Now in its third year of operation, the Ultrafine Bale Scheme is spearheading the Australian alpaca fleece industry’s push onto the world’s premium apparel market.

The scheme commenced in 2006 as a result of a growing demand for low micron fibre to be used in the manufacture of ‘luxury’ fashion garments.

The inspiration that lead to the Ultrafine Bale scheme arose from dealings between Paul Vallely, the owner of Australian Alpaca Fibre testing and a number of progressive ultrafine sheep breeders who have created a market for their product through strategies of quality assurance, demand driven production and brand recognition.

Before the project commenced, an evaluation was conducted by Australian Alpaca Fibre Testing (AAFT) to determine the key price drivers for the premium fibre market. These drivers would set the selection criteria for the ultrafine bales.

Based on this market evaluation, the criteria for Ultrafine grading of alpaca fleeces was that they needed to test below 19 microns, have staple length between 75mm and 100mm, have more than 99% of fibres below 30 microns, have high tensile strength and be pure white.

To ensure a high standard of quality assurance could be achieved, a set of procedures were established by AAFT so that only unltrafine fibre found its way into the bales.

As an initial test to determine if fleeces meet the ultrafine criteria, midside samples are initially sent to AAFT to test for objective fibre characteristics such as fibre diameter, length, standard deviation and comfort factor.

If the mid-side samples pass the initial screening test, the grower is asked to submit the relevant fleece/s for a confirmatory grid sample test. This grid test involves taking a series of samples from around the fleece in order to check for high variation of traits. If the fleece is found to suffer from high variation, then either the whole fleece is rejected, or only the offending portion is rejected.

Fleeces that pass all stages of screening are currently earning $60.00 per kilogram.

So that growers benefit from feedback on their fleeces, test reports from the mid-side test and the grid test are provided. Furthermore, if fleeces display extraordinary characteristics, the grower is contacted by AAFT.

The completed Ultrafine Bales are then forwarded to Australian Alpaca Fleece Ltd to be marketed on the world stage.

The 2006 bale achieved an Australian record by obtaining an average fibre diameter of 17.9 microns. The 2007 bale almost matched this by obtaining 18.0 microns average diameter.

While the strict quality control procedures for compiling the bales have been upheld, we are still experiencing a very small amount of some coloured fibres and guard hairs in the ultrafine fleeces. This can result in limitations in its use within the fine worsted spinning area.

A series of workshops and information sheets have been provided by AAFT outlining some of the causes of this contamination and how growers might address these issues. Of particular note is the need for an effective shearing regime where cross contamination between alpacas is reduced. Quality controll at this vital stage is paramount in order to develop the ultrafine scheme.

It should be noted that current contributors to the bales should be commended for their on-going efforts in dealing with the matter of fibre contamination.

Even as we address these issues, this unique collection of very high quality alpaca fleece offers immense potential.

Australian Alpaca Fleece Ltd, together with its strategic partner in Peru, Incalpaca TPX S.A., agreed on a project to produce very fine knitwear from these ultrafine fleeces which is blended with 14.5 micron ‘Ausfine Choice’ grade ultrafine merino wool.

This luxury product is lighter, silkier and rarer than cashmere and is labelled as “Royal Alpaca”. As Peruvian processors are currently the world’s leading craftsmen in this area, each label will have attached a swing ticket demonstrating that each sweater is beautifully finished by master craftsmen in a range of colours and designs. Royal Alpaca, once reserved for European nobility, is considered one of the world’s premium fibres offering year round luxury and comfort.

The resulting premium quality sweaters are being shown to a number of leading fashion houses of this world. We anticipate these products will stand up very favourably with the best cashmere sweaters available.

Like the ultrafine wool market that has carved a name for itself around the world producing the finest wool products, the alpaca industry needs to adopt the same principles and guidelines to ensure our products will be recognised as coming from the very best alpacas in the world in terms of luxury fleece production.

Consequently, there needs to be an emphasis on gaining the confidence of markets by producing quality controlled consignments of fleeces with low variation of fibre traits and on a consistent basis

It is hoped the Ultrafine Bale Scheme will provide premiums to growers as an incentive or reward to produce the highest quality fleeces, and thereby create sufficient volume of this beautiful fibre to meet an increasing world demand.

A possible consequence of the Ultrafine Bale Scheme is a positive flow-on effect that might be enjoyed by the other alpaca fleece types.