We just finished a great National Show in Shreveport, Louisiana as well as a very productive ABBA Board meeting.
Our first order of business was to elect a new Executive Vice President for the ABBA, this was approved unanimously by the board. We are pleased to announce Dr. Joe Paschal will be the new EVP, and are confident he will serve the ABBA well in the coming years. He comes to us with an impeccable reputation in the beef cattle industry.
I look forward to working with Dr. Paschal, as he has a true passion for Brahman cattle and will help move the Brahman breed in a positive direction. I hope each of you take the opportunity to visit with Dr. Paschal in the up coming months.
The next item of business was the review of a new DNA rule. There was much discussion on this item prior to the rule being passed by the board. You can read about the new plan below.
I would like to thank the DNA committee for all their work on this proposal, this group sent many hours reviewing and designing a plan that provides financial support for breeders converting over from STRs to SNIP, it also provides for a gradual progress allowing breeders time to get their herds DNA tested.
Please contact HC Neel if you have any questions on the new DNA protocol. We discussed the show ring management and how we could make changes to the management of the shows to reduce workload off the ABBA staff.
We voted and approved the creation of a subcommittee to research the different possibilities for show ring management and to bring these possible solutions to the board for review and approval. We also approved the 2023 budget. We discussed the EPDs and issues with our current provider for EPD calculations, it was agreed to allow Dr. Paschal to review this and provide a solution going forward.
We are planning a meeting in College Station about the EPDs on December 7, 2022. I invite everyone to attend, if possible, so please contact HC Neel for more information. Best Regards,
Barry Smith
