In 1995, Gordon Baird fell in love.
It happened at the South Otago A&P Show at Balclutha.
"I'd seen llamas before, but this was something new."
An alpaca had caught his eye — and they have not been out of his sight ever since.
Leading up to that fateful day, the South Otago alpaca enthusiast was looking for livestock to run on his property at Waiwera South.
He has a background in the meat industry at Silver Fern Farms' Finegand plant, first as the office boy, then as a computer programmer, followed by three years on the slaughter board and finished his 30-year stint as paymaster.
"I was still at the works and the last thing I wanted was sheep. Within six months of seeing an alpaca I purchased a couple of wethers. They fitted in well. It was the beginning of the end."
He started his breeding programme in 1996 with the purchase of two females, just when the alpaca industry was taking off.
"I really just wanted something different from the European-type livestock, and the fact they could produce the finest fibre in the world was another plus."
Born in Stirling and raised in Balclutha, he had no direct agricultural background, but his father had been a farmworker on leaving school.
His mother was from a dairy farm and was fully involved in farm work as well as breeding and racing greyhounds.
After his career in the meat industry, he also worked six years at Clutha Motors, supervised NCEA exams and helped at Rosebank Foodcentre.
In mid 2000, he made the decision to go fulltime with the alpacas, breeding to sell and providing a mobile stud service south of the Waitaki River.
He also provides advice to new breeders. Although he does not show now himself, he encourages people who are starting out to do the show circuit, for networking purposes.
He became the South Otago A&P Show alpaca convener in 2016.
"The most entries we have had is 77, the least 13. It often depends on how many other shows exhibitors have attended prior to the SO. Some will go to every show they possibly can while others only attend their local one.
"This year will be interesting because so many of the Canterbury shows have been cancelled due to the Covid virus. Some people also don't want to travel far for the same reason. As we don't have many registered breeders in the South Otago area we rely on the travelling exhibitors to boost entry numbers."
As well as the fine fleece alpacas produce, he likes their strong personalities.
"Generally, they are easy to handle and when halter-trained are very responsive to a handler's wishes. Personalities vary from the very laid-back, to the in-your-face dominant hembra [female] and the 'I'm the man' stud macho [male]."
Alpacas do spit — as his full white beard could bear testimony to.
"I have had it turn green after copping a wayward spit."
However, spitting in alpacas was a fact as well as a fallacy, he said.
"It's generally to sort out the pecking order amongst themselves, or for the hierarchy, not aggression."
If a female had got pregnant, and was approached by a male, she would spit or kick to indicate she wanted nothing to do with it.
They generally did not spit at people, and if they did, it was usually just the grass inside their mouth. But if they brought it up from their gut it could definitely be very smelly.
He also liked that alpacas were less work than sheep, and that their hooves had less impact on the land.
"They're fairly hardy and don't need as much drenching. The only time they're vulnerable is following shearing if it's cold and wet; they don't have the lanolin in the wool that sheep have."
They are a bit like deer — as much a browser as they are a grazer.
He runs about 150 chooks with his alpacas.
"I think the reason mine are so healthy is that the hens pick up the parasites. They're very complementary with the alpacas."
Even with his Gandalfian beard, Baird has not been asked to be in a Peter Jackson movie, but he is often asked to be Santa.
"Kids give it a yank, and one wee kid was surprised it wasn't the type that loops over the ears and comes off."
The 73-year-old has no plans to retire.
"I'm not ready to live in town, but I may scale it back a bit."
