ACOA’s PREMIUM BALE PROJECT
The American alpaca industry is producing increasing amounts of fleece with low micron and low standard deviation, suitable for the finest textile and knitwear applications.
However, this fact is not widely known within the broader US textile industry, with the result that processors are missing the business opportunities that access to our fine fiber can create, and alpaca growers are not realizing full value for their product.
The Alpaca Coalition of America (ACOA) recognizes the need for our breeding triumphs to become more widely known, both inside and outside the industry, and has established the Premium Bale Project to help address this issue. Through the Premium Bale Project, ACOA will sponsor the collection of two bales of elite white Huacaya fiber to sell via auction to the highest bidders from the textile industry.
These bale will not only show the high quality of the fleece our industry is producing but also demonstrate our ability to aggregate large quantities of fleece the meet the rigorous standards of the commercial marketplace. ACOA is looking forward to grower support as we compile two bales of elite white fiber in 2014 and two more in succeeding years.
This bale will not only show what we are already producing but also demonstrate that we capable of gathering high quality fleeces from our nascent livestock industry to our growers of the future.
ACOA is looking forward to grower support as we compile two bales of elite white fiber in 2014 and two more in succeeding years as we make a statement to the processing industry that we are here to stay!
The two bales are:
Premium Plus – A bale under 18 micron average fiber diameter, with an aggregate standard deviation of under 4.0 microns, a comfort factor of not less than 98%, and a maximum staple length of 80 – 120mm (3.2″ – 4.8″). Vegetable matter contamination will be at a very low level (on a scale of 1 – 5, at 2 or less) and each fleece will be tested for tensile strength. No juvenile fleeces will be accepted.
Premium – A bale under 20 micron average fiber diameter, with an aggregate standard deviation of less than 4.0 microns, a comfort factor of not less than 98%, and a maximum staple length variation the same as the Premium Plus bale. Vegetable mateer contamination will also be at the Premium Plus bale and all fleeces will be tested for tensile strength. No juvenile fleeces will be accepted.
Only white huacaya fleeces will be accepted for both bales for this initial offering.
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR FLEECES
HOW IT WORKS…
Growers will be invited to submit three samples from each fleece they would like to contribute to the Premium Bale Project: Shoulder, midside and rump. These three samples will be tested with the OFDA 2000 for a testing fee of $5 per fleece.
Those samples testing within the parameters for each bale will be selected for incorporation into one of the premium bales, and growers will be invited to send those fleeces to the collection point for quality assurance skirting and assessment for color and vegetable matter contamination.
Fleeces not meeting those quality assurance standards will be returned to the grower at the grower’s expense, those meeting the standard will be weighed and lotted with other fleeces to form the bale.
The weights will be recorded and the grower notified.
Fleeces will be collected up until the target weight is reached. Each fleece will be pressed, weighed and added to the bale. The weight of the bales will be determined by what fleeces are delivered to the project.
The sale proceeds will be collected by ACOA and allocated to each grower on a per pound of fleece contributed basis.
Some administration and handling costs incurred in the collection and sale will be deducted from the gross proceeds – these will cover skirting, assessment, weighing and recording, baling, and miscellaneous costs associated with the project.
WHO WILL DO WHAT…
Your support and contribution will help ensure that we get the maximum exposure and publicity for our growing animal and fiber industry through demonstrating our ability to bring together commercially viable volumes of elite fiber!
ACOA will subsidize the project and gather bids from as wide a source of buyers available as a tangible benefit to the alpaca industry of America.
Alpaca Consulting USA will co-ordinate testing, skirting, assessments, lotting and delivery of the pressed bales to the buyer from its Morro Bay, CA office.