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Farm Mission Statement:
At Meadowlark Farm, our mission is to demonstrate that using statistical genetics in breeding decisions will both enhance the rate of genetic improvement in alpacas and increase the profitability of farms with small to medium sized herds.
Our herd will showcase the power of these approaches, and our improved animals will be valuable additions to your breeding program.
Please call or email to visit and see EPDs in action or discuss how you can use these modern genetic methods to kick the results of your breeding program up a notch!
Dr. Sara Via svia@umd.edu 410-740-4569
Farm Description:
I've used statistical genetics for 30 years in my research on how organisms become increasingly well adapted to their environments. Recently, while contemplating the next chapter of my life, it struck me that I would enjoy using my training in some new ways. This led me to alpacas, and eventually to the IAC. Meadowlark Farm is a small piece of tranquility tucked away in the Maryland suburbs, and as we improve the pastures and facilities, it is becoming a great place to raise alpacas. I look forward to using the EPDs in my breeding decisions, and to helping others use them as well.
The principles of statistical genetics were first developed and applied to animal breeding in the 1940’s. Since then, the huge cattle and sheep breeding industries have invested millions of dollars on research to improve the accuracy of these methods. These are for-profit industries, and they use statistical genetic methods because they work!
The Expected Progeny Difference (EPD) is the crown jewel of currently available genetic tools in animal breeding The data are in and the results are clear: using EPDs to inform breeding decisions has radically increased not just the quality of the animals, but also their profitability relative to the time when breeding decisions were based mostly on pedigree analysis and show results.
Alpaca breeding in the US is a very young industry.We can benefit from the decades of research by geneticists in the cattle and sheep industries, and take immediate advantage of the same cutting-edge genetic methods that they use.By participating in the virtual herd that is organized by the Ideal Alpaca Community, and using EPDs as the cornerstone of a breeding program, alpaca breeders can dramatically increase the rate of genetic improvement in their herds. This WILL increase profits.
By using EPDs to make breeding decisions, the progeny produced every year will be closer to the elite breeding ideal than their parents, WHATEVER the breeding goal of the individual breeder may be. We all know that the more the cria is improved relative to the dam, the more the profit on that cria will be.
At Meadowlark Farm, we walk the talk.We use the best combination of EPD estimates and direct phenotypic analysis to make breeding decisions, and we can help you to do the same thing on your farm!
Farm Directions:
Please call or email if you would like to visit!
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