Organic Alpaca Fibre Information
With the growing trend towards sustainable living and specifically agricultural production, it is no surprise that Organic farming is currently the fastest growing sector in the agriculture industry.
Originally solely the area of food production we are now seeing the demand for sustainably farmed and chemical free produce spreading into the fibre production and ultimately the clothing retail area.
Many major clothing and homewares retailers are now stocking, and in some cases dedicating sections of their stores to organically grown and manufactured products. In the coming seasons we will see a dramatic increase in the presence of organic apparel from many major and influential retailers.
AAFL believes the Australian alpaca industry is in a terrific position to take advantage of the movement towards sustainable production. The ability to produce natural coloured fibre in a range of colours that do not require further dyeing gives alpaca a unique opportunity over other natural fibres.
It has been shown in other industries that a premium is paid for food or fibre that meets the requirements of the organic market – it can be expected that alpaca fibre would be no different.
As with all production a critical mass of the raw product is needed for the project to be feasible. This short survey is intended to provide AAFL with information on the current national production of alpaca fibre grown under organic conditions and hopefully details of potential future growth in production.
Australian Alpaca Fleece Ltd. is always looking at ways to promote and develop markets for Australian alpaca. From the information gained through this survey AAFL hopes to asses the potential of a portion of the annual fleece collected being directed at the organic market.
All completed surveys should be returned to Matt McAninly at AAFL either by email at email, or by mail to 2/114 Fairbairn Rd, Sunshine, Victoria 3020.
For further information on organic farming and the requirements to become certified please see the following links.
Organic farming requirements at aqis.gov.auOrganic farming at organicgrowers.org.au
Organic farming at nasaa.com.au
The AAFL organic survey can be downloaded here
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"AWI pushes organic wool"Organic Fibre Project - Update
Earlier in the year AAFL circulated a survey regarding the production of organic alpaca fibre within Australia. This was done because of the huge potential AAFL believes finished Australian alpaca products have on the organic market. However before we could move any further it had to be established how much organic fibre was actually being produced.
From those surveys returned unfortunately only a handful of growers indicated that they were producing organic fibre or were in the process of converting to organic production.
Many people indicated that they felt organics was a direction that they would like to explore further but were unsure of the requirements in becoming certified organic producers.
As seen with food products as well other fibres, a premium for products certified organic can be expected and that coupled with the natural colour range of alpaca the opportunity for alpaca growers is very exciting.
Despite the response to the survey AAFL is continuing to explore the opportunities for Australian alpaca fibre in the organic market and is now working with a designer experienced in the production of organic products to develop a range utilising Australian fibre for the future. It is our hope that the production of organic alpaca increases to a level where we can produce and market products made from Australian alpaca both locally and internationally.
If you would like to find out more about organics please see the Alpaca Fibre Information page under the Fleece Growers section on the AAFL website where we have links to organic organisations and related articles or contact the AAFL office.
Alpaca Fibre Colour Chart
AAFL fleece colour grades are set by the requirements of our customers for the products they make.
These may differ from the AAA animal registration colours. These colour grades are subject to change as manufacturers modify their products or as new markets are found.
Points to note in assessing fleece colour for processing:
- Some white fleeces contain individual brown or black fibres
– these fleeces must be graded as light fawn or grey - Black fleeces with brown or lighter tips have to be graded as dark brown
– only true black fleeces can be graded as black - Grey fleece with any brown will be graded as Rose Grey
- Because of the natural range of alpaca colours, some fleeces can vary between colour grades depending on the shade of the fleece
- White fleeces grown in red soil areas may have to be graded as light fawn
– this is due to the scouring process being unable to remove the red tipping.
