Feb 12
7
The World Of Alpaca Farming
There was a time when alpaca farming was largely restricted to the heights of South America. Nowadays, however, alpaca breeding has migrated to the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia New Zeeland and China.
Alpacas are reared in several South American countries, among them Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, but the center of the alpaca world lies in Peru. With over three million alpacas, the country is well known to deliver the most outstanding quality of alpaca fiber, most of it to be used in the fashion industry in Europe. Although the alpaca farms were once isolated and remote, advancement in Peru’s transport network resulted in new innovations in the processing of alpaca. A textile mill was completed in 1947 and two local firms, the Michell Company and Grupo Inca now play a leading role in an industry which earns $50 million annually.
The early alpaca farms of the United States, Canada and Australia were set up in the 1980s.
In the early days in the United States, alpaca breeding was closely related to llama farms. Initially the Alpaca Registry and the Llama Registry were linked, and today the genetic heritage of nearly each alpaca in the United States is charted. In 1993, alpaca breeders in the USA were finally able to secure Peruvian stock to boost the North American alpaca herd.
North American focus has consistently stayed with breeding, rather than the fiber trade.
The mark of a sound breeding programme lies in the calibre of crias that result from the stud’s animals. This can specifically be said of the sire that services the herd. The lay of his bones and the fineness of his fleece can be taken as indications of his excellence, but the most important criteria of a sire will be that he produces good alpaca stock for the future.
There are different approaches to breeding. One is to work towards concentrating the good traits of a herd. If the genetic heritage is too wide, it becomes difficult to predict the results from any pairings. An approach that opts for diversity, however, can introduce fresh characteristics to your alpaca herd.
The alpaca industry showed a very different growth pattern in Australia where wool played a significant part in the economy. For one, the focus shifted far more speedily from breeding to fiber trade as the prime potential of alpaca farming. Likewise, the approach to stock growth strategies is very different. Australian breeders think nothing of pairing Suri with Huacaya alpacas and they regularly employ artificial insemination. Their alpaca industry has benefited from trade with Europe and also with China in fiber as well as livestock.
In most parts of the world, alpaca farming is still in its infancy, but the industry already has a number of dedicated fans.
