The weak U.S. dollar, coupled with an Austinburg Township alpaca farm’s reputation for producing quality livestock, have combined to create a history-making sale for the farm and U.S. alpaca industry.

George and Mary Hodson, owners of Grand River Alpaca Farm, have sold six of their animals to a group of investors based in the United Kingdom. The animals are under quarantine at the Hodson’s Windsor-Mechanicsville Road Farm, awaiting export to Canada in early October. After six months in Canada, the alpacas will be considered of Canadian origin and eligible for export to the United Kingdom.

This circuitous adoption procedure is necessary because the United States and United Kingdom do not have an export agreement for alpacas and llamas, says George Hodson. Only a handful of U.S. alpacas have made the trip, although there are 10 times as many alpacas in the United States than Great Britain.

The Hodsons’ farm, which typically has a population of 50 alpacas that belong to Grand River, is numerically a small player in the U.S. industry, which has a population of about 12,000 alpaca. The animals, natives of South America, were imported into the country until the mid-1990s, when the gates were closed. Because of the limited breeding pool and long gestation period, 111⁄2 months, the population has remained small and demand high.

Established 11 years ago, Grand River has focused on breeding quality black and gray alpacas. George Hodson explains that only about 1 percent of alpacas fall into these color categories. In their native Peru, breeders focused on producing white fleece. Seeing the rarity of the black and gray animals, the Hodsons decided to make them the center of their breeding program.

A year into business, the couple took a huge gamble on a young black male. The alpaca, Dark Shadow, has proven himself in both the show ring and his offspring (cria). He holds multiple championships, including 2006 reserve herd sire of the year; his offspring hold more than 50 championship titles.

“Now it’s international, someone has come from another country and recognized his quality, as well,” George says.

Last spring, the farm sent out a mass e-mail to alpaca farms and investors soliciting interest in a gray female from their herd. The e-mail caught the interest of a retired investment banker who was interested in building the quality of his own herd. George Hodson says the e-mail looked conspicuously like the ubiquitous spam of foreign origin, but he decided to pursue this one rather than delete it.

“We responded and he requested a lot of information,” George says. “They requested upfront tests, analyses, photos, fiber samples they could evaluate before they would even schedule a visit. We did a lot of due diligence to win this contract.”

The investor traveled to the United States in April and made a tour of the farms with stock he was interested in purchasing.

“This was a pretty competitive event,” George says. “The last stop was here. He was so impressed with Dark Shadow ... he ended up going with us after visiting all these farms.”

The investor liked not only what was for sale, but also at least two animals that were not.

“There are a couple of them we will probably regret selling,” George says. “One of the females we weren’t going to sell.”

“She was one of our keepers,” adds Mary.

In the end, the couple decided selling the animals was a good business decision because of the international exposure they’d receive.

“What we send over there will be representative of our breeding program, as well as the American alpaca industry. It’s not a bad idea to send over a couple of our best,” George says.



Waiting period

The deal was closed and the long process of getting the animals from Austinburg Township to Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, begun.

Once the sale was made, George and Mary began working with U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarians to qualify the animals for the first phase of their journey, Austinburg to Canada.

The procedure requires 30 days of isolation from the farm’s herd. All animals, including wild ones, must be kept 30 feet from the quarantined animals. Their caretakers must suit up in gowns before entering the quarantine zone.

At the end of 30 days, the blood tests required by Canadian law will be administered on the animals. If they pass muster, they’ll head for a farm in Irwin, Ontario, the first week in October.

George and Mary plan to transport the animals themselves, and they already know it’s going to be a stressful trip. The trailer will have to be cleaned, disinfected and inspected before moving the animals from quarantine directly into the trailer. They must follow a direct route to the border crossing at Buffalo, where a Canadian veterinarian will inspect the animals and seal the trailer.

“All the paperwork has to be right on the money,” says George. On the Canadian side, there will be a list of requirements that must be fulfilled by U.S.D.A. documentation. If the two don’t match, the alpacas won’t enter the country.

Once the trailer is sealed, George and Mary won’t be allowed to enter it until they reach the farm in Irwin. A veterinarian at the farm will inspect the animals and release them to the caretaker.

“It’s an expensive procedure,” says George, who estimates it will cost several thousand to meet all the requirements.

Once the animals are in Canada, the expenses will continue to accumulate. The animals will be held in quarantine for 30 days, then live on the farm for another five months, long enough to become Canadian alpacas that can be exported under the Canadian agreement with the United Kingdom. In early April, they’ll be flown in a cargo plane designed for animal transportation; the direct flight will be from Toronto to Heathrow Airport in England.

Their new home will be a farm about one hour northwest of London.

The Hodsons say the sale was assisted by the weakness of the dollar against the European currency.

“One positive aspect of a weak dollar is that our animals are more affordable; they were able to get them for half price,” George says.

It’s possible this sale could be just the beginning of a long relationship with the fledgling United Kingdom alpaca industry, not just for Grand River, but other breeders of quality animals. The British investors are planning another buying trip to this country, George says.

The timing is excellent for the American industry, which has seen a bursting of the bubble in the past three years. Auction prices of quality females have fallen from an average of $25,000 to $17,000 in that period. “There was a bubble but everybody knew that bubble was going to break sooner or later,” he says.

The Hodsons say that, despite a weak American economy, the alpaca business is strong.

“With this sale and some of the others, we’re actually going to have a pretty good year,” George says. “The export is about 40 percent of our sales for this year.”



online: grandriveralpacafarm.com