Fleece Show News
We enter our best fleeces in the Suri Network Fleece Show every year, and we did it again this year, with great results! We entered four fleeces and came out with three ribbons - not bad! A reserve championship for Salt River's Cafe au Lait - our first offspring from LCA Boots - the judges were impressed with his fineness, luster, and density. And to really top it off, he took a first place in the SN Spin-off, too! We think that is imporant as it shows that the fleece is not only beautiful, but it's also functional - critical for the advancement of our fiber industry. Salt River's Brownie won a reserve championship in the brown class with a great score of 76! The judge noted her wonderful fineness and luster! AGT Vulcan took a third in his brown class division with a very respectable score of 71. And lastly, while our Penny didn't take a home a ribbon in the fleece class, her fiber won a first place in the Spin-off contest - and you should see how beautiful it is when spun!!
Halter Show Results:
We didn't enter many halter shows in 2011, but we were proud of our results where we were entered:
Salt River's Brownie - 2011 Color Champion at Great Midwest Alpaca Festival (GMAF)! Her first show and she got a championship - we were really proud breeders that day! With this and the Suri Network Fleece Show being her only show entries, and taking home Championship titles at both, we "retired" Brownie from the show scene and are just waiting for her to get old enough to breed!
White Knight's Shining Armor - 2nd Place in two shows - the Small Breeders Challenge and GMAF. Both judges commented on his outstanding fiber, is beautiful Suri head, and his solid conformation.
Salt River's Cafe au Lait - he got a late start on showing, so the only halter show he got to go to before shearing was Nationals! A pretty tall order, but he took a very respectable 3rd place. We just love this guy, and congratulations goes out to Joyce Johnson of Shadowloand Ranch for purchasing a 1/2 interest in him! We think he is going to be a great herdsire!
Births on the farm
Well....five crias this year, four were boys, and we sold one boy and one girl before they were even weaned!! We are watching the remaining three grow, and look forward to showing them in Spring, 2012.
Fiber News
We have jumped in and started a new company - the North American Suri Company ("NASCO"). This company is serving to pool Suri fiber from around the country, grade it, and process it for further commercial use. It will be the first of its kind in the country, and quite honestly, the first of its kind in the world for Suri! We have already started purchasing fiber and selling fiber, so if you have an interest in purchasing, just give us a call!
Biopsy News
Ahh..the grand experiment at our farm - using biopsies to assist us with our breeding selection! Well the news is good so far...in 2010, we began testing all of our adults so that we could make better breeding decisions and so that we could start seeing more consistency across our herd. In 2011, we started testing the offspring, and the results tell us that we are headed in the right direction. We tested Penny, Cami, Pearl, Heatwave, and Shining Armor. We had biopsy information on two of three Sires used for these five offspring, and we had information on three of the five dams related to these offspring. It appears that the offspring from the sires we used are each an improvement over the dams. Our S/P ratios (higher than the industry average for most of our herd) are holding steady, while the micron spreads are narrowing (which is a good thing!). While many of our older dams have density numbers in the 20s or 30s, and some in the low 40s, all of the offspring tested are now ranging in the low 40s to low 50s. While five animals do not make a trend, we are certainly happy with the results so far. We have two more of our alpacas getting tested right now, and expect to do more testing in Fall, 2012. Stay tuned to our experiment!!
