PRESIDENT’S ANNUAL REPORT
TO MEMBERS, 2006

Archive: PRESIDENT’S ANNUAL REPORT, 2006

The Breed has once again had a very successful year.  Angus cattle remain very much to the forefront in the Beef Industry in New Zealand and with sheep returns declining the Beef Industry could become an even bigger player in New Zealand agriculture.  We must not become comfortable with our position and we must continue to promote Angus cattle and their fine qualities and attributes.

Finance
The NZAA financial year for 2006 reports a small healthy profit with the main positives being that our expenditure, especially in promotion is hitting key areas.
Namely member awareness of breeding tools available, the three major NZ feild days, revamped Internet site and the Angus newsletters.

ABQM Ltd Joint Venture as indicated to members last year would stand alone in 2006, well done Anguspure (ABQM), taking beef branded products in NZ to the next level.

Promotion & Publicity
Once again Promotion & Publicity have produced a very fine magazine in our Cattleman.  This has been very well received with over 6,500 copies printed and mailed out. 

The Steak of Origin victory by Neat Meats was a very well deserved victory to them and reward for all their work in marketing and distributing AngusPure all over New Zealand. 

NZAA has been very pleased to have taken Toyota on board as a major sponsor during the year.  The big black Toyota Hi Lux Double Cab is certainly eye catching and receiving a lot of positive comments.  This is an opportunity to thank our major sponsors in Toyota, Rabobank, FMG and Merial for all their support during the year.  There are also a number of smaller sponsors whose contribution is also gratefully received and a big thank you to them also.

Show & Sales
The 2006 sale during Meat & Wool Beef Expo was a popular event although the sale was disappointing.  Council have thought long and hard about this and with help from Peter Matthews and Lin Johnstone at the time of writing we have 38 bulls entered which is marvellous. 

Our third FMG BEU started last June on a new property of Maurice Berwick’s which is adjacent to the Palmerston North Airport.  This has been a great success and we look forward to the end result.  Private Bull sales country wide were very successful with some outstanding results in the final week coming out of the Gisborne Sales.

The Royal Show in Christchurch was a huge success.  Excellent entries with very good judging facilities made for a great spectacle.  Canterbury Westland Angus need to be congratulated for hosting the Royal and their hospitality was tremendous and they deservedly will host next years Royal.

Performance Recording
The uptake of Breedplan technology keeps increasing but there seems to still be concerns which include the accuracy of the technology, the service from ABRI in implementing Breedplan to us, and the adoption and use of elite animals to the betterment or detriment of the breed.

A visit to Australia over the winter by five Councillors was very beneficial and closer communication with ABRI and Australian Angus is a must.  Having Bob Dent on this Ward Tour is a result of this trip and his expertise will be very welcome.

During the year the Joint Indexes with ten Breed Societies participating will be available to members to assess Australian and UK Angus animals under our indexes. 
Many of you would have had a visit from Steven Lee regarding his work with NFI (Net Feed Intake) and its implementation as a Group Breedplan trait.

NZPBB
NZPBB has had another busy year.  A new Service Agreement has been signed off on and new accounting software (MYOB Premier) has been installed.

PBB have been instrumental in setting up the NZ Beef Technologies and a Technical Forum was held in November in Christchurch and was very well attended.  PBB are also organising ‘Future Beef NZ’ which combines all the breed youth movements within the beef industry.  An Executive has been formed with funding sought from Meat & Wool NZ.

PBB also had a site at Mystery Creek and the Royal Show and these were well attended.

Also during the year Murray Meads and Timothy Plummer have been investigating the options of getting the administration back under one roof.  This has been a huge task and progress is being made.

AngusPure
2006 has been a continuation in the phenomenal growth of our AngusPure clientele and sales.  We have certainly created a brand which is now well known and well respected.  The challenge is now to capitalise on this to its maximum.

It was an apt reward for the Neat Meat Company, our main distributor, in winning the prestigious Steak of Origin in May of last year.  Three wins in three years of this title is a very worthy achievement for Angus.

Youth
Craig Davie-Martin was chosen as our 2007 Summitcrest Scholar and Natalie Mapp is our Rabobank Trans Tasman Exchangee and they are both thriving in their respective countries. 

Youth hosted Angus Newcombe from Australia during last year and he was a very capable and talented young man.

The implementation of Future Beef NZ by PBB is an outstanding initiative for all youth programmes within the NZ Beef Industry and if Meat & Wool NZ can fund a part time co-ordinator in the PBB office then some real progress should be made.

Breed Manager
I would like once again to thank our very professional and capable Breed Manager.  NZ Angus is very fortunate to have Rob at the helm and he has kept me and all Councillors up to the mark throughout the year.

Council
Finally, I would also like to thank fellow Councillors for all their input and guidance during the year.  Council business is very much dealt with through the respective Committees and I have encouraged them to take ownership which they most certainly have and this has made my job much easier.

John Murray
President
NZAA