The ILR Lamaribbean Conference

January 29 – February 3, 2007

by Kristy J. Brown, D.V.M.

for the ORGLER, Wisconsin Organization of Lama Enthusiasts, Inc.

I have just returned from participating in the ILR Conference, “Lama-ribbean”, held on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the Splendor of the Seas. I must admit that when I first heard the announcement about a conference on a ship, I was skeptical, but as the information regarding pricing was available, I must say that this was an inexpensive conference and vacation. I had expected perhaps a half-day session on the days at sea, but this was a full-fledged conference schedule – two full days while at sea and an evening session. The presentations yielded a nice balance of topics relevant to our industry and valuable “take-home” information for our own farms.

Kevin Ochsner of ABG presented the first day of the conference. He provided both analysis and motivation – we discussed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the ILR, the llama industry and our individual farms, he dared us to dream, challenged us to look at our industry today and strategize for the future. (Kevin’s PowerPoint presentation and other materials will be available at the ILR website.) The balance of the program was given by ILR members: Sally Rucker gave a photo pedigree history of some of the most influential sires and dams of our industry; our registrar Jan Wassink helped us to better navigate our website and discussed programs in development; Sue Wilde gave information on marketing a website; Darrell Anderson, Mark Smith and myself discussed breeding philosophies of our own herds as well as sharing our experiences dealing with other species of pedigreed livestock, the technologies used by each of them and what services those registries provide; and Dr. Karen Baum and I fielded questions from the floor regarding veterinary care and management of camelids. The grand finale was a social hour with door prizes ranging from donated breedings, rugs, t-shirts and farm signs, metal sculptures and a driftwood carving of a llama.

This conference was very informative and interactive. A couple of themes seem to ring throughout the whole meeting and I would like to share these with you. The wide range of uses of llamas and the different types of body sizes and fiber types are strengths to the industry in that we draw from a wide variety of owners with a variety of goals with their llamas. Darrell Anderson used the word “passion” to describe this industry – our passion for these animals has brought us together and our passion for them has spread us apart. A weakness in this industry is the lack of cohesion, lack of a common source of information and resources.

There was a common opinion of those in the group that we need to unify this industry – Mr. Ochsner made the distinction between “cooperation” meaning we politely allow each faction to do what they want and “collaboration” meaning we help each other towards a common goal. There are many opportunities available for this common goal and suggestions included increased information collected, stored and available through the ILR (tracking show records of any show association, fiber types and characteristics, pack or delta certifications or other measurable traits); the need for a breed standard or as Mark Smith better described it, a “standard of excellence” meaning a description of the conformation, phenotypic traits and way of going that can be used as a basis of comparing all animals, regardless of fiber type or intended use; a strategy to enlighten people to the benefits of membership in the ILR whether they are breeders, involved in showing or have working or pet llamas; and a need for a strong youth program – ALSA has done a good job with youth in performance and showmanship, but we need a way to recognize, encourage and support youth ownership – these are our future llama breeders. Darrell Anderson, Mark Smith and Barb Baker have put forth a tremendous effort to introduce llamas at the National FFA Convention, but we need to present more options to these youth. Darrell Anderson discussed the success of the youth program in the swine industry with youth shows, conferences, scholarships and the impact the youth association has had on the pedigreed livestock producers (increased breeding stock sales, increased revenues to the registry, etc).

Many of the presenters and the audience members cited the examples we can draw from in other segments of the animal world, from the AKC of pedigreed dogs to horses to dairy cattle, sheep, swine and beef. The majority of people think of a registry as simply a storehouse of pedigree information only, but when we look to our peers in other livestock or companion animal breeds, these registries are also a source of education, promotion and structure. The llama industry has survived the fractioning of the past and the present, but many people are still harboring negative feelings about failed attempts at unification of the industry or towards other interest groups within the industry. We should not let the past threaten any efforts to unify our industry. Each faction can be a viable entity in the industry with a common body behind each faction. Unification does not remove our individuality, but rather strengthens our resources, both financial and manpower. We are but an infant in the pedigreed livestock world and we will have our share of growing pains. Long established registries and breed associations revisit their bylaws, reevaluate their breed standards and refine their goals on a regular basis to adapt to the changing needs of their industry. Change is not a threat, but the failure to adapt to change can destroy a farm, a business or an industry.

The final session of the meeting was titled “where do we go from here” – the group threw out ideas including unification and collaboration of the factions, acknowledging the importance of each and embracing everyone’s passion, but taking the industry in a forward direction and the need for development of a youth association. One way for this to happen is to start with individual members – send a written letter to the board of directors of the ILR with your thoughts of where you would like to see the industry head and what the ILR’s role in it could be. Let the board of directors of any associations you may belong to know your thoughts – the written word has more impact than a phone call – it can be considered by the board in your words, not a recap of a conversation and can be referred to for future reference. You may prefer to start a petition and get signatures to support your petition and send this to the board.

This is a growing industry with a lot of potential to be a force to reckon with and be respected in the pedigreed livestock community. The strength of an industry is the strength and resources of its members. We have elected a board of directors to the ILR and to our many associations and subgroups in the industry and these boards need the input of the members to help guide them in a forward direction. I challenge each of you to be proactive in the following months and express your feelings to your respective boards and offer you suggestions for improving our industry. We can learn from past successes and past failures of the camelid industry, we can follow the lead of other pedigreed livestock groups and not reinvent the wheel. Consider the strengths, weakness and threats to our industry and in them find the opportunities to move the industry forward. The world is not static, some changes are for the good and some are for the better, but our hope is that the end result gives us a better today than yesterday and a chance at a better tomorrow. Our industry should not be static either and what each of does as an individual can impact the industry as a whole – strive to be source of strength and opportunity to take our industry into tomorrow.