Alpacas Magazine - 2013 Herdsire

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18 | ALPACAS MAGAZINE
2012was a year of many accomplishments for AFCNA,
thanks to the ongoing support of the alpaca
farms which operate our member-owned cooperative.
Consumer demand for American Raised/American Made alpaca
fiber goods continues to be strong, which produces tremendous
benefit for all of our member farms. AFCNA reported sales of over
$800,000 in 2012 with more than 80 percent of that coming from
the sale of products made in the USA from member fiber, such as
our very popular Extreme Alpaca ™ Socks and America’s Alpaca™
yarns and roving. The vast majority of AFCNA’s sales are to
members who operate on-farm stores, so the real economic
impact (at retail prices to final consumers) brings more than
$1.6 million in income to AFCNA farm families!
All members who contributed fiber in 2011 received a share of
net profits from operations in 2012. While the amounts will vary
based on each member’s individual contribution, in general the
pay-out ranged in value from $6.00 per pound for Grade 1, Royal
Baby, to $3.75 for Grade 3, Superfine, to $1.05 for Grade 6,
Robust or “rug” grade.
Yarn and roving sales just exploded in 2012. America’s Alpaca™
huacacya yarn was featured on an episode of Knitting Daily TV.
If you missed it, you can find a link at the AFCNA member
website Suri yarn and roving in Natural
White was introduced in 2012 and additional natural colors will
be available in early 2013.
Increased product demand means increased demand for alpaca
fiber! Because not every fiber producer has the desire or means
to operate a farm store, in May, 2012, AFCNA created a new
“fiber contributor” class of membership. For a one-time cost of
just $1.00 to purchase a share of Class B stock in the cooperative,
fiber contributors receive a share of AFCNA’s profit distribution
but without all the benefits of a full-service Class A shareholder.
For a more detailed look at the two types of shares, please go the
AFCNA member website
afcna-membership/. Since introducing this new class of stock in
May, AFCNA has already signed up more than 40 farms as fiber
contributors, bringing our total number of cooperating farms to
over 1800. If you’d like to join us, we would love to have you.
Our goal in 2013 is to market the fiber raised by 2,000 member
farms. AFCNA collected over 50,000 pounds of fiber in the 2012
clip collection. This was a tremendous increase over 2011. The
growth is attributed to the many new clip collection locations at
shows and ranches organized by our members, the new fiber con-
tributor membership class, the “skirting not required” relaxation in
the 2012 clip call instructions and our inclusion in the 2012 clip call
for very strong grade fibers.
We are hoping to collect more than 75,000 pounds in 2013 so
that we can continue to introduce new member fiber products and
increase production of our best-selling products. The 2013 clip call
has just been announced and fiber collection will open starting
March 1. AFCNA is calling for skirted or unskirted/as shorn fiber
that is Grade 5 (32 micron) or finer. Depending on each alpaca’s
unique fiber characteristics, this could come from the blanket,
britch, leg or neck areas. All fiber must be between 2"and 6 "in
staple length.
2013 is going to be great for AFCNA. We are growing gang-
busters—more fiber, more products, more members. All we need
is YOU! And more fiber. We are asking farms who have not joined
to take another look and consider joining us this year. We are
asking every member to contribute at least some of their fiber
harvest this year. We know that people have many choices for
what to do with their valuable fiber, so all we are asking is that
some of the good, clean, healthy and properly shorn fiber from
each member be contributed to AFCNA so that we can continue
to grow the commercial fiber market.
We will continue to be successful if we all work together to
grow—cooperatively.
Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of
North America Inc (AFCNA) Update
BY WADE GEASE, AFCNA PRESIDENT
ALPACA Industry News