Canadian Angus Association Newsletter January 2016

In This Issue

CEO Message

CAA Job posting

AC-TV

BTLS

Upcoming Elections

CAA Convention

Regional & Board Meetings

From the Angus Registry

desk

GOLD Stars

GOAL

Travel Bursary

Article Headline

NCE Results

Tags

Angus Tags

A Note from Breed

Development

Ultrasounding

Genetic University

Angus Coffee Break: Angus in

New Business Development Team memberwanted!The Director, Business DevelopmentTeam will help position the CanadianAngus Association at the forefront ofCanada's national seedstock sectorand cattle and beef productionindustry. The Business DevelopmentTeam builds relationships with and supports CAA members, partners and industry,hearing and satisfying their needs and discovering opportunities leading to CAAgrowth. These directors ensure provision of quality member and customer servicethrough efficient and cost-effective management of resources. They help build andperform within a strategic business plan to advance the Association's MissionStatement, Vision Statement and the Member Value Proposition. Apply in confidence with cover letter and resume to: Canadian Angus Associationc/o Alan Yuen, Director of Administration292140 Wagon Wheel BlvdRocky View County, AB T4A 0E2To apply electronically, send email to Alan

Applications will be accepted by the Canadian Angus Association on or beforeTuesday, March 15th, 2016. Read full job description here

AC-TV is going monthly!Starting in January 2016 AC-TV will be broadcast through our YouTube page monthly.

the News

Mark your calendars

A message from yourCEO

Goodday,CAA

members; As we settle into 2016, Iwant to take advantage ofa 2015 activity to form thebasis of my next fewmonths' message to you in"The Angus Word". Back in November, weheard from hundreds ofyou on our annualMembership Survey. Iselected a number ofquestions and haveworked with my staff toprovide answers to you.Subsequently, I will share,for the next few months,your EXACT question orcomment, and provide youwith our response. So... here you go! Pleaseconsider these questionsfrom you or your fellowCAA members, followed byour response: registration fees havegone too highPlease consider thiscomparison to the nextthree largest beef breedassociations in Canada: Click here for comparison

When the CAA Board ofDirectors opted to update

Each new episode will be released on the third Tuesday of the month. Here are thetopics in upcoming AC-TV episodes:

January - "Picking a new herd bull" and "How your CAA can help you withmarketing your upcoming bull sale".

Picking Your Next Angus Herd Bull

February 16 - "A look at Angus History" and "How to register online"

March 15 - "Canadian Beef Industry Conference" and "The value of transfers"

April 19 - "Canadian Junior Angus Opportunities" and "CAA National Convention"

Subscribe today to our YouTube page and never miss an episode of AC-TV!

Building the Legacy Sale AnnouncementOver the next while we will let you know about some of the upcoming donations to theBuilding the Legacy Fundraiser Sale that will take place in Quebec City on theSaturday (June 11) evening of Convention.

Johnson Livestock of Peebles, SK, isa family-run operation, owned andoperated by David and Anne Johnsonand their son and his family, Andrewand Laurie, Brielle, Maya, Desta andIndy. Johnson Livestock has grownfrom the original 160 acres to over

8,000 acres of hay and pasture land, and around 700 registered Angus cows. JohnsonLivestock has graciously donated an outstanding 2016-born heifer calf! The Johnson family 'stepped up' in a major way by selecting from their 'top tier' ofcalendar-year calves to offer you a heifer with an elite and progressive pedigreecoupled with a super-cool phenotype. She's a real baby 'cow-in-the-making'! By thetime we print and mail the catalogue in May, the Johnson's will have selected the heifercalf and we will be proud to have her pictured and videoed for your inspection. Johnson

the CAA Fee Schedule forthe first time in over 25years, it was important tothem to maintain our statusas among Canada's leastexpensive service for thehighest value product. Weare confident theysucceeded in doing this asyou should be able to seefrom the comparison withour Simmental, Charolaisand Hereford counterparts. Before changing name ofan animal because ofDNA results confirm thatis the members wishesAs a general rule, if theanimal is named after thesire/dam that is nowproven incorrect we willchange the name to reflectthe correct sire/dam.Alternately, if the animal isnot named in a discerniblemanner after the sire/damthen we leave your nameas is. We do thisautomatically becausewhen members contact usto provide correct oralternate sire/dam options,greater than 90% of themcomment that they willwant the name changed toreflect the correct animal. On the American Anguswebsite, a nicemanagement toolavailable, is being able toselect search criteria onbulls.Your Association strives toprovide its members state-of-the-art tools, and similarto the American AngusAssociation, CAAmembers are able tosearch and select for bullsbased on several criteriaincluding sire, dam,province, tattoo, herd

Livestock have produced some of our nation's most impressive cows and this babybeauty will surely be one of them.

"I can't help but admire the "commitment" of four generations, and a fifth in training, totheir personal values, a way of making a living in agriculture and making their mark asone of the leaders in the Angus breed." -Bob Toner (talking about the Johnson Family).

Many thanks to Johnson Livestock for this incredibly valuable donation!

But that is not all

We are also happy to report that therewill be 10 straws of semen from 2015CAA Show Bull of the Year, PMTHUNDERSTRUCK 22'13, owned byRyan Currie, Tanya Belsham, PeterVos and Angus Vos in the sale thisyear! This exciting bull was 'the talk' ofDenver earlier this month at the

National Western Show, and continues to make friends around the globe. Don't missthis opportunity to purchase semen from this impressive powerhouse! Many thanks tothe owners of Thunderstruck for this exciting donation.

And finally, for this month... we want tothank Gail Wildman and the Wildmanfamily of Towaw Cattle Co. Gail isdonating a 'custom made' quilt to thewinning bidder on this "Building theLegacy 5" donation. Personally, somefew of us have been fortunate buyersof this donation at worthy charitable

causes in the past and we're honoured that Gail is blessing us with one of her beautiful,'home-y' handmade quilts. Trust me, folks... if you purchase this donation fromCRAPS original secretary it will become an unrivalled heirloom in your family. ThanksGail and Towaw for your donation. We will be featuring more donations monthly between now and the fundraiser on June11 . If you are interested in donating something to our greatest of Canadian Anguscauses, please do not hesitate to contact CAA CEO Rob Smith. And plan to be part of the action at Convention in Quebec City!

Elections in Alberta and SaskatchewanMembers in Alberta and Saskatchewan will soon be electing their new representatives

name and EPDs. Pleasesee EPD Inquiry to accessthis tool on yourAssociation website. Inaddition, your Associationalso provides you with amating predictor and aninbreeding coefficientcalculator. Should there beany other tool that youwould find valuable, yourAssociation encouragesyou to bring it to ourattention. You Associationhas added severalmember tools, based onmember requests, this pastyear and is committed tocontinue to do so whereverpossible. Need more "in person"support and service. Veryhard to get a live body onthe phone to straightenout problems. Too muchreliance on email and webbased service.We find this a challengingcomment considering thenumber of phone calls ourregistry department getson a daily basis and thetime currently spent on thephone; honestly, I don'tsee how we can do anymore! CAA staff returnphone messages in atimely manner, typically thesame day or, if we need todo some research, the nextday. We stay on calls forextended periods of time toassist a member doingonline work or to help themwith paperwork. Most ofthe time if a member getsour voicemail it is becausewe are on another line withsomeone else. Your CAA is also workingon delivering a series ofshort how-to videos and

for the Canadian Angus Association Board of Directors. In Saskatchewan, DaleEaston or Jon Fox will replace retiring Past President Corinne Gibson. In Alberta, BobHahn is seeking a second term, and George Baxter and Laurie Hunter have submittedtheir names to serve. To ensure that you receive a ballot, please ensure that your membership fees for 2016are paid, that you have verified your contact information, and that you have confirmedyour credit card information to ensure that your account does not end up in arrears. Alllife members who have paid their activity fee and active members that are in goodstanding will receive a ballot and be eligible to vote.

CAA National ConventionIt is hard to believe that Convention 2016is only 5 months away. This year QuebecAngus will be hosting the event in QuebecCity on June 9th-11th. You can book yourroom early by clicking here. If you want tobook your flights with Air Canada, please

use the promo code DJD8DDT1 andreceive a discount on your flight! Stay

tuned for more details.

Regional & Board of Directors Meetings

February 28th: Quebec Angus Association Annual General Meeting: St.Hyacinthe, QCMarch 5th: Ontario Angus Association Annual General Meeting: Best WesternHotel, Milton, ON

From the Registry Desksubmitted by Stacy PriceWhat's with the RFI Summary Report?

Many of you have received one or two RFI Summary Reports via e-mail or Canadapost since December. These reports help clean up your inventories.Animals in thisreport have been left in pending mode for some reason, meaning that when yourecorded this animal you were sent an RFI and you have not responded or the

grassroots workshopsacross the nation for ourmembership to bring anymember that requires itsome one-on-oneassistance in person. Thenew BusinessDevelopment Directorspositioned across thecountry will also be aresource for breeders toassist in sorting outproblems. These positionswill be able to offer face-to-face support at themember's convenience atvarious events or asrequested one-on-one. Please do not hesitate tocontact Brian Good orCheryl Hazenberg. Changing dynamics ofmembership-older schoolmembers not as techsavvy as youngergenerationCAA staff spend a lot oftime with members overthe phone, realizing thereare a large number,regardless of age, who arenot 'tech savvy' or do nothave reliable internetservice; we do try andassist them as much as wecan via the phone. Formembers who do not havean e-mail address we stillprovide paper copies ofeverything, and I thinkwhat they miss out on themost is the updates via ourmonthly newsletter, "TheAngus Word", which issomething we are nowprinting and sending tothose members who haveidentified "Canada Post"as their primary preferencefor CAA membercommunications. Would like to improve

information that you provided did not resolve the problem. We need to know whether ornot that animal is in your inventory. If not, then we will remove it. If you would like toproceed with the registration you will need to assist us by answering the "error"message on the RFI.

As an example, if the RFI states that you do not have access to the dam but you donow, we either need the transfer date to be adjusted by the previous owner or a leaseto be in place.

If you are waiting on DNA results on a sire that you have submitted to the lab, we willregister the pending calves when results are received. You don't need to respond tothose requests but if you do, simply make a note "waiting on DNA". However, if thesire has never been parentage tested or has failed to verify then you will need to makea decision about the pending calves: are you going to wait for a resolution or are youable to get a sample on the sire?If you cannot obtain a sample, let us know and we willmake those pending calves commercial and remove them from your inventory.

Please note that we will be running this report at the beginning of every month goingforward, so if you do not respond, you will continue to get the report. Please makenotes on each animal as to how we can resolve the issues and we will take care ofthem.For those of you who have not received one, congratulations on having yourRFI's cleaned up.

Thank you

Your registry department

We extend a big congratulations to ourmonthly Gold Star recipients. Theseindividuals have helped make thingsrun efficiently at Angus Central! Againwe thank you.January Gold Star Achievers:

Leeuwenburgh AngusGuilford Hereford

GOAL CONFERENCEThis year the Guiding Outstanding Angus Leaders Conference(GOAL) is in Ottawa, ON on February 13-15, 2016. We are only13 days away from GOAL in Ottawa. Check out the schedule tosee what is happening this year! We hope you are joining us for GOAL 2016!

online services. Moreoptions and easieraccessibilityOver the next quarter theplan is to implement morehow-to workshops both inperson and online to helpwith this issue. Your CAAis always interested infeedback and commentson specifics regardingservices available online.We try to make as much aspossible available onlinefor those breeders whowish to utilize thoseservices. Easier methods ofremoving sold or callbulls and cows. When onegoes thru their cow herdhave the ability to click onanimal and then stateinactive and for whatreason. Give a back upquestion to make surethis is what the individualwants.When a CAA member islogged in you can create abatch and easily make adam inactive by choosinga "status code". For bulls,you need to contact us aseasy as an email (ormailed or faxed letter) tosay you have sold a bull orit has died. Further, bullsyou have sold should betransferred to their newowner. Finally, culled bullscan be reported onyearling weightworksheets too. There are members thatare selling "purebred"bulls without registrationpapers through sales andprivate treaty. Which isinteresting as theCanadian Kennel Club, apurebred must be sold

Here are some examples of the events you can use your travel bursary for:

International Livestock Congress - Houston Texas, March 3-4Carcass 101 - Alberta - JUNECAA National Convention - Quebec City, QC - JUNE 9-11

Winter 2016 Board MeetingYour elected Board of Directors held their winter board meeting at Angus CentralJanuary 24th-26th. Please click here to view the meeting highlights. The Board is alsolooking for member input to plan the next stages of Association growth and services.To answer their question, please visit here. Everyone who submits an answer will beentered in a draw to receive a free bag of Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed RFIDtags!

NCE Results are Posted

Your Association is pleased to announce that the new Red Genetic Evaluation Resultsare now available. The breed averages are below. For more information, please checkout the Genetics Tab on our website.

Average Black EPDs for all Calves born in 2015Average Red EPDs for all Calves born in 2015

BirthWeight

WeaningWeight

YearlingWeight

Milk TotalMaternal

ScrotalCirc.

CalvingEaseDirect

CalvingEaseMat.

Stay HPG Marbling REA Fat YieldGrade

CarcassWgt

EPD +2.3 -0.1

+43 +52

+77 +78

+18 +17

+40 +43

+0.69 n/a

+2.9 +3.6

+6.1 +3.6

n/a +12

n/a +9

+0.35 +0.28

+0.27 +0.07

+0.014 -0.017

n/a -0.03

+21 +16

with registration papersaccording to the purebredact. Why isn't the CAAupholding the sameregulations to maintainthe purity and integrity ofthe breed?The CAA is incorporatedunder the Animal PedigreeAct the same as theCanadian Kennel Cluband we recognize thatpurebred animals must besold with papers under thisact. The Associationinvestigates any instancesof this behaviour which arebrought to our attentionand if found, a warningletter is sent to theproducer. With over 200bull sales each year plusfemale production salesand private treaty sales it isimpossible for Associationstaff to be aware of allinstances of this occurringand we encouragemembers to report theseinstances to the office. Wewill do all that is in ourpower to stop this fromhappening. Get off the show ring tripand promoting same andpromote what Anguscattle are really good forout in the pastureThe Canadian AngusAssociation is focussed onpromoting all the qualitiesthat make Angus cattlegreat. Wins in the showring are just one part ofthat, however wins makegreat headlines andtherefore are commonlytalked about and sharedas news stories makingthem highly visible. Whenwe compile news andinformation to share withyou through our official

Message from the Tag TeamAs the calving season gets started, we remind you to order your tags early to allowenough time for delivery and free marking on A tags until the end of March! Clickhere for the tag order form.

A Note from Breed DevelopmentSubmitted by: Kajal Devani, MscCAA Director of Breed Development

Your Association makes a number of genetic selection tools available for your use.One of these tools is genomic technology. Your Association offers its members theZoetis 50K ($80) and Zoetis i50K ($62) tests, both of which include SNP parentage

means of membercommunication, AC-TVand 'The Angus Word", weoffer much more than showresults. Further, there arestories and features in boththe CAA Bull Buyer'sGuide and MemberDirectory focussed on thequality and demand ofAngus meat which we alsofeel is an important aspectof Angus cattle. Newresearch is underway onfeed efficiency and resultswill be released as soonas possible. The show ringis one aspect of promotionand marketing and theCAA is undertakingresearch, promotion andadvertising in all aspects. DISPLAYINGBIRTHWEIGHT ONANIMAL LOOK UPThis is available onlineunder the animal, underPerformance Data. Technology is out of date.ie CAA still requires asignature on a servicesire that is not owned.However for otherbreeds, it cane becompleted on line by theclick of a mouse.There is the ability to dothis online; members canselect CAAFORM20 fill itout and send it to us.Alternately, you can justsend us an email (or letteror fax) stating thatsomeone has sireauthorization for his/herbull; we have operatedwith this acceptablepractice for many years. The online registrationprogram needsimprovement. It does not

verification and some information of a vast number of traits. See the table below for thetraits and the accuracies of the genomic tests for these traits.

Trait Black RedCorrelation(% GeneticVariance)

ProgenyEquivalents

Correlation(% GeneticVariance)

ProgenyEquivalents

SC .77 (59) 13 HP .49 (24) 12 CED .63 (40) 22 .73 (53) 22BW .66 (44) 12 .72 (52) 13Milk .38 (14) 15 .49 (24) 15Doc .65 (42) 9 WW .56 (31) 19 .56 (31) 13YW .67 (45) 23 .62 (38) 15DMI(RADG)

.73 (53) 17

YH .73 (53) 10 MW .71 (50) 14 CW .58 (34) 7 Marb .66 (44) 17 .57 (32) 10RE .68 (46) 11 .57 (32) 8Fat .64 (41) 16 .73 (53) 26

The results from these genomic panels get incorporated with EPDs for more accurateEPDs, specifically on younger animals that have EPDs of low accuracy. Below is anexample with results for three animals, showing their EPDs before they were testedand after the genomic test results were incorporated into their EPDs.

Your Association works hard to make the best tools on the market available to itsmembership. If using genomic technology might be right for your breeding program,click here to learn more about genomic technology, to order a DNA kit or to

allow us to enter 2possible sires when cowwas in multiple bullpasture or calvingoccurred between 2exposures.It does now, and it worksgreat automatically settingup a DNA kit for the calfwith the two sires make sure it is about thecattle not just techfashionYour Association supportsthis sentimentwholeheartedly and hasrecently acquired fundingto complete the FemaleLongevity andSustainability Project thatis focused on structure andthe functionality of cattle. Itis about providing ourmembership with all thetools to be used to raisefunctional and profitablecattle. Your Association iscertainly not an adopter ofthe newest and latest fad,but strives to bring to itsmembership only tools ofvalue. I would like to see moreeffort going into ourperformance program.From developing moreEPD's and also being ableto submit more traits. Wecan submit heiferexposure data but wedon't have a heiferpregnancy EPD forblacks. Information isgiven out on work beingdone on scoring ofconvenience traits butnothing new hashappened that we hearabout.Your support of theprogram, and desire to seeit grow is appreciated and

contact your Association for more information.

Ultrasound Scanning Guidelines and Benefits Benefits: Ultrasound scanning gives members an indication of animals' potential todevelop carcass quality traits including rump and back fat, rib eye area, and marbling(or intramuscular fat). As the industry and consumers equate Angus with excellenteating quality it's important to keep selecting for excelling carcass quality.

Yearling Bulls

Diet: Bulls should be placed on a high-energy ration (3 lbs/day gain) afterweaning so that differences among bulls for fat thickness and marbling traits areexpressed.Age: Bulls must be between 320 and 440 days of age at time of scanning. Try toschedule the ultrasound scan on bulls at or near the end of the bull test.

Yearling Replacement Heifers

Diet: Use a normal heifer development program, preferably with a moderate tohigh-energy ration, in order to allow heifers to express their genetic potential forfat thickness and percentage intramuscular fat.Age: Heifers must be between 320 and 460 days of age at time of scanning. It issuggested that heifers be scanned prior to breeding, closer to the 460 day agewindow.

Learn more about ultrasounding here.

Genetics UniversityWelcome to the Genetics University video series. We hope that these videos will be ahelpful resource for you. Our first video in this series goes over everything you need toknow about taking and submitting your yearling weights. We even go over how to readyour yearling weight reports. Stay tuned for more Genetics University videos as theyare posted to your CAA YouTube channel.

Yearling Weight Worksheets

exciting. Your Associationis working to bring theHeifer Pregnancy EPD (HPEPD) for Black Angus to itsmembership. Weanticipate having thisavailable for the Spring2016 NCE later this year.Your Director of BreedDevelopment continues towork hard to grow theprogram and bring newtools to the table for yourvalue. Please do nothesitate to contact us ifthere is a tool that wouldbe valuable to you. Would like to see morework being done to havecattle that have a 50k testdone but still don't have acomplete set of EPD's.Also if there is availablecarcass data onindividuals being able tosubmit that data.Thank you for yourfeedback. It is veryencouraging to seemembers wanting andusing carcass qualityEPDs in their breeding andmarketing programs. YourAssociation will work tofurther make these gEPDsavailable to you. Needed genetic selectiontools: Docility, mandatoryweight reporting for all,$Feedlot, $Grid,$Weaning... $beef... morematernally based EPD's...disease resistance...mature hip height...Thank you for identifyingtraits that are important toyou, our valued member.Currently, a prediction ofgenetic merit for docility isavailable for Black Angusanimals from the Zoetis50K and i50K genomic

Angus Coffee Break: Angus in the NewsCanadian Angus members and the Angus breed receive lotsof media attention. Here are a few recent articles:

Canadians excelled at the National Western StockShow in DenverCanadians steal limelight at Denver showCanadians do well with Red Angus at NationalWestern Stock ShowPugh Farms of Edgerton, Alberta were part of a syndicate that purchased one ofthe high-selling bulls at the National Western Angus Bull Sale in Denver, NorthCamp Silver Star 5103

Mark your CalendarsFebruary 9th - BIO AGM; Mallot Creek Ballroom, Elora, ONFebruary 13th -15th - GOAL Conference; Ottawa, ONFebruary 16th - "A look at Angus History" AC-TV episode airsFebruary 17th-18th - Beef Farmers of Ontario AGM; Toronto, ONFebruary 17th-19th - Alberta Beef Industry Conference; Red Deer, ABFebruary 28th - Quebec Angus AGM; St. Hyacinthe, QC

panels. Phenotypicperformance informationfor traits like docility anddisease resistance isdifficult and expensive tomeasure. Withoutphenotypic datagenerating EPDs andgEPDs is a considerablechallenge. Per its Board of Directorsthe American AngusAssociation selectionindexes ($ indexes) arenot available to theCanadian AngusAssociation and itsmembership. In order toprovide our membershipwith these tools yourAssociation is developinga Maternal and Terminalindex of our own. Theseshould be available withinthis year, 2016. As a long time CAAmember I find it veryfrustrating to see thatnon-CAPP membersseem to be subsidizingthe CAPP members. Thefees for non-CAPPmembers is very unfairas it appears that theCAA is becoming anelitist organization.Your Association Board ofDirectors sought toencourage members toparticipate and benefitfrom the Canadian AngusAssociation PerformanceProgram. When approvingan update to the feeschedule as of January 1,2015 the board approvedthat members notparticipating on thePerformance Programwould be eligible to paythe full registration andtransfer fee, and members

Quick LinksCanadian Angus Association Canadian Junior Angus Association Canadian

Angus Foundation

CAA Events Calendar

Find us online!

that do take the time, makethe effort, and spend themoney to strengthen theCanadian AngusPerformance Program withtheir performance datashould receive a reducedfee as an incentive fordoing so. Genetic testing isn't100% guarantee, there isa somewhat lowpercentage on accuracy.Science, including DNAtesting whether usingmicrosatellite technologyor SNP technology, isnever 100%. YourAssociation currentlyemploys SNP DNA testingfor parentage verificationand the minimum requiredpower of or acceptableaccuracy for a parentageverification call is 97%. Allour DNA testing is inaccordance withinternational standards forBeef Breed Associationsset by the InternationalSociety for AnimalGenetics (ISAG). Havingthe dam genotypeavailable is the only way toreach 100% accuracy interms of SNP DNAparentage verification. Get all non-SNP DNAconverted to SNP.Your Association, inconjunction with CanadianBeef Breeds Council andseveral other Canadianbeef breed associations, iscurrently working to accessall our old DNA samplesfrom Genserve so that wemight better manage ourconversion to SNP DNAtechnology for parentageverification. Once this iscomplete (estimated date

of project completion isApril 15, 2016) the impactand inconvenience to ourmembership should beminimized. We thank youfor your patience with thissituation; please beassured we are almost atthe end of it. Major challenge: how tobuild alliances withcommercial industry.Alliances have been builtby having designatedfeeder sales and beinginvolved with a lot ofcommercial producersover the years. Bull andfemales sales have beenattended for years to buildalliances. Feedlots andpacker visits are doneacross Canada. Theseareas of focus will allincrease with the newBusiness DevelopmentTeam. Angus has a 67%influence rate in thecommercial cattle herd andthe Business DevelopmentTeam will be focused onmaintaining andincreasing that number. Angus is seen as a highlyinfluential member of theCanadian beef industryand will continue torepresent the breed andpurebred sector at industryevents to buildcollaboration. value chain does notbenefit the producer, justhelps the packerWhen the packer receivesmore value from theconsumer (i.e. CAB) it ispassed on to the producer.Every member of the valuechain is important to thisindustry. One sectorcannot exist without the

rest. The CAA works withall members of the valuechain to ensure maximumbenefits to the commercialand purebred producersare seen. More focus on memberswho are just gettingstarted.This is a priority for ournew businessdevelopment team. Forsure a visit and phone callis in the plan for the nearfuture. Assisting new andexisting members will be afocus for these staffmembers along with otherresponsibilities. The CAAis committed to enhancingvalue for our members andespecially focussed onhelping new breedersand/or younger breedersbecome long-term,successful members of theassociation. Doing away with the"Field Service Man" in BCwithout considering theinput from BC membersis a big step backwards inthe promotion of Angus inBC. Listen to yourmembers.Listening to the membersis vital to the way CAAoperates. There areopportunities throughlocal, provincial andCanadian representativesto hear your concerns. Wewill represent BC in themanner we have in thepast and make ourcommitment strong in allareas. Our new structurewill see one full-timepermanent staff membersplit between Alberta andBC which will result ingreater promotion of

Angus in every region.