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Summary of Ideal Alpaca Community 2008 - 2009 Huacaya EPD Results

Bill McAlister | 10/08/09

The Ideal Alpaca Community to pleased to provide detailed alpaca EPDs for members participating in the EPD program. Several dozen charts are presented that allow you to view EPDs using several different chart formats.

The Huacaya EPDs were computed for the IAC by Dr. David Notter of Virginia Tech. The source of raw data for the analysis was derived from the fiber test sample data IAC members submitted to Yocom-McColl Labs, plus fleece weights and shearing dates entered by members themselves. This includes fleece sample results for the 2007 and 2008 shearing seasons, plus hundreds of records from prior years, and some from early 2009 (prior to mid-April). A total of over 5,500 alpaca fiber test records were used in preparing the summaries. Test records include fiber tests from more than 4,500 individual alpacas. Alpacas younger than 9 months of age were excluded.

Work is currently underway to generate similar results for Suris. It is anticipated these results will be available in December 2009. In addition, an EPD analysis update is planned for the end of the year. It will include hundreds of additional alpacas from very large farms that were unable to submit results in time for inclusion in the current analysis. In addition, it will include all the submissions made thus far in 2009. If you submitted your fleece samples after about mid-April 2009 your EPDs will be in this analysis.

EPDs - Selecting for Superiority

Mike Safley | 01/04/10

If you had a choice, would you rather use a stud male, one in the top 0.2% of all males in the United States, or one who is above average, better than 50% of all the males? Another option is to continue what most breeders do today and use a male whose ability to pass on desirable fiber traits to his cria is unknown. There is no longer any excuse for using underperforming herdsires. The U.S. alpaca industry now has scientifically established breeding values in the form of Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs).

A National Alpaca Improvement Program

Mike Safley | 05/19/08

History gives us many lessons about how to create a superior herd of almost any breed of livestock. The science of genetics is highly refined and entirely accessible by anyone who wants to breed anything for almost any purpose. The question becomes how we proceed toward that goal of superiority in the alpaca industry.

There has been a worldwide textile industry for more than eight centuries. While people have always made their own textiles, industrial developments have radically changed the way textiles are produced and marketed, developments such as the invention of machine spinning, the worsted spinning process, knitting and weaving machines, the rise of the cotton gin, the steady evolution of fabric finishing techniques, and the development of man-made fiber. Add to this a constantly changing fashion industry based on affluent consumer preferences, and you have a textile market that can best be characterized as a moving target. This combination of conditions has created challenges for livestock breeders whose product is fiber. But it has also created opportunities for breeders to create animals whose fleece meets a specific need.

EPDs - The Path to Excellence

Mike Safley | 05/20/08

At first blush, animal breeding seems relatively simple. If you believe ‘like begets like’ all you need to do is mate similar animals. If you want a further edge-up, study pedigree. If that is not good enough, you can measure phenotype making sure only the best are included in your breeding plan.

The problem is none of these strategies is particularly effective, and many of the beliefs that breeders rely on are black magic. Myth makes the animal improvement equation more complex than it need be. Before we can get on to steady measurable improvement, we must sweep a few myths out of the closet.

One of the more pervasive myths in the alpaca industry is, ‘The best way to select elite breeding stock is by analyzing their phenotype.’ It is closely followed in importance, by the myth that ‘pedigree equals breeding value.’ I think is it is fair to say that breeders’ faith in pedigree often takes on mythic proportions, but their faith is not born from the science of genetics. But, before I get to that we need to critically analyze the role that phenotype and pedigree play in breed improvement programs.

The ABCs of EPDs

Mike Safley | 07/02/08

A new chapter is about to be written in the history of alpaca breed improvement. It will identify the exact point in time that the industry changed for the better, invigorating the market for both alpaca fleece and breeding stock. New bloodlines will be discovered, additional breeds developed, and new breeders will step forward to lead.

Alpacas were fashioned from the wild Vicuna 6,000 years ago. For 5,975 years, the Quechua Indians of South America nurtured the breed, wove cloth, bartered textiles and eventually sold the fleece creating a cash income. During this time, the quality of the breed remained fairly static. There were exceptions, men like Julio Barreda made dramatic improvement within their herds, but the average quality of the 3,500,000 alpacas in the world have changed very little.

Questions & Answers about IAC EPDs

03/06/09

What is an Expected Progeny Difference? As interest in alpaca EPDs increases, more people are asking questions like this. This document presents several of the most frequently asked EPD questions along with the answers. Click here to get your questions answered!

IAC Speakers Bureau for EPD Education

Bill McAlister | 03/23/09

All major livestock industries use Expected Progeny Differences (EPDs) to accelerate progress in their breeding programs. EPDs are rapidly becoming the wave of the future in the alpaca industry, and the Ideal Alpaca Community (IAC) is currently the only group in the US to be actively applying these methods. The IAC Speakers Bureau coordinates and schedules alpaca experts to help members of the alpaca industry understand the interpretation and application of EPDs in alpaca breeding. Speakers travel within the U.S. and conduct seminars for groups of alpaca breeders, AOBA affiliates, and participants at special farm events. Several types of seminars and workshops are offered. IAC Speakers Bureau seminars are scheduled whenever and wherever there is sufficient interest.

The Past As Prologue - Revolutionizing Alpaca Breeding

Sara Via, Ph.D | 03/23/09

In 2003, the average fibre diameter in a sample of huacaya alpacas in the United States was 28 microns. On the world fibre market, a fleece of this quality would sell for about $7/lb. In contrast, alpaca fibre of 16 microns sells for $125/lb. If we could breed a national alpaca herd with an average fibre diameter of 16 microns, which commands a premium price on the world market as luxury fibre, a large and sustainable new income stream would be available to alpaca producers.

How EPDs Help You Breed Better Alpacas

Sara Via, Ph.D | 03/27/09

In order to breed alpacas with better and better fleece traits, we want to choose superior alpacas for our herds. But how do we identify a “superior” alpaca? Genetic superiority cannot be reliably estimated just by measuring an animal’s fleece traits or even by pedigree!

Measurements of an alpaca’s fleece do not reliably indicate the quality of its progeny’s fleeces. This is because an animal’s phenotype (what it looks like) for a given trait, such as its mean fiber diameter, is influenced not only by its genotype (i.e. genes for fiber thickness that it passes on to progeny), but also by effects that aspects of its environment (i.e. diet, stress etc.) may have on its fiber.

EPD Programs - IAC vs. ARI

Mike Safley | 07/22/09

Confused about the ARI's planned EPD program?

I am often asked about the ARI EPD program that is competing with the IAC program. People want to know:

1. Which program is best?

2. Should we belong to both?

I would like to share my thoughts and opinions.

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