January 2023

The Canadian Angus Association Board of Directors met in Denver, Colorado on January 15 and 16. Many directors travelled early and attended National Western Stock Show events and visited exhibitors. Their participation as ambassadors for the Canadian Angus breed was appreciated by Canadian and American exhibitors and attendees alike. It was time well invested, engaging with industry partners, sharing ideas and developing new programs to create member value.

The board completed its annual fee schedule review and determined that no changes will be made to the fee schedule for the remainder of the year.

In response to growing concern in the Canadian beef industry around the sale of on-farm semen and the ability to register resulting calves, CAA will be updating the public access AI application process. The public access AI approval application will include the requirement that the bull must be collected “in a manner that meets CFIA requirements for domestic use (not on-farm only use) in Canada”. These changes will bring domestic marketed semen in line with imported semen and put them on the same playing field. Semen collected for on-farm use will continue to follow CFIA guidelines and regulations that they have set forth.

Visit our website for all the meeting highlights.

The 2023 edition of Angus Life was mailed to all CAA members in December. You can view it online to share with friends at https://issuu.com/canadianangusassociation/docs/angus_life_2023_issuu

Just in time for calving season, we’re excited to share that the new Canadian Angus calving book app is now available as a free download from the Apple Store for your Apple device (the Android version will be available soon). Search for “Canadian Angus Calving Book” in the Apple app store.

This technology has been developed to bring added value to Canadian Angus members, therefore there is no cost to download the app, however a CAA membership is required to use the app.

Learn more about the app

Calving app instructions

Click here for answers to calving app FAQs

Reminder: the year letter for 2023 is L

The turnaround time for samples to be processed by Neogen Canada is currently 26 days, an increase from the usual 21 days. Please plan ahead and allow extra time.

Please visit www.cdnangus.ca/adding-value/dna-test-requests for information about DNA testing.

The Canadian Angus Association and Canadian Angus Foundation are collaborating on a summer internship that will provide a hardworking youth with exposure to many elements of the day-to-day operations at the Canadian Angus Association. The successful applicant will gain a full understanding of CAA activities. Visit www.cdnangus.ca/about-caa/team for more details and apply by March 3.

Your Association understands the stress and pressure that come with preparing for your sale. To assist our members, we have added an extra genetic evaluation for the months of December 2022 and January and February 2023. Updated EPDs from this month’s extra genetic evaluation will be available on Friday, January 20. Visit www.cdnangus.ca/adding-value/angusone-epd-genetic-evaluations to learn more about our genetic evaluations.

The deadline for our next genetic evaluation is February 6. Please submit missing herd inventory information and weaning weights by then. Thank you to those who already submitted weaning weights (and mature cow traits).

Adjusted weights, ranks, indexes, EPDs, performance reports and sire summaries are not available to members who are not compliant on the Performance Program. Missing information can be submitted using your missing information worksheets or on AngusNOW.

Congratulations to Belvin Angus, Innisfail, Alberta, winners of the Angus GS 2022 Contest sponsored by Neogen Canada. The Hamilton family is excited about using their Angus GS test results to make more informed selection decisions and to attend a conference of their choice as their contest prize. Angus GS testing includes parentage verification, genomic percentile rank information, and genomically enhanced EPDs. To request Angus GS tests for your operation, contact [email protected] or call 1-888-571-3580.

Looking for Canadian Angus management tags? Check out our tag page www.cdnangus.ca/adding-value/ordering-caa-management-tags for information on Allflex and Leader Products management tags and ordering options. If you need custom management tags, consider ordering them now. We’ve seen delays and stock shortages on both blank Angus management tags and custom Angus management tags due to ongoing world supply chain issues. You could wait over 4 weeks for blank tags and over 4 months for custom tags.

Angus RFID buttons are sold exclusively through the CCIA. Please call the CCIA at 1-877-909-2333 to purchase.

“Technology is an amazing tool and having information at our fingertips in every situation has become the norm. But when you are in the barn and your hands are otherwise occupied, accessing a screen is just not practical. With that in mind, the BCRC has developed some new, practical options for producers to access vital information from the Calf 911 series in an easily accessible format.”

Visit www.beefresearch.ca/blog/calf-911-checklists to download printable checklists or watch videos.

We are looking forward to seeing Juniors from across Canada at GOAL in Toronto in February!

Mark your calendar for Showdown 2023 in Swift Current, SK July 20-22.

When you donate 15% of an animal from your 2022-2023 sale, the Canadian Angus Foundation will further our mission and the breed. Please contact Belinda Wagner, Canadian Angus Foundation Executive Director at [email protected] or (306) 537-1518 for more information. Thank you to all the generous donors who have supported this initiative, previously called 15 for 50.