Dr. Sumar presented his paper at the second annual Alpaca Western Extravaganza (AWE) in Redmond, Oregon on May 17, 2004. Julio had spent the previous two days judging the alpaca show, and on Sunday, he gave an oral presentation as part of the Gold of the Andes Seminar which was also taught by Maggie Krieger (Canada), Alonso Burgos (Peru), Jude Anderson (Australia), Luis Chavez (Peru), Angus McColl (Scotland/Denver), and Mike Safley (USA). His talk focused on the genetic and environmental contributions to the championship alpaca.
His observations on the importance of crimp and staple length are particularly interesting. He began his description on the importance of crimp by saying that he had recently read an alpaca book which said, “Crimp is not important.” This, he said with a smile, made him a “little crazy” because it was not true! Dr. Sumar went on to explain that staple length was the trait most affected by diet in alpacas.
The materials contained in What Makes a Champion are well worth studying by anyone endeavoring to create ideal alpacas. The Alpaca-Journal wants to thank Dr. Sumar for his kind permission to present his article to alpaca breeders worldwide.
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