Fall Board Meeting Minutes

October 28, 2021

Jason Pullis, Beth Keene, Jason Lloyd, Betsey Gerber Howland, Tom Harkenrider, Larry Hill, Anita Menzi, Patsy Gifford, Devin Kuhn, Mike Miller, George Merrill, Cathy LittlefieldBush, Justine Kelsey, Lynnette Wright, Deb Quackenbush, Alan Danforth, David King, Curtis Nolan, Hal Lusk, Cameron Davis, Marvin Luders, Kennedy Crothers, Melissa Hart, Stacie Sherman

President Jason Pullis called the meeting to order at 11:08 am on October 28th, 2021.

Pullis thanked everyone for joining the meeting and asked Vice President Beth Keene to lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pullis then asked Executive Manager, Chelsea Hanselman, to do roll call.

Tom Harkenrider made a motion to dispense the secretary’s minutes of the previous meeting from the Spring as they were published in the New York Holstein News and accept them as written. Alan Danforth seconded this; motion passed.

President Pullis then called on treasurer, Betsey Howland Gerber, to give the financial report for the association.

Gerber reported that for Profit and Loss we are on target in a few areas; membership, personnel, sales will be on target after this week’s sale. We are in the red on shows and NY News. Event sponsors show to be in the red but this is because the funds were recategorized and put in with the specific event being sponsored. Gerber opened the floor for discussion; Lynnette Wright asked about the loss of funds at shows (State show about a $2,000 loss and Spring show about a $7,000 loss). Hanselman explained that the cost of awards contributed to loss at State Show and Walton Webcast contributed to loss at Spring Show. Keene asked if the plan is to use Walton Webcast again or if we can look at other options for live streaming. Hanselman explained that this was discussed in the Show committee meeting and the plan for the 2022 show is to look at other options. Gerber then moved on to the Reserve funds. The association took a 5% deposit from the reserve funds for operating costs. Patsy Gifford asked if this money is supposed to be repaid and what the plan is. Gerber asked Hanselman to comment on this. Hanselman explained that the policy does state that there needs to be a plan in place each time money is taken from the reserve funds yet to-date there has not been any money paid back and money has been taken each year since 2018. President Pullis commented that the fund continues to grow at a healthy pace but there does need to be a plan in place to pay back some of the money. Wright asked if we are taking less money from the reserves than the account makes in a year if we need to pay it back. Gerber commented that although it isn’t as big of a deal because the reserves made money this year, we do still need to talk about a plan moving forward so this does not become a regular practice.

Gifford asked if the motion that Johnathan Lamb made several years ago stating that the association will not use reserve money for operating expenses- only for special projects and emergencies- was ever amended. Hanselman said to her knowledge it had not and she would try to find those meeting minutes so a formal amendment could be done.

Wright asked about the Dairy Bowl fund that seems to not be making or losing any money. Hanselman explained that the dairy bowl, futurity and scholarship funds all have not taken from in a while and all funds are going through our checking account with Tompkins. The Dairy Bowl account is under the Junior reserve funds so specific account is not invested. Keene said these accounts will be moved over by the annual meeting so their will be accurate reports then.

Kelsey asked if there is a place where we can total all sponsorship and then break it up based on what events it was used for. Hanselman said she agrees and this is something that should be done. Gifford made a motion to accept the financial report, Wright seconded it; motion passed.

Justine Kelsey then presented her Publications committee report. In reviewing the financials, Kelsey explained the association is down about $20,000 on advertising this year, which is a sign of our economy and how we are going about soliciting advertisements. Historically the association has always used subscription money (a portion of the membership money) as income for the News and if we look at those numbers then the News shows to be in the black overall. However, if you take that out and focus solely on the income and expenses of the News then there was a significant loss of money (almost $19,000). Kelsey went on to explain that due to COVID the cost of paper has increased, which is making the cost of printing a magazine more expensive. She reported that during the committee meeting there was discussion about what steps can be taken to lose less money. The committee proposed and asked for the approval of downsizing to six issues. Kelsey reported that the issues and themes would be January (AllNY Awards and ET Sale), March (Red & White, Youth & advertisers for Spring Sale), June (goes to National convention, covers Spring Show results and Mid-East Holstein issue that will go out to multiple states or the directory issue), August (Bull stud issue), October (Expo, Fall Sales and Show results) and December (Holiday, Master Breeder, and NY Convention prep issue). The committee recognizes that they are losing money but they believe it is important to have a magazine to get information out to members. Kelsey went on to say that the committee agreed to have Melissa Hart look into a new design for the News to give it a fresher look. In addition, Kelsey mentioned that the January News will include more transparent rates published; which will include the removal of black and white rates and rates that already factor in the price of color. Keene asked Kelsey about what feedback has been received from faithful advertisers about the proposal of going down to six issues. Kelsey said since the committee just met there hasn’t been time to talk with those advertisers but this is something that could be done. Keene said conversations in the past about going down to six issues have resulted in these advertisers wanting to not advertise. Pullis spoke up and said he is one of those faithful advertisers and he understands the reason for needing to decrease to six issues and he supports it. Jason Lloyd spoke up and said he believes that members are missing the face-to-face contact with someone and he believes if there was more direct contact then more members would advertise. Anita Menzi concurred with Lloyd and said her family loves having visits from others. Melissa Hart said she will continue to explain to people the importance of print media and advertising and also mentioned that this generation does not see the value in this, especially when they can post something on social media. Hart also said that she agrees with Lloyd; face-to-face visits make all the difference with people and she recognizes she did not see as many people as she should have in 2021 and her goal in 2022 is to see more people in New York and not just at shows.

Gerber asked from a financial standpoint if the committee looked into whether there were other benefits financially from dropping down to six issues, other than not losing money each month. Kelsey responded that the percentage of advertising versus editorial needs to be evaluated and if more advertising is needed then we need to look at sponsors for certain issues. Hart expects that with fewer issues there will be more editorial and the goal for advertising is 65% per issue. Gifford commented that by going to six issues there will need to be more pre-planning and organizing so that members are informed of events going on and sales are being advertised as they should, since fewer issues requires thinking ahead. Hart proposed

the question, what do NY members think about the NY News? And Hart said she is going to try and answer that question this year so hopefully she can figure out why NY members aren’t advertising. Kelsey made a motion to go to six News’ issues per year and Gerber seconded it; motion was passed. Kelsey also made a motion to accept her report and Gerber seconded that; motion was passed.

Lynnette Wright was then called on by Pullis to give her Membership and Breed and Promotion Committee report. Wright started by saying that we did not have a quorum but the conversation was positive. The committee feels a committee or sub-committee needs to be started to focus on the younger population that is transitioning from Juniors to Seniors. Wright continued by saying that the option of a new member or young member membership should be considered where the News is not included and therefor it is a discounted price. Membership numbers look good with Senior members being slightly down and Juniors also being down some. Membership numbers are remaining steady but cow numbers continue to decrease by about 3,000 each year. 2022 membership forms are going out next week and Wright reminded everyone that the deadline is December 15th for club rebates on senior memberships. Pullis asked Wright about the number of cows in Chemung County as the report reads 125 cows; Hanselman said Stacie Sherman and she would look into that number. Keene asked if members were individually responsible for writing their cow numbers in and if so, how accurate the reporting is. Wright said there has been a steady decline in cow numbers and it has been recognized that not everyone accurately reports but we will continue to have an honors system and hope the members pay their cow fees. Keene also mentioned that sometimes the quiet members are forgotten about and she challenged everyone to reach out to one of those members to ask for help. Wright made a motion to approve her report and Menzi seconded it; the motion was passed.

David King then presented his sale committee report. The sale committee met on Monday and discussed the upcoming sale tomorrow at 12pm (the NY Breeder’s Sale) that is taking place because Cornell was unable to have a Fall Sale. Cornell has mentioned possibly having a Spring Sale and may want NYHA involved. King said we are always looking for new members on this committee, especially to work the sales and help to organize the sales. The Convention ET sale is set to take place on January 14th with Rama auctioneering and a Spring Sale during Spring Show is in the works. The committee decided it would be best to ask someone manage the Spring Sale and King will be asking. Harkenrider made a motion to approve the sale report and Lloyd seconded it; motion passed.

Jason Lloyd presented the show committee report. The year started with Spring show being at a new location in Hamburg NY. The grounds were able to handle all types of weather and the staff of the grounds were great to work with. The overall cow numbers were down at about 400 total. The New England folks we missed due to going to the Spring show at BigE. Lloyd said the committee is hopeful to get more exhibitors at next year’s show. The state show took place in August with a tremendous group of cattle exhibited. The Washington County grounds were again great to work with and overall exhibitors seemed happy. Spring Show dates have been decided as March 30th-April 4th in Hamburg NY again. The committee approved and submitted application to have the Holstein Junior Show be a Nationally recognized show. The National board needs to review this and we will know in December if this was approved. In addition, the committee has decided to add a Jersey Junior Show to the list of shows. There was a lot of discussion about State Show dates and it was decided to have the show in the Fall again with confirmed dates of September 7th-11th at Washington County Fairgrounds again. Lloyd made a motion to approve the sale report and Cathy Littlefield-Bush seconded it; motion passed.

Melissa Hart then gave her editor’s report. Hart reported that a lot of information for her report was covered in the publications committee report but she wanted to provide additional information about a few things. Hart explained the idea behind the “Mid-East Holstein” section, stating that this would be in cooperation with Pennsylvania, Maryland and any other Mideast magazine, an opportunity for New York advertisers to have their advertisement printed in any of the cooperating states magazines too. Hart also said the committee discussed but did not approve, having an All-Breeds issue that could possibly go to Expo. The All-NY, R&W All-NY and membership directory issues will need sponsorships to help cover the cost of all the print. Hart proposed that any sponsorship money that comes in needs to go all to the magazine in order for the magazine to make money. The bull stud issue idea is to have a breeder advertise the daughters from a certain bull and get a discount on the advertisement. The bull stud would then pay the discount. Hart finished off by saying she plans to be more intentional about making trips to New York to visit with the members and breeders. Hart made a motion to accept her report and Menzi seconded it; motion passed.

Jason Pullis then called on Kennedy Crothers, the area representative for National Holstein. Crothers reported that Basic ID numbers, complete herd numbers, complete enrollment and number of animals enrolled in complete are all up, whereas registrations are down but by less than 1%. Crothers mentioned she is still looking for herds to visit so if you know anyone who need help then please contact her. Pullis asked Crothers if she was getting many calls and Crothers responded that she does receive calls from members and she will cold call and stop in to farms too. Wright asked if the new computer system in Brattleboro is up and running. Crothers said it is not up and running and they are still working on it. Hanselman explained that John Marshman was unable to make it today but Marshman wanted everyone to know he is available if they have any questions. Pullis piggybacked on that by saying Johnathan Lamb also extends the same invitation and folks are welcome to call him with any questions they have.

Chelsea Hanselman then gave her report next and asked that State Directors make sure to pass this information along to all of their members at their Fall meetings. Hanselman thanked the board of directors, state directors, committee chair people, Stacie and all volunteers for all the time and energy put into making the Association better. Hanselman then moved on to discuss convention and reported that it is being held at the Delta Hotel in Utica with Senior Convention starting on Friday, January 14th and Junior Convention starting with a combined All-NY/Junior All-NY awards bruncheon Saturday, January 15th. Hanselman thanked Stacie for all the work and time she put into helping to move the office. There are also photos of old board members in the office that need homes so if anyone has ideas about where these could go please let the office know. Hanselman reminded everyone of deadlines coming up, which included extending the master breeder deadline to next Friday, November 5th. Hanselman finished by saying that if anyone is willing to volunteer for convention or sponsorship committee, especially those that have experience with either of these, to reach out to her. Gifford commented that she had been to the new space and suggests that if homes cannot be found for the portraits that they should be thrown out because of how much space they take up and how little space the new office has. Keene asked to have a list of the names sent so that everyone could browse through the list of names. Gifford made a motion to accept Hanselman’s report and Gerber seconded it; motion passed.

There was no old business for discussion.

Pullis then asked if there was any new business to address. Menzi reported that the show committee had agreed to recognize New York juniors within the Junior show if it is approved to be a national show. Keene mentioned that it was a great summer picnic and encouraged folks to start thinking about where to have next year’s picnic. Gifford asked if Johnathan Lamb will be running for National President next year and if we should be doing anything. Pullis said the National Convention is in Sioux Falls SD and that Johnathan is running and to his knowledge there is no opposition. However, if someone does decide to run against him then it is the association’s plan to support him 100%. Keene reminded everyone to be thinking about a possible 2nd Vice President, as we will need to be fulfilling this role at convention.