Inaugural Meeting SheepMaster Breeders Association, Australia and New Zealand
RSL Club Forbes drinks / dinner 6pm, Saturday 23rd August 2025,
. Meeting Sunday morn 8.30/ 12pm 24th August, RSL Club, Forbes, NSW
AGENDA
This meeting has been convened by selected interested breeders for the purpose of forming the above association. The objective of the meeting is to crystallise the key membership/breed criteria/management structures which will provide a structure for subsequent refinement by a broader membership.
This meeting shall address the below as well as any other as seen appropriate.
Why. The Association shall provide a Flag and an Umbrella for members.
The Flag provides identification, cohesion and a rallying point to promote the broader issues on behalf of individual members.
The Umbrella analogy goes to the need to have a broad enough membership criteria such that it embraces not just breeders but also other parties who have interface with breeder members. This should include suppliers and professionals wanting to build commercial relationships across the Association.
The aim should be to include all those having an interest in the Breed and should not be designed to restrict membership. Control and influence is enhanced from within whereas there is neither for any on the outside.
2. Mission Statement.
This should set the aims and objectives of the Association. Such as ..
‘The mission of the Association shall be to define and promote the breed, and support of all members through promotion and resolution.’
3. Charter and Constitution.
4. Definition of the SM breed.
Common agreement that F3 be set as the minimal. For ewes/rams ?
Focus on self regulation and flexibility to reflect the characteristics of an ever changing breed. The breed should never be Sheep Show driven.
5. Membership.
Agreed that a broader membership should be embraced. There should be breeder and associate members.
Breeder class divided into Stud vs Commercial breeders?
Breeder members shall have fee classes based on SM flock size ??
Fee for Associate members.
All members shall have equal voting rights ??
6. Quality Assurance (QA).
QA is an externally certified/audited accreditation which would be quite onerous for individual studs but virtually impossible for the Association if the scope drilled down to the operations of individual studs. QA accreditation for the Association might be possible but would not extend any benefit to individual members. Recommend not proceed with QA for the Association but encourage individual members to consider for their own operations.
7. Secretariate.
Identify that the success of the Association depends on a professional, funded secretariate. To this end, fees from a broad based membership would be necessary to support such a secretariate.
8. Data base a priority.
Sheep Genetics (MLA)- SheepMaster breed cannot be registered without an association or group, although Sheep Genetics won’t put that in writing. Publication of data? Some interesting and positive ASBVs now emerging, perhaps it is time to go public?
9. Choose Logo (to be adjusted according to title).
Needs to be easily reproducible across different formats. Photographs do not work very well, resolution issues. A graphic image is much more practical
10. Website Review.
The website is a work in progress and easily edited. Who is to maintain? Perhaps division of labour, individual members to be in charge of separate pages eg Events? Members to have password access to their own page. Can link in social media, etc, sale catalogues.
11. Expenses
