SG_USA_October_2021

Board Diversity Moves the Breed Forward By Hannah Gill, Contributing Writer Although Santa Gertrudis Breeders International’s (SGBI) Board of Directors members come from differing backgrounds with varying opinions, one thing the group does share is wanting the common good for all Santa Gertrudis breeders, from commercial to seedstock, whether they have 10 head or 1,000.

SGBI’s various committees also have to work together to ensure that new ideas can actually come to fruition. For example, positive moves in the way of data collection was a combined effort between the Performance Committee – collecting data and recording expected progeny differences – and the Marketing and Promotions Committee, then pro- moting the performance data to mem- bers and interested outside producers. Most recently, the Finance Commit- tee played a big role in the digital pedi- gree platform migration, coming to the board with all the costs involved and what the breed could afford in order to make the switch. “The Finance Committee rolls things like that through the budget process and tells us what we can afford,” says Nancy Wunderlich, SGBI Board of Directors president. “We can’t oper- ate without these committees working together, then we all come together as a group to serve the membership the best way we can. “We have to put all our agendas in the pot and do what is best for the majority of the breed to move us forward, and our group has worked really well on that. I’ve seen them work very well on some very contested things many times. “Some of these things the board has done and is doing, you can’t just say you’re going to do it right now,” Wunderlich adds. “You have to plan for it, and it’s a big working cycle that works together and needs the members to work.”

“Right now, we have a board that is very dynamic and a really good mix of larger and smaller breeders in terms of volume,” says Webb Fields, SGBI executive director. “We’ve got board members whose focus is very heavily on performance and data collection and trying to drive into commercial markets, and we’ve got board members who want to develop and raise show- quality cattle.” Additionally, the current board varies in age from producers who are nearing retirement to younger producers in their early 20s, bringing a whole new per- spective with new ideas and initiatives. “Some have been on the board for a long time and know some historical things and maybe things that have been tried, but haven’t worked in the past,” Fields says. “It’s also great to have those newer or younger members who maybe have fresh ideas or maybe we want to revisit some of those old ideas that didn’t work 20 years ago but may work now. The mix really allows us to come up with the right answer most of the time.” Board members are responsible for getting to know members in their districts to understand their needs, and Fields says board members are consis- tently relaying member inquiries and feedback to him. While Fields has only been in his position with the asso- ciation for two years, he has seen the board make some big movements for the breed, one of the biggest being the upcoming digital pedigree platform. “It’s going to allow membership better access to their own inventories The 2021-2022 SGBI Board. Back row, left to right, are Erik Wiley, Gene Kubeka, Tony Creech, Suzanne Fulton, Trai Stegall, Amber Robertson and Webb Fields. Front row, left to right, are Cody Mattingly, Arlin Taylor, Alicia Sanchez and Nancy Wunderlich. Not pictured are Tylor Braden, Rafael Miranda, Kathryn Hefte, Ricky Cleveland, Nolan Taylor, Michael Seay, Richard Hood and Craig Lapossa.

and really bring a new level of ability to manage their own herds,” he says. “That was a decision this board made back in the spring and we’ll finalize all that by the end of the year, but it was a big move forward for the breed.” The board is also holding discus- sions on genetic evaluation, specifically where and how they see the association moving forward with that in the future. So how exactly does the board make their decisions? According to Craig Lopossa, a board member from Indiana, the board’s diversity allows everyone from different industry sectors to come together and share their opin- ions on how ideas or issues might affect them or their district. “It helps that we all get along and work well together,” Lopossa says. “For the most part, we all seem to listen to each other, consider all options, respect everybody else’s opinions and come to a good compromise.”

"We can’t operate without these committees working together, then we all come together as a group to serve the membership the best way we can." – Nancy Wunderlich

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SANTA GERTRUDIS USA