CCNF at the 2026 AOA National Fleece Show: Yes We Cam(den)

Though our submissions to this year’s National Fleece Show were rather sedate by the almost manic standards of years past (only 30 fleeces as opposed to 60+), it remains hard to pass up the opportunity to enter the AOA National Fleece Show, particularly when we know there is something special that deserves to get out there and be seen. Every ounce of alpaca fleece that this farm sells to our commercial mill customers, my wife personally grades by hand, so when she spots something special in a fleece as it comes off at shearing in April, it usually means something. Granted, my better half has been slowly but surely moderating her fleece show ways over the past several years, and yet somehow her run of victories at Nationals that had earned CCNF 13 consecutive Heirloom Fleece Cups didn’t quite sit right. Alpaca fleece nerds gonna alpaca fleece nerd: so off she went in pursuit of Cup #14. As per usual, my grand contribution to this entire endeavor was some combination of staying out of her way (I can’t really emphasize that one enough, actually), cooking dinners, and ultimately dropping some of the massive boxes of show fleeces off for shipment out to the show via FedEx.

Our breeding program has arguably never been in better shape from the pure standpoint of what it is capable of producing in terms of quality. It’s been 29 years after all and, quite honestly, if one hadn’t figured some stuff out by now, there would justifiably be some serious questions to be asked. Mind you, there are other serious questions — mostly of the industry-wide, existential nature variety — that desperately need to asked anyway, its just that “does CCNF know what they’re doing,” is, generally speaking, not one of them. However away from the farm, the past several years have felt rather unsettled at times, as we dealt with various ailments, challenges, and losses in our extended family. While our boys are long out of the nest and happily living their lives away from the farm, Jen and I have, at various points over the past several years, had our attention necessarily taken up with the older generations. Whenever push came to shove, we always prioritized any of that stuff ahead of the farm and particularly our breeding operations. As such, the size of our birth classes over the past few years suffered some, which then translated downstream into there being fewer candidates for both halter show teams and fleece show entries. Not that having 30ish crias a year (versus the 70 to 80 we routinely used to have) is a bad thing. As we approach the end of our third decade of operation, we seek balance and the sweet spot, even if we’re still not exactly sure where that currently lies. Time, as always, will tell. For now, we battle on.

Anyway, pretty pictures (as references to put a face/fleece with a name!) and our top results from the 2026 AOA National Fleece Show are below. Thanks for reading and see you all out there.

CCNF 1st’s, Championships, and Specialty Awards, 2026 AOA National Fleece Show, Florence, KY

Cas-Cad-Nac Farm LLC – 2026 AOA Heirloom Breeder Cup, Huacaya Fleece

Spirit of the Industry, Huacaya Male – CCNF Camden (CCNF Campana x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max)

CCNF Donostia (CCNF Delilah x CCNF Camden) – Judges’ Choice Huacaya Female

CCNF Mjolnir (CCNF Electra x CCNF Idris) – Judges’ Choice Huacaya Male

CCNF Altura (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Best Crimp, Huacaya Female

CCNF Donostia (CCNF Delilah x CCNF Camden) – Best Brightness, Huacaya Female

CCNF Mjolnir (CCNF Electra x CCNF Idris) – Best Brightness, Huacaya Male

CCNF Triumphal (CCNF Marielle x CCNF Triumvirate) – Champion Brown Huacaya Male

CCNF Donostia (CCNF Delilah x CCNF Camden) – Champion White Huacaya Female

CCNF Mjolnir (CCNF Electra x CCNF Idris) – Champion White Huacaya Male

CCNF Milan (CCNF Dark Storm’s Trendsetter x CCNF Camden) – Reserve Champion Fawn Huacaya Male

CCNF Neytiri (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – Reserve Champion Fawn Huacaya Female

CCNF Altura (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Reserve Champion White Huacaya Female

CCNF Janelle (CCNF Juneaux x CCNF Privateer) – 1st Place, Huacaya Brown Female Two Years & Older

CCNF Neytiri (CCNF Luna Majesty x CCNF Elixir) – 1st Place, Huacaya Fawn Female Two Years & Older

CCNF Rhaeynera (CCNF Lyanna x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Huacaya Fawn Female Adult & Older

CCNF Bellerephon (CCNF Bellinda x CCNF Reign Dancer) – 1st Place, Huacaya Dark Brown Male Juvenile

CCNF Triumphal (CCNF Marielle x CCNF Triumvirate) – 1st Place, Huacaya Brown Male Two Years & Older

CCNF Milan (CCNF Dark Storm’s Trendsetter x CCNF Camden) – 1st Place, Huacaya Fawn Male Juvenile

CCNF Amador (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – 1st Place, Huacaya Light Male Two Years & Older

CCNF Diomedes (CCNF Diadema x CCNF Snow King) – 1st Place, Huacaya Light Male Juvenile

CCNF Donostia (CCNF Delilah x CCNF Camden) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Female Juvenile

CCNF Mjolnir (CCNF Electra x CCNF Idris) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Male Two-Year-Old

CCNF Snow Enterprise (CCNF Summer Breez x CCNF Snow King) – 1st Place, Huacaya White Male Juvenile

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