DECEMBER 2016 Coming to your mailboxes in December is the renewal notice for your CCA Membership and Whole Herd Enrollment information. Remember the January 1 annual deadline for having your females enrolled! If any members are collecting chute-side ultrasound data, please contact Mel at the CCA office – we can accept this data for our genetic evaluations. CCA Annual General Meeting The 2017 CCA Annual General Meeting will be held June 10 in Saskatchewan; details will be published as they come available. CCYA Conference & Show The 2017 CCYA Conference & Show is moving to Ontario! Save the date and plan to join us in Barrie, ON next August. Holiday Hours The Canadian Charolais Office will be closed December 26 through 30, 2016.
2320 - 41st Avenue N.E. Calgary, AB T2E 6W8 T: (403) 250-9242 • F: (403) 291-9324 www.charolais.com
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This past year has proven to be a banner year for the Charolais breed yet again. There have been some changes along the way but in the end, our breed continues to thrive; Whole Herd Enrollment and Memberships increased along with overall enthusiasm. One of the significant changes to note, we’ve implemented a new and improved Registry System; when members log in it looks different but ultimately holds the same functionality with increased efficiencies on a user-friendly platform. If you haven’t done so already, please contact the office ASAP to receive a new password to access your CCA online account, passwords were not transferable during the transition. The CCA Board of Directors met in Calgary for their annual fall meetings to review the year and look forward into 2017. Following the resignation of First-Vice President Andre Steppler (MB), Darwin Rosso (SK) moved to First-Vice President and Ricky Milton (Maritimes) joins the Executive as Second-Vice President. The CCA has worked with the Manitoba Association and the vacancy of the Manitoba Director seat will be elected at the 2017 CCA Annual General Meeting. Until then, CCA is committed to communication with our Manitoba members, feel free to reach out to any Director for comments, concerns and/or questions. Charolais Banner • December 2016
On the Breed Improvement front, we continue to work with Doug Blair, Sean McGrath and the University of Georgia with the end goal of Single Step-Genomically Enhanced EPDs. Results are seemingly elusive but trust the process. CCA has invested limited funds; we are continuing with our conservative approach and are working on building our database of genotypes while utilizing government funds to carry out 50K panels on sires. As a breeder, ALWAYS remember to DNA your bulls. CCA By-Laws require all sires to be DNA’d and all AI Sires to be Parent Verified (Sire and Dam). Donor dams also require DNA on file while Embryo Transfer calves and Full French animals are all required to be Parent Verified. CCA in conjunction with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Univeristy of Alberta and Livestock Gentec continues to support the ongoing research at Kinsella with their Charolais herd as they strive to improve the genomic predictions through their breeding programs. We work with the team to support their mandates with regards to genomics, feed efficiency and carcass information as they track their genetic improvement year over year. The Provincial Association Presidents were in attendance for a portion of the Fall Meetings with the National Board to engage in a brain-storm and networking session. The CCA feels it’s