EXPORTING
BRITAIN IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS
The British alpaca Industry is in a very healthy state and demand for quality breeding stock is outstripping supply globally, writes BAS judge and breeder, Tim Hey, Inca Alpaca.
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ur alpacas are thriving with great nutrition, world class breeding strategies and the British Alpaca Society (BAS) is supporting breeders with all aspects of promotion and education. BAS members are in a perfect position to capitalise on this exciting, sophisticated and growing industry and the future of British alpacas has never looked brighter.
The UK has long had a relationship with alpacas, starting in the mid 1880’s when the beauty and resilience of alpaca fleece was ‘rediscovered’ and re-awoke the world’s interest. Sir Titus Salt, originally from Morley near Leeds in Yorkshire “discovered” the remarkable fibre of the alpaca and began promoting its use in the finest fashion houses of Europe. In the mid 1990’s the UK approved imports from Chile and in September 1996 BAS was formed. These imports of foundation stock were soon followed by large imports of quality stock from Peru and then Australia and the US and these bloodlines started to change the face of the British industry as the alpacas began their development towards a commercial fibre producer. 30 Alpaca #90 YEARBOOK
Tim with workers in Qatar
In Europe, alpacas are a bloodstock industry and breeders will make money from breeding for some time before we have enough fibre to satisfy commercial demand; BAS underpins the value of the domestic herd through a number of valuable initiatives including: • The establishment of a screening protocol for all imported alpacas and administration of a world class pedigree register that links, or is in the process of linking, valuable attributes such as show results and the Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) • Support to regional groups offering local services, education and promotion • A thorough and well respected judge training programme • Welfare and husbandry training courses delivered by BAS affiliate trainers • A comprehensive network of halter and fleece shows • All aspects of marketing and promotion to promote breeder sales Continued on next page >>
