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Issue 2006-1
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Ideal Alpaca Community - Jul 2006
Welcome to this the first edition of the IAC Newsletter. The IAC Newsletter is primarily published for members of the IAC. However, it will also be read by alpaca breeders who are new to the IAC, everyone is welcome and your active participation is encouraged.
In this issue:
- Introduction .
- Shearing and IAC Fleece Samples.
- The first IAC shareholders meeting
Introduction
Membership of the Ideal Alpaca Community (IAC) is now growing at quite a pace. The web site is up and running and becoming a rich source of reference material and news items. Mike Safley first wrote about the IAC back in 2003 in his second book, Ideal Alpacas from Myth to Reality.
Some people still mistakenly believe the IAC to be all about the promotion of Studmaster males. Studmaster is the name given by the IAC to our reference herdsires and while herdsires are an important element of the IAC, they are only one element of a sophisticated and powerful initiative that will, over time, greatly accelerate the improvement of alpacas.
Many alpaca breeders currently use pedigree, as documented on ARI certificate, for their primary breeding selection tool. Admittedly, it is a more solid basis than just phenotypic appearance alone. However, the value of pedigree by itself as a selection tool to determine superior stock remains overrated by the majority of alpaca breeders in North America.
To my mind, the strength of the IAC lies in its focus on the alpaca as a fibre-producing animal, which together with the scientific testing of alpaca fibre samples will lead to the establishment of expected progeny differences (EPDs) for all alpacas in the IAC “virtual” herd.
Establishing EPDs will be no simple task. It requires participating IAC members to embrace an agreed alpaca breed standard, use common reference herdsires, make breed selections based on heritable traits that are of commercial benefit, together with the meticulous collection, recording and sharing of data.
If you want to learn more about the IAC and IAC membership then please browse the IAC web site.
Shearing and Fleece Samples
By now most of you will have completed shearing. As part of that process many IAC members have taken a 4”x4” fiber sample from their alpaca and sent it to Yocom-McColl for a detailed analysis, IAC style.
The analysis you receive back from Yocom-McColl includes the usual information found on histograms such as mean fiber diameter, standard deviation and coefficient of variation. In addition the IAC analysis defines mean staple length, mean curvature and spin fineness. In total 11 variables. With white and light colored fibres even the percentage of medullated fibres can be calculated. It is this information combined with the total fleece weight that will be used by Virginia Tech to calculate the EPDs for all our alpacas..exciting stuff.
As the Chinese say “even the longest journey begins with a small step”. The IAC journey begins with that small 4”x4” fibre sample so please make sure you take all those samples and send them to Yocom-McColl for IAC testing. Right now the enhanced IAC test doesn’t even cost you anymore than the standard test. The IAC website creates all the required paperwork to submit samples and facilitates the entry of your results, what could be easier? EPD’s are coming make no mistake about that, so make sure you don’t get left behind.
Click here for a sample IAC histogram and histogram terminology.
Studmaster™ Owners - IAC Meeting June 16th 2006
The inaugural meeting was held at NWA and hosted by Mike Safley. The agenda is set out below and a great deal of ground was covered in what turned out to be a very enjoyable and informative day. I have noted briefly by each of the agenda items the most salient points.
1) Shareholder vs. member benefits
A tiered membership scheme was proposed and discussed with a various levels and benefits to encourage full participation in the IAC by member farms. Mike is currently working on the final details.
2) 2008 Studmaster™ select sale
Our vision is to hold the worlds first alpaca sale based on EPDs this is now a work in progress and you will be hearing more about this in future Newsletters.
3) Email Campaigns
Several ideas were discussed and two or three ideas are now being developed into powerful campaigns that will benefit the whole IAC membership.
4) Newsletter
Well that pretty much speaks for itself and if you have got this far then you know what was agreed.
5) Membership Drive
The publicity around the IAC and the completion of the web site is creating a steady demand for new memberships. However, all IAC members will be encouraged to be proactive in promoting the IAC and to this end we will be developing tools to help make that as easy as possible (see item 6 and item 1).
6) IAC PowerPoint hand out
A copy of the first draft of the IAC presentation was circulated and this will now be developed into a final version that can be used by IAC members.
7) Getting Started Seminar
As the name suggests there was a general discussion about the need for and format of a seminar. (This item links into items 1 and 5)
8) Feedback on IAC site
The IAC members present all made comments and suggestions about the current IAC web site. It is essential that IAC members get their farm information onto the site and keeping it up to date. This will be built into the incentives in item 1.
9) Rules of membership
This will be covered by the actions coming out of item 1.
10) Editors
Editors are needed for the picture gallery being developpes and the library in the IAC website. Therefore, if you want to make a contribution, opportunity knocks.
11) Update on IAC site construction status (Hazen Reed)
A comprehensive review of the site was given and a transcript of this can be found in the Resource Center.
Well that is it for this issue. In the next issue we will be including articles submitted by IAC members. So if you have anything you would like to share please send it my way. I hope you have enjoyed this first issue if you have any suggestions or feedback then please contact me directly on the e-mail address below.
Kind regards
Adrian Stewart
Editor IAC Newsletter
editor@ideal-alpaca.com
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