World Alpaca Conference
meat and hide,” said Ian who has a herd of 500 alpacas and is the largest meat producer in the country. “We differ greatly from the UK in that the meat is becoming a serious commercial operation for us – it’s high in protein, 95% fat free and we’re seeing increasing demand from fi ve star restaurants, it even featured recently at the Sydney Food Festival. “I know UK breeders fi nd it hard to accept but if you’ve got a barren female, or an animal that is not producing good fi bre, it is diffi cult to justify the feeding costs or the paddock space.”
Chris Williams, who is the second largest breeder in the country with 1000 animals, agreed: “The trade is in its early stages but alpaca meat has an exclusivity that is highly marketable, and it’s an eco-friendly, fully sustainable product. There is no room for sentiment – if you want a viable business, you have to make use of the whole animal.”
USA
Dr Andrew Merriwether gave an overview of the industry in the USA.
The fi rst Chilean imports were to North America in the 1980s and the fi rst Peruvian imports between 1993 and 1998, many of them still breeding today.
“Alpaca Registry, Inc (ARI) began in 1989 and has 7000 active members, 210,000 registered animals, 150,000 of which are DNA verifi ed,” he said.
Ohio has the largest concentration of animals with 26,089 registered and most of the national herd is white although there is an increase being seen in the darker colours.
There are two large fi bre cooperatives which are now
processing enough clip to become profi table and fi bre arts and small cottage industries are increasing. The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA), a separate organisation, was established in 1987 and now has 3749 members.
The World Alpaca Conference organising committee. From left to right: Caroline Trotter and Caroline Roberts, fashion show; Shirley Bettinson, joint chair; Philippa Collett, marketing liaison and conference secretary; Viv Cook, handbook and raffl e; John Clarke, promotional material; Di Davies, joint chair.
22 Alpaca Summer 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52