Société Ayrshire du Québec

Role of the Board

Administrators - Present for the Breeders

First, the Quebec Ayrshire Society’s Board of Directors must consist of a Director for each of the 7 existing districts:

District 1: Bas Saint-Laurent, Rivière-du-Loup and Est du Québec Clubs

District 2: Etchemin / Lotbinière and Les Érables Clubs

District 3: Bois-Francs and Saint-François Clubs

District 4: Bedford / Saint-Hyacinthe Club

District 5: Howick / Huntington, Laurentien, Pontiac and the

Abitibi-Témiscamingue region Clubs

District 6: de Lanaudière and Portneuf / Mauricie Clubs

District 7: Saguenay / Lac St-Jean and Charlevoix Clubs

The Board of Directors has roles to fill and mandates to accomplish:

Decide the Society’s general orientation
Plan activities throughout the year
Follow-up on recommendations from the Annual General Meeting
Represent the Society
Give mandates to special committees
Manage the inflow and outflow of money, as well as general administration of the Society
Hire employees and evaluate their performance annually according to established objectives.

The Board of Directors must also nominate an Executive Committee consisting of the President, the Vice-President and a member of the Board. It is also possible to add a Secretary and/or Treasurer.

The Executive Committee is in charge of:

Managing current affairs
Making decisions in urgent situations when it is impossible to hold a regular meeting
Execute mandates as assigned by the Board of Directors.

Officers’ role

The President:

Calls for and presides at meetings
Is responsible for the business aspect of the Society
Ensures that the by-laws are respected
Is the Society’s proxy
Sits on all the committees

The Vice-President:

Assists the President in his/her functions
Replaces the President in case of absence
Executes the resolutions entrusted to him/her by the Board of Directors

The Member of the Board:

Takes over in the President and Vice-President’s absence

All these people work for you, in your interest, but you must also get involved. The most important in all this is that, if you have ideas, show up at meetings and transmit them, it could be beneficial for you, for the breeders and especially for the breed.

With You at All Times

The Quebec Ayrshire Society is there for its members. Firstly, the Society’s goals are to:

Promote the Ayrshire breed
Communicate and inform its members
Find and organize commercial markets
Protect and represent the interests of its members
Promote consumption of dairy products and local products especially of Ayrshire origin
Study and make relevant recommendations with regards to Ayrshire breeding
Encourage the evolution of its members using state of the art techniques: insemination, milk recording, classification and registrations and this, in view of improving genetics and breeding profitability
Develop partnerships with different contributors from the Quebec breeding sector

In order to succeed in fulfilling all its responsibilities, the Board of Directors has modified the Quebec Ayrshire Society organization chart in 2008. From now on, the first person under the Board of Directors responsibility is the Coordinator who manages the priorities. The Coordinator then makes sure that action is taken either by the “Centre de services des races laitières”, Ayrshire Quebec’s Fieldman or by Ayrshire Canada’s Fieldman.

2009 QUEBEC AYRSHIRE SOCIETY’S OGANIZATION CHART

Ayrshire Quebec’s Fieldman keeps the same tasks. His principal activities throughout the year are farm visits. In fact, his priority is to visit breeders, and this for many reasons. He visits members in order to answer questions regarding the Society and he advises breeders in matters of breeding and genetic advancement. At certain times during the year, these visits can help people select animals that could stand out at exhibitions. Afterwards, in collaboration with the CIAQ, he selects animals for the CIAQ exhibit at the IDS and finally, selects animals for the Elite Sale. When on the road, the Ayrshire Quebec Fieldman must also canvass to find new members. This will allow promotion of genetic improvement tools, classification and milk recording. He must work with herds that do not register their animals - in order to encourage them to do so. Finally, the Fieldman gets involved as much as possible at meetings to act as a link between the breeders he visits, members of committees and the Society’s Board of Directors. He also promotes the breed by participating in various showcases, organizing exhibits at different exhibitions and participating in exhibits outside the province.

Do not hesitate to contact the Society. The Coordinator can give you assistance, references, translation and more.

Make Room for the New …

New members are fragile because they decided to join the Association, but if they get nothing in return, they will not be interested in remaining members the following year. It’s therefore to avoid losing members due to negligence that since the spring of 2008, there is a new visit policy for new members. In fact, the Ayrshire Quebec Fieldman must visit the new members within 60 days of their enrolment in order to complete a file that describes their farm through a series of questions. This will allow for a better follow-up since the Fieldman can note improvements and congratulate the breeder.

Also, in order for the Board of Directors of each Club to be informed new Ayrshire members in their region, the Ayrshire Quebec Coordinator undertakes to forward a list of new members to the Clubs’ Presidents and Secretaries. This will allow the Clubs to visit their new members themselves because this gesture can be very much appreciated, or simply a telephone call, especially in the case of breeders who have very few Ayrshire animals in their herd. Those who know the breed better can do important follow-up such as suggesting matings and answering questions regarding registration, transfers or other subjects.