I sure hope everyone that attended ALSA Nationals had a great time and all went well. Since the Nationals show is the last show of the year for many of you and you probably will not be grooming your llamas for a while, I wanted to remind you that if you are thinking about entering llamas into March Madness 06, particularly the llamas that you have groomed fairly well at this time, now is the time to get those great photos we will need for the online auction.

March Madness 2006

While we are on this subject, the consignment application for March Madness will be available in a few days. Our deadline for this sale will be in mid January. We will have an online application and the PDF application as usual. It is especially important to get your consignments in as early as possible (by early January) in order to be included in the big advertisements we are planning. As usual, the amount of males in the sale will depend on the total number of llamas in the sale. We have no idea how many consignments to expect this time around, but we are fine with however many we receive. The keys to selling online are good quality photos and a video definitely helps as well. If you have a llama with a good show record too that you want to sell, it is worth trying to sell your llama through this sale at the cost equivalent to a small ad in a magazine. Not only might you sell your llama, but you will gain public exposure and possibly attract more customers. This has been true for many farms consigning to our auctions. We are really looking forward to running our fourth National online sale in March.

New Newsletter Format

The LSL newsletter is gradually evolving into a E-Newsletter, and starting next month, we will be offering advertising in the newsletters. These ads will be linked, so readers can click on your link and visit your website, for example. We are going to keep the cost of this advertising inexpensive. An ad the size you see to the right will cost $75 (1X), $60 (2-6X), $50 (7-12X) (Space is limited, first come, first served) . In addition, we will start archiving the old newsletters on the LSL website, so your ads will be visible for quite some time. Ad materials will be due the first week of each month for that month's newsletter, providing the ultimate flexibility. We can design ads for you, and even create Flash (animated advertisements) - please inquire about the costs.

Other New Service Announcements

We are constantly trying to think of ways to help farms gain exposure and enhance their marketing through our website, and at the same time, help buyers find breeders with great llamas. So we will be adding a Breeders' Directory and a Herd Sire Directory to our website. The Breeders' Directory will list participating farms by state, including name, address, phone number, and email address. Herd size and specialty may also be listed. The Herd Sire Directory obviously is a listing of herd sires available for outside breedings or half-interest available. If you look at the most successful farms in the llama industry, past and present, most of them used outside breedings to help accomplish their goals. Your herd sire should be listed here. This will be more than just a directory - each male will have their own page with information. More details on both of these services will be available soon.

Farm of the Month

Last month I said, "Let's see who's paying attention" and gave away a free Farm of the Month listing. Nearly 30 farms replied to that, but we could only pick one farm out of a hat. That farm was Del Mirage Farms in Oklahoma. If you have not checked out their page on our website, you should take a look. We want to know who's paying attention again. We are going to give away a free banner, but this time, there is a trivia question involved. The question is, where did Dr. Paul Taylor from Taylor Llamas attend undergraduate school AND what was Paul's very recent breakthrough discovery regarding camelid reproduction? Pretty easy question. Reply with correct answers to be entered into the drawing. If you already have a banner ad, then we'll give you a free Newsletter ad in December instead.

Online Futurity

Last month we announced the very first online futurity to occur in early June. Details are still being put together, but we're excited to see what happens with this. As soon as we have more information, we will post how this will work and project some premiums. We can say that all llamas require a video. On that video, the llamas must be led by a handler and walked in a circle, towards the camera, away from the camera, etc., for the amount of time indicated on the instruction sheet - details coming! A DVD of all the llamas in the futurity will be created. The reviewers of these DVDs and fiber samples will be Linda Hayes, Deb Yeagle, and Marilyn Nenni. Each judge will make their own decisions without knowing how the others voted. The winners will be posted online, receive premiums, rosettes, and more credibility. Llamas will be judged on conformation, marketability, and fiber quality. All first and second place males from four classes (2 suri classes, 2 silky classes) will automatically be entered into Herd Sire Mania if the owners wish to enter them. This is a special auction that will occur at the end of June 2006 and is open only to the futurity winners, 8 males total. All females placing in the Top 5 of any category will automatically be accepted to a future auction (as long as the judges agree, sufficient competition, etc.).

Private Treaty

$2500	$4000	SURI $5000	ARGENTINE $3000/Neg.	$2500
$3000	$1900	$1500	$1100	$1100
$1500	$2500	$1500	$1000

CALL	CALL	$1500	$1500	$5000 (Choose two additional females from this farm for FREE!)- See details
$2000	$3000/Neg	$3000/Neg	$2000	$ 2000 .
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$2500