The life of an exporter

Life has been very busy, with some previous breeders who i have done exports for, have recommended our services to do more exports.
We have just come home from doing another large export to Malaysia.
We have negotiated some alpacas to be exported to Malaysia before August this year, being the first to be exported there,
Hopefully this will be the beginning of a new marketplace.
Last year i started to venture into exporting goats, and sheep, and have extended my licence to cattle and buffalo.
Other species are able to be exported to many more countries than alpacas are.
So my main aim, is to see how each country's protocols are for each species, so i can work out and negotiate a protocol to introduce alpacas to these countries.
At the moment, we do have interest in Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, China.
The more countries that require alpacas, will give the Industry the boost and influence it deserves

Snowdrifter

ICEBURG- Solid White Pregnant Female

Iceburg, has always been one of our favourites.
Her fleece is so startling bright with lustre.
So fine, and even through out.
She is a favourite, now standing in Belgium, at Alpacalandgoed.

Broken Hill, NSW

We had to go to central Australia, where the Feral goats are rounded up and sent to the Depots for distribution.

The ferral goat is an introduced species to Australia, and has been left to run wild in the desert, It is estimated there is over 30 million wild goats, and 20 million wild camels in central australia, that is destroying the fragil land.

so these animals are rounded up.

I am told, the way the roud the goats up, is by placing salt blocks near water holes. They place large netting like a fence around these waterholes, with a one way gate.

So the goats who love the salt then go to the waterholes for the water, and go through the one way gates.

It is Outback Australia, and it really is the RED CENTRE.

the colour of the soil, and rocks, are just an irredescent red ocre in colour so bright.

There had been a flood six weeks earlier, that has taken weeks to clear up.

it was the worst flood in 30 years, and that is why the desert has a greenish tinge, as now this is the best season for feed in over 30 years.

The deport is 110 kms in land from Broken Hill.

Broken Hill, not far from the South Australian Border is a mining town, they mine, Tin, Silver, and many other minerals.

A beautiful of authentic Australian Outback town, beautiful architecture unique to the ton of the original buildings built around 1881, with huge wide verandahs.

jesse can walk!

Well, 3 months old, and he seems to be going ok.
Now we have had the Apnea monitor, and special formula, he now seems to be getting on top of it all.
He loves standing on his feet, he has from day 1 as a newborn, but with the baby exercises, you pull him up, as if sit ups, and he just goes straight to his feet, you cannot stop him.
sorry the movie is on it's side, but i think you can get an idea of what i am talking about.
He is so, so cute

TB alpacas...Cape Buffalo, STH Africa

Thank goodness, Australia is TB Free.
I read though of stories from breeders from overseas, of the reported cases of TB.
My ears pricked up this morning as we were having breakfast, we were watching Nat geo on TV, on the cape buffalo in Sth Africa. It is called Buffalo Warrior.
Lindsay Hunt, has been doing research on this and FMD which has been prevalient throughout the cape buffalo since 1988.
He did a study on trying to see how it is transmitted from one to the other, and so quarantined a group of infected buffalo, and i am certain they said they inncoluted them against Tb, but when the cows gave birth they immediately had to remove the calves, as if they nursed the antibodies of the innoculation would transfer through the mother's milk, and so if later in life, the calves would test positive to TB, and it would be uncertain if the animal had been exposed to it, or had it.
But after 9 mnths, the scientist then was able to clear the Tb in the group he had, all were negative, and when he mixed them back in the wild, where there were more stresses, Tb and FMD came back.
So he had his quarantine herd, that had never been exposed to Tb, and then was able to prodruce, new herds of TB free animals.
From his studies the knowledge was gained, that when under stress, then TB was prevalient, but when the animals were not stressed at all. Food plentifull, not overgrazed, clean water, etc, Tb was not spread.
It was also noted that TB is spread through by air, and saliva, and body fluids.
It was noted though that it is not spread through their drinking water.

I wonderd also if this information would be helpful for those in other countries that have had incidences of TB, whether or not, the animals that contracted TB, were at times under stress, even land transport is stressful.
Here is a couple of links to the story.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/3/23

Alpaca fibre helps to clean up oil spill

Alpacas help clean up Gulf Coast oil spill

Posted: May 08, 2010 9:24 AM Updated: May 08, 2010 9:45 AM

Video Gallery

Alpaca Hair helps oil spill disaster 1:51

The President is calling the oil spill off of the Louisiana coast an "environmental disaster." Here in the Tri-Cities, some people are doing what they can to help out with the situation, but in some unusual ways.

"It is useful, any natural hair apparently will absorb oil when it's put in the sea water. It won't absorb the water, but it will absorb the oil off the water," Alpaca raiser Brenda Trammell says.

Today Brenda is helping sheer Alpacas. After their wool falls off, part of it is sent to the Gulf to help soak up the oil.

"What I understand they're going to do is they'll stuff it into things like pantyhose and make a boom out of it, then apparently the cuticle on the fiber actually absorbs oil," she says.

Who knew, during a huge environmental disaster, each Alpaca can make a difference.

Brenda says they will send roughly 100 pounds of Alpaca wool by next week.