Has the Alpaca Bubble Burst?

Australia's merino wool industry took many years to develop to a commercially profitable stage when the quantum of high quality merino wool grew to the extent that it became a dominant player in the apparel market.

It all came down to numbers - tens of thousands of farmers, growing tens of millions of sheep producing hundreds of millions of kilos of wool.

How far away is the alpaca industry from breeding the number and quality of commercial animals to compete with other fibres, or will it always remain a stud industry?

Australian Alpaca Association President, Dr Ian Davidson gives us an insight.