Jacob Sheep Society
Minutesof the Council Meeting held at The Carlton Club, St. James’ Street, London.
Thursday 5thNovember 2015
Present:
Mr Clive Richardson (Chairman)
Mr Ron King (President)
Mr Robert Locker (Past Chairman)
Mrs Marion Leithead (Vice Chairman)
Mr Gordon Connor (Field Officer)
Mrs Pat Black (Treasurer)
Mrs Lucy Thompson (Central RCM)
Mr Paul Colhoun (Ireland RCM)
Mrs Joy King (Eastern RCM)
Mrs Barley Gould (Southern RCM)
Mrs B Webster (Scotland RCM)
Mr Mike Bundy (Representing South-West Region)
Mrs Siwan Harries (Wales RCM)
Ms Anne Urwin (Northern RCM)
Mrs Jean Simmons (Assistant Secretary)
1. Welcome
Mr Richardson welcomed and thanked everyone for attending. He introduced Mr King, the new President, and the new RCMS, Mrs Lucy Thompson and Ms Anne Urwin, and thanked Mr Bundy for representing the South West Region.
2. Apologies.
Mr Peter Hunt (South West RCM)
3. To Agree the Minutes from March 2015
The minutes were formally agreed and duly signed.
4. Matters Arising
All matters to be discussed were included in the agenda.
5. Correspondence.
All correspondence received in the office had been passed on except a letter addressed to Council by Mrs RE Blacknell; this was read to Council by the Chairman. Mrs Blacknell had been unhappy with the sale of her ram at the JSS St. Boswell’s Official Sale. Council discussed the content and agreed that a red R tag for rejected sheep,provided by the inspection team, must be attached to any sheep failing the pre-sale inspection. Any sheep which are unsalable i.e. not tagged correctly orrejected for welfare issues shouldbe removed from the marketat which point the matter is deemed to be out of the Society’s hands and the vendor of the sheep deemed responsible for the welfare of the sheep and any sale agreements between themselves and the auctioneers. It was agreed that Mr Richardson would reply.
Council went on to discuss the issue of rejected sheep at the Official Shows and Sales including should the reason for the rejection be announced in the sale ring or be available in writing on the pen as this could be helpful to newer sheep breeders. It was generally agreed that it would be better if experienced members were available to advise buyers. Mrs Webster said that she announces in the ring that if anyone would like advice to approach her, and it was agreed that the RCM of the sale would be given the responsibility of making purchasers aware that advisors were available and it would be written in the catalogue. Mrs Black agreed to add this responsibility on to the guidance for RCMs.
6. Chairman’s Report
Tay Sachs: Mr Richardson had circulated a proposal to implement some changes to the system for processing members’ Tay-Sachs tests and to introduce some form of certification for animals that are tested clear of Tay-Sachs.
Mr Richardson had been in contact with LGC and Grassroots and in brief made the following proposal;
Flock vets would use FTA cards to collect blood samples; these would be sent to Grassroots who, when there are 22, will forward them to LGC. The results would be sent back to Grassroots who would send them confidentially to the sheep owner. The cost would be reduced to £13 as Grassroots would take over administration from the laboratory. Grassroots would supply at no charge a new registration certificate for every sheep tested clear which notes their clear status. Symbols to be used on registration certificates in future will denote parents, grandparents and great-grandparents either tested or bred clear of Tay-Sachs. Untested or carrier sheep will have nothing noted on their certificates.
Council discussed the various points raised and whether tested sheep would become more valuable. This will become apparent in 2016 when more sheep tested clear come on to the market. Although the test remains purely voluntary, Council willcontinue to encourage members to participate.
The proposal was seconded by Mr Connor and agreed unanimously.
Judges’ Assessment Panel: The Judges Assessment Panel, appointed in 2012, was due for re-appointment. Mrs Leithead proposed that thecurrent panel of Gordon Connor, Clive Richardson, Jean Blacknell, Robert Locker, Scott Dalrymple and Wyn Harries be re-appointed, seconded by Mr Colhoun.
All agreed
Council discussed the judges’ panel. The aim to reduce the number of judges to around 50 had been decided previously andMr Connor suggested that the number of applicants invited to attend an assessment day be restricted to a maximum of the four strongest applicants per year which was agreed. It was pointed out that judges should be prepared to travel although many smaller shows tended to only invite local judges to reduce costs. The Society offers a bursary of £100 to judges travelling to and from Ireland but not for other areas. Mr Connor said that part of the assessment was to make sure judges would be prepared to travel.
Breed Book: Mr Richardson had researched some publishing options for the Breed Book which had been suggested as a special publication for the 50th anniversary of the JSS in 2019. Council agreed that the book should be printed in time for that year and not before. Mr Richardson had found quotes of £5 - £6 for 40,000 words and 40 photographs from internet publishers but if the work is all done in-house the Journal printers could print it for the JSS as an A5 publication of the same size for only £1.90 on 130g silk paper with a 300g laminated paper cover and perfect binding. For a further £400 the book could be thread sewn. Council thanked Mr Richardson for all his work so far and Mr Connor proposed that Mr Richardson continued with his work on the publication and the content on behalf of the Society. Mr Richardson would bring a synopsis to the March meeting. Agreed.
Mr Richardson said he would require members to put forward photographs for possible inclusion and would like help to agree the content and select appropriate photographs. It was agreed that it was not necessary for the book to make a large profit.
Communication Strategy:
The chairman asked Council to review the Society’s communication strategy, which covered four key areas, communication, breed promotion, breed quality, and compliance, ensuring that the Society’s function and messages are communicated to our stakeholders consistently and effectively. All communications should emanate from Council with lead responsibilities appropriate to specific Council members. At present the Chairman is the Journal editor, with Mrs Milner doing the layout, and also takes responsibility for the handbook and Journal inserts; Mr Locker oversees the Website with RCMs providing regional news on their respective websites; Facebook is overseen by Mrs Harries and Mrs. Harper and the RCMs for their regions; and Mr Howard Walsh works as the Society’s press officer. The media have contact through the website, GRS and through the secretary on email. Breed promotion has been devolved to RCMs with Council approval, and merchandising is now coordinated by Bob Bramley. Breed quality is the responsibility of the Field Officer with Council support. Compliance with the legal notices to the membership is ensured with the use of the website and timely inserts in the Journal, the treasurer and company secretary providing accounts, which are audited, and the Chairman taking overall responsibility.
Mr Richardson told the meeting he thought there was a good network within Council but asked for comments on the structure of the communications asking if there were weaknesses that anyone had picked up on. Mr Locker thought that new members might not be aware of the structure and Mr Richardson said he will put an article in the Journal explaining it. Council thought the network worked well and the informal structure invites fellow Councillors to seek each others opinions and advice.
Mrs King said she thought there was a risk that the Society may not communicate and promote itself consistently as RCMs may all do different things but Mr Richardson said it was important that the message sent out should come from Council, and said he wanted RCMs to inform Council of their breed promotion strategy for each year for approval at the March meetings. Mr Connor said he would like to see the Jacob females promoted as commercial sheep for cross breeding. It was agreed that the detail would be finalised at the next meeting.
7. Field Officers Report
Open days and Seminars: Mr Connor has attended four regional events in 2015 with successful judges’ seminars at each.
Shows and Sales: Mr Connor reported that there had been a slight rise in the number of rejected sheep at the sales compared to the last two years. Quality sheep had sold for good prices.
Pedigree Certificates: At St. Boswells and Skipton markets the certificates had not been given to the purchasers and Mr Connor had been in discussion with Libby Henson of GRS concerning how to improve the system of getting the certificate to the new owners. A solution offered was to ask the auctioneers to send all the certificates to GRS with a list of purchasers; GRS would send them out and include an invitation to join the Society to non-members. Council discussed the way forward and agreed to ask GRS the cost of sending out the certificates and agreed it would only be necessary to do this at the markets where the system was failing.
Appointing judges: It was agreed that the Field Officer must approve allregions’ choice of judges for Official Shows and Sales.
Flock dispersals and reductions: Council discussed the description and number of sheep that could be sold under either heading.Reduction: it was agreed there would not be a category for flock reduction at any sale and all sheep forward would be inspected; Dispersal:Mrs Webster advised and proposed that the description in the catalogue of ‘Flock Dispersal’ should mean that the whole of the pedigree stock of that member is sold and that the flock will no longer exist. Seconded by Mr Connor and carried by majority with one abstention. Any disposal sale of sheep will be held at the end of the whole sale and they will not be inspected. Mr Connor will advise all RCMs of the rules to be implemented via the Bye Laws 2016.
Prize winners: Mr Connor had been asked if Council thought the prize winning animals should be sold first. Council decided not to implement that and leave all sheep to be sold in catalogue order. It was agreed that prize money given to the champion and reserve should be withheld if those animals are not sold through the auction. (This point was raised by Mrs Thompson in her regional report)
Mr Connor said a few ram lambs had been rejected when found to have a split cod. He proposed that the wording be clarified in Show and Sale Inspection Guidance, item 5 to: All males of any age must have two testicles of even size and free of any abnormalities. Agreed.
There being no guidance on the colour of ears in the Breed Standard, Mr Connor proposed that it was added under the item “Head”, thus: Black Ears preferred. Agreed.
Judges and provisional judges: Council were sorry to hear Mrs Stroma Bedell has resigned from the judges’ panel due to ill health and wished her well. It was proposed by Mr Connor, seconded by Mr Richardson, to promote both Mrs Beryl Thompson and Mr James Leonard to the full panel as they have completed their term as provisional judges. Agreed. Mr Connor proposed and Mr Richardson seconded that Mr Paul Colhoun and Mr Adrian Hamilton go forward to the provisional panel as they have completed the judges’ assessment and shadow judging. Agreed.
Flock Competitions: Mr Connor asked if the format of flock competitions should be changed; the cost to the Society can be up to around £2500 per annum for the biennial competitions; they were set up to help members improve their flocks through competition and by receiving advice from the judges. He thought it may be better to dispose of the present large/small flock categories and have three new categories dependent upon the experience of the flock owner denoted by the years the flock has been established; 1)Novice 0 – 2 years; 2)Intermediate 3 – 4 years; 3)Experienced 5 years and above. Council went on to discuss flock assessments and the best way to help new flock keepers. Mr Richardson said that members in the Northern Region would like the system for the inspection of a member’s first lambs to be registered reinstated. Council considered whether both inspections and flock competitions would be beneficial, the costs involved and how the visits would be organised. If lamb inspection was introduced it was agreed the Field Officer and judge assessors would select the inspectors. He asked RCMs to take these proposals to their regions for debate and bring back their findings in March.
Proposal for Judges: Mr Connor consulted Council about complaints brought against judges. He asked if all judges should be re-assessed under the guidance of the current assessors nominated by Council. Following discussion it was decided that each complaint should be dealt with on an individual basis by the Field Officer by firstly speaking to the judge and then writing a letter explaining the complaint made against them. The Field Officer could if necessary bring the matter to Council.
8. Reports form Regions.
The reports having been previously circulated Council discussed the matters which regions brought to their attention.
Eastern: Mrs King said she was concerned how many members resigned their membership in the region. Although the net number was generally increasing she wondered if the same trend was throughout the Society. It was found during discussion that it was normal and members gave up their membership for a good many reasons. The region wanted to know if the Society would continue to pay the judge’s expenses for the Peterborough Show – this was deferred to the treasurer’s report.
Northern: Ms Urwin asked if the region could buy a stand for promotional events. It was agreed that the regions should have similar promotional material, with perhaps a pull up banner. It was agreed that Ms Urwin would do some research into the costs in time for the March meeting.
South West: Mr Bundy said the region was concerned that a member seemed to have paid double fees for having their sheep inspected but it was explained that the inspection had had to be done in two visits through no fault of the Society as two separate applications were made. Mr Connor reminded Council that the appendix B register will close in 2016. There had been a complaint in the region about inconsistent judging, Council agreed that judging was relative and a sheep is judged on the day against the competition on that day.
Southern: Mrs Gould wished to discuss sponsorship; this was deferred to the treasurer’s report.
Central: The Worcester Show and Sale catalogue will now advise that the champion and reserve will forfeit the prize money if they are not sold through the auction. Mr Connor suggested that Mrs Thompson splits the Ram of Any Age class at Worcester into senior and shearling classes. CharlecotePark – following a very interesting visit the farm manager had asked if the JSS could support him in continuing to keep Jacobs prominent at the park; the flock there is the oldest known. Suggestions included loaning rams, helping him to select ewes for sale at Worcester, and Mr Richardson said the spring Journal could include an article on the flock. Mrs Thompson asked if there were plans to replace the old Society display boards, this will be included in the discussion in March.
9. Office and Grassroots Systems Update
Having been previously circulated; Council agreed that Mr Emberton should be thanked for his on-going IT support and Mr Bramley for his work on the Website Show Calendar.
10. Treasurer’s Report
Mrs Black thanked Dr Strong for his on-going help and support; Dr Strong continues to advise the treasurer and Council on the Society’s investments.
Mrs Black had provided a draft of accounts for discussion purposes; Council agreed that Mr Richardson and Mrs Black would act on behalf of Council working with Dr Strong to consider the action necessary to protect the capital value and report back to the meeting in March.
It was noted that the merchandise had made a good profit and Council agreed this was due to Mr Bramley’s work.
It was agreed that the number of flock books published could be reduced as the information could be put on-line. The production of the Society’s hand book was discussed as costs could be reduced if a PDF version was on line and members who required a hard copy were charged for the publication. It was agreed that this proposal be taken back to the regions for discussion before a decision was made in March.