2022 annual report

from 2022 Annual Report

by Alberta Holstein Association

COMPILATION ENGAGEMENT REPORT

Alberta Holstein Association Annual General Meeting

Friday, February 10, 2022 – 10 am Westlock Inn – Westlock, AB

2023 Agenda

1. Welcome – Andrew Wildeboer

2. Review of Agenda

3. Minutes of the 2022 Annual General Meeting

4. Business arising from minutes

5. Consideration of resolutions – Western Championship Dairy Showcase – named a National Show, consideration with other Western provinces

6. Address of President – Andrew Wildeboer

7. Secretary Treasurer Report a. 2022 Financial Statements – Benita Hummel b. 2023 Budget – Benita Hummel c. Appointment of Auditor a. The term of the following director at large is expired: Lee Simanton

8. Nominations of Directors.

Milk Break b. Nominations for Directors continued

9. Holstein Canada - National Director Report – Willem Vanderlinde

10. Holstein Canada – Field Service Report – Toby Kleinsasser, Holstein Canada

11. Social Media/Advertising Marketing Report – Amanda Hehli and Tim Hummel

12. Show and Judging Report – Clarence Slingerland

13. Youth Report – Randy Slomp

14. Awards Report – Lee Simanton

15. Announce Director at large

16. Invitation to the 2024 Annual Meeting – SAHC

17. New Business to be followed up by Alberta Holstein

18. Adjournment

What an event-filled year for the AHA!! Across the province for 4 days and 5 club meetings. I really enjoyed getting out and hearing from all the Alberta members. Many deep discussions were had & good ideas will be brought back for the board to review and make decisions on.

Last year’s Provincial AGM was held in Lacombe. Still the focal part of many conversations was the hockey games that saw participants from every club. Great job Central Club on a well organized event. In the evening we were privileged to hand out many awards to very deserving individuals. Four scholarships were given out. Aaron Van Steeklenburg, Alana Slingerland, Rolynn Bikker, & Berenda Helmus were all recipients & were all in their 2nd year post secondary studies. The 2021 Breeder of the Year was Mars Dairy- Gert and Sonja Schriyjver. Alberta’s President’s Cow was DeerField Colony’s Lynx Pamela EX-93 8E with lifetime totals of 140000kg of milk.

In April, the National Convention was hosted next door in Saskatchewan. Many Alberta exhibitors made the trip west. AHA was a proud Sponsor of the Best Bred and Owned and also supported our Alberta Breeders with a travel grant. At the AGM our resolution to make The Westerner Championship Show a “National Show” was passed with overwhelming support. The resolution would now move to the next stage where it was reviewed by the show committee and Holstein Canada’s board of directors. It was voted down and did not get support from Holstein Canada. At the Master Breeder Gala, Alberta was very proud to have New Mars Dairy and RockyMountain Holsteins receive their shields.

Alberta Dairy Congress held in June in Rimbey saw a great show with AHA handing out Best Bred and Owned in both the Red & White and Black & White. A judging school was hosted with Gary Vanderpost as the official.

In July, we again headed to Rimbey for the Alberta Youth Dairy Show. A jam-packed couple of days with judging, dairy science, clipping, showmanship and confirmation made for many tired youth! What an awesome event to see with all the energy and excitement they bring to the industry. During the wrap up, the Marj Atkins award was given to 2 very deserving people…Ev & Marylee Simanton. The youth listened closely as many stories were told.

WCC was finally a go again in 2022. What a great showing Alberta had! Again, a very busy week in Manitoba. The much coveted Premier Province came back home. Points tallied from each team member resulting in the highest score per province is how this is scored.

Congrats Team Alberta!!

The Westerner Championship Show was as competitive as ever, with 200 or so head, exhibited from all 4 western provinces. The holstein and jersey shows once again proved that the quality of cattle in Western Canada are among the best. The best bred and owned was again handed out by the AHA in the milking classes.

Madison and The Royal saw a great number of cattle that have, or do call Alberta home. Many animals placed very well. Congrats to all breeders and owners. A great amount of work and dedication goes in, to compete at those levels. AHA again handed out the Curtis Clack award at The Royal to Pierre Boulet.

Alberta is very proud to have a 3X Master Breeder just recently unveiled, Wendon Holsteins. Wow! Congrats to the whole team at Wendon. Come to Montreal for the National AGM to celebrate with Chalacks in April!

Any well-run branch can only be successful with a great team. Benita and Amanda continue to do an amazing job at…all the things! I can not say enough good things about every member of the board! We’ve had some great discussions, & many great ideas have come forth from our time ‘around the table’.

Thank you, Andrew

It was an exciting 2022 ! To see everyone in person again. After two years of not being able to have a Royal Winter Fair, the 2022 RAWF National Holstein shows were a huge success! Record numbers in both the black & white (429 head) and red & white (129 head) of awesome quality showed before judge Paul Trapp. We witnessed history when Blondin Unstopabull Maple Red won grand honors in all 3 shows. Congratulations to all Alberta breeders and exhibitors on your success!

We closed out the year with a thorough and detailed budget process as we moved into 2023. Holding each other and the association accountable for every dollar of our members money is not only our mandate as directors but also something we take great responsibility for. Thank you to to our senior management team for all their work as we finalized the 2023 budget. As a member owned and governed association, we know it is important to all our members that Holstein Canada maintains its viability for years to come. Recent price changes at Holstein Canada were a necessary and responsible step in achieving that viability.

The recruiting committee for the new chief executive officer for Holstein Canada has concluded their interviews. We are excited about the prospects that are in front of us and the alignment they have with our vision, we look forward to a bright year progressing in our existing 2023-2025 strategic plan.

We recently had the opportunity to watch nationally our 3rd annual virtual Master Breeder reveal where we announced and celebrated 20 impressive farm families as they were awarded the very prestigious Master Breeder shield. This event has become a staple in our industry and it has been a privilege allowing us into your homes to share this exciting new.

Big Congratulations to Wendon Holsteins on winning their 3rd shield, is a huge accomplishment and thank you for the influence you continue to make in our industry! Also congratulations to the Breeders that were in the top 10 in their categories .

In conclusion, we will continue to make Holstein Canada evolve with the support of our members and employees. it’s very important to get grassroot ideas feedback and support! I would like to thank the Alberta Holstein branch and all the members for this support

Willem

Holstein Association Of Canada Comparative Activity Statement

Rolf Van Benthem

This year Holstein Canada came out with a new standard genomic offering called CLARIFIDE, which was launched mid December 2021. This new standard offering comes complete with a high density Canadian genetic evaluation and a full suite of recessives. Automatically included with each test are A2A2 (Beta Casein), Coat Colour, Cholesterol Deficiency and Canadian Haplotypes, to help you make the most informed decisions on your replacements.

Genomic testing is increasing in popularity across Canada as margins tighten, and accurate decisions on the next generation of replacements become more crucial. Genomic testing is the science of translating an animal’s genetics into a predicted genetic value. These predicted genetic values can be used to evaluate replacements, make better mating choices, and to avoid mating errors between carriers of harmful recessive conditions.

Holstein Canada offers a Genomics Catch-Up Program, which provides you with special pricing for your first bulk submission of genomic samples!

Holstein Canada was pleased to announce a new communication tool for our customers to reach us: Holstein Canada Chat! This new tool connects our customers in real time to the Customer Service team while they are on our website as well as when they are logged into their web account. Holstein Canada Chat is available to all our customers and any visitor to the website who may have questions. Our helpful customer service representatives are looking forward to chatting in real time.

During this year’s September classification round, Holstein Canada organized a classification workshop. This was an opportunity to have a hands-on experience with classifying. It was hosted at Wendon Holsteins and was well participated. Thank you to everyone that did take part.

This fall Holstein Canada caught up with the eartag situation. Which was very good news. We are almost back to normal shipping time (3weeks or less).

Holstein Canada recently launched a new podcast called “Connexxion”. It is available on Apple and Spotify. The podcast will cover topics such as registration, classification and genomics. Our English podcast hosts are Classifier Alex Mckay and Atlantic Field Rep Natasha McKillop. Many will have met Alex with a classification visit, and the two combined give for a good, down to earth discussion on the core Holstein Canada services. Be sure to give it a listen and let us know if there are any topics you would be interested in hearing.

Beta Casein A2

Coat Colour

Cholesterol Deficiency

Haplotypes

And more with no added fee!

A common question our Western Field Services representative (Toby Kleinsasser) had to answer this year regarding DairyTrace was: “When can I use yellow tags vs. white tags for my animals?” Any calves born on farm and destined for purposes other than dairy production may be identified with a white single RFID ear tag (outside of Quebec). Using this new single white RFID button tag in place of the yellow button tag is preferred as it keeps those animals within the DairyTrace program. If an animal on your farm loses a single white button tag, replace it with another white button tag to maintain traceability. Yellow beef tags remain an acceptable option but, it is expected that the allowable use of these tags on dairy farms will be phased out by September 1, 2023.

WHY HOLSTEIN CANADA?

We are your breed organization and offer unbiased advice for your herd’s future.

Another exciting news is that the Holstein Canada mobile app call Connexxion is set to be launched this spring! This is going to make registration and genomic submission easier.

Ask your Western Field Service Business Partner about Registration and Genomic Testing for $40.00*

This past year things started to open up again and the Alberta Holstein Association – AHA booth was up at a few shows including the Alberta Youth Dairy Show and Alberta Dairy Congress. New breeder directories were made and sent out in the beginning of the year. Thank you to all the breeders and industry members who tookpart in making another great Breeder Directory! There are still copies available wherever the booth is out and if you contact a board member or the office. A new calendar was also made for the upcoming year, once again thankyou to everyone that took part in this!

Traffic to the website remained steady with the previous year with over 2600 visitors and over 5000 page views. We’d like to thank the advertisers that take part online, we appreciate the support! The facebook page continues to grow with over 2500 followers now. Alberta Holstein also started an instagram account @albertaholsteinassociation.

We continue to do our quarterly newsletter, now it is done through an enewsletter as well as mailed out as many members wanted to have the physical copy of the newsletter at their coffee tables in the barn, all the better to spread Alberta Holstein’s news! This is still a popular spot for advertising space as well.

As always, we ask that club’s continue to send in or post to their facebook pages their show results and event details in order to be shared and posted to the website. Thanks to Amanda for all the hard work on advertising and social media.

JUDGING AND SHOW REPORT- Clarence Slingerland

Welcome all. 2022 brought many opportunities for showing cattle. The National Convention Show ‘Feel the Pulse of the Prairies’ was held in Saskatoon in April which was well attended by Albertans. All club shows were held throughout Alberta.

The Green Acres Holstein Show took place in May with Diamond Park Dairy taking home the awards for Grand Champion with Diamondpark Sidekick Cocoa and Junior Champion with Bert-Mar Moovin Amarillo. They were aslo Premier Breeder and Exhibitor of the show!

Alberta Dairy Congress was held in Rimbey and judged by Mark Sweetnam, MB. R&W Junior Champion went to Kozak Warrior Red Blaze P and Reserve Champion to Thornspyc Attraction Diona-Red. B&W Junior Champion went to Cobequid Tattoo Riddles and Reserve Champion to Camflat Sidekick Elsa, both owned by R&F Livestock.

The CAHC Mid-Summer Classic was held in Lacombe in June, judged by Dale Bienert. Grand Champion was Thornspyc Attraction Diona-Red from Thornspyc Dairy, Reserve went to Mosnang Believe In Me from Mosnang Holsteins and HM to Mazylake Knox Flavour from Mazylake Holsteins.

Grand Champion & Supreme was Ruti Chief Empress, owned by R&F Livestock, and Reserve Champion went to Oakfield Benefit Elf also owned by R&F Livestock

R&W Grand Champion was Jolibois Fiji Avalanche owned by Crestomere and Lovholm Holsteins and Reserve Champion was Crest-Leigh Alicia P-Red owned by R&F Livestock.

Congratulations to the Best

Crestomere Holsteins was Premier Breeder of the B&W show with R&F Livestock being Premier Exhibitor. Congratulations to Lucky Hill Dairy for taking home both Premier Breeder and Exhibitor for the R&W show.

B&W Intermediate Champion was awarded to Wendon Emilio Fine, Wendon Holsteins, Reserve to Kozak Warrior Bombshell Red owned by Bill Schilling & R & F Livestock and HM to Mosnang Bridgestone Live Wire , Westcoast Holsteins.

R&W Intermediate Champion was awarded to Kozak Warrior Bombshell Red owned by Bill Schilling & R&F Livestoc Reserve went to Wendon Jordy Clear, Wendon Holsteins.

The Westerner Dairy Showcase was held in Red Deer judged by Mike Duckett, WI. Junior Champion went to Cobequid Tattoo Riddles from R&F Livestock and Reserve JC to Mosnang Chief Darla, Mosnang Holsteins & Garritt Schmidt.

R&W Junior Champion went to Kozak Warrior Red BlazeP from Ells Dairy, Kozak, Orville Schmidt & R & F Livestock. Lucky Hill Dairy took home Reserve and HM JC with Lucky Meihaven Warrior Rory and Lucky Altitude Luva Love.

Grand Champion of the B&W show was Benbie High Octane Ciara owned by Benbie Holsteins and HM went to Zimmer Krusader Ava owned by Benbie, Zimmer, and Robella.

For the R&W show Shanalta Welcome Avalanche was Grand Champion for Wendon & Straub & Son Dairy. Kozak Warrior Bombshell Red was Reserve and Wendon Jordy Clear was HM.

The Alberta 4H Clubs put on an amazing show for Alberta Youth Dairy Show also held in Rimbey. A team from Alberta also competed in the Western Canadian Classic which was held in Brandon, MB.

We are extremely proud of our fellow Albertans whose cattle competed at the WorldDairy Expo and Royal Winter Fair. Mosnang, Lucky Hill, Chubanna, Shanalta, Kozak, Wendon, Crestomere and Skycrest are all Alberta prefixes that had animals that showed and placed well in their classes! Congratulations!

Alberta Holstein organized two judging schools, at Alberta Dairy Congress, a Tier I, with Gary Vanderpost, SK and a Tier II at the Westerner Dairy Showcase, with Nico Bons, NL. A big thank you to all the show committees and the exhibitors! And we look forward that 2023 will bring everyone together again!

Alberta Holstein was pleased to add aspiring and official judges to the judges list. A current list can be found on the website. https://albertaholstein.ca/judging/. The branch does strongly suggest using the judges on the lofficial/aspiring lists when considering your officials for the upcoming shows.