BREED

SUFFOLK NEWS - USSA

Update From The Ussa

The Board of Directors of the United Suffolk Sheep Association wishes to extend gratitude to the membership for your participation in the recent vote on how animals should be presented at the National Suffolk Show and National Suffolk Sale. In recent history, there has been very few votes in the USSA that has seen this level of turnout. The membership vote related to the presentation of animals at the association sanctioned events has been counted and is for there to be no change; 77 in favor of the presentation change and 83 in favor of no change.

We thought it was important for our members to participate in the decision-making process. The Board was clear when this was put to the vote of the membership that we would abide by the wishes of the membership, and you have spoken.

Now that this vote is in the rear-view mirror, the exciting programs and projects we are continuing to work on can truly be front and center in the conversation. Going back to the Fall of 2020 with the Needs Assessment, we set the precedent for reaching out to you and actively soliciting your feedback and direction.

We heard you say that you wanted more opportunities to collaborate and more education, which is the focus of The Suffolk Event that was recently announced. We are working on a collaborative event that will bring all facets of our breed together. Coming together as Suffolk breeders, making new friends, and visiting with old ones while participating in new learning opportunities is the focus of The Event. We hope you will take home a nugget of new information that you can implement in your flock. A sale will provide an opportunity for members to sell their sheep or obtain some new genetics. A junior show will give youth an experience to get out with their sheep early in the season and develop new skills.

We aren’t trying to change an existing Suffolk event; we are creating an entirely new one that encompasses all things Suffolk. All ages, all segments, and all geographies are the target audience. It will move around in subsequent years, but the focus will be consistent in bringing together the many different and diverse Suffolk enthusiasts to celebrate the breed.

As we finished the strategic planning session last fall, a full list of committees and committee chairs was distributed to the membership. We are very proud of the work being done and are equally excited about the composition of those committees. The work being tackled is long overdue and, in some cases, has never been tackled before. The people chopping wood and carrying water are not just Board members – there is a herd (or flock, depending on where in the country you are) of active members who stepped up and asked to be part of those committees.

We are blessed to be surrounded by people who feel as strongly about the breed and are committed to the future. If you have the passion and the time to help, know that there are many opportunities to do so.

We know we need to do a better job talking about the accomplishments being made, and we are excited to share that. To that end, a report on committee progress will be distributed to the entire membership within the next several weeks, so you can see what else we’ve been working on to advance the breed we are all so proud to be a part of. No longer will the membership need to wait until the annual meeting to get a real glimpse into what we are striving to accomplish.

There is excitement in looking ahead to the future. There is real progress being made on real tasks that can make a real difference for our breed. Thank you again for your passionate engagement. Working together there is absolutely nothing we can’t make happen together for the Suffolk breed.

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