Office Memo

CGA OFFICE MEMO Sarah Van Schothorst CEO

Happy 50th Anniversary to the Canadian Gelbvieh Association!

We have an exciting year ahead of us with celebrations being planned and the history book being published. Thank you very much to all of those who are helping to plan these events and who have contributed to our herd history book! Included in this issue is an order form for purchasing the history book. If you pre-order by March 1st, the cost per book is $75+shipping. If you purchase your history book after March 1st, the cost per book is $90+shipping. The final deadline to have any information or histories submitted for the herd history book is January 31st. We have also included a schedule of events and activities for the summer celebration and junior show in Stettler, AB in July. Included in this issue is an order form for promotional items to commemorate the 50th anniversary.

Thank you to Aaron Birch and Ryan Sommerfeld for their time and commitment on the CGA board. We welcomed Cody Girling and Kirk Hurlburt to the board at the AGM in November 2021. An interim financial statement was reviewed at the AGM and the final year end report for 2021 will be distributed to all members by March 31st, 2022. If you would like a hard copy mailed to you one can be requested from the office.

Herd Assessments are due February 28th. The second half will be due in July for those members with herds over 30 head.

The CGA once again organized a co-op ad in the February issue of the Canadian Cattlemen. Website banner ads renewed in January. If you are interested in promoting your program through the website, banners are available for $250/year and can be changed or modified as many times as you like for no additional charge.

The heifer performance project has been cancelled for 2022. Cost increases due to drought and feed shortages have put this project on hold.

FEMALE FOUNDATION PROJECT

The CGA is working with the University of Calgary and Neogen Canada to collect high density genomic profiles and docility data on females in the Gelbvieh herdbook. The CGA will start enrolling herds in May 2022 for the project. The University of Calgary is waiting on a couple of funding applications to be reviewed to cover the cost of the students coming on farm to collect the docility scores. Started in June we will also have access to a trained summer student with the UofC. We will try to collect data on herds by area so that we are collecting data as efficiently as possible and limiting trips for the student, especially for those locations further away. Females participating in this project will be eligible for the DNA incentive for the 100K. At the AGM, November 2021, it was voted that the CGA would financially support the DNA testing for every female enrolled up to $20,000 or 2,000 animals. The fee schedule per 100K is as follows: $10 / test – covered by CGA $10 / test – covered by Neogen Canada $20/ test – paid by member

Additional tests can still be ordered with the 100K with the costs the responsibility of the member. This project is expected to run for 3-4 years. We will be selecting a sub-set of herds close to Calgary where docility data will be collected annually for the 3-4 years. Even though the docility data will be collected at one time on a whole herd basis, the participating member can spread out the DNA testing and associated costs over the 3 to 4 years.