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The Pedigree
Promise of Excellence
Since 1990, the Asociación de Criadores de Camélidos (ACCA) has kept a family record which has been approved and certified by the Sociedad Rural Argentina (SRA).
This family record, normally called “pedigree”, allows breeders and ACCA to develop a genetic improvement system for the troops.
The pedigree, well-oriented by inspectors, increase the productivity of farms, thus adding extra value to their production.
The system
The pedigree system is simple. Once you decide to become a breeder, you should call the ACCA for an SRA authorized inspector to come and examine the troops. The inspector will indicate which animals can be registered as BASE animals for the lineage. In this first observation, the inspector will take into consideration the general standards of the breed. Those animals with serious apparent congenital defects such as missing testicles, malformation of the vulva, iris heterochromia, deformity of the external ear, conformational defects and serious health problems will be excluded from this selection.
After having their animals registered, breeders should declare the services they provide. Once crias are born and weaned (after nearly eight months of birth), the inspector should be called for a new examination. This time, the inspector will be stricter. He will check for “harmony of parts”, mats of fleece, high proportions of guard hairs. In many cases, crias are affected by serious congenital defects which are not present in their parents (for instance, iris heterochromia). These are called latent defects. When this happens, the inspector must dismiss the cria. The breeder should take note of this defect and investigate its origin (whether it comes from the mother’s family or the father’s). Breeders who are fully committed with genetic improvement separate not only the cria but both parents from the troop.
The third and last step is the definitive pedigree. The process is the same as the second step. At this opportunity, the inspector must be even stricter with animals. In general, the definitive pedigreed animals are the ones allowed to be presented in trade fairs and exhibitions.
It is worth bearing in mind that this process of genetic improvement takes nine years. New breeders, generally, buy male Definitive or Advance pedigreed animals to skip steps and accelerate the process.
Benefits
The benefits obtained with the pedigree can be divided into two: the buyer’s benefits and the seller/breeder’s benefits.
The Buyer, once he acquired a pedigreed llama, is guaranteed the purebred of its ancestors. The family record allows you to know which the parents and crias of the purchased llama are. It also grants the future breeder the necessary peace of mind that comes with the fact of having a perfect purebred, in terms of genetics and health.
The Seller/Breeder obtains numerous benefits with the improvement of his troops. The pedigree system allows you to draw an accurate gene mapping of the ascendancy and descendants of each animal and lets you know which animals should be separated from the troop. Improvement has a direct effect on productivity and accessibility to new and ever-demanding markets.
The future of Argentinian llamas has always been promising and for this to continue, it is essential to understand the importance of genetic improvement. We know that persevering with this Promise of Excellence is the way to broaden the scope of this magnificent enterprise. Markets all around the world have their eyes on Argentina purebreds. To provide them with what they are looking for is our task.
