WORLD JERSEY CATTLE BUREAU

SECRETARY’S REPORT FOR THE 2006 COUNCIL MEETING IN SWITZERLAND

by Suzanne Le Feuvre (Jersey Island)

 Following my appointment to the post of Secretary in July 2005 during the 17^th WJCB Conference in Canada, the handover of relevant information from Derrick Frigot (previously Secretary/Treasurer for the Bureau) was not possible until September 2005 because of our varied commitments during the summer.

Membership Database
In the eight months since then, the main concern has been to carry out an initial overhaul of the basic Membership administration of the Bureau. The need for this as a top priority became clear following a first look at both the Bureau Membership databases and the contents of the Bureau office in the headquarters building of the Royal Jersey Agricultural & Horticultural Society. In addition, communication with the Membership was made a clear priority during the 2005 Council and Bureau meetings and to do this accurate contact information is needed. In line with this, the Membership databases – both for association and individual members – have been checked and re-organised to allow for reasonable accuracy before a first mailing was made. The Membership information was found in over five separate sources, some overlapping, and several minor sources remain to be checked before the database can be said to be as complete as possible given that this has clearly not been a priority for the Bureau for some time and some data may not be traceable.

Bureau Publications
The over-riding need for the review of the Membership data has, however, taken up the time available for the Secretary role (and more, by a factor of four). This, together with the work needed in preparation for the 2006 Council meetings has meant that other aims for this year so far have had to be postponed. The two main projects affected have been the editing of the 2005 and 2006 World Jersey Research News and the further development of the WJCB website.

With respect to the World Jersey Research News, this delay has allowed the Scientific Advisor to reduce the length of both texts for 2005 and 2006, and it is intended to publish the two documents together during summer 2006. Both the shorter texts and the joint publication will reduce costs for this publication. In the meantime, a review of the content of the Research News will be included in the planned discussions concerning the future operation of the Bureau to be begun in Switzerland in June 2006.

In South Africa, Poena van Niekerk was producing a Global Jersey issue during autumn 2005 but, because there were too few advertisers, this edition was cancelled. Poena has enough editorial information for an issue, and he plans one for August 2006 if sufficient advertising can be sold to cover the costs of printing and mailing (totalling about US$10,000, or 10 advertisements at US$1,000). The Global Jersey will be another major topic for discussion in Switzerland.

A World Jersey Newsletter was sent out to all members in March 2006, providing information on the 2006 meetings in Switzerland, the decisions made during the 2005 meetings in Canada, and a call for ideas and suggestions for the review of the Bureau. This Newsletter served as the official notice of the 2006 meetings, and a further issue will follow these during summer 2006.

The intention is to provide four issues of this Newsletter each year for e-mail dissemination (to Officers, Associations, and Life Members with e-mail addreses – so far 185 members. Two of these issues would also be sent out by post to those Life Members without e-mail (402) ensuring that all Members received notice of and information about the annual meetings but the costs incurred through postage are kept to the minimum. The website can also be used to inform and update Members at more frequent intervals.

Other Bureau Activities
The re-named International Youth Travel Scholarship has continued its successful operation through the past year, as can be seen from Anne Corner’s report. The intention to use the RJA&HS (Jersey Island) as a centre for programme records has yet to be implemented, and this, together with the appointment of local coordinators and the provision of information in other languages, will be another aspect for discussion in Switzerland.

Poena van Niekerk organised a successful first meeting of the World Jersey Harmonisation Group with classifiers from seven countries attending in March 2006 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. A report has been put on the WJCB website, including the decisions made, including the holding of the next meeting of the group in New Zealand in December 2007.

Bureau Future
It is intended that the conclusions arrived at during the meetings in Switzerland will be used to produce a discussion document which, after confirmation by the Officers, will be sent out to the association and individual members to allow them to provide input. The next step will be to produce a new Constitution (as needed) in draft form together with associated documents for consideration by the Council at the meetings in Brazil in 2007. Finally, in 2008, at the next Bureau meetings held during the 18^th World Conference in Jersey Island, any new Constitution will come before the membership for adoption, together with the final forms of any associated documentation. Interim decisions can, of course, be made as necessary by the WJCB Council.

Suzanne E Le Feuvre, Secretary, World Jersey Cattle Bureau                                                                      May 2006