Alpaca news

The next regional meeting for the Victorian Western Region of the Australian Alpaca Association will be held on Sunday 29 November at Eeyeuk Alpaca Stud, 1344 Terang Darlington Rd., Terang.  The “meeting business” will particularly focus on prospective linkages with the South West TAFE College – through their agriculture focussed programs (including matters such as fleece classing), prospects for a major regional show at the Glenormiston facilities and possibilities for links with the fashion programs for use of alpaca yarns.

There will, of course, be a (short) report on the recent AAA Council meeting. Among the important outcomes from that meeting are implications for the Alpaca “Emergency Animal Disease Response” and the soon-to-arrive NLIS.  Alpacas, while no major disease outbreaks have occurred, are not imune from disease and the involvement of the alpaca industry in Australia’s emergency response approach could have major implications for breeders .

All Victorian owners of alpacas – whether breed animals included on the IAR, other breed register or unregistered – must now have a PIC – a Property Identification Code.  All movements of alpacas will shortly require recording in the Alpaca NLIS. What are the implications of the introduction of this system.  What will we have to do when we sell an animal (into a breed herd, as a herd guard, as a pet or for meat).

We’ll also have a discussion on what we can/should do in our region to make National Alpaca Week 2010 (early May 2010) a more effective promotional event.

This meeting will be the final meeting for the year – a BBQ (not alpaca) lunch to celebrate the coming festive season.  Members are invited to bring a guest – who have you sold alpaca to over the past year ?……  bring them along, get them more involved with our industry.  As the region will provide the  and salads, we’d appreciate advice of numbers of attendees.