a plan to profit from a herdsire.
Offspring Quality
The first is that a desire for incremental genetic diversity is a driver of most
Conformation breeding sales, and by extension probably many animal sales as well. This
translates into a finite amount of demand for your sire from your current cli-
Location ent base, and relatively few repeat customers for his services and even his off-
spring. As a result, the monetization plan for most sires should have a limited
Color
time frame during which you both use him internally as much as possible and
Owner Reputation/Relationship market his breedings and animals bred to him. After that, if you have been suc-
cessful, your customers will be looking for not him but the animals to breed
Price to his offspring. At this point you will likely achieve the best financial result by
selling him to a breeder or partnership outside your service region.
EPDs There will be occasional exceptions. Some sires are so transformative, or at
least well-known, that they can help significantly expand the size and geo-
Histogram
graphic reach of your customer base, which extends these males’ financial
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% shelf lives in your program. These household-name sires are few and far be-
tween, though. And keep in mind that those young males who are currently
Percentage of Respondents Naming Factor Among Their Top Considerations
well known for their dominance in the show ring will shortly need to prove
themselves all over again with their offspring. We would treat even the rising
multi-champion show male as a financial short-timer until he proves himself
Figure 7 otherwise.
If you produced rather than purchased your current herdsire and run a small
Specific Fleece Traits Respondents Will or medium-sized program, you will probably earn the most from him by sell-
Search For In Their Next Outside Sire, ing him as he reaches reproductive age, especially if he is out one of your cur-
rent sires rather than the product of a purchased breeding. This is because he
Weighted By Frequency Of Mention will have sisters and other female relatives in your program, which limits your
ability to use him. This is the type of male in which to invest in showing and
marketing while he is young. Very large breeders will often play a different and
11% longer-term game with their genetics, as they have much more ability to main-
22% tain genetic diversity in their herds without resorting to outside transactions.
They are the ones who are most likely to be able to keep a sire they produce
and monetize him exclusively through the sale of bred females and offspring.
The structure of the marketing effort is different as a result, with greater em-
26% phasis on actual offspring and breeding results.
15% All but the largest breeders will probably also benefit financially by owning
their males with partners, as our analysis of male utilization rates suggests that
these partnerships tend to be accretive rather than competitive. Partners ben-
efit from each others’ breeding and marketing efforts as they raise the market
26% profile of the male and demonstrate his value in different bloodline combina-
tions. Partnerships do create certain constraints, however, including potential
limits on the transfer of ownership interests. Have an investment time-line dis-
Fineness Staple Length Density Consistency Fleece structure cussion with a potential partner before investing in a male to confirm that you
20 21are both on the same page regarding your strategies for the male’s use.
Keys To Monetizing Your Herdsire The breeder survey results provide some clear direction regarding how to
market your male. Breeders care about fiber quality and want to see histo-
grams, which are cheap. Many also want to see EPDs, which are even less ex-
pensive on the margin if you are already getting a histogram to begin with. (We
Did you breed or buy this sire?
are continually surprised by the number of breeders who will spend thousands
of dollars chasing show banners but won’t spend the extra couple of dollars
to get a histogram submitted to the AOA EPD program. They are missing out
on part of their potential customer base.) Most breeders are actively manag-
I bred him and: I bought him and: ing their herds’ genetic diversity with their outside breedings, so you will gain
a market advantage if you can demonstrate how your male’s bloodlines have
crossed with those of your clients’ animals. You are not limited to your male’s
own offspring for this analysis: Look at how his relatives have performed when
I have a small to mid-sized I have a large I don’t have a I have a bred to relatives of your customers’ animals.
breeding program breeding program partner partner Consider, too, the type of emphasis you place on color in your marketing. A
significant percentage of our survey respondents indicated they did outside
breedings to produce animals of a certain color, but fewer of them mentioned
considering the color of the male when choosing to do an outside breeding.
Take your cue from this and speak to your male’s demonstrated or potential
I am willing to I am not willing I am willing to I don’t want a genetics for color production when you promote him. As one example, rela-
sell him outright to sell him have a partner partner tively few people seem to breed for brown animals preferentially, but we know
many that breed for fawns. Thus a brown male may be best marketed for his
potential to produce top quality fawns from whites, rather than as a “elite
brown male” or similar.
Finally, the importance of relationships to the monetization of your sire prob-
• Show him • Consider • Manage him • Sell half • Use him • Develop a ably can’t be overstated. Not only are partnerships one of the most important
selling half as a part of the interest to a extensively in two-year keys to maximizing revenues from a herdsire for many breeders, but some of
• Be a interest larger partner who your herd revenue
our survey respondents mentioned relationships and market reputation as
partnership investment wants to use maximization
matchmaker • Use him you have in him a lot, if • Collect the plan with your one of the most important factors in their choice of an outside sire. Use shows
extensively in his bloodlines possible over data that will partner, and other industry events to build connections. Make sure your current clients
• Looks for your herd throughout different help sell his including the hear from you regularly and demonstrate both an interest in and an under-
ways to your herd. bloodlines, offspring possibility of standing of their business needs. And don’t be shy about asking your clients to
demonstrate • Invest in and together sale at that introduce you to breeders you haven’t met, and offer to do the same for them.
his genetic collecting the • Demonstrate develop a • Sell breed- point
Productive collaboration is the rising tide that lifts all boats.
value crossed data people the value of two-year ings but be
over other want to see for crosses with revenue selective as • Share
lines (for a service sire: those maximization you will have a performance
instance via histograms, bloodlines plan bigger overall information
relatives) EPDs, investment in and coordinate
offspring • Control supply • Use him those marketing
• Sell him while performance, extensively bloodlines efforts.
still young etc. • Sell offspring in your own
not breedings herd and sell • Sell him after • Use him
• Sell breedings breedings and two years extensively in
and females females bred your own herd
bred to him to him
• Consider • Invest in
selling him providing the
after two years data buyers
want
22 23lpaca products retailers face some challenging decisions as
they prepare for the critical fall and holiday sales season. Not
only is the international economy reeling from the impact of
COVID-19, but the manufacturing value chain producing al-
paca products absorbed COVID-19’s blow just as it was strug-
gling to recover from the roundhouse kick delivered by last
year’s tariff wars. Alpaca retailers know they need to support their suppliers
but worry about stocking too much, or the wrong products, for a retail season
that may be unlike any they have experienced before. We surveyed some of
the top alpaca products manufacturers and wholesalers in this country to hear
their perspectives and understand their current operating environments. Their
advice for both product retailers and fiber producers follows.
Even before the arrival of the COVID-19 virus, animal fiber suppliers, prod-
uct manufacturers, and retail brands were dizzied by the quick-hitting effects
of the 2019 tariff war. As one example, by early fall 2019 global wool prices
dropped by more than one-third from their earlier 2019 highs, and while they
recovered to end the year down around 25%, this year has seen a further de-
cline, leaving wool prices over 40% lower than they were one year ago. These
international figures actually underestimate the impact on U.S. producers, who
in past years have sold most of their clip to Chinese manufacturers. There are
few customers for the American wool clip at the moment, and prices for some
grades are down as much as 75%.
Meanwhile, the U.S. trade war with China sent more American retail brands on
the hunt for U.S.-based manufacturing options, a move which was abruptly cur-
tailed for most by COVID-19 and its economic impact. Manufacturing orders in
process were cancelled and product development projects abruptly ended as
retail brands strove to preserve operating cash and prepare for a dramatically
changed retail environment. At the same time, many U.S. manufacturing oper-
ations were slowed or idled by shelter-in-place restrictions and social distanc-
ing requirements and are only now returning to full operation — and that only
at businesses which have both sufficient financial resources and to reopen and
a book of business that makes that possible. It is into this ring that the small
brands and retailers who sell most of the products made from alpaca produced
in this country now step.
Before discussing our survey respondents’ perspectives on the current mar-
ketplace and what retailers can do to be both confident and competitive in the
Planning For The
months ahead, some idea of the sources of their perspectives will help. Our
respondent group is all U.S. based and includes mills, commercial machine knit-
ting and weaving businesses, and wholesale manufacturers and distributors
2020 Alpaca Products among others. Nearly 90% them were closed or forced to operate in a reduced
capacity for some period in 2020 as the result of COVID-related restrictions.
At the time of this writing in late May, one quarter were fully open and the rest
Retail Sales Season were operating under at least some degree of restriction, either due to COV-
ID-19 workplace health and safety requirements and the associated lack of
25manpower, or as the result of difficulties procuring the necessary supplies and Many alpaca farm stores and
local stores are well positioned to
equipment to operate.
capitalize on consumers’ interest
Not surprisingly under the circumstances, three-quarters our of respond- in purchasing local- or U.S.-made
ents reported increased manufacturing lead times on at least some of their products, and fostering their
products. But at the same time, wholesale inquiries were down for half of feelings of connection to their
community.
our respondents. Perhaps this is why only one-third of the group expressed
concern that continued operating challenges would lead to difficulty fulfill-
ing orders for fall delivery, even with the longer production lead times some
were experiencing.
But many also reported what we consider developing opportunities, and this
is where we will focus our inquiry. For example, half of our respondents told us
that the number of sales-related inquiries they were receiving from customers
was the same or even higher than over the same period last year. Although
increased customer price sensitivity was predictably present, some manufac-
turers and wholesalers also commented their customers were more interested
in understanding the value chain that produced their product and/or more in-
terested in purchasing American made products. And in at least some cases,
shifting consumer product demand was bringing some new customers into
the fold.
“Our online hand-knitting yarn sales went through the roof” during the COV-
ID-19 shutdown, reported Stacie Chavez of Imperial Yarn. The same was true
for other yarn sellers, and Forbes Magazine ultimately opined that “Knitting has
become the cool activity during the Coronavirus crisis.” In fact, consumer ex-
penditures on crafts and hobbies increased during the economic shutdown,
along with spending on items like kitchen tools and gardening supplies, even
as sales of other nonessential items plummeted. Though it remains to be seen
whether these product categories will remain strong as social distancing re-
strictions are lifted, retailers across sectors are preparing for greatly dimin-
ished sales of luxury items and increased consumer focus on not just price but
also product quality and provenance.
Success In A New Environment
Repositioning your farm store or other retail outlet to succeed in a new op-
erating environment requires that you ask the question, “What new needs
or preferences do my customers have, and how can my business help meet
them?” Some of the answers may vary depending on your location and cus-
tomer demographics. Stores reliant on an older clientele or operating in an area
where the COVID-19 virus has recently been prevalent may benefit from ad-
vertising and providing a safe shopping and agritourism entertainment experi-
ence, while stores in economically hard-hit areas may prosper by shifting their
inventory to feature lower price items.
But most alpaca products retailers will find that their answers include a new or
heightened focus on both providing quality and sustaining community connec-
tions, which is something that many of our industry’s small businesses are par-
ticularly well-positioned to provide. Be creative. We loved the advice provided
by Lanette Freitag, President of FeltLOOM Inc., who noted “Every community
needs a designer for local products.” Perhaps your business could be the one
that helps create, nurture and promote that connection. Or consider providing
a map of local growers and manufacturers who supply products to your store
to your customers, and work with like-minded suppliers to offer “farm to store
26 27shelf” learning tours so those who buy your products can more fully appreci- Collaborating with local
designers and artisans can
ate the benefit they are providing to their community. And if you are selling
provide farm stores with unique
American-grown and -made products, make sure people know it. offerings, offer opportunities for
Though growing consumer price sensitivity is likely, some survey respond- cross promotion, and support
ents cautioned that any reward for neglecting quality will be short-term and community economics.
ultimately not accrue to your advantage. “Don’t give alpaca a bad name” by
offering low quality products now, advise Leslie and Jeff Jorritsma, owners of
Autumn Mist Fiber Mill. “Make sure your product is of good quality and then
market it as such.”
It has been widely observed that the economic shutdown accelerated the
trend towards online purchasing, and many of our survey respondents not sur-
prisingly recommended strengthening a store’s online presence as their top
piece of advice for retailers of their products. Mary Jeanne Packer, President
of Battenkill Fibers, Carding and Spinning Mill highlights that your focus should
not just be on your website but also other platforms like “Facebook, Instagram,
and Etsy.” Digital marketing expert and alpaca breeder Rebecca Gill of Cotton
Creek Farms suggests taking Jeanne’s advice and creating a blend of digital
marketing through a number of channels. “Today’s consumer embraces on-
line and they do a lot of online research prior to purchasing products online or
even in stores. They are eager for content and communication,” says Rebecca.
“Marketing is a year-long activity and the best performance will come from
nurturing your website with content and pushing it out to your social media
accounts, local profiles, and email list on an ongoing basis.”
And even as you work to create new opportunities, don’t neglect your broader
risk exposure. As David Schmidt, President of Kraemer Textiles, Inc. notes, it is
especially important to “prepare well in advance and know your suppliers” as
you prepare for this year’s fall retail season. Wade Gease, owner of The Alpaca
Guy, concurs: “Due to the COVID-19 shutdown there is a shortage of produc-
tion and there will likely be issues with product availability. Get product early.”
More broadly, U.S. alpaca retailers and growers alike must remember that our
small industry is critically dependent on the success of fiber processors in this
country. Every mill and most of our wholesalers responded like Jean Van Ef-
fen, owner of Tahoma Vista Fiber Mill, when we asked what the alpaca com-
munity could do to support their businesses now: “Continue to have your fiber
processed.” While some mills have extended manufacturing lead times at the
moment, others, like Jan Heinrich’s New Era Fiber Mill, are currently operating
with normal lead times for yarn and finished products, though this may change
as more of the 2020 clip reaches the market. As a group they also strongly
emphasized the importance of sending only clean, well sorted fiber for pro-
cessing — in the current more strained operating environment many of these
businesses face, they have even fewer resources available to compensate for
what amount to production deficiencies at grower operations.
Many alpaca products retailers may survey the current market environment
and conclude that the dramatic changes in the retail landscape driven by the
virus’s impact could ultimately play to their favor. That’s what we think also. But
careful attention to business fundamentals will be more important than ever,
and support for others in the value chain absolutely essential. Now’s the time
to build business by listening to others and supporting their changing needs
and goals. They will show you the path to success.
28 29t is not uncommon for solid-colored alpacas to have one or
more spots of a different, darker color, but a lack of knowledge
about the genetics behind these spots’ appearance has com-
plicated the use of spotted animals in solid color breeding pro-
grams. Our analysis of spotted animals in our own herd dem-
onstrates that the color of a spot provides useful information,
because it reveals aspects of the animal’s color genotype that are hidden by its
phenotypic coat color. This in turn can help breeders more accurately breed for
the color they want from a spotted animal, and may by extension allow them to
work a wider range of genetics into their breeding programs.
The Demographics of Dark Spots In Our Herd
For this study, we examined data from the Snowmass breeding program
which has kept detailed records of any color inconsistencies that appear in its
animals, including spots. Each year at shearing, the existence of spots, as well
as their number, color, size, and location are noted for each animal. At the time
of this study, one hundred and forty animals, or about 10% of the solid color-
ed animals in the herd, had at least one spot of a darker color than the rest of
their fleece somewhere on their bodies. Within the group of animals that had
spots, 82% had one spot, 10% had two spots, and 7% had six or more spots.
Their spots were typically small — one-third of the spots were the diameter of
a pencil or smaller, and 62% were the diameter of a quarter or smaller. Approxi-
mately 13% were larger than the diameter of an orange in size.
Sixty percent of the spots carried by study animals fell in a range from medium
fawn to light brown in color (our reasons for grouping the spot colors the way
we did will be explained shortly.) Fourteen percent were light fawn or beige, and
18% were medium or dark brown. Eight percent of the spots observed were
black, and no black spots appeared on white or light animals, but were confined
instead to fawn and brown animals. The study animals displaying more than
one spot universally carried spots of a single color.
Spots were found all over the animals’ bodies. Twenty-six percent were found
on the head, neck, topline or tail, and these tended to be small. Fifty-six percent
were found on the torso or hips of the animals, and 6% were found on the legs.
Animals with multiple spots often had them in multiple regions of their bodies
— 12% of the animals had spots meeting this description — and their distribu-
tion showed no symmetry. Large spots were generally found on the torso and
Dark Spots In Solid
hips, and no large spot was found straddling a topline.
Finally, and importantly, spots in the study herd were not associated with
other types of color contamination, including dorsal striping, vicuna-type color
Colored Alpacas: variation, or contamination with darker primaries. And the darker colored spots
appeared to be universally visible at birth. That is to say, they are congenital —
like a type of birthmark.
What They Reveal
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