Your OFDA2000 report has 21 columns, one row per animal, sorted by mean micron (A4 landscape summary). This page explains each column and how it helps you with your breeding. All values are read from the OFDA2000 measurement file in staple mode; only spinning fineness (SpinF) and the share of fibres under 15 µm are calculated from those measurements.
On this page
- Sample report
- Columns 1 to 4: the animal
- Columns 5 to 11: diameter
- Columns 12 to 16: the staple and its profile
- SD Along and SD Across
- Columns 17 to 21: spinning, curvature, length
- Outside the table
Sample report
A real batch of 7 alpacas measured on 09/07/2020. The farm name ("Example Farm") and the animal names are fictitious. On a phone, swipe the table to the left to see every column.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sample | Date of birth | Sex | Colour | Mean micron | SDD | CVD | CEM | CF | Fine From Tip | %<15µm | MaxD | MinD | BaseD | SD Along Profile | SD Across | SpinF | Mean C | SDC | Length staple | Number of fibres |
| µm | µm | % | µm | % | mm | % | µm | µm | µm | µm | µm | µm | °/mm | °/mm | mm | |||||
| Arno | 30/04/2019 | M | White | 16.8 | 4.18 | 24.8 | 7.5 | 99.0 | 100 | 31.2 | 18.8 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 1.11 | 4.02 | 17.0 | 42.6 | 34.4 | 110 | 4857 |
| Belle | 03/08/2017 | F | Brown | 19.7 | 4.17 | 21.1 | 7.2 | 98.5 | 80 | 5.1 | 21.2 | 17.9 | 18.8 | 0.94 | 4.00 | 19.2 | 44.0 | 31.6 | 95 | 6308 |
| Cyrus | 23/05/2019 | M | Black | 20.8 | 5.69 | 27.3 | 10.5 | 94.6 | 5 | 9.2 | 24.3 | 16.4 | 20.3 | 2.17 | 5.36 | 21.5 | 31.7 | 22.9 | 135 | 6493 |
| Diego | 29/07/2010 | M | White | 22.0 | 4.76 | 21.6 | 9.3 | 94.7 | 40 | 1.5 | 23.1 | 20.8 | 21.4 | 0.68 | 4.72 | 21.5 | 52.1 | 37.9 | 50 | 2165 |
| Elsa | 26/07/2013 | F | White | 22.2 | 4.77 | 21.5 | 8.8 | 95.0 | 70 | 1.1 | 24.3 | 19.5 | 22.9 | 1.44 | 4.54 | 21.7 | 40.6 | 35.5 | 85 | 3381 |
| Félix | 31/08/2017 | M | Black | 22.3 | 4.65 | 20.8 | 8.7 | 95.0 | 30 | 0.5 | 23.9 | 20.5 | 21.7 | 1.09 | 4.48 | 21.7 | 28.5 | 20.4 | 110 | 10926 |
| Gaïa | 26/09/2011 | F | Rose grey | 27.7 | 6.92 | 25.0 | 14.3 | 73.9 | 15 | 0.0 | 30.7 | 26.0 | 26.5 | 1.27 | 6.77 | 27.9 | 32.4 | 25.2 | 65 | 4800 |
| Averages | 21.7 | 5.02 | 23.2 | 9.5 | 93.0 | 49 | 6.9 | 23.8 | 19.5 | 21.0 | 1.24 | 4.84 | 21.5 | 38.8 | 29.7 | 93 | 5561 |
Colour of the Mean micron cell: fineness class, as on your report (Super Royal < 16 µm, Royal Baby 16 - 18 µm, Baby 19 - 20 µm, Fine 21 - 24 µm, Medium 25 - 28 µm, Strong 29 - 31 µm, Extra Strong 32 - 36 µm, Coarse > 37 µm). There is no Class column.
Columns 1 to 4: the animal
- 1. Sample: the animal's name entered on the OFDA (for the uniformity test, followed by the zone). How it helps you: find each animal in the batch; with its FLID, the result goes straight to its Fibre Herd record.
- 2. Date of birth: as given on your information form. How it helps you: micron usually rises with age: compare animals of the same age and follow each one from shearing to shearing.
- 3. Sex: F (female) or M (male). How it helps you: compare like with like and choose your breeding stock.
- 4. Colour: the fleece colour given on your form. How it helps you: group fleeces of the same colour for spinning.
Columns 5 to 11: diameter and its distribution
- 5. Mean micron (µm): the average diameter of all fibres measured (1 µm = one thousandth of a millimetre). The cell colour shows the fineness class. How it helps you: this is fineness, your first selection criterion: the lower the micron, the finer and softer the fibre and the more valuable the fleece.
- 6. SDD (µm): the standard deviation of diameter, i.e. the spread of diameters around the mean micron. About two thirds of the fibres lie between "mean micron minus SDD" and "mean micron plus SDD". How it helps you: the lower it is, the more uniform and soft the fleece. It is a heritable trait: look at it before the CVD when choosing breeding stock.
- 7. CVD (%): the coefficient of variation of diameter: SDD / mean micron x 100. It concerns diameter, not crimp. How it helps you: compare the uniformity of fleeces of different micron. Read it together with the SDD: a low CVD may simply come from a high mean micron.
- 8. CEM (µm): Coarse Edge Measurement: the gap between the mean micron and the threshold above which the coarsest 5% of fibres lie. The threshold is mean micron + CEM (in the example, Gaïa: 27.7 + 14.3 = 42.0 µm). How it helps you: spot the coarse fibres that prickle and downgrade the fleece; the smaller the CEM, the better.
- 9. CF (%): the comfort factor: the percentage of fibres of 30 µm or less. How it helps you: judge wearing comfort; aim for at least 95% for garments worn next to the skin.
- 10. Fine From Tip (mm): the distance from the staple tip to the finest section of the profile (5 mm steps). How it helps you: place a period of stress (feed, illness, birth, heat) in the growing season. The larger the value, the more recent the event. It is also where the staple is likely to break during combing.
- 11. %<15µm (%): the share of fibres finer than 15 µm, calculated from the diameter histogram. How it helps you: see the share of very fine fibres, useful for very fine fleeces; two animals with the same micron can have very different shares.
Columns 12 to 16: the staple and its profile
The OFDA2000 measures the whole staple in 5 mm sections, from the tip (start of growth) to the base (skin side). This profile gives columns 10 and 12 to 16.
- 12. MaxD (µm): the highest mean diameter among the 5 mm sections of the profile. How it helps you: together with MinD, see how much fineness changed during growth.
- 13. MinD (µm): the lowest mean diameter among the 5 mm sections; its position is given by Fine From Tip. How it helps you: find the finest point, often linked to a difficult period for the animal, and the weak zone of the staple.
- 14. BaseD (µm): the skin-side diameter: that of the last 5 mm section of the profile, i.e. the most recent growth. How it helps you: see the fibre the animal is growing when sampled; compared with the mean micron, it shows whether the fleece is getting coarser or finer.
- 15. SD Along Profile (µm): the standard deviation of the mean diameters of the 5 mm sections, from tip to base: variation along the staple (see below). How it helps you: it mainly reflects the conditions of the season: feed, health, pregnancy.
- 16. SD Across (µm): the average of the standard deviations measured across the staple, section by section: variation between fibres (see below). How it helps you: it mainly reflects the animal itself, without the effect of seasonal changes.
SD Along and SD Across: where the variation comes from
Your report splits the fineness variation of a fleece into two indicators taken from the staple profile:
- SD Along Profile measures variation over time: it compares the 5 mm sections with one another, from tip to base. It depends mainly on the environment during growth (season, feed, health, pregnancy, lactation). The lower it is, the more even the growth: it is a management tool.
- SD Across measures variation between fibres grown at the same time: it is the average of the standard deviations measured in each section, across the staple. It leaves out the effect of variation along the staple and depends mainly on the animal itself. When feeding varied during the season, it is the indicator to look at when comparing your breeding stock.
SD Across and SDD. The SDD is calculated on all fibres measured, the SD Across section by section on the profile. They do not cover the same set of measurements: depending on the batch, the SD Across can be lower than the SDD (as in the example) or higher.
In the example. Cyrus has the highest SD Along in the batch (2.17 µm): his diameter went from 16.4 µm (MinD) to 24.3 µm (MaxD) during growth, with the finest point 5 mm from the tip, i.e. at the very start of growth. Diego, by contrast, grew very evenly (SD Along 0.68 µm): almost all of his diameter differences come from variation between fibres (SD Across 4.72 µm).
Columns 17 to 21: spinning, curvature, length and reliability
- 17. SpinF (µm): spinning fineness: an estimate of yarn fineness, calculated from the mean micron and the CVD: 0.881 x mean micron x √(1 + 5 x (CVD/100)²). How it helps you: compare spinning performance: at the same micron, the fleece with the lower CVD spins like a finer fleece.
- 18. Mean C (°/mm): the mean curvature of the fibres, an estimate of crimp. How it helps you: high curvature gives bulk to the yarn; compare animals of the same type (huacaya with huacaya, never with suri).
- 19. SDC (°/mm): the standard deviation of curvature between fibres (a standard deviation, not a coefficient of variation). How it helps you: the lower it is compared with Mean C, the more regular the crimp in the fleece.
- 20. Length staple (mm): the relaxed staple length, from tip to base. It is not the mean fibre length. How it helps you: follow growth since the last shearing and choose the processing route (combing or carding).
- 21. Number of fibres: the number of fibres the OFDA measured on the sample. How it helps you: judge how reliable the figures are: the higher it is, the more precise the mean micron and the SDD; a low count calls for caution.
Outside the table
- Mean diameter of the ends (MFE, Mean diam ends): the average diameter of the first section (tip) and the last one (skin side). It is not in the summary table. Compared with the mean micron, it shows you whether the ends of the staple are finer or stronger than the middle of the growth.
- Histogram and profile: each animal's individual sheet shows the diameter distribution (histogram, with the 30 µm threshold) and the profile along the staple with MaxD, MinD, BaseD and Fine From Tip.
- OFDA2000 settings: the header shows the correction factor, Trim high and washed fibre. The operator ticks them for each batch, according to the test ordered; an unticked box means the option was not used for that batch.
- Yarn test and simple test: a yarn has no staple and no profile: columns 10, 12 to 16 and 20 do not apply. The simple test gives the mean micron and the fineness class.
OFDA 2000 fibre test - Fibre Lab metrological control programme (charter v3.0)
Measurement on the OFDA 2000 in staple mode, according to the recognised optical method IWTO-47. Documented internal checks every test day and for every batch. Fibre Lab is not an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory and does not hold an IWTO licence: rigor rests on the procedure below, not on an external label.
How we stand behind the result
- Daily OFDA 2000 autotest on internal calibration fibres (10-100 µm). Outside manufacturer tolerance = no client testing.
- One batch reference staple (max deviation 0.3 µm on mean diameter).
- Weekly inter-series check on archive samples (same 0.3 µm threshold).
- Options always shown on the report: washing, correction factor, Trim High.
- If a check falls outside limits: testing stops until control is restored.
A result is only meaningful if the process is the same from one batch to the next. Our charter describes that process.