SAABS SECRETARIAL REPORT 2012

It is very difficult writing a report 5 months after the end of year – everything one can think of is past the end of year date!

Talks & Presentations

  • Manor House Alpacas offered another shearing course in 2011 as well as a screening workshop which included a demonstration of how to implant microchips, as well as how to use ear tags.
  • Tanya and PJ co-ordinated a group of breeders to attend the World Alpaca Conference in the UK. They were able to attend a range of talks such as:

Eric Hoffman – Alpaca Behaviour for Better Management
Kat Bazerley – Farm Biosecurity and Animal Health
Karin Mueller – Alpaca Dentition
Problem Parasites
Alpaca Fibre
Paul Valley – Testing Alpaca Fibre
Eric Hoffman – Fibre Processing Characteristics and Nomenclature
Eric Hoffman – Objective Evaluation of Alpacas, Alpaca Selection and Assessment

  • Council also briefly explored bringing over Eric Hoffman, but quickly discovered that atraining course in Germany with him costs in the region of R 10000/person.
  • Maria Bravo (Quintessence Alpacas Int.) did a day’s workshop for our members when she accompanied the latest imports of Alpacas (organised by Linda Nessworthy. Maria was asked to speak about “The search for the perfect Alpaca” - to show all members what to look for in the perfect alpaca, i.e. not only conformation as in the screening currently applied here in South Africa.
  • Unfortunately the proposed talks and workshops with Jane Vaughan on nutrition and reproduction did not take place – she decided to visit the USA instead of SA but we hope that she will keep us in mind should she decide to come to SA on another occasion!

General Correspondence:

537 emails were sent out to members. These include matters such as

  • machinery for sale,
  • animals for sale,
  • arranging joint shearing sessions,
  • Local matters of interest
  • general, informative articles on alpacas in the rest of the world.
  • Advice on Studbook matters

Example 1: Local matters of interest

We are proud to announce that the website was launched in May 2011 to a targeted audience of approximately 80 000 users in the agricultural industry. The site is dedicated to the members of the agricultural community who have a need for a wider selection of products and service providers in their specific geographic areas. Billions of rands are spent every year by this community on products and services in their local areas , yet only a handful of suppliers and outlets reap the benefits of this.

Our website has been designed to offer the agricultural community a larger selection of suppliers and service providers in their respective areas, by offering these suppliers and service providers with an affordable advertising medium. At only R199.00 per year, every supplier and service provider can afford to market their business to the agricultural community through the

Agri24 website.

The Alpaca breeders page can be viewed at the following link :

Example 2: Email received:

We need 100 Alpacas and Llamas if they exist at your side.
2. We need both sexes, but the quantity would be decided when I have the prices.
3. We need all the colors, depending on what you can offer, mostly White, Black and pure colors.
4. We are going to use them just as hobby and fancy. So the quality of the wool is not that much important for us.

We thought this was a bit suspect… so PJ sent an email to the person requesting more information:

“my first priority is to establish the conditions that they want the alpacas to live under to ensure that they go to a good home and that there is suitable food for them. I also want to know what experience they have with alpacas and caring for them.“

Both Jane Tyrer and Anita Breed offered to co-ordinate the replies and various animals were offered for sale but as far as I know, nothing came of this.

Example 3: Example 3: Advice on Studbook matters

Currently most of the forms filled in and sent to Studbook are Birth Notification forms.

This is a reminder that you also need to move to the second stage once your animals have passed the age of one year (females) and two years (males) – this ensures that they are then REGISTERED rather than just BIRTH NOTIFIED. It is a Studbook requirementthat we have to inspect our animals for registration, and that owner based inspection is aprovisional compromise that needs to be replaced by inspector based inspection eventually. This is not something only applicable to Alpacas.

We also undertook a survey to find out what members would like to see in a newsletter and the feedback from this will give us guidelines for the future.

I regularly updated the website with local items and the function for Discussion Forums has been put into place and members are encouraged to use them.

There has also been an increase in the number of people requesting information with regards to using Alpacas as herd Guards:

The Society was asked for information with regards to:

Ziggy Rhodes, Landmark Foundation ,Researcher: Leopard and Predator Project

Karoo Predator project

Would it be possible for you to forward this questionnaire to the existing owners, as this will give us some indication of:

the adaptability in terms of their environment

the handling and temperament

The above 2 points would be of interest to farmers who would consider using alpacas as a deterrent again vermin/predators instead of using other deterrents eg poison, traps, etc. We have had great success using guard alpacas to protect our sheep. It would be interesting to know if other breeders have had any personal similar success with their own animals or that they have sold to other farmers.

And again:

Dear Sir/ Madam

My name is Chloé Clarke. I am a learner at Eunice Primary School, inBloemfontein, South Africa. I am doing a Natural Science project and seeingthat I come from a stockfarming background, I have decided to do my project onalpacas.

It would be much appreciated if you would take a few moments to complete thefollowing questionnaire. Please return this questionnaire at your earliest convenience. I look forward to your reply. Your participation is greatly appreciated.

Yours sincerely

Chloé

Whilst the Society was happy to see an increased interest in alpacas –we realised that

“we should never forget, that the value of this gorgeous animals is not their ability of protecting sheep, but their international reputation for their outstanding fleece. “

“We need to get the message out there every time we talk about herdguards that they are only the lower quality animals that we do not consider worthy of breeding because we want to keep the alpaca genetics in this country of a high standard. If alpacas are only thought of as good enough to guard sheep, then their true value as fibre producers is undermined. It then seems as though they as worth less than the sheep they are guarding. I am not against using alpacas as herd guards, as it may actually stop farmers using gin traps and other indiscriminate fatal measures to protect their sheep. This more environmentally friendly way of predator control is wonderful, especially for the conservation of animals like the leopard. But it must always be clear that this is not the primary purpose of alpacas.”

We also undertook a survey to find out what members would like to see in a newsletter and the feedback from this will give us guidelines for the future.

Members Achievements!

(Apologies if I have inadvertently skipped anyone)

Well done to the members who are striding forward:

  • Contributors to the book are amongst other: Mukuti Stud / Verena Hinsch; Serena Alpacas / P-J Garbutt
  • Thanks to Eva for her lovely photographic calendar that she produces each year!
  • Feedback from Helderstroom Alpacas who participated in the Designer Boutique Show in Cape Town.“This two-day exhibition was visited by retail boutique owners - where they select and order fashionwear and accessories for their Autumn and winter 2012 stock. ….. Although we exhibited mainly ladies fashionwear and accessories we also took a few items from our babywear and toddler ranges.Our clothes were very well received … to the extent that other designers were taking MY clothes off MY hangers and trying them on THEIR clients!! My big triumph was that we sold some of our most exclusive garments to a shop in Cavendish Square! Whilst ultimately we would prefer to sell direct to the public, our label is now out there and we are very pleased to have received this support and some other great orders from Franschhoek shops which were also represented. Interestingly white still seems the most popular alpaca colour and there is no doubt that the naturalness of undyed, handspun, handknitted and handwoven alpaca products is intriguing to buyers.”
  • WAKKERSTROOM NATURAL FIBRE HANDCRAFT FAIR 28 MAY 2011. Feedback from Romney & Fenella van Ryneveld, “This year we had quite a diverse selection of fibres represented ranging from The South African Cotton Board, hand spun and woven black merino, hand-dyed silk, cashmir, hand spun alpaca and hand-dyed merino and angora. Two amazing quilters exhibited with stunning displays which quite took ones breath away. The creative knitters drew a lot of attention with very original garments in such gorgeous colours not to mention the incredibly fine embroidery work on display. With all the demonstrations of spinning, weaving, embroidery, knitting. quilting and crocheting you can imagine our Fair was a hive of industry. It was a great success for the exhibitors as far as sales were concerned and the number of visitors who came through the gates. The standard of the products on sale was exceptionally high and the general feeling was that there is definitely a hightened interest in handmade natural fibre goods as well as great enthusiasm for trying a new skill. This was the third annual Fair this year and we have found that more and more people are wanting to know, where the fibre comes from and, how is it made. This bodes well for all the exhibitors whose passion and many hours of handwork are keeping all the "old skills" alive.”
  • Novello Alpacas:
  • Novello Alpacas also took part in the CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE
    1- 4 SEPTEMBER 2011.
    STAND D40 IN DECOR AND ACCESSORIES SECTOR This is a first for us in the Decor line - we have a collection of alpaca fibre lamps, rugs, throws, cushions and wall-hangings
  • Helderstroom Alpacas at Cape Town Baba Indaba 5TH TO 7TH AUGUST 2011, AT THE CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE … IN THE “AU NATURAL MAMA” SECTION
  • Neels Van Rooyen (Rolling Hills Alpacas) exhibited at the 160th Royal Agriculture Show 2011. “Our main objective was to promote and make the general public aware of the alpaca breed in the RSA. This we certainly achieved, mostly due to the input from the SAAB Society and those who helped to produce a very professional document. We reproduced & distributed approximately 600 pamphlets to those who showed an interest & to the teachers of the many schools who visited our stand with their pupils.Peter John Garbutt provided us with an alpaca banner, knitwear & photo's of his mini mill which we displayed.”

Alpacas in the News:

Not just a fluffy face (about guarding)

MediaclubSouthafrica.com. Pippa Ehrlich, Freelance Journalist and Researcher

The alpaca is here to stay

Farmers Weekly14 May 2012 By Alison Notley, Helderstroom Alpacas, Western Cape

Conclusion

I think that 2011 has been a very productive year in terms of the publicity generated about Alpacas by the members, and the amount of information sent out by the Council to the members.

Of course, one can never please everyone and it is disheartening to have a poor attendance at workshops etc when so much time and effort goes into arranging them. Due to our immense geographic area there are always people who feel left out and this is a problem that we need to address more in the next year without forgetting that economies of scale must be considered.

I would like to thank the members and the Council for the support they have all given me during the year – to receive useful information from individual members to be sent out to all the others shows what a truly sharing community we are.

I look forward to a new, alpaca filled year.