Free Alpacas Newsletter- How to Profit from Alpaca Farming

Friday, October 23, 2009

[AlpacaTalk] Is your website selling alpacas?

 

It used to be that you could sell alpacas easily, by doing some local
advertising, and having your farm listed in the Farm and Ranch Guide. 
But those days are gone - over 80% of people researching alpacas turn
immediately to the Internet, and over 95% use the Web at some stage
to find local farms.

 

To take advantage of that it is critical that people not only have their
own farm website, but that they are pursuing a detailed Internet
marketing strategy.  Just throwing up a website is next to useless -
there are hundreds of them out there already, all with a similar
structure, and few with any unique content.  Anyone landing on those
pages is unlikely to stay more than a few seconds.

 

The key to success is to have the website fully optimized to perform
well in the search engine results pages, and then to have a consistent
campaign to attract qualified traffic.  For the site to be effective, it
has to figure in the top ten results on the search engines - any lower
and virtually nobody will find it in the search results.  To achieve that
critical positioning needs a carefully planned site, and an Internet
marketing strategy designed to take advantage of the Web 2.0
technologies and techniques.

 

Email me for details on how you can achieve this, or for a review of
your existing site.

 

Chris Lewis | Alpaca Advantage| Virginia | USA
Telephone: (540) 635-5308 | Fax: (540) 635-7193
AlpacaAdvantage.com
Alpaca-Business-Plan.com

 

 

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posted by Chaddo at 9:51 AM 0 comments

Free Alpacas Newsletter- How to Profit from Alpaca Farming

Re: [AlpacaTalk] Re: Micron Testing clarified and EPD

 

Ah. I am aware of all of the propaganda regarding the method used by the OFDA 2000.


However, That method is not accepted or approved by the IWTO for a reason.

For example: 
I know of an animal with a first year AFD very similar to one of my boy's first year AFD, 16.6 as tested by Yocom McColl.

The second year, the owner tested on the OFDA 2000. The staple length was 75mm, just about 2.5" The AFD came back at 17.4µ. However, according to the OFDA 2000, the beginning micron was a bit over 18 at the weathered end. Between 5 and 15mm, the micron drops to about 16µ, then steadily rises over the course of the growth period to 22.5 at 70mm. 

This sample, tested at Yocom McColl would have been recorded as 22.5µ

This sample has a 6µ variance. In fact, this shows that the fiber is tender at 15mm, perhaps there was stress of illness which made the micron so low during that time. But surely this fleece isn't a uniform 17.4µ

Finally, it seems that really, the accurate micron of this boy at two years of age is 22.5µ. Because that was his micron at that age.

Heather




On Oct 23, 2009, at 2:01 AM, farmer_mam wrote:



Heather-at the risk of disagreeing with you the information you provided here is not quite accurate. There is an outstanding discussion on the facts and details associated with the various methods of sampling and testing fiber on ALPACASITE intertwined with some great information about EPD's. A quote copied here defining OFDA2000 might clarify our point of disagreement:

The output from an OFDA2000 scan produces 2 distinct reports. One
looks pretty much the same as the kind you get from Yocom-McColl,
showing the staple length, average fiber diameter (measured over the
length of the fiber), standard deviation, co-efficient of variation,
fibers over 30 micron (expressed as a percentage), and a histogram.

The other report shows the average fiber length, variations in micron
along the fiber length, and, maximum and minimum micron readings.
This is obviously more detailed than the first report, and probably
of more use to the breeder, than to a potential buyer, who, as you
pointed out, would probably would not be much in a position to evaluate.

IMO, the average fiber diameter measured over the length of the
fiber, is a truer representation of that fleece's degree of fineness,
rather than just looking at the 2mm butt-cut sample as done in the
Yocom-McColl tests.

So in effect, you get both a Yocum-McColl report and then additional details. The two reports are comparable for the butt-cut. There is value added with the OFDA2000 that is very helpful at assessing the fleece of an Alpaca. Point in case, we select blacks for breeding based upon the minimum micron range understanding the rest of the information, however, we have found that selecting two blacks that have say 13 micron minimum we are achieving a finer micron cria overall then the adults. This information allows us to stay within black for breeding and still get the improvements we are seeking to develop a LINE of true black Huacaya.

Respectfully, Michael
Michael and Margery A. Morack
Greenbriar Farm, Waukesha, WI
262.970.9633
MAm2@wi.rr.com


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posted by Chaddo at 9:14 AM 0 comments

Free Alpacas Newsletter- How to Profit from Alpaca Farming

[AlpacaTalk] Sales Stymied? Turnaround Ahead...

 

Audio CD's of the full-day seminar (Growing Your Rural Business) with outline and worksheets.  Just as though you were in the class.  ($45, six CD's)

 

Free telephone consulting for questions or help with the material up to 30 minutes ($20 value !)  

 

And if you want the books after you've heard the audio tapes, get 15% off when you buy the Marketing Trilogy ($10.50 value—more savings!)

 

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Marketing Farm Products: and How to Thrive Beyond the Sidewalk
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posted by Chaddo at 4:36 AM 0 comments

Free Alpacas Newsletter- How to Profit from Alpaca Farming

[AlpacaTalk] Re: Micron Testing clarified and EPD

 



Heather-at the risk of disagreeing with you the information you provided here is not quite accurate. There is an outstanding discussion on the facts and details associated with the various methods of sampling and testing fiber on ALPACASITE intertwined with some great information about EPD's. A quote copied here defining OFDA2000 might clarify our point of disagreement:

The output from an OFDA2000 scan produces 2 distinct reports. One
looks pretty much the same as the kind you get from Yocom-McColl,
showing the staple length, average fiber diameter (measured over the
length of the fiber), standard deviation, co-efficient of variation,
fibers over 30 micron (expressed as a percentage), and a histogram.

The other report shows the average fiber length, variations in micron
along the fiber length, and, maximum and minimum micron readings.
This is obviously more detailed than the first report, and probably
of more use to the breeder, than to a potential buyer, who, as you
pointed out, would probably would not be much in a position to evaluate.

IMO, the average fiber diameter measured over the length of the
fiber, is a truer representation of that fleece's degree of fineness,
rather than just looking at the 2mm butt-cut sample as done in the
Yocom-McColl tests.

So in effect, you get both a Yocum-McColl report and then additional details. The two reports are comparable for the butt-cut. There is value added with the OFDA2000 that is very helpful at assessing the fleece of an Alpaca. Point in case, we select blacks for breeding based upon the minimum micron range understanding the rest of the information, however, we have found that selecting two blacks that have say 13 micron minimum we are achieving a finer micron cria overall then the adults. This information allows us to stay within black for breeding and still get the improvements we are seeking to develop a LINE of true black Huacaya.

Respectfully, Michael
Michael and Margery A. Morack
Greenbriar Farm, Waukesha, WI
262.970.9633
MAm2@wi.rr.com

--- In AlpacaTalk@yahoogroups.com, Heather Zeleny <alpacatalk@...> wrote:
>
> Yocom McColl also still does the Sirolan laserscan test, which is
> $7.50 per sample, and is IWTO recognized methodology. The OFDA 100 is
> an optical scan, and is also IWTO accepted.
>
> The OFDA 2000 is NOT IWTO accepted testing method.
>
> The OFDA 2000 averages the micron over the length of the staple. This
> means that it will give you an incorrect micron for the animal's
> micron on shearing day. And, since it averages the micron along the
> entire length of the staple, while it may be the mean, it is still
> misleading.
>
> Yocom McColl does scour the samples before testing, it is discussed
> in their website somewhere. :)
>
> Heather
>
>
>
> On Oct 19, 2009, at 7:30 AM, skain1alpaca wrote:
>
> > Hi all, looking for information about micron testing, how to
> > collect samples, where to send them, and any other information
> > related to this would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Susan Kain
> > Sunset Suri Alpaca Farm
> > Leroy, Ohio
> > skain1alpaca@...
>

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Message posts are the opinion of individuals posting and are not necessarily endorsed or approved by Yahoo! or the moderator of this group. The purpose of this discussion group is to ensure that all points of view can be aired. It is the responsbilty of all individuals who post to treat others with respect and civility.
Recent Activity
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posted by Chaddo at 2:01 AM 0 comments