Hood View Alpacas - Hillsboro, OR

Affiliations
The old saying is true: "You can tell a lot about a person by the people they hang out with." We believe that reigns true in the alpaca industry as well. Listed here are the organizations that Hood View Alpacas is proudly affiliated with. Each of them plays an integral role in keeping the alpaca industry strong, accountable, and on the cutting edge of all things pertinent to the well-being of our beloved alpacas. We encourage future alpaca owners to give serious consideration to becoming members of each of them.

AOBA (Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association)
AOBA was started by a handful of alpaca owners in 1988. The organization had an initial cadre of just 87 members, representing an alpaca population of 392. Five year later, AOBA had grown to 1,000 members and 3,000 alpacas. AOBA now had over 3,000 members, representing about 40,000 alpacas. The organization serves as the underpinning of a solid support infrastructure to the burgeoning alpaca industry.

AOBA is structured with an elected Board of Directors, supported by an administrative staff headquartered in Estes Park, Colorado. Reporting to the Board are major committees such as the Show Committee, Marketing Committee, Fiber Arts Committee, and Education Committee. It is through these major committees – and their sub-committees and working groups – that the business of promoting alpacas and alpaca end products comes together. Regionally-based Affiliate organizations, fiber guilds, alpaca show ring competitions, and Fiber Festivals also provide support and a spirit of camaraderie on a more personal level. In short, thanks to the efforts of many highly-qualified, hard-working professionals and volunteers, AOBA is an organization that is thriving, growing, and definitely here to stay.

The Alpaca Registry
The alpaca industry is fairly new to the U.S., but it has had the foresight to create a basic condition for maintaining the value of its bloodstock, namely, a breed registry. The Alpaca Registry is a database housing the genealogy, blood typing and ownership records of alpacas in North America and those of a few alpacas outside this area. Since its inception in late 1988, the Registry has mandated blood typing as a requisite for registration and accepts only offspring of registered alpacas that qualify by blood typing. Exceptions to this rule currently include alpacas intended for import into North America provided that they pass rigorous screening in their native land and crias imported in utero by screened and registered dams.

The Alpaca Registry, Inc. (the "Registry"), a Colorado non-profit corporation, owns the Alpaca Registry database. The Registry is governed by its five member Board of Directors who are elected by the Registry's membership. Registry membership includes all owners of living, registered alpacas. Board members serve staggered terms and are collectively responsible for policies and procedures governing registrations, transfers of ownership, and the screening of unregistered, non-pedigreed alpacas.

Columbia Alpaca Breeders Association
CABA is a great association of alpaca owners and breeders in the Columbia Valley that you will want to be aware of.

CABA consists of an amazingly diverse group of alpaca breeders from all walks of life who share the love of alpacas and a collective vision for the future of our livestock industry. CABA’s hope is that one day everyone will know what an alpaca is, how much better their fiber is than anything you have ever touched or worn before, and how great the alpaca lifestyle can be. CABA’s membership consists of breeders in Oregon, Washington and California all committed to sharing in a sincere love and vision for the alpaca industry.

American Fiber Co-op of North America
Hood View Alpacas is proud to be members of the Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America, Inc. (AFCNA) The Cooperative works diligently to create, promote and market alpaca products for their members. Therein maximizing the long-term benefits to their members, the individual alpaca fiber producers, and to the alpaca breeding industry as a whole.

AFCNA stands for the Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America, Inc. We are an organization of nearly 700 North American alpaca producers. Most of us are small farmers who have decided to raise alpacas so that we can enjoy the country lifestyle and the satisfaction of raising livestock. We pool together our annual shearing of alpaca fiber to take advantage of the economic benefits of processing larger volumes of fiber and market products made from our alpacas on a national level.

The primary benefit of the AFCNA is the creation of a national brand, America's Alpaca, which is recognized by alpaca producers and consumers as being superior quality alpaca fleece products, synonymous with the exceptional quality and breeding of North American alpacas.