Organising committee member Martin Bennett said the National Alpaca Expo, which alternated between the North and South Islands, was first held in Christchurch in 2004 and the judge for the original national expo was returning to judge at the show being held at the Canterbury Agricultural Park on October 10 to 12.
United States-based Amanda van den Bosch, who comes from an alpaca industry background in the United Kingdom, is returning to judge the 312 entries in the alpaca breed classes, ''which is nice for her and nice for us'', Mr Bennett said.
Australian Peter Kennedy will judge the 231 alpaca fleece entries, which was a record for an alpaca show in the South Island.
Mr Bennett said Canterbury breeders had dominated past alpaca shows, winning supreme huacaya in nine out of 10 years. Last year's winners were Chris and Liz Strack, of Rangiora, while West Melton breeder Lindsay Riddle won at the first national expo in 2004.
Huacaya alpacas tended to make up 70%-80% of the breed entries, but there was growing interest in suri alpacas, especially in the North Island.
''It will be hard to do it again. The competition is just fierce. In one of our classes there's 22 animals. Every year there's really significant improvement in quality,'' Mr Bennett, a past national expo supreme huacaya winner, said of his chances this year.
An international photo competition, run through Facebook, was gaining considerable interest from alpaca breeders around the world, with hundreds of entries, and would be judged at the expo, Mr Bennett said.
''It's a good way for overseas breeders to be involved in the show. We have close ties with breeders worldwide and New Zealand genetics are in demand for being top quality, so they take an interest in our shows.''
After winning supreme alpaca at last year's Canterbury A&P Show, he received emails of congratulations from overseas clients before he got home from the show, Mr Bennett said.
Alpacas were starting to gain credibility in the agricultural industry and some sheep farmers were even looking at alpacas as an alternative farm animal, he said. ''For years we didn't have the respect of the agricultural industry.''
Alpacas were thought of in the same vein as ostriches and other ventures that never really took off.
''But what we are finding now, especially with sheep farmers, is that there is now a lot of interest in alpacas for their fibre. Some sheep farmers are looking at getting off bigger farms, and alpacas are something they can relate to because we are always trying to improve the microns in our fibre.''
The National Alpaca Expo will be held at the RDA Building, Canterbury Agricultural Park, from Friday to Sunday, October 10 to 12. Entry is $2 for adults, with children free.
- by David Hill