Welcome to 2019! First, some TIME-SENSITIVE AND IMPORTANT reminders and links!
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL Here If renewal is not received by January 31, your listings in the Member Directory tab, Member Farms tab, Alpacas for Sale tab and Store/Shopping tab will be deactivated. Your membership supports providing educational seminars at a very low cost to you, free veterinary student attendance, the Wisconsin Alpaca and Fiber Fest and seminars as well as other worthwhile causes such as the AOA Student Design Competition and The Wisconsin Discovery Center.
WINTER SEMINAR REGISTRATION Here The early-bird seminar fee will be available until the end of this weekend. This is a unique opportunity to work hands-on with one of the best HUACAYA and SURI alpaca fiber resources in the industry, and Cheryl’s knowledge will provide you with invaluable tools for your breeding program. WE NEED YOU TO BRING MORE HUACAYA HERDSIRE FLEECES! The seminar is being held in Madison, WI at the UW Veterinary Science Building. Find more information here and also later in this newsletter. You will receive all logistical information when you register.
JOIN GLAA Here If you have been on the fence about joining GLAA for the first time, you can’t go wrong joining us and then registering for the Winter Seminar as a member.
A MESSAGE FROM BROOK LANDEO OF HILLSBORO ALPACAS, OUR NOMINATING COMMITTEE CHAIR: The GLAA Nominating Committee is seeking qualified candidates for the GLAA Board of Directors. GLAA’s Articles of Association define a qualified candidate as a full member in good standing in the Association. There is one (1) position available to serve a two-year term starting in 2019. The seat is currently held by Jim Konyn who will not be seeking re-election.
If you are interested in serving on the GLAA Board of Directors, please submit a statement on behalf of your candidacy to Secretary Rogers by March 15, 2019. If more than one candidate is nominated, ballots and nominee qualifications will be provided by April 1, 2019 to all members for a vote.
4-H GROUP: If you are interested in starting a 4H Alpaca/Llama group in your county, Kevin Stoer from LondonDairy Alpacas would be interested in helping you out. He has a successful 4-H group in Manitowoc County and is willing to answer any questions and share with you what he has done for starting a program.
2019 GLAA WINTER SEMINAR – Great Lakes Alpaca Association is pleased to announce our next winter seminar on January 26th featuring Cheryl Gehly featuring Fiber 101 in the morning and Breeding Decisions in the afternoon. Primary focus will be furthering every alpaca breeder’s understanding of the importance and identification of uniformity of micron! It is all about fiber this year and is truly an event you don’t want to miss!
Seminar will again be held at UW-Madison in the Veterinary Science Building. All details will be provided in your registration confirmation email.
OUR SPEAKER/INSTRUCTOR Cheryl Gehly is a Senior AOA Fleece Judge, Judge Trainer and Instructor in the United States. She completed the International Alpaca Fleece Judging School in Peru in 2001. Cheryl is co-author of the AOBA judging and training book The Art & Science of Alpaca Judging. She is also co-author of the Suri Network Suri Herd Improvement Program (S.H.I.P.) Classification Form and is a certified classifier, evaluating conformation and fleece characteristics on suri alpacas throughout the United States. With 25 years as a teacher in her background, Cheryl has been an innovator for alpaca judge training since 2003 as chairperson of and liaison to the AOBA/AOA Judge Training and Certification Committee, responsible for establishing clinics for halter, fleece and oral reasons instruction. She is also a member and former chairperson of the AOA Judge Advisory Committee as well as being a judge liaison to the AOA Show Rules Committee. In addition to judging fleece shows throughout the US and in Canada, Cheryl teaches at breeder seminars throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
ATTENTION ALL SURI NETWORK BREEDERS IN THE SOUTH/CENTRAL WISCONSIN AREA!! Consider working together with fellow Suri Network Members to share lowered costs by scheduling SHIP (Suri Herd Improvement Program) classifications at your farm(s) around the GLAA Seminar date. Save on costs normally associated with having a certified classification of your herd such as travel, lodging and meals, and share classification fees. Contact treasurer@greatlakesalpaca.com for scheduling information.
Cheryl Gehly is Lead Classifier/Trainer for Suri Network SHIP. The primary goal of SHIP is to provide a variety of tools for herd improvement and management of Suri Phenotype and Fiber Qualities. SHIP provides concrete, objective data about individual herds and the opportunity to advance the national herd using that data for breeding and purchasing decisions. Detailed information at www.surinetwork.org/SHIP.
The GLAA Winter Seminar Topics
Fiber Characteristics 101 – Morning Session
This seminar will focus on the fundamentals of fiber morphology. Where does it come from? Why does it matter? Alpaca fiber components will be explored from the inside out in order to create a clearer understanding of how they contribute to general fleece characteristics. Particular attention will be paid to fineness, density, crimp/lock, uniformity, and brightness/luster.
Breeding Decisions: Selecting For Improvement – Afternoon Session
Knowing what you have, in order to select for improvement, is the key to making generational advancements in your herd. Participants in this seminar will learn how to critically evaluate the fleece characteristics of a variety of female alpacas and make decisions on what needs improvement. Many herdsire fleeces will also be available for assessment and matched to each female based on the potential for producing a positive gain in the offspring. Bring your herdsire fleece(s) with you to the seminar.
Host Hotel: Best Western Plus InnTowner, 2424 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53726, 608-233-8778, http://www.inntowner.com The hotel offers a shuttle service to the seminar, and there is also free ramp parking at UW. Check in time is 3 pm and check out is 12 pm.
WISCONSIN ALPACA AND FIBER FEST
The Wisconsin Alpaca & Fiber Fest will be held April 27-28, 2019 at the Washington County Fair Park in West Bend, WI. New this year will be a Walking Fleece competition where the animal is evaluated strictly on the basis of fiber. Sara Jane Maclennan will judge Walking Fleece. Halter and Fleece competitions will be judged by Kristin Buhrmann. Registration for Halter, Fleece, and Walking Fleece will open February 1, 2019. Go to www.alpacareg.com to register. We encourage farms to take advantage of uploading paperwork to the alpacareg site. Doing so means that you will not need to submit paper copies with your payment. (Registration for Handcrafter Spin-Off has now closed and entries are being judged by Wini Labrecque.) For further information go to the show website www.wisconsinalpacafiberfest.com.