CFIA Small Ruminant Import Survey

Deadline for responses is February 25, 2022

From CNGF post linked here: LINK

The following survey was released by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), to garner feedback from producers who import goats and sheep from the United States. The survey is part of CFIA’s review of the recently suspended option 2C for importing bucks and rams.

Previously, there were 3 options by which male small ruminants could be imported.  They were as follows:

a) Male small ruminants may be imported to any premises in Canada provided that they have acquired five (5) years of status in accordancd with the Export Category of the USDA Scrapie Flock Certification Program

OR

b) Male sheep may be imported to any premises in Canada from any flock in the USA if they have undergone genotype testing and have been determined to be of the codon 136AA 171RR or 136AA 171QR genotype.

OR

c) Male small ruminants may be improted from any premises in the United States provided that the imported premises in Canada must have been enrolled in the Scrapie Flock Certification Program for a minimum of one (1) year and completed at least one (1) annual inventory or if the importing farm meets ‘temporary enrollment’ criteria.  Other post-import requirements including management of males separate from females and movement from importing farms apply.

This is the small ruminant industry’s first opportunity to consult on the CFIA’s decision to suspend option c), a decision that has left producers with fewer options by which to import new genetics.  This has been particularly impactful for the goat industry who is left with only one import pathway for bucks, option a).

We would like to encourage all producers who have a vested interest in importing breeding stock to take a few minutes to respond to the survey.  Please understand that your responses could significantly impact the future of small ruminant imports from the US.

Canada’s small ruminant producer groups are working together to craft recommended alternatives to option c), to present to the CFIA as part of the consultation process. The goal is to present a collective and united position on this issue in the best interest of Canada’s sheep and goat farmers. 

You can participate in the CFIA survey directly from the following link.  Please keep in mind that your responses will go directly to the CFIA.

English Survey:  https://share.hsforms.com/1LDfHzhiHSrux3tueO5Y18Acni2q 

Questionnaire en français :  https://share.hsforms.com/1hnmV1itYSByBhoWxSgUHjAcni2q

Commentary of Letter of Intent to CLRC

At their December board meeting the CGS board passed a motion to forward a letter to CLRC expressing intent to withdraw from our business relationship with CLRC effective December 31, 2022. A letter of intent does not mean that CGS will withdraw from our relationship with CLRC at the end of 2022. However; it does open up that option and guarantees that any possible cost of leaving the relationship will be minimized. Leaving a relationship without the appropriate one year’s notice can result in very high costs of withdrawal.

CGS has been working with other small ruminant industry partners, including CLRC, on an Integrated Genetic Databases project. The group of partners were successful in obtaining over $400,000 in government funding over three years. The Steering Committee of this group, including CLRC identified as a top priority analysis of CLRC’s current operating system including the possibility of replacement. CGS has been part of supporting this work as CLRC and the Steering Committee address replacement of the current CLRC system.

Goals in this work are twofold:

  1. To significantly reduce the cost of service charged by CLRC to member associations. This cost must be factored into registry fees charged to members of each association.
  2. Improve the efficiency of processing of registry work further.

CGS regards both of these goals as both important and wise as they will have a direct impact on any member submitting registry work for processing.

 In addition the CGS Board made a decision to conduct independent investigations into other options for registry service delivery.

This is wise and prudent because the level of service, and cost of service, provided to members is of paramount importance.  

No organization should ever simply accept the status quo as the only option.

The decision made by the Board of Directors came about after extensive investigations of the current situation and options.

If continuing to work with CLRC is the best option as of January 1, 2023 then that path will be followed.

All decisions are made with the best interests of members foremost in mind.

Should further communication be desired members should contact their representative on the CGS Board.

Report of January 2022 CGS Board Meeting

This meeting was held via Zoom.

Present: Sandy Howell, President; Callum Mcleod; Susan Frazer; Arnie Steeves and staff-Russell Gammon.

Regrets: Ed Cavanagh; Karen Cavanagh; Catherine Lord.  

In calling the meeting to order President Howell paid tribute to retiring Board members Callum McLeod and Karen Cavanagh for their input into making CGS a better organization.

Sandy has been doing a great deal of work on ongoing proposed revisions to the CGS by-laws and is moving forward with more drafting of revisions.

In addition she has led on making some revisions to the Milk Testing programs booklet. CGS will also be revising some of the application forms for programs in the very near future.

The Board spent considerable time discussing the future of registry services for CGS. Options are being explored through much work in cooperation with our current registry system and other industry partners. CGS is also doing some independent research.    

Chris Grab from Alberta and Jonathan Dugdale will be welcomed to the Board in February. The Board invested time outlining contents of an onboarding package that will be supplied to the new Board members.

It was with great regret that the Board received the resignation of Catherine Lord from the province of Quebec. Catherine brought the prospective of a larger herd owner to the Board table.

The Board will follow steps outlined in the current by-laws to find a replacement.

 In other business it was decided that a hard copy of the upcoming Yearbook publication will be mailed to all members. Newsletters will be emailed to those who have requested digital copies of publications only. The yearbook is more of a reference keeper item. The Yearbook will be published in late March/early April.

Work is underway to confirm a team of classifiers for 2022.

The pre-AGM Board meeting date has been set and this meeting will take place after reviewed financial statements have been received and reviewed. The Board has examined internal financial statements to the end of December. Current assets of the association now exceed $40,000. The review of 2021 financial performance is already underway.

Reminder that the Annual Meeting will take place on Saturday, February 19th, beginning at 12:00 noon eastern time and will take place via Zoom! Guest speaker at the AGM will be Dr. Jacques Chesnais who is heavily involved in supporting work on the Integrated Databases project.

Report of the CGS Board Meeting, December 2021

This meeting took place via our Zoom account.

Present:  Sandy Howell, President; Susan Frazer; Callum McLeod; Arnie Steeves; staff-Russell Gammon .

Regrets: Catherine Lord; Ed Cavanagh; Karen Cavanagh.

The Board approved a motion to send a letter of intent to withdraw from use of the registry services of CLRC as of December 31, 2022.

Work proceeds on investigating options for other service providers and also working with industry partners and CLRC on plans for a new operating system at CLRC. Time will tell if the notice of intent will be actioned. The letter was sent before December 31, 2021.

The Board approved a motion to have RLB, Robinson, Lott and Brohman carry out the review of CGS 2021 financial performance.

With regard to fees for One Day/Star M milk testing the first two tests in any calendar year will be at regular fees, any third non-selective tests will be performed at no charge by CGS.

A motion was approved regarding classification fees for 2022 to improve cost recovery for any classification service provided.

2022 fees will be:

Site fee:  $300.00

Fee for applications submitted after the deadline of MARCH 31, 2022: $200.00

Cancellation Fee:  $100.00

Applicants will also estimate the number of animals they expect to classify and submit fees for them at time of application.

First twenty animals   $20.00 per head.

21st to 49th animal $17.50 per head.

50th animal and above : $10.00 per head.

Project to Improve and Integrate Genetic Improvement Services

The Sheep and Goat Industries Launch a Collaborative Project For Improving and Integrating Genetic Improvement Services in Canada.

Read more here: LINK

Les secteurs ovin et caprin lancent un projet collaboratif pour améliorer et intégrer les services d’amélioration génétique au Canada.

Lire la suite ici : LIEN

CNGF Winter Update

The Canadian National Goat Federation has provided a winter update, summarizing their activities in 2021.

LINK

2021 Year-End Stats

Year end stats!We are STOKED!
Today, January 4th CLRC forwarded tables of information on registry work they processed in 2021!We accessed 2020 stats and did some comparisons!Here is how CGS activity looked year over year!
Units of work processed:  Virtually the same in both years, a tiny .25 of 1% increase in 2021.
Registrations down 6% There was quite a bit of catch up work on registrations, in particular, in early 2020, work submitted late in 2019. The 2021 total would therefore be more normal.Actual Difference was less than 225 registrations!
Transfers:  UP 12.7% Almost 300 higher!
Memberships:  Brilliant at 621, the highest in 19 years, since 2002!  UP 64 or 11.5% from 2020!
New memberships:142, a 15.4% increase over 2020!
Registrations of herd names and tattoo combinations were up 9.4% over 2020!
In general terms this was a year of consolidating growth!Very exciting!
Thanks to EVERYONE who was part of this inspiring progress!
#ONWARD