MILKING SHORTHORN MINUTES
Summer Board Meeting
June 29 & 30, 2020 • Beloit, Wisconsin Meeting was called to order by President Marcia Clark at 8:11am on Monday, June 28, 2020 at the Hampton Inn, Beloit, Wisconsin. A quorum to conduct business was reached. Board members Bill Bartlett and Scott Cailteux were not in attendance. Guests present include Michelle Upchurch and Eddie Hartfield. Motion passed to approve agenda with an addition. Motions passed to approve minutes from the following meetings, April 28th, June 10th, June 18th, and June 19th. President Marcia Clark read her Presidents Report. She focused on how the work of the board supports the Red, White and Roan. Executive Secretary Brenda Gudex spoke about the work the National Office has accomplished over the past year and how programs will move forward. Standing Committee Reports Articles & Bylaws The board reviewed the drafts of both the Articles and the bylaws as presented by the committee. Numerous changes and additions were discussed. These changes will be passed onto the Article and Bylaws committee for discussion. A timeline of events in order to bring the new documents to the membership was discussed so that we can bring our Society up to date. Credentials Committee There was no report from the Credentials Committee, but it was noted the amount of work the committee did to assist in the unique situation for the voting this year. Breed Outlook The committee was asked to review the Express Program. The committee provided breakdown of cost savings for the current examples given on the form. When reviewing current Express Herds, the current breakdown for program does not meet our membership needs. The board discussed why breeders are not signing up for the program. The committee will review the program so that it fits better within our membership needs. One of the reasons breeders sign up for the Express Program is because of the Milk Production recording. This program helps our members to be eligible for National Milk Awards. Unfortunately, we have discovered numerous issues with data going into our database as well as our inability to pull the correct information out of the database to
use.
The board will make it a top priority to review not only the database, but the information going into it as well. Convention The National Convention Committee will provide an update on the Convention at the December meeting. As of right now, convention planning for Wisconsin, Illinois and Oklahoma/Arkansas/Texas are all on track. There are not many anticipated changes to the convention schedule for 2021. When the December report is given, we will review the Auctioneer and Sale crew pricing. National Sale No updates for 2021 at this time. All those who consigned in 2020 were refunded the consignment fee. The board discussed the outstanding animals from the 2019 sale. Brenda will be sending them a letter to request payment again. Type/Classification We have been receiving reports of incorrect or missing information on pedigrees regarding classification scores, especially multiple E records. Brenda and Susan have been working on updating the website rules to reflect the rules that have been changed. One of the rules that was missing was the verbiage regarding the bull classification change. There was also verbiage that mentioned “not considering the stage of lactation on the linear descriptive traits.” Susan would like the board to make a motion to make our rules meet the current classification standards. Motion passed to take out any mention of “not considering the stage of lactation” on the linear descriptive traits and there be no max score for bulls. International Committee Report given on the February trip to the USLGE meeting and the many ideas shared at that meeting that could benefit AMSS. A list was shared for potential travel and where to allocate funding. The committee would like to work on a checklist for future AMSS travel and the creation of a calendar and timeline. Because of the way funds are allocated, an application process for participants is not allowed. The board discussed creating a listing of individuals best suited to travel on behalf of AMSS. Feedback in relation to US genetics moving outside the US as well as those genetics that could potentially enter our herdbook was shared
Percentage information was discussed. International markets are looking at percentages. We do not share this information internationally, even though we promote our bulls on an international market. Recommendation was shared from the committee to bring foreign representatives to the US during our convention to meet with AMSS breeders for a collaborative effort of genetics transfer. What we may be looking for in the US could be very different from what foreign markets might be looking for. A listing of cows that could be potential bull mothers for exportable bulls was shared. These cows are backed by milk and components. Data was pulled from reports used to find Hardy Cow Award recipients. Motion passed to have a spreadsheet on percentages of the bulls from the Bull Book to share information internationally. Motion passed to pay membership dues of $5500 to USLGE for 2021. Genetics & Sire Asset Management The committee also discussed percentages and the consensus from the committee is that our current herdbook levels should not change. Bulls were presented. Treeton Scarlet Zumba should enter the herdbook as an EXP due to his sire, Mapleton VLY J Zumba being a full herdbook bull. Gorbro Joans Jazzy - Current AMSS policy would bring this bull into the herdbook as a GI. With the significant interest in this bull, the committee recommends that he be entered into the herdbook at a GI2 level. This would increase his usage due to the fact that a GI2 x with a full herdbook would be an EXP level. Motion passed to follow the committee recommendation of adding Gorbro Joans Jazzy to the AMSS herdbook at a GI2 level. Brenda will provide the Genetics committee with a listing of bulls registered. Recommendations of bulls will go both to the International committee and the Genetics committee. Bull Book The committee did a lot of target marketing to solicit advertisers in the book itself. One of the biggest changes this year was the need to mail the books out due to the cancellation of many of the National Shows. There will be reimbursement for the cost with the funding from USLGE funds. An electronic copy will be uploaded to continued on page 36
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