CAA Summer Interns Have Arrived

 Matt, Karla and Katie

If I were to say it has been a busy week at the Canadian Angus headquarters here in Calgary, Alberta, that would be an understatement. Intern training started Monday morning where I met Karla and Katie, the summer interns for Saskatchewan and Alberta respectively. We’ve had a jam-packed week full of staff overviews, summer planning, and development of workshops and promotional material that we will use throughout the summer. We worked in the conference room for most of the week, which I think we are going to rename “The Arctic” because it had to be at least 15 degrees colder than the rest of the office building. Despite Tina’s many attempts to fix this, it didn't seem to change much.

I flew into Calgary from Toronto on Sunday afternoon. Starting Monday morning we had a tour of the office, learned where everything could be found, and we were introduced to the office staff along the way. Once we finished going through some logistics, we each set some goals that we hope to accomplish through our internship this summer. We then had an overview from Stacy in the Registry Department and Joanelle who is the Office Administrator.

Tuesday morning brought more brainstorming about how we could increase the interest in all of our Canadian Junior Angus programs. We worked alongside the CJAA coordinator Belinda who flew in from Regina to be with us. We also discussed social media and how each of us could assist with updating these pages over the summer.

On Wednesday we began developing our workshops for the summer, particularly those that we are going to be using when visiting schools. We also discussed radio and print interviews which we may encounter this summer. We also had a very in-depth meeting with Kajal about breed development and with Cheryl about the Angus tag program.

Thursday morning we talked a lot about Cassie and Tina’s jobs in marketing and communications respectively. Michael also talked to us about the Rancher Endorsed program and the Canadian Angus Foundation. Additionally we had a two-hour online webinar which outlined some simple strategies for better event marketing.

Friday was a particularly busy day. Ciara met with us to discuss her responsibilities in the office, and then we had some time to work on our schedules for the summer. Next we spoke with representatives from Canada Beef, Canada Beef Research Council, Canadian Beef Breeds Council and Alberta Beef. To finish the day we spoke with Rob for a while and then wished everyone farewell.

The office staff at the Canadian Angus Association are truly second to none. I think all of us interns agree that they treated us unbelievably well this week, and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for us. We want to put a special thank you to Rob and Michael for treating us to lunch throughout the week and also Cassie and Tina for working alongside us all week and passing so much of their knowledge on to us. Us interns are now parting ways; however, we will keep in close contact over the summer. We look forward to seeing all of our many Angus friends and youth throughout the summer at events throughout our respective provinces We hope you get a chance to read our weekly blog posts, and keep up with our exciting happenings throughout the summer.

Posted by Matt Bates
Feedback: mbates@cdnangus.ca

Frequently Asked Questions about Changes to the Parentage Verification Policy

Do I have to DNA test all of the dams in my herd?

No, you only need to parentage test those dams that produce bull calves born on or after January 1, 2015 that will go on to sire registered Angus calves. The policy change will affect less than 2,000 females annually. However, a lot of our members are taking advantage of the $5 Female Permanent Genotyping project or the $12 SNP parentage verification offer to genotype their entire cow herd.

What’s the difference between the $5 Female Permanent Genotyping project and the $12 SNP parentage verification offer?

The Female Permanent Genotyping project ($5 per test) will read the DNA for producing females and create a reference point to allow parentage verification of their future bull calves.

The SNP parentage verification test ($12 per test) reads the DNA for producing females and places them on file so that their bull calves can be verified to them in the future AND it also uses the dam’s genotype to verify her to her dam and sire. SNP parentage verification testing is available at $12 per test until March 31^st, 2014.

If I want to register my bull calves now, do I have to DNA test all my dams first?

No, the parentage verification policy applies to bull calves born on or after January 1^st, 2015. Any bull calf born on or after that date that will go on to sire registered Angus calves will need to be parentage verified to both his sire and his dam.

What if I buy a bull to sire registered Angus calves and he is not parentage verified?

Currently, a bull calf needs to be sire verified in order for the CAA to register his progeny. In cases where members apply to register calves from a sire that is not sire verified, the Association works with the member to get the sire verification.

The policy change means that all sires born on or after January 1^st, 2015, including those approved for AI use, must have a DNA parentage genotype on record with the CAA and be parent verified before their offspring can be registered. If you buy a sire that is not parent verified the Association will work with you to get the parent verification.

If either parent is lost before a DNA sample can be taken, the Association will work with our members on a case-by-case basis to find a resolution.

The implementation date for the policy change was set to allow our members more than two years to prepare. The Association has several initiatives to help our members prepare for this policy change.

What’s the best way to prepare for the changes to the Parentage Verification Policy?

Pull hair samples (30–60 hairs including the hair root bulbs) on any dams that may produce bull calves born on or after January 1, 2015 that will go on to sire registered Angus calves.

Place each dam’s hair sample in a clean, well-labelled envelope.

The hair samples can be stored at the CAA office or at your home until a parentage test is required.

For members who prefer to verify their female’s parentage and have their reference genotype on file so future calves can be verified, we are offering the following tests at reduced rates:

1.      Female Permanent Genotype for $5 per test (for the first 15,000 kits ordered and submitted to the lab before December 1^st, 2013)

2.  SNP parentage verification for $12 per test (‘2-for-1’ pricing through March 31, 2014)

Posted by Kajal Devani Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

Passing of Roberta Frazer of Six Mile Red Angus

It is with great personal sadness and equal industry gratitude that we pay respect to an important part of our Canadian Angus fraternity who has been called Home.

We lost one of our true breed pioneers this week: Roberta (Birdie) Frazer of Six Mile Red
Angus passed away last Tuesday morning, February 19^th, joining the ‘love of her life’, Ken, to raise the best Red Angus in Heaven. I suspect Birdie is elated to rejoin Ken and work together with other breed stalwarts like Rod Mackenzie in populating God’s acres and paddocks with ‘divine’ Red Angus genetics.

To access the Tribute to this Canadian Angus Legend, please see: http://www.pichehawkinsgrondinfuneralchapels.ca/book-of-memories/1501771/FRAZER-Roberta-/obituary.php

The funeral service will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 23, 2013 at the Hall on Main Street in Fir Mountain, Saskatchewan.

Please join our thoughts and prayers with and for Birdie’s family, Clayton and Corinne Gibson and their children – Callie, Cade and Coy – as well as Birdie’s granddaughter, Sandi Gray and husband Michael, through this transitional period when they will hopefully be able to celebrate a purposeful life, well-lived and served to a ‘greater good’. What would our nation’s Red Angus world look like if not for Ken & Birdie? I cannot even imagine…

It feels as though we had Ken & Birdie for such a brief interlude, and yet their impact and influence on our national Angus family will endure for time everlasting. Thank you, Gibson family, for sharing them with us…

God Called You Home

by Lindsey Zacher

God looked around his garden
And found an empty space;
He then looked down upon this earth
And saw your tired face.
He put His arms around you
And lifted you to rest;
God's garden must be beautiful,
He only takes the best.
He knew you were in pain,
He knew you might never
Get well upon this earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb,
so He closed your weary eyelids
and whispered 'Peace be thine.'
It broke our hearts to lose you,
But you never went alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you Home

 
Posted by Rob Smith Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca

Brian's January

·     The Peace Country Beef Congress was held this year in High Prairie.  This is a 6 ½ hour drive from Red Deer.  Decent attendance (around 200) for this 2 day show.  We share booth space with the Peace River Angus club.  Hereford and Simmental were also in attendance. The cattle show numbers were down a bit (100) but still a good strong showing.  Angus fared well and did their share of winning.  4-H is a big part of this event also.  This area of the province is very happy for our attendance and I feel a strong worthwhile venue.  They are definitely starving for attention up in the north.

·     The 15^th annual Beef Industry conference was held again in London, ON.  We shared booth space with Hereford, Simmental, Limousin and Charolais.  This makes the cost very effective.  A very good conference with over 500 attending the final banquet.  Very busy at the booth, therefore did not attend many sessions.  I felt that the contacts I made for our up-coming annual meeting in June for Rancher Endorsed day will be very valuable.  A good conference to be visible at.  Also Ontario Corn Fed program was given 2.5 million by their Ont Ag Minister.

·     The National Western Stock Show, held in Denver, Colorado was very successful in terms of networking with our American co-parts.  The sharing of knowledge and expertise came very much into play at this event.  There were 2 major bull & female shows that are open bull show and female show, sale bull show, and junior heifer show.  There are also seven black Angus specific sales taking place either at the National Western grounds or in the nearby vicinity.  Huge crowds attended these events, with many Canadians participating in the both showing and selling.  There were some new purchases heading for Canada.  Canadian cattle did also make an impact at the shows and were strong competition.  A major part of Denver is the pen show.  Tremendous happening with some excellent sets of bulls to view and access.  I really enjoy the pen show, as it is my favorite part of Denver.

Denver gives you an insight of what is happening in the big US. Trends play a big part, and they quite often follow them.  The cattle were getting quite small up to this year, and some said they were following the number game too much.  Maybe so, but I think they look at what Canada was bringing south, and the Herefords and some other breeds right close by in the same barns, and decided they better change their ways.

To sum up things, I liked a lot of the cattle this year, and was impressed with the size increase and increased structure improvement in most of the cattle.  Nice to see their cattle still have some size like ours.  After all, we ultimately still sell by the pound through our Auction systems.  I feel they are just right on size.  We will have to see what fad they follow next.

·     Meeting with Agri-team who are undergoing a study for the federal government in regards to traceability and animal movement.  They had a number of questions to ask.

·     The Alta Feeders Association group held their annual convention in Red Deer.  Our booth and Simmental were the only breeds represented.  This convention is all delegates from different areas of the province, therefore the first day is busy and the second day somewhat scarce.  I talked with lots of cow/calf producers and they were keen on our programs.  One producer had used our tags, but was turned down because he is using Hereford bulls on his herd of entire black Angus cows.  He would like to get back on but our rules say no.  Something to think about.

I would like to see this event shortened up by one day, as the first day is all we really need.

·     The “Alberta Cattle Feeders” held their AGM in Lacombe this year.  We are an affiliate member in this organization.  Around 50 attended, as a bus came up from the Southern Alberta to make a good crowd.  Their main issue was discussion on the check-off and if they were going to agree to carry on as is.  There were some great speakers regarding AAFC and barley breeding.  We were the only breed in attendance.  It is good to rub shoulders with the group of mostly feedlot operators.

·        Again in a good month for Canadian Angus.

  Posted by Brian Good Feedback: cdnangus@cdnangus.ca