RED DEER – After 13 years of selling llamas on the runway, the Legacy Classic sale has become more than a showcase for a pretty face.
This year’s sale average for alpacas was $8,840, down from last year’s average of $12,000. The llama sale average nearly doubled to $5,800 from 1999’s $3,900.
“This was a real uplift for the llama people,” said Warren Fertig. He and his family run the Legacy Classic sale at Red Deer.
The alpaca price slippage is partly due to the success of the industry. Several thousand animals were imported from South America during the last few years. The borders closed last year but most major breeders are not looking for replacement females or sires now, said Fertig.
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“The nice thing is if people are truly interested they can enter the market and feel comfortable,” he said.
The industry is also maturing.
The crowd of about 700 knew what it liked and what it wanted. The strongest bids came for animals exhibiting the fanciest fibre. The suris drew the most attention at this year’s sale, which featured 38 alpacas and 29 llamas.
A suri is a specialty type with long curling tendrils of wool rather than the fluffy type typical at most sales in the past. Suris produce a longer fibre length and these fibres exhibit a lustrous sheen that spins into fine yarns for expensive garments.
“People need to be interested in the fibre, because that’s the way the market is going to go,” said Fertig.
The high seller of the June 10 sale was a yearling suri type llama that sold for $39,000 to Dennis and Barbara Byrne of Warburg, Alta. They already have 30 llamas at their Leprechaun Llamas. The llama came from the White Star Llama and Suri Alpaca Farm owned by Fred and Sharon Isayew of Prince Albert, Sask.
The top selling alpaca came from Randy and Betty Hamilton of Moon Valley Farms at Drayton Valley, Alta. A taffy colored two year old, he went for $29,000 to the partnership of Theo and Brenda Buursma, Errington, B.C. and Sharon Steward and Steve Hindman, New Sarepta, Alta.
