Alpaca Fibre & Shearing

For most Australian alpaca producers, fibre is the primary product of the enterprise. Unlike cattle or sheep where meat and wool are relatively commoditised products with established pricing structures, alpaca fibre exists in a market where the difference between excellent and poor management on-farm can translate directly into a substantial price differential at the point of sale. A well-skirted, correctly classed, and accurately described fleece from a fine-micron animal will achieve dramatically better prices than the same fleece handled carelessly, contaminated with vegetable matter, or poorly described.

Understanding the fibre market and managing the on-farm steps that determine value is, for most producers, the highest-return knowledge investment available. This guide covers the practical steps from pre-shearing preparation through to sale.

Shearing timing is one of the most important management decisions in the Australian alpaca calendar. The primary driver is heat management: alpacas must be shorn before temperatures consistently exceed 25°C. In Queensland and northern NSW, this means shearing in September, sometimes August for coastal areas. In Victoria, southern NSW and SA, October to November is appropriate for most properties. In the high country and alpine zones, November is the latest safe shearing date.

Do not delay shearing to grow longer staple length at the expense of summer heat management. An unshorn alpaca in a 35°C Australian summer is a heat-stressed alpaca. The fibre value gain from an extra month of staple growth does not outweigh the welfare and production cost of heat stress.

Preparation in the two to three weeks before shearing makes the shearing day run more smoothly and protects fibre quality. Key steps: avoid feeding any dusty or contaminated hay that will tangle in the fleece; check that all animals are in good health (any sick animal should be flagged for the shearer in advance); if possible, mow or clean the shearing area to reduce grass seed and vegetable matter contamination; prepare clean skirting tables, fleece bags, and labelling materials; and contact your shearer early to confirm the date and logistics.

Do not feed animals for twelve to eighteen hours before shearing. An animal with a full gut is harder to position, more prone to regurgitation during handling, and more likely to soil the fleece. Provide water access until the morning of shearing.

Professional alpaca shearers in Australia typically use an electric handpiece in a pattern that takes the fleece in two main sections — the blanket (the primary commercial fleece from the back and sides) and the secondary fibre (neck, legs, and belly). Maintaining this separation is critical: the blanket is the highest-value fibre, and contaminating it with shorter, coarser neck and leg fibre reduces the overall clip value significantly.

Most alpacas are shorn in a standing restrained position or in a lateral recumbent position (lying on their side). The lateral position is faster and safer for both the shearer and the animal, but requires good restraint equipment and an experienced shearer. If you are new to shearing, prioritise finding a shearer with demonstrated alpaca experience rather than using a general woolgrower shearer who may not be familiar with camelid-specific considerations.

At shearing, mark each fleece with the animal's ID immediately. Losing track of which fleece belongs to which animal means losing all fibre test and production record information. Use clearly marked bags and maintain a consistent handling routine through the shearing run.

Shorn animals should be monitored closely for the first three days after shearing — particularly if temperatures are variable. An animal that goes from full fleece to bare skin on a cold, wet day is at hypothermia risk. Have covers or rugs available for shorn animals if the weather forecast is unfavourable.

Skirting is the process of removing the lower-value edges, soiled portions, and contaminated fibre from the fleece before sale. It is done on a mesh skirting table (so short fibre and vegetable matter falls through) and requires a systematic approach to maintain speed and quality.

The standard skirting removes: heavily stained or soiled areas; the neck join (shorter, often coarser fibre that was excluded from the blanket cut); the leg and belly cuts if not already separated; any areas of significant vegetable matter contamination that cannot be shaken out; and any obviously coarser-feeling sections. The remaining skirted blanket should be uniform in staple length, free of gross contamination, and representative of the animal's best fibre.

Classing is the process of sorting fleeces from multiple animals into lines of similar micron, colour, and character for sale. Well-classed lines achieve better prices at auction and through fibre co-operatives because they allow processors to work with consistent material. If you are selling through a broker or co-operative, ask about their classing specifications before shearing — different buyers have different requirements, and delivering to their specification adds value.

Vegetable matter (VM) is the primary quality contaminant in Australian alpaca fibre. VM — grass seeds, hay fragments, burr — is extremely difficult to remove in processing and causes fibre breakage. The best approach to VM is prevention: avoid feeding seedy hay in the weeks before shearing, mow the shearing area and any high-traffic yards, and remove any obvious seeds from fleeces during skirting. Fleeces with high VM content are heavily discounted or rejected.

Objective fibre measurement is the foundation of price determination in the Australian alpaca fibre market. A fibre test certificate from an accredited Australian wool testing laboratory gives you: average fibre diameter (AFD, in microns), standard deviation (SD), coefficient of variation (CV), and comfort factor (the percentage of fibres finer than 30 microns, which correlates with the likelihood of the fabric causing skin prickle).

AFD is the primary price driver. Broadly: under 20 microns commands significant premiums in both the commodity and artisan markets; 20–23 microns is the commercial mainstream for fine huacaya; 23–27 microns is medium grade; above 27 microns is coarser grade with limited premium market access. These thresholds shift somewhat with market conditions, but the directional relationship — finer commands more — is consistent.

SD and CV describe fibre uniformity. A low SD (under 4.5 microns) and low CV (under 24%) indicate a consistent, uniform fleece. High variability within a fleece reduces its processing value even if the average diameter is fine — variable fibre produces inconsistent yarn and fabric.

Test annually, ideally at shearing. Maintain fibre test records for each animal across years — the trajectory of AFD change with age is important breeding information, and animals whose AFD increases rapidly (more than 1 micron per year) are generally not desirable as breeding animals. Many stud breeders include multi-year fibre test data in animal sale listings as a demonstration of genetic quality.

Testing can be arranged through Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA) accredited laboratories, typically through your fibre broker, co-operative, or directly. The cost is modest relative to the information value.

Australian alpaca producers have several fibre marketing pathways, each with different price points, effort requirements, and suitability depending on volume and quality.

Fibre co-operatives and pool sales — organisations like Australian Alpaca Fibre (AAF) and various state-based co-operatives pool fibre from multiple producers into commercial-scale lots for sale to processors and manufacturers. This pathway requires good classing and preparation to specification but handles the marketing and logistics once the fibre is delivered. Prices are linked to the commodity market and tend to be more stable but lower than direct sales.

Fibre brokers operate similarly, offering growers an assessment, cataloguing, and sale service. Some brokers have direct relationships with textile manufacturers, including premium European buyers, and can achieve higher prices for exceptional fine fibre. A good broker relationship is worth developing for any producer generating more than fifty kilograms of clip per year.

Direct-to-artisan sales are the highest-margin channel for small producers with well-presented, natural-coloured, or unusual fibre. Hand-spinners, weavers, and small-batch fibre artists pay significantly above commodity rates for quality raw fleece. Farmers markets, fibre festivals (including the National Folk Festival, Handmade Canberra, and various state fibre festivals), and online platforms (Etsy, Ravelry marketplace) are the primary channels. This pathway requires more marketing effort but returns two to five times the commodity price for the right product.

On-farm processing — having fibre processed into roving, yarn, or finished products by a small mill or processing co-operative — adds significant value but requires volume, upfront cost, and marketing infrastructure to sell the finished product. Processing yarn from your own alpacas and selling it branded and with property-of-origin storytelling is a viable business model for the right producer, but it is a different business to fibre growing and requires honest assessment of your capacity to execute.

Regardless of channel, presentation matters. Correctly labelled, well-skirted, vegetable-matter-free fibre packaged cleanly and accompanied by fibre test data will always achieve better prices than poorly presented material of equivalent quality. The Australian alpaca fibre market rewards producers who treat fibre handling as professionally as animal management.