CANADIAN DEXTER CATTLE ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING August 16, 2017
A meeting of the Canadian Dexter Cattle Association Board of Directors was held by conference call on August 16, 2017.
Present: Ian Payne (President), Anne Smyth (Vice-President), Sera Fradgley, Becky Williams, Nick Woodhouse, Ron Black (Recording Secretary)
Absent with regrets: Mike Lafortune
CALL TO ORDER: Ian Payne called the meeting to order. There was no objection to the meeting being recorded.
AGENDA: One item was added to the agenda that had been circulated
Moved by Anne Smyth that the agenda be approved as amended. Seconded by Nick Woodhouse. Carried.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Ron Black summarized the minutes of the Directors’ meeting held on May 25, 2017.
Moved by Becky Williams that the minutes of the Directors’ meeting held on May 25, 2017 be adopted as circulated. Seconded by Anne Smyth. Carried.
REPORTS & BUSINESS ARISING FROM REPORTS:
a) Treasurer & Membership: Ron Black reported that for 2017 as of July 31st, the Association had revenue of $9,911 and expenses of $9,093 for a surplus to date of $818. The bank balance on July 31, 2017 was $5,405. To date, the CDCA has 93 paid members and 4 complimentary junior members for 2017. As of July 31, there were 72 registrations and 80 transfers in 2017, compared to 109 registrations and 71 transfers at the same time in 2016.
Moved by Anne Smyth that the Treasurer’s Report be accepted as presented. Seconded by Sera Fradgley. Carried.
b) 4-H: Anne Smyth reported that she had sold a cow and calf to a family with the calf to be used as a 4-H project next year, so she now has a contact into 4-H. Ron Black reported that he has been notified of 3 4-H members in Grey County, Ontario, who are using Dexters as their projects and will receive their awards once the projects are completed in the fall.
c) Website: Becky Williams reported that the website continues to be steadily used to advertise animals for sale and that members are reporting that the ads are resulting in quick sales of the animals. There have been some reports of links that do not work and she has notified the webmaster of these for correction.
d) Newsletter: Nick Woodhouse reported that getting content for the Newsletter from members continues to be a problem.
Becky Williams indicated that she sends out a weekly e-mail update from their farm using a free service called MailChimp, which she finds easy and efficient to use. She expressed the opinion that this would be a technologically up-to-date method for the CDCA to communicate with the members, as well as being more cost-efficient avoiding printing and postage costs except for those few members wishing to still receive a printed copy. She volunteered to work up an example for the Board to look at and following that to develop the first issue. There was consensus that this was an excellent idea and that it be tried in place of the traditional Newsletter for September.
e) Promotional Items: Sera Fradgley indicated that she had no update.
BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES:
c) 2017 Annual Meeting: No one had had any negative feedback to the announcement in the June Newsletter that the 2017 Annual Meeting will be held by teleconference. Ron Black updated the Board that there will be two positions on the Board open for nominations. The terms of Ian Payne and Becky Williams are expiring but both are eligible for re-election. He indicated that nominations and proposed by-law amendments are due by September 1, 2017, so an e-mail notice or mail notice would be sent to all current CDCA members on August 17 with the information regarding nominations and amendments. If an election is required for the director positions, mail ballots must be sent out by September 15, 2017. Board members were asked to submit items they wish to have on the AGM agenda, which will be circulated to members closer to the meeting date.
b) Ad in Small Farm Canada: Ron Black reported that he had not yet obtained further information as to advertising costs in this publication, so the matter was deferred to a future meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
a) Correspondence from CLRC Regarding EPD Calculations and Data Display: Correspondence had been received from Jim Washer, CLRC General Manager, regarding what interest member beef breed associations have in CLRC providing EPD calculations and the subsequent display of that information in animal records. At this stage, no information as to the cost of the service is available. The was some discussion on the matter, and it was then agreed that it be tabled and brought forward for discussion at the Annual Meeting.
Next Meeting: It was agreed to hold the next Directors’ Meeting on October 25, 2017 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned on a motion by Anne Smyth.