Mike Safley was born
and raised in Eugene, Oregon. He attended the University
of Oregon and served in the U.S. Navy Seabees during the
Vietnam War. In 1984, prior to purchasing his first five
alpacas with his father Ken Safley, Mike was a builder
and real estate investor.
Mike was elected president of the fledgling Alpaca
Owners and Breeders Association (AOBA) in 1990. While
serving as president of AOBA, he conceived of and became
the first editor for Alpacas Magazine. Mike was also
co-chairman of the first AOBA alpaca show committee and
on the first alpaca marketing committee.
As a member of the marketing committee, Mike wrote
several brochures for the alpaca industry—Alpacas, The
World’s Finest Livestock Investment, Fleece to Fashion,
and The Alpaca Color Brochure—all of which continue to
be printed by AOBA today. Mike wrote and produced the
first alpaca marketing video, sponsored by AOBA, and he
established the first alpaca advertising co-op,
pioneering the breeder’s guide model still in use by
AOBA today. With his wife, Julie Safley, Mike wrote and
produced AOBA’s Alpaca Coloring Book.
An AOBA accredited, senior alpaca judge, Mike has judged
alpaca shows in the United States, Peru, Australia, and
Canada. As a member of AOBA’s original show committee,
he helped author the first alpaca show rules used in the
United States and Canada. Together with Celebrity Sales,
he was an initial organizer of the All American Alpaca
Futurity, which awarded the first championship ribbons
to alpacas in the United States.
Mike was a member of the original Alpaca Registry
Screening Committee (ARSC), was elected to the Alpaca
Registry, Inc. (ARI) Board of Directors in 1995, and was
elected president of the registry in 1997. Mike was also
a driving force behind the levy of screening fees for
imported alpacas, which resulted in the collection of
several million dollars in revenue that was used by the
alpaca industry for marketing and research. In 1998, he
authored the amendment to the alpaca registry’s policies
and procedures that resulted in the closure of the
registry.
Beginning in 1992, Mike made over forty trips to Peru,
selecting alpacas, visiting alpaca producers and
processors, researching his first book, Alpacas:
Synthesis of a Miracle, and establishing the Quechua
Benefit charity with Dr. Mario Pedroza, which provides
dental assistance, school supplies, and clothing to the
alpaca shepherds of Peru’s high sierra.
Mike and Julie continue to reside at Northwest Alpacas
Ranch with their four children and 250 alpacas. You can
reach Mike and Julie at their website: www.alpacas.com
or at Northwest Alpacas Ranch, 11785 SW River Road,
Hillsboro, Oregon, 97123.
