Alberta Holstein AGM summary and photos online now 2015 Alberta Annual General Meeting was hosted by the Northern Alberta Holstein Club at the Best Western Camrose, Camrose, AB. Alberta Holstein President Dale Bienert called the meeting to order and welcomed members and guests. Guests in attendance were Holstein Canada CEO Ann Louise Carson, Holstein Canada Convention Co-ordinator Tammy Oswick-Kearney, Holstein Canada 1st Vice-President John Buckley & Can West DHI General Manager Neil Petreny. Holstein Canada Past President Dale Bienert & Alberta Branch Past-Presidents Don Chalack, Norman & Marjorie Atkins, Don Chalack, Jason Rietveld, Don Wright & Tim Knull & Orville Schmidt
Dale Bienert addressed the membership and touched on the highlights of 2014
Tim Hummel, Picture Butte, AB and Michael Lovich, Cherhill, AB were nominated and both elected by acclamation for three year terms as Directors at Large. Sue Crest, Athabasca, AB was appointed by the Country Roads Club for a three year term.
2016 Convention Chairman Glenn Hockley reported on the upcoming convention that will be held in Calgary and Banff. It is in the early planning stages, and registration will be available on the Holstein Canada website by October 2015.
Alberta Holstein National Director Orville Schmidt reported that there had been many internal changes, activity changes, staff changes and various changes to the strategic plan in 2014 at Holstein Canada. Year-end financial status came in close to budget with a slight reduction in income but with new efficiencies on the expense side there was a small profit for the year.
Holstein Canada Vice-President John Buckley addressed the membership and invited members to the 2014 Convention April 8-11 in Moncton & Fredericton, NB
Orville introduced Holstein Canada CEO Ann Louise Carson who spoke to the membership about the importance of people understanding the correlation between classification and profitability and the reasons why it is imperative to continue using classification as a tool along with the other programs available for herd improvement.
Field Service Chairman Tim Hummel reminded the members that the Alberta Branch works closely with Holstein Canada Field Services Coordinator Janet Walker who spent several weeks in 2014, visiting farms, educating breeders about the services available and providing assistance updating registrations and herd records.
Advertising & Marketing Chairman Bob Reck summarized the projects and initiatives of the branch. Current projects for 2014 include an 18 month calendar, new Directory and the option to purchase Directory advertising in combination with advertising in the 2015 Convention magazine that will be available in the fall of 2015.
Show & Sale Chairman Michael Lovich reported on and provided statistics on the 2014 shows. For the most part numbers are either up for the shows or about the same as the previous year. The Branch provides grants for assistance to breeders travelling to World Dairy Expo and the Royal Winter Fair. In 2015 assistance will also be available to breeders travelling to the 100th Anniversary show in Utah in May. A tier 1 Judging School was held in Leduc the day before the Alberta Dairy Congress Show and a tier 2 judging school was held in Red Deer in conjunction with the Westerner Dairy Showcase. Alberta currently has eleven Official Judges and 3 aspiring judges.
The Alberta Branch continues to sponsor Bred & Owned Awards for the milking classes at Calgary Dairy Classic, Alberta Dairy Congress, Green Acres Holstein Club Show & the Westerner Championship Dairy Showcase.
Aron ten Brummelhuis brought the membership up to date on the branch youth programs and sponsorship. Katelyn Crest, Lee Simanton and Carien Huyzer attended the 2014 Youth Convention at the Annual General Meeting in Quebec where the youth take part in the Annual Meeting, Master Breeder Banquet and local farm tours. The three youth who will represent Alberta at the 2015 Convention in Fredericton New Brunswick include Lisa Weins, Lacombe, AB, Maaike van Kuilenberg, Penhold, AB and Greg Debink, Kavanaugh, AB
The 2014 Annual Branch picnic was hosted by the Country Roads Club in Westlock, AB. There were lots of activities for the youngsters including face painting, bouncy house, horizontal bungee, mechanical bull and Buddy the Clown. Trick Roper Bud Edgar provided dinner entertainment. The highlight of the evening was the inaugural presentation of the Marjorie Atkins Alberta Holstein Pioneer Award to Marj who has been a strong influence in the dairy industry. Lisa Hewitt and band provided great two-stepping music and entertainment with the Little Old Opry.
Central Club Director Lee Simanton invited the members to join them in 2016 for the next Annual General Meeting.
CanWest DHI General Manager Neil Petreny addressed the membership and fielded questions about DHI.
The meeting was adjourned for lunch.
Dr. Gordon Atkins DVM & University of Alberta Senior Instructor, Production Animal Health (PAH) made an interesting presentation on the future of Classification, Milk Recording and Traditional Herd Health. in an Industry dominated by Genomics and Modern Technology.
Dr. Atkins summed it up with “In order for Canada to stay on the leading edge they need to make better use of the tools available than their counterparts in other countries to stay in a position where the Canadian Holstein is revered.”
The Annual banquet in the evening with award presentations, silent and live auctions was held with proceeds to the Stollery Children’s Hospital and the Northern AB Holstein Club. Advertising in the Branch booklet was sold by live and on line auction for the new directory and the Convention Magazine.
Four $500 scholarships were awarded to youth in their second year of post-secondary education: Tilly van den Pol (Polbutte Holsteins), Coaldale, AB; Casey Morey (Unique Stock Farm) Rochester, AB; Jamie Hummel (Marylander Holsteins), Picture Butte, AB; and Emily Baerends (Baerends Holsteins), Leduc, AB.
Other youth initiatives included sponsorship for Ronald Angenent to the Manitoba Dairy Sense Workshop in Winnipeg,MB; Dairy Challenge team from the University of Alberta – Maike van Kuilenburg, Erin Loogman, Jordyn Prior & Illeana Berezanski had the opportunity to attend the Regional competition in Tulare, CA where Maike’s team placed second. The team attended Nationals in Fort Wayne, IA where they placed in the top half out of 35 Universities in North America;
Curtis Clark Award representative Orville Schmidt presented this prestigious award that was initiated and is sponsored by the Alberta Holstein Association to Larry Bennett, Caledon, ON; The Alberta Branch also sponsored and presented the Garland of Roses to the Grand Champion at the 2014 Royal Winter Fair.
Five cows competed for the 2014 President’s Club Cow Award: Moralta Rockline Verle EX90, Morinville Colony (Country Roads Club), Rietben Baxter Ceclilia EX-94-CAN3*, Rietveld Dairies (Northern Club), CRF Goldwyn Celine EX-91-2E, Wendon Holsteins (Central Club), Rinsma Roy Jojo EX-91-3E, Rinsma Holsteins (South Club) & Kingslake Gretsky 727 VG-85-3YR, Kingslake Colony (Green Acres Club). The overall 2014 winner was CRF Goldwyn Celine, Wendon Holsteins (Central Club).
2014 Breeders of the year were: Enterprise Lavoie Inc (1999), Country Roads Club; Continental Holsteins, North Club; Marsfield Holsteins, Central Club; Ten Brummelhuis Holsteins, South Club & Polbutte Holsteins, Green Acres Club. The 2014 Breeder of the year was Marsfield Holsteins, Gert & Sonja Schrijver, Stettler, AB;
The final Award for the evening was the 2015 Marj Atkins Achievement Award that was presented to Orville Schmidt.
Steve Stubblejumpski from Double Bumps, AB where he runs a mixed up farm is a professional speaker, entertainer & rural humorist who provided light hearted entertainment to bring the evening to a close.
