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Gazette No. 195 (2008)
The Royal Agricultural Societyof New Zealand Inc.
Annual Report & Statement of Financial Performance
For the year ending March 31 2008
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the
Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand
will be at Holiday Inn, WELLINGTON
on Sunday June 29 2008 at 11.30a.m.
Business
- Roll call of duly appointed delegates
- Consideration of the annual report, audited statement of financial performance
- Confirmation of Election of Administration Officers and members to vacancies on the Executive. (Mr Simon Collin and Mrs Jane Smith retire by rotation.)
- Appointment of auditors
- Consideration of Notices of Motion.
- Annual Review of Subscriptions/levies
- Special or general business
- Presentation of National Service Awards
- Proposal of Honorary Life Memberships
- Presentation of Life Membership
OFFICIAL OPENING OF CONFERENCE
To be held at Holiday Inn, Wellington, on Saturday 28 June 2008 at 8.15am
THE RAS ANNUAL DINNER
To be held at Holiday Inn, Wellington, on Saturday 28 June 2008 at 7.30pm.
The Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand is proud to be associated with:
THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND (Inc.)
Officers 2007 – 2008
PATRON
His Excellency the Governor General of New Zealand the Honourable Judge Anand Satyanand,
PAST PRESIDENTS
Sir William Perry / (1923-1931) / L.R.C. MacFarlane / (1931-1934)L.J. Wild / (1934-1945) /
B.E. Keiller CMG
/ (1945-1952)J.S. Marshall / (1952-1958) / M.S. Rennie OBE / (1958-1966)
J.H. Rutherford CBE / (1966-1972) / D.M. MacDonald / (1972-1975)
D.L. Ensor / (1975-1978) / J.L. Herrick / (1978-1980)
I.A. Barnett / (1980-1983) / T.M.R. Maskew OBE / (1983-1986)
H.D. Treadwell / (1986-1989) / J.G. Gunn / (1989-1992)
W.C. Scott ONZM / (1992-1995) / K.G. McKenzie / (1995-1998)
I.R.F. McKelvie / (1998-2002) / P.G. King / (2002-2005)
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS
H.R.H. The Duchess of KentG.I.C. McDouall OBE (Wanganui)1970 / E.W. Sadlier (Gore)1980
H.D. Treadwell (Taupo)1992 / R.S. Mackenzie MBE MC (Akaroa)1994
J.G. Gunn MNZM (Darfield)1996 / E.M. Chittock (Gore)1997
H.D. Chittock (Alexandra)1997 / F.W. Arnold MNZM (Pukekohe)1998
W.C. Scott ONZM (Morrinsville)1999 / K.G. McKenzie (Invercargill)2002
M.F.Vernon (Christchurch)2003 / J.R. Bruce (Ashburton)2004
I.R.F. McKelvie (Palmerston North)2005 / R F James (Springfield) 2006
K Cholmondely-Smith (Kumeu)2006 / C.J Mason (Australia) 2006
PRESIDENT: / M.G. Lester (Hastings)
VICE PRESIDENT: / R. Lemon (Ashburton)
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: / P.G. King (Waipawa)
HONORARY TREASURER: / M. McKerrow (Whangarei)
EXECUTIVE OFFICER: / D.A Cameron (Rangiora)
EQUESTRIAN CO-ORDINATOR / C. Roberts (Oxford)
EXECUTIVE:
Simon Collin (Hastings), John Grigg (Hororata), John Robins (Invercargill),
Jane Smith (Invercargill), Bruce Orr (Tauranga), Trevor Zanders (Hamilton)
UNITED BREEDS SOCIETY 2007 - 2008
CHAIRMAN: John Robins (Invercargill)
UBS EXECUTIVE:
John Robins (Invercargill), Richard Bradly (Helensville),
John Dunderdale (Palmerston North), Peter Gardner (Amberley), Doc Sidey (Hawarden).
HORSE STEWARDS COUNCIL 2007 – 2008
CHAIRMAN: John Dunderdale (Palmerston North)
Vice Chair North: Jim Keyte (Waikato)
Vice Chair South: Ian Tippett (Otautau)
The Society also gratefully acknowledges the assistance it receives from
Honorary Advisors:
Prof. R.A. Anderson (Palmerston North) and L.R.V. Bryant lvo (Wellington)
Members, friends and sponsors of the society
The 2007/2008 showing season has now drawn to a close and once again our vast band of show volunteers (and this includes committee personnel, judges, stewards plus a huge amount of people that “just turn up at Showtime”), have done a magnificent job. It never ceases to amaze me how passionate and dedicated our local show volunteers are and I congratulate them wholeheartedly on a job well done.
The Executive has once again endeavoured to visit as many A&P Shows as possible and we are also determined to keep the communication channels open at all times. To this end the Executive has taken on the somewhat daunting task of contacting all the secretaries and presidents of all our A&P Shows (99) and Breed Societies (68) – multiply those numbers by two phone calls each and you will see what I mean by a somewhat daunting task. However, the Executive believes it is important to hear what our members have to say and we welcome your feedback at all times. We are also dedicating part of this year’s conference to give our members an opportunity to shape the future of the RAS organization so I look forward to seeing many of you at conference this year to have your say.
In last year’s report I mentioned the Executive had contracted a professional firm to seek sponsorship, particularly in government circles, on the RAS organization’s behalf. Unfortunately to date this has not proved successful, however this firm is still seeking ongoing opportunities. This has not meant the Executive or our members have remained static in seeking other sponsorship opportunities and I am pleased to report that Elders and LIC Limited have invested in partnerships with the RAS and are supporting the RAS South Island Dairy Heifer Competition and the RAS Stock Judging Competitions respectively. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank NZ Sheepbreeders Association, NZ Jersey Cattle Breeders, Canterbury Westland New Zealand Holstein Friesian Association, Future Beef, Merino Breeders, Icebreaker and Mortens Menswear from Christchurch who came on board as supporting sponsors for the RAS stock judging competitions. More recently the RAS has been talking with the ASB Bank and I am delighted to report they will be sponsoring the NZ Young Rural Achiever Award in 2008.
Two key initiatives were undertaken after last year’s conference. Firstly the matter of postal voting was implemented and this year all remits (rule changes) were decided by postal voting. The matter of postal voting will come up for ratification at this year’s conference as per the terms of our Constitution, however I would ask all (both those for and against the concept of postal voting) to take a moment to consider the following. Any new system takes time to adjust to and any new system needs the kinks (yes and there are always some kinks) ironed out of it. While we didn’t get everything right with postal voting first time round, we certainly got some things right namely:
- There will be no block voting occurring at this year’s conference on important rule changes.
- All Ordinary members had the opportunity to become better informed about showing rules that would affect them and had the opportunity (via their postal vote) to have their say.
- Conference this year has more educational and motivational content than ever before.
I would urge you to give postal voting a chance. Let us build on what we have started and let’s get it right this time.
The second key initiative that was undertaken follows on from the decision of the Executive to award the rights to host the Royal New Zealand Show for 2006 to 2009 inclusive to Canterbury A & P Association. A decision I would like to point out that has given the RAS organization a Royal New Zealand Show to be extremely proud of, however the Executive is well aware that the North Island would dearly love to see the Royal New Zealand Show back up north. While Canterbury has certainly set a new benchmark for the Royal New Zealand Show and has set the scene for years to come, this has never meant that is would automatically stay in Canterbury. The Executive has always made it quite clear it would welcome a strong challenge from the North Island for the hosting rights of this prestigious agricultural event. To this end a tender process for the hosting rights of the Royal New Zealand Show after 2009 was put in place. Tenders were called for from all interested A&P Associations and two tenders were received. – one from Waikato A&P Association and one from Canterbury A&P Association. To ensure the tender decision process was completely transparent and fair to all parties, a tender panel was set up comprising: an RAS Executive representative (RAS President) and equal District representation according to the number of shows within the Districts. This panel, chaired by an independent facilitator, met in Wellington on the 30 April 2008 to review the tender applications, hear presentations and then have an in-depth discussion on the material made available. A vote was then cast by all representatives present (excluding the independent facilitator). The votes (unseen except by those representatives casting their individual vote on behalf of their District) were placed in an envelope; the envelope was then sealed and will not be opened until the announcement is made at the AGM of the RAS conference on Sunday 29 June 2008.
While a report on the Royal New Zealand Show can be found later in this Annual Report I think it is timely that I include a brief summary on this now, along with a report on Royal Events and other activities that have taken place throughout the year.
ROYAL NEW ZEALAND SHOW
The 2007/2008 show season saw the 77th Royal New Zealand Show held in Christchurch hosted by Canterbury A&P Association. The show was a great success despite the appalling weather conditions experienced on the Wednesday of the Show. The RAS Executive once again promoted the RAS marquee on the cattle lawn and hosted show judges, Breed Society exhibitors and members throughout the three days. Honorary Life Member, Hugh Treadwell also attended offering members another chance to view his book ‘Show Biz’. Congratulations to Tenth Dot Management and the Canterbury A&P Association on another extremely well run Royal New Zealand Show. Congratulations also to all those exhibitors who attended from both close and far afield and supported their Royal New Zealand Show to make it the success it is today. Special mention must also be made of Silverstream Czar and the owners of the prize winning alpaca, K & S Johnson. Silverstream Czar was this year’s winner of the very prestigious RASSupreme Animal Award.
ROYAL EVENTS
Northern (Rangiora) A&P Association held the first Royal Event of the season in October, featuring dairy and beef cattle and sheep. In addition to the Royal Event, Rangiora also had feature sheep breeds within the Corriedale, Southdown and Dorset Down sections plus they hosted the South Island Holstein Friesian Championships and ran a forerunner competition to the RAS Stock Judging Competitions to be held at the Royal New Zealand Show. Congratulations must go to Alastair Robinson (President), Debbie Cameron (Show Secretary), Head Convenors and committee for staging this very successful event.Manawatu A&P Association Royal Event followed a couple of weeks later in November and their show featured dairy cattle and alpacas. Manawatu A&P Association are to be commended because not only did they host a Royal Event but they had recently (one week before) shifted to their brand new premises in Feilding and had to cope with all the issues moving to a new premise can bring. Congratulations must go to Maxine Mulligan (President), Julie Harre (Executive Officer) and the committee - the Royal Event and Manawatu A&P Show was an outstanding success and we wish them all the best for their future in their magnificent new show facility.
Wanaka A&P Association concluded a very successful Royal Event show season with their Royal Event featuring sheep, dog trials and horses (Around the Ring). Wanaka is extremely lucky with the location of their showgrounds and the scenery is second to none, however this is just an added bonus for the hard working committee of the A&P Association. My thanks go to the show committee, Jane Stalker (Secretary), Fe Howie and Bill McCarthy (President) for putting on a great show and one very worthy of Royal Event status.
Three very different A&P Associations but in common they all have a very successful Royal Event under their belts. Jane and I would like to thank all the show committees for welcoming us to their shows and for the hospitality they provided for us both. All shows reported an increase in entries in Royal Event sections and I urge the other A&P Associations out there to take up the challenge to run a Royal Event. /
RAS GOLDEN FLEECE COMPETITION
Mackenzie Highland A&P Society has hosted the competition for the last three years on behalf of the RAS and continues to do an outstanding job.
The 2008 winners were:
Fine WoolA.D Paterson, Ranfurly
Strong WoolEdith Crombie, Waimate
RAS STOCK JUDGING COMPETITIONS
As part of the RAS drive to involve youth in our organization, a new initiative this year were the RAS Stock Judging Competitions held at the Royal New Zealand Show in Canterbury. After many years of interaction and discussion with the New South Wales country shows, the ASC and the Australian Federal Council of Australian shows, FCAS, the RAS of New Zealand were invited to send representatives over to participate in the National Finals of their stock judging competitions at the Sydney Royal Show.
This created huge excitement and enthusiasm within our ranks and the first step was to put in place a structure to ensure our representatives would have the best possible chance when competing in Sydney.
Education and sponsorship were identified as the two key initiatives. Educating our youth, stewards and judges on how the system worked in Australia was imperative and to this end two seminars were held – one in the North Island at Allan and Patricia Hayward’s property in Cambridge and one in the South Island at Canterbury Agricultural Park. Geoff Moore and David Bush from New South Wales (two key personnel from Australia) kindly came across, at the expense of FCAS, to run these seminars for us and the seminars were an outstanding success. Identifying a sponsor was the next target and LIC Limited was an excellent match with this competition and we would like to acknowledge their support and assistance.
It was decided a practise run would be an advantage for all concerned and Northern (Rangiora) A&P Association was asked to run a beef and sheep stock judging competition three weeks before the Royal New Zealand Show. This gave the convenors and some of the competitors a chance to learn the ropes and handle the paperwork side of the competition.
On Friday 16 November 2007, three stock judging sections in the sheep, beef and dairy were run at the Royal New Zealand Show. While all three sections ran three different age groups (Junior – under 17 years, Senior 17 –25 years and Open 25-31 years) some areas were better supported than others, however the overall response was extremely positive.
Winner of the beef senior section was Hazel Timperley from Christchurch and winner of both the meat breeds sheep and dairy senior section was Kate Jordan. The Merino section also held a junior judges competition, which was won by Kayla Morrow. Hazel, Kate and Kayla went on to represent New Zealand in the Australasian Competitions with outstanding results.
In summary this has been a fantastic opportunity for RAS youth and I would like to thank John Robins (Chair of the Stock Judging Committee), Peter Gardner, Tom Burrows, Keith McIntosh Bruce Orr, the Hayward family and others previously mentioned for bringing this competition together.
RAS SOUTH ISLAND DAIRY HEIFER COMPETITION
After an absence of a few years a South Island Dairy Heifer Competition is now back up and running and thanks must go to convenors, Charlie Davis and Dave Taylor, for their drive and commitment to secure sponsorship to get this competition back on its feet. Elders Livestock have committed sponsorship to this event and they are very keen to work with the RAS organization to consolidate the competition in the South Island with the thought it may go national over the next few years.
The 2007/2008 competition finalists were:
In Calf Heifers – S.G Litchfield from Rakaia and A Hawkins & T Finch from Oamaru.
Yearlings – I & A Hopping from Tinwald and G & J van der Poel from Southland
The overall winner was A Hawkins & T Finch from Oamaru and a field day is to be held at their property on the 12 June.
NZ NATIONAL EWE HOGGET COMPETITION
At the time this report went to print the results of this competition were not known.
RAS Youth Council(Whangarei A&P Association) &
This year the decision was made to combine the resources of the Youth Council with that of the NZ Young Rural Achiever Award to ensure the combined strengths would ensure the longevity of both groups. As many of our present Youth Council came through the system of the NZ Young Rural Achiever, we believed it was important to keep this very special Award running
Sponsorship from FarmSafe and Whangarei A&P Society was gratefully received and with the assistance of NZYF, the Youth Council threw all their efforts at encouraging their counterparts to enter the Award. A report of the outcome of the NZ Young Rural Achiever Award can be found later in this report.
Thanks also go to Auckland A&P Association who generously offered to host five to six young people at the Royal Easter Show this year. The representatives who attended the Show were: Olivia Ross from Outram, Josh McAtamney from Ashburton, John Burrows from Rangiora, Virginia Timperley from Springston, Marie Timperley from Christchurch and Geoff Macfarlane from Oxford. All representatives got to assist in their particular ‘area of interest’, however they also assisted wherever else they were needed. From the reports received back from the young people it seemed they had a marvellous time and was a great experience for them all.
The Youth Council has also been involved, via their Chairman, Greg Harris, in the setting up of the Next Generation section of the RAS of the Commonwealth Conference due to be held in Christchurch in November 2008. Greg is leading this section and will make a presentation at the conference. Congratulations Greg and we wish you all the best.
From time to time we hear comments from the Districts that they would like to see and hear more of the Youth Council. Financial constraints being what they are have limited the ability of the Youth Council to achieve as much as they would have liked, however to ensure communications were maintained with the Districts a message went out to the Districts and the A&P Associations to nominate a young person to be their link with the Youth Council. The response to this was somewhat disappointing; however there is still the opportunity to do this if the A&P Associations/Districts see the value in this initiative.