Canadian Dexter Cattle Association

Canadian Dexter Cattle Association Minutes of 2017 Annual General Meeting November 1, 2017

The 2017 Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Dexter Cattle Association was held by teleconference on November 1, 2017.

1. Identification of members: President Ian Payne welcomed those in attendance and introduced himself. All others on the line then introduced themselves. Members present were: Sera Fradgley, Adrian and Rita Hykaway, Mike and Evelyn Lafortune, Barbara Newman, Nikki Moren, Ian Payne, Brenda Pollard, Anne Smyth, Nick Woodhouse and Becky Williams Also present was CDCA Recording Secretary Ron Black.

2. Call to Order: President Ian Payne called the meeting to order. There was no objection to the meeting being recorded.

3. Agenda: One item was added to the agenda that had been circulated and there was consensus that the agenda be accepted as amended.

4. Minutes: Moved by Anne Smyth, seconded by Adrian Hykaway, that the minutes of the 2016 Annual Meeting be adopted as circulated. Carried.

5. Business Arising from the Minutes: None

6. Reports: a) President: Ian Payne reported that it had been a good year with no real controversies. The Board of Directors had been a good team to work with. Ian had attended the CLRC Annual Meeting in Ottawa in April. He displayed a cow and calf at two local fairs. Canadian Livestock Records Corporation will be increasing the unit cost in 2018. Some 4-H awards have been given this year. b) Secretary/CLRC: Ron Black reported that he had taken part in four directors’ conference calls during the year and prepared the agendas and minutes of those meetings, and distributed the minutes to members. A herd book was not published due to cost. He had done the paperwork for submitting claims to the Canadian Beef Breeds Council for the funding available for A1/A2 milk and PHA tests and for refunding that money to breeders who had the tests done. The refund was for ½ the cost of the test less an administration fee. In 2016, there were 142 Dexters registered and 97 animals transferred. The CDCA had 95 standard members, 2 associate members and 5 junior members in 2016. Ron had also attended the CLRC Annual Meeting. c) Financial Report: Ron Black presented the financial report for 2016, which had been circulated to all members. He explained that the financial review had again been done by Allan and Partners LLP in Perth Ontario. The report showed total assets of $7,809 and liabilities of $4,947 for net assets at yearend of $2,862. For the year, revenue totaled $15,755 and expenditures were $21,703 for a deficit of $5,948. The deficit had resulted from higher costs for the CLRC levy, secretarial services (due to travel time to British Columbia), travel for directors and the secretary and the herd book than in the previous year. He noted that the directors had taken measures to cut costs in 2017.

1 Moved by Sera Fradgley, seconded by Anne Smyth, that the financial statements for 2016 be adopted as presented. Carried. Ron also provided a financial update as of September 30, 2017 showing revenue of $14,986 and expenses of $10,840 for a surplus to date of $4,146. Revenue includes funding received from Canadian Beef Breeds Council to offset costs of the transition to SNP testing. To October 31st, there have been 114 registrations and 115 transfers in 2017. d) Committee Reports: i) 4-H: Anne Smyth indicated that awards have been given to three 4-H members thus far in 2017, and she knows of two possible members using Dexters in B.C. next year. She is still trying to get more involved with 4-H. Nikki Moren indicated she would be able to assist with that. There was discussion that there are still problems with Dexters being accepted into 4-H programs and treated fairly. ii) Promotional Items: Sera Fradgley reported that there has been very little activity. No articles have been purchased due to finances. iii) Website: Becky Williams reported that she acts as the liaison between the members and Simone Benjamin, the webmaster. On average there are two or three new ads each month and members have reported successfully selling most of the animals advertised. iv) Newsletter: Nick Woodhouse reported that the Newsletter had been a challenge this year due to lack of material being submitted. He indicated that the directors had talked extensively about alternative delivery methods for the newsletter. v) Membership: Rita Hykaway reported that a total of fourteen information packages had been sent to inquirers and new owners since last year’s Annual Meeting. Five of those people are now members. vi) CLRC and CBBC Meetings: Ian Payne attended the CLRC meeting in Ottawa. CLRC is designing a new website and logo and will be enhancing electronic registration services. An update was given on the five-year strategic plan. There were two recent additions to the staff at CLRC and two new members were elected to the CLRC Board. Adrian Hykaway had attended the Canadian Beef Breeds Council meeting in Calgary. The membership fee structure is being revised according to the number of animals registered by each association. The fee for the CDCA was to have been reduced to $100 from $500, but that decision has now been reversed. There is still funding available through CBBC for various types of tests other than SNP tests under the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program. CBBC also has funding available to assist with marketing programs at a subsidy rate of 50%. In particular, there is emphasis on increasing exports to China.

7. Business Arising from Reports: a) Newsletter: Alternative Delivery Methods: Discussion occurred on how to deliver the newsletter in future. Anne Smyth stated that she prefers a hard copy newsletter. Adrian Hykaway stated that it is time to bite the bullet and go to electronic delivery only. On the subject of content, Adrian Hykaway said he had submitted several items that have not yet been published, but Nick Woodhouse replied that more content, including breeder profiles, is still needed from other members. Nick Woodhouse said that once enough content has been received, the question becomes what is the best method for delivery of the Newsletter. There was discussion on the use of MailChimp or similar platforms as a delivery method. Becky Williams explained that these are very easy to administer and use, especially once set up, and are very professional and secure platforms. These services allow people to unsubscribe and also provide data as to how many people are actually opening the Newsletter and what they are interested in. Links can also be made to social media such as Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. It was noted that these methods have taken the place of e-mail to a considerable extent and that people, especially younger ones, are on their devices all the time. It was also said that with these methods, information can be sent more often and does not have to be as much at one time as in a traditional Newsletter. The suggestion was put forth by Becky Williams that a social media committee be created to look at these alternatives for communication and decide where to go with it. 2 Moved by Becky Williams, seconded by Nikki Moren, that a Social Media Committee be created to look at increased communication with members through social media. Carried with 1 opposed. b) Appointment of Auditor: Moved by Anne Smyth, seconded by Mike Lafortune, that Allan and Partners LLP be appointed to conduct the financial review for 2017. Carried. c) Website Concern: Adrian Hykaway noted that e-mail addresses on the CDCA website use the word “at” rather than the @ symbol, and that this is causing breeders to say they do not work. Becky Williams explained that this is done to bar computer robots from accessing those addresses. It was agreed that an explanation of this should be added to the website.

8. Announcement of New Directors: Ron Black announced that Ian Payne and Becky Williams had been elected by acclamation to serve as directors for a three-year term.

9. Correspondence: None

10. New Business: a) EPD Calculations by CLRC: Communication had been received from CLRC regarding interest in having CLRC calculate Expected Progeny Differences (EPD’s) if they were able to offer that service. Costs at this point are unkown. After some discussion, there was consensus that there is very limited interest in this for Dexters. b) Registration and Transfer Fees: Adrian Hykaway asked a question regarding the charging of fees when a member has purchased an unregistered but registerable animal from a non-member and submits the paperwork to CLRC. Ron Black indicated that members’ fees would apply to the transfer, but non- members fees would apply to the registration.

11. Adjournment: Moved by Adrian Hykaway that the meeting be adjourned.