Toft Alpaca fleece stats for 2014 make happy reading.

All good news on the return of the 2014 fleece stats which cheer me up no end as the summer fades on another fantastic season and autumn makes its presence felt.

Every year we test every breeding alpaca, and all thejunior and intermediates both male and female at Yocom McColl testing labaratories in the USA.We have done so for almost ten years now and although it takes a month or two for the results to arrive it provides a vital benchmark to monitor our progress.

The finest Toft alpaca on the farm actually belongs to one of our clients Snapdragon Alpacas. Congratulations to Liz and. Terry Davies whose Toft Bootes, a champion light female in the BAS Nationals in 2014, returned an amazing result of 13.4 microns.

The coarsest of the breeding  Toft Alpacas male and female was only 31.6 Microns

The average micron for the whole breeding herd is 23.3 Microns.

The average micron for the breeding herd minus the junior breeding stock is 24.8.

The average micron for the 2013 offspring is 18.58 with only one of them over 20.

The average micron for the 2012 breeders is 19.3.

Always room for improvement but in reality we will be happy if we can maintain these results year on year whilst developing  the improved stock to maintain their fineness for as long as possible.

It's good to know as we reach the third and fourth generation of selection that the. Toft Herd is improving in quality throughout year on year with the young elite alpaca stock taking us to places we could only dream of when we set out in 1997.

Congratulations to all the Toft Team for a great set of stats! If next year we can improve the handwriting so we get the alpacas names spelt correctly it would be appreciated...slexos rule ok!

Fleece Statistics for 2013 are making us smile

We received the 2013 fleece stats back from Yocom McColl testing laboratories in the USA last week and having now studied the results we are grinning from paddock to paddock.

Of the 26 cria born in 2012 only 2 of them are over 21 microns. The lowest is 14.6 which is incredible and the highest was 23.1. The average of the 26 cria from 2012 is 18.4 microns. 

Although we are very aware that these statistics are only an indicator of positive fleece traits and no replacement for a full hands on assessment they still indicate that at Toft we are heading toward the superfine alpaca in depth across all the young pedigree stock. 

That's as it should be after 16 years of selection but it is encouraging to have the science confirm the progress of our breeding program. So forgive us for crowing a little but if we don't share our achievements with you how will you ever find out about the quality of alpacas we are breeding at Toft?

Each year we only release a very select amount of these fourth generation elite alpaca genetics into the marketplace. So if you are seeking the very best get in touch direct to avoid disappointment.