Merkley

Cathy Merkley

Contact Cathy

Certifications

Huacaya Halter, Suri Halter, Fleece

Cathy bought her first three alpacas in 1996. In partnership with Trudy McCall, they established T ‘n’ C Farms and produced award-winning registered huacayas and suris, selling top quality alpacas to breeding programs across Canada and to the USA and the EU.

Cathy is an owner of Alpaca Naturally, Inc., a Canadian alpaca fibre and product wholesale company. Alpaca Naturally buys fibre from producers and wholesales a range of products. Cathy is the supervising fleece classer and product development and production coordinator.

After qualifying as a judge through the International Alpaca Judging School in 2001 and with AOBA in January of 2002, and judging for 15 years, Cathy took a break from judging and travel. She missed being in the ring and is very excited to be judging again after recertifying with AOA in 2023.

She certified as a fleece classer in 2004 and estimates that she has classed 30,000 pounds of alpaca fibre since then. She teaches a variety of breeder and fibre-specific workshops and seminars, including the Alpaca Sorter and Classer Certification program through Alpaca Ontario and Haliburton College.

Living in Outlook, Saskatchewan, Canada, she owns A Single Strand Fibre Arts Studio, where she focuses on the production and retail of her handmade alpaca products and teaches fibre arts workshops.

Cathy is a firm believer in the potential of the alpaca breeding and fibre industry and is committed to its growth and success.