Posted on 09/30/2012 5:28:56 AM PDT by The Working Man
I left the Space Program as a contractor back in 2009, my wife and I have been raising Alpacas on our farm though since 2005.
My wife is big into the Social Networking thing especially Facebook and various Yahoo Groups. Last night she was reading a very interesting post from a Fellow Alpaca Rancher in the South. He stated that he was getting multiple phone calls from Chinese students at a nearby university asking about the Alpacas and how easy they were to raise, The fiber products made from them, etc.
He then stated that he was now having carloads of them showing up and gushing about his animals and telling him about how they were a rage in China.
He asked a question to the group at large; Have you been having similar experiences?
He received replies from several other Alpaca farmers stating that they had also been receiving phone calls and visits from Chinese students.
Personally this sort of thing really bothers me for many reasons.
1. The Alpaca industry in the United States is in a precarious position and frankly has been for some time. The National herd needs to get to be around one million animals according to industry experts. We are less than three hundred thousand right now.
2. We have lost a BUNCH of farms in the last three and a half years due to Retirements, Divorces and Lay-offs of the Breadwinner in the family forcing the closing of the farm due to loss of outside income. This has contributed greatly to the reduction in the size of the National herd.
3. Getting on to China, China still is the largest producer of clothing. It makes economic sense to build up their own herd of Alpacas for harvesting the fiber for their clothing factories.
4. China has a history of doing this before, namely the Cashmere Goat market. They bought a bunch of the goats transported them to Mongolia and within a decade had destroyed the Cashmere industry across the world by producing very cheap Cashmere clothing items. I can see them doing that with Alpacas. That would destroy our own efforts here in the United States to build up a viable commercial market for our fiber from these amazing animals.
What I am hoping for by posting this is to get some Freeper help on research on China's history and current practices in the Agriculture and Clothing markets regarding "exotic fiber livestock". If I get enough I plan on presenting that to American Alpaca Farmers with the intent on showing that a quick sale today of Animals to China will end up with China putting their own businesses out of business in a decade or so.
Thank you for reading this.
The Working Man
Hey, I never said anything about that. I’m talking strictly hugs!
No longer accurate, IMO.
The fiber world has gone to alpaca in a big way. In my nearest small town, there is a HUGE alpaca fiber shop with such a large online business they have, within 5 years moved from an average-sized shop to a former 1/2 square block 2-story department store with a full basement. Carded batts, spun wool, felted sheets and finished goods comprise the line. It is very expensive and they cannot even keep up with the knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers who want this fiber.
I think every farm in my area has a small herd and some have a large one. It was an investment scam, but now people have their marketing act together and I see an established and mature market. Evidently the Chinese do, too. I know of at least 2 local other businesses that only custom card and dye alpaca and are ordered to the walls. Subsidies come and go, but this is a market that has reached critical mass in both production supply and demand and it is inevitable that it will be taken over.
I have manufactured a wool felt sewing notion for 27 years. I have had American buyers for large chain operations attempt to reproduce my product and insult me by asking if it could be made in China when I won’t meet their onerous terms. I have had people hire away my workers to learn my production methods. This gushing approach is SOP. I saved my business because I have changed my production process multiple times to cut margins and kept certain aspects totally proprietary. I come across forums where others are attempting to figure out how my product is made. Since this is a commodity and not a process, Americans are going to face competition as everyone wants to get into a popular niche. An upside for the consumer will be cheaper fiber, but there may be a backlash if the fiber artists demand organic fiber.
The Chinese cashmere is awful. Thin and without the hand of cashmere as it once was. They will ruin alpaca the same way.
American producers must become known for top quality or they will be crushed.
My sense is that keeping trade secrets is the key to remaining competitive, given that patent applications simply give developing countries (like China or India) that don't respect patents a road map to your process. If it's good enough for KFC and Coca Cola...
Thank you for your original post and the ensuing discussion. I have no knowledge or involvement in the Alpaca industries, except I have a good friend who has gotten very involved in the fiber end of it. I have been absolutely fascinated with her blog and facebook postings about it. She has been giving spinning demonstrations on various Alpaca farms and at fairs and shows here on the DelMarVa (Delaware and the Eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia) peninsula.
She is very interested in fiber quality and has spoken of differences. I’m going to pass a link to this discussion along to her and ask for her opinion, for my personal interest (she’s not a member here.)
I investigated a patent years ago. All I could qualify for would be a *design patent*, worth whatever you are willing to pay to defend it in court. Also, the attorney bragged that he charged $500/hr and told me I could not supply my own drawings. I decided to forget it.
Besides proprietary processes, I have over the years developed modifications to the equipment that are probably the most valuable portion of the business, besides the current account base, were I ever to offer it for sale. When I am ready to get rid of it, I have thought of simply writing and selling a book on the process, equipment mods, etc.
Depends on whether or not TSHTF, I guess.
In the hand manufacturing, production craft world, you simply accept that everyone tries to knock off a success and that you must stay ahead of them. I cannot tell you how many *artists* have contacted me over the decades requesting my process. They seem to believe that because they are artists and I am simply a production crafter, I will hand over years of work for the heck of it. I take great comfort in the fact that the company that hired away my assistant in order to steal my process is no longer in business, per se. They were purchased multiple times as part of various catalog *empires*, the work was all outsourced to Pakistan and all that is left in the US is a tiny division of a huge conglomerate that simply retails a few outsourced or outright imported items. Too bad. So sad.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.