WHAT DOES 2,000 LBS OF ALPACA FIBER LOOK LIKE?
At 4 lb per bag - short/robust blanket or neck/leg fiber = 500 bags
At 20 lb per bag = 100 bags
At 400 lb per bale = 5 bales
At 500 lb per bale = 4 bales
As of today, the Alpacazonia Fiberometer level is, via reports from 8 participants during teleconference call held Wed evening, July 6:
We have 14 committed alpaca farms/ranch sellers to date. The tally will increase when all sorting reports are in this week.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO PREP 2,000 LBS OF SHORT ROBUST ALPACA FIBER FOR PROCESSING?
At 1 lb per hour = 2,000 hours / 40 hour work week = 12 ½ months at 8 lbs per day.
At 1 lb per half hour = 1,000 hours / 40 = 6 ½ months at 16 lbs a day.
At 1 lb every 15 minutes = 500 hours / 40 = 3 months at 32 lbs a day.
On my best days, I’ve sorted 20 lbs max so far, but my average is 5 or less lbs during recent heat wave…
Therefore, one person alone cannot possibly sort and collect 2,000 lbs of alpaca fiber within 5 weeks, when sorting leg bags for length! We have to be able to point to 50 lbs sorted every single day for solid 6 weeks to meet our goal. Can you help us?
With 14 owners participating in the project, plus 8 of us having committed to invite two more ranches each, to join us by next week - If we end up with 30 sellers, we will reach our goal IF each contributes an average of 52 additional lbs per producer by deadline later this month! Doable.
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USA BUSINESS CULTURE
My eldest son cautions me that “successful” businesses in the U.S. are cut-throat and that one has to protect themselves from competitors, by locking in supply and keeping sources and insider information secret.
I believe that our country’s poor economic situation can only change when we become socially responsible to each other and decide to work together as business entrepreneurs for universal good. There’s power and influence in scale and numbers, whether dealing with lowering production costs (vets, shearers, transporters, shipping, and feed) or with increased profitability and fairer price points for our fiber in production sales options. I believe that working hard and smart, while supporting colleagues rather than competing against them is best, and not the antithesis to success.
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Prove me correct and help me teach my son how things CAN be done better by networking together without elite status tiers keeping us disconnected, fragmented and at odds with each other as USA alpaca owners and fiber producers.
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Equine horse cinch to be made from 8 ply worsted alpaca yarn
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Alpaca owners and colleagues across the country, plus manufacturers and processors are watching and waiting to see what we do here on the West Coast. Let’s show them what positive change looks like, California and Arizona!
WHAT ANGEL INVESTORS WANT: Last year I attended two venture capital investor workshops at two different California Universities. As I listened to the presentations of start-up companies, followed by evaluations of potential investors, this is what I heard, “We want to invest in new products, developed by visionary entrepreneurial owners, who can show us how their company is going to contribute to their community, to our country and to the planet, with respect for economy, ecology and the well being of other people, in addition to bottom line profits.”
MANUFACTURERS WANT specs to length and certain grades and sometimes color, with consistency and reliable sustainable quantity being the key. Some mills want between 4”-6” length staples and others work with shorter fibers, especially for non-woven processes. There are those owners who say they can send fiber right off the animal “as is” and it doesn’t matter whether it’s sorted or clean. Some mills claim the same. I say, “Junk in, Junk out”. Why pay extra for shipping, and then have someone else determine how much of your clip is “waste” or “unusable” or charge extra for what you can do yourself?
TURNING WINE COUNTRY INTO FIBER COUNTRY:
Imagine being a grower of any other commodity and not having a contract in advance for your crop.
Imagine spending thousands of dollars and hours of labor as a vintner to produce a certain number of lbs of wine grapes – then not picking them off the vine. Instead, you decide to let them turn into raisins over time, but still aren’t willing to harvest them and get them into production and on the tables of eager consumers. Imagine.
Herd at Summer Pasture with Vineyard…we grow fiber, while our neighbors grow grapes
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We hope you enjoyed your 4th of July Holiday – now it’s time to get back to work sorting and collecting our annual clip for real alpaca business development!
Join us in our current challenge to reach 2,000 lbs clean sorted fiber, ready for baling and shipment within just a few more weeks. We CAN!
Paying the producer first.
Be ready!
