For those not aware of my involvement in the alpaca industry, I own and manage Australian Alpaca Fibre Testing (AAFT). Over the past 12 months, AAFT have conducted about 10,000 alpaca fibre tests, including testing for independant research and development projects. We also operate an ultrafine wool flock.
My first point is that follicle density has been found (in some cases)to be more correlated with fibre diameter than fleece weight, (Purvis and Swann 1997). Research on sheep found that follicle density was greater with sheep of low fibre diameter (the thinner the follicles, the greater the density). There is nothing to suggest that alpacas are different. This indicates that one cannot effectively compare follicle density with alpacas of significantly different fibre diameter. If anyone has evidence that this is not the case, I would be most interested in viewing such.
Furthermore, it has also been found that follicle density varies over (lets say), the saddle area. In addition, the degree of variation differs from alpaca to alpaca. I suggest the degree of variation would be highly correlated with the degree of variation in fibre diameter over the fleece area. On this point, we are conducting some evaluation through our GIFT* testing.
One last point; I notice the comment re calibration of test equipment. This is an issue that concerns me. There was an occassion recently in Australia where a fibre testing service changed their calibration in order to achieve similiar test results with a particular consulting service. Due to a sequence of events, we found that the recalibration of that testing service resulted in an increased margin of error. The calibration of test equipment is far more scientific than matching results against another service. In fact there are a series of deatiled and comprehensive protocols to follow to ensure correct calibration settings. I sincerely hope that this occurred in the situation described above.
