Editorial EditorialWith the forthcoming Annual Conference in Palmerston North in June, much of the current newsletter is given to operational information (AGM minutes and agenda, notices of motion and conference details and registration). The conference marks a move to prepublication of conference papers, and it is with sincere gratitude that we acknowledge Landcorp’s continued generous assistance with the running of the Society’s Annual Conference. In the past Landcorp has sponsorsed the Abstract Booklet. This year they are sponsoring this enlarged Conference newsletter.
Finally, on a personal note we congratulate Diana Hill on being made a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and wish Martin Van Houtert well on his move to Perth (Australia), thanking him for his contribution to the Society as part of the current Management Committee.
Mark Fisher
Short Titles Speak Volumes...When Alexander Solzhenitsyn answered his doorbell at 3 am one frosty Moscow morning and found a bevy of heavies from the KGB anxious to give him an in-depth, hands-on tour of the Gulag archipelago, he exclaimed Why me?
Likewise my response to the Publicity Officer when he suggested I contribute a piece to the NZSAP newsletter. The answer on both occasions was Why not? Unlike the unfortunate Russian I did have the option of closing the door, though all I was asked for was simply to reflect on the future of the Society from the standpoint of a farmer member. Retired-farmer member in actual fact, and therein lies a major impetus for this response to Mark's request.
There is, at times, a popular belief that age is synonomous with wisdom and I invoke this myth to support my claim to your attention. From the elevation of my current observation post I find that were I offered a rerun of the last 50 years I would play the game much as the first time round with a couple of major differences. One would be that I would pay much closer attention to those scientists working in areas of interest to me. Translated into practical terms, for the present context this means I would join the likes of the NZSAP earlier in life and be much more involved in listening to, and asking about, the messages delivered. The "ask about" bit is important because I was slow to discover that scientists, in this part of the world anyway, are quite an approachable, helpful bunch and indeed sell themselves a bit short when it comes to this quality. It has been my loss too and I would not repeat that mistake again. Why didn't I get rolling earlier? Let's first consider some facts.
The current paid-up membership of the Society is about 515 but of these only 184 list their occupations as scientists, less than a half of the total. One has to hope that of the remaining 331 not too many are the sort who will pay any account that turns up on the 20th of the month, and that in fact these members are conscious they are paying out good money and that they believe it is worth it. The Society willingly accepts these subscriptions I note.
Now this is not to suggest that the NZSAP is something less than a scientific group. Science will always be the centre, both intellectually and organisationally, and scientists the main players. However the figures show there are good numbers who may not have specialist training in their own field of interest, but who would welcome learning about the scientist's output in their area. It could be an advantage to all, from scientist outwards, if these people could be encouraged to play a positive boundary-layer role in communicating from the centre to a wider audience outside. It is a fact that the non-scientist members tend not to appear at conferences where the one-on-one contact is so productive, and a major chance is lost. And therein lies my second theme, and one reason for my delayed introduction to a very real benefit of the NZSAP.
The average member's first acquaintance with a conference is the notification of papers to be presented. The titles range from the friendly to the impenetrable; not much of a come-on with the latter. Unfortunate too that the impact of the obscure spreads ripples of alarm well beyond the immediate vicinity. Sure I know the arguments about specialist subjects and concentrated focus. But I am also conscious that the title of a paper is like a newspaper headline or a website homepage - it is there not only to provide information, hopefully similar to the message in the text, but also to encourage the reader to read on. A display of erudition in the title is a guarantee of an audience limited to fellow specialists which is not a bad thing if that is the intention, but not a good idea if the work is close to a practical area that some fellow member of nonspecialist status is struggling with. This I found daunting and I can't believe I am alone.
That titles can be short, clear and still informative enough to invite further investigation, is abundantly demonstrated by the authors' own abilities to produce "short titles" for their articles in the Proceedings. If they can clarify their subject matter into fewer words of clearer meaning so competently, why persist in the verbosity of science in the main titles? In terms of scanning the pre- Conference notification of papers, it's a small point maybe, but perceptions, especially bad ones, can turn on a very small issue. Clarity can compensate for less than pinpoint accuracy if it encourages further investigation.
The perceptive reader, who I assume is everyone who has got this far, will have noted that lurking behind this focussed examination of one feature of Society practice is the issue of "communication". I have concentrated on this one small part, not only because of the broad sweep of the whole, but because in the past I have barked a shin on this perceived barrier. There are other paid up members who may be suffering similar difficulties. Seems a pity.
Finally a disclaimer, thought desirable from a dispassionate reading of the text - my opening paragraphs are not meant to suggest our indefatigable Publicity Officer is a closet comrade; I merely intended to describe the "startled rabbit" syndrome in terms distant from agriculture. If necessary Mark, my apologies.
Mac Hanna
Minutes of the AGM 13 February 19981. Apologies - Jock Allison, Robert Anderson, Ken Jury, Geof Nicoll. Davis/ Smith, carried.
2. 1996 AGM Minutes taken as read. Kirton/ Harris, carried.
3. Matter arising from the minutes - none
4. President’s Report was presented with no ensuing discussion.
5. Election Of Officers
Nominations received for:-
| Immediate Past President | S R Davis |
|---|---|
| President | D J Garrick |
| Vice President | P M Harris |
| Secretary | R M W Sumner |
| Treasurer | J F Smith |
| Publicity Officer | M W Fisher |
| Editor | D G Elvidge |
| World Wide Web coordinator | J C McEwan |
| Committee | N D Grace |
| S-A N Newman | |
| M F van Houtert |
6. Treasurer's Report was presented.
8. Life Membership An oration in support of nomination of Alan Henry Kirton was presented by John Bass. Seconded by acclamation.
9. General Business
Animal Science Applications Animal Science Award RecipientsCongratulations to the following members who have recently received Animal Science Awards:
Caesar Pinares-Patino, Animal Sciences, Massey University, to attend the upcoming World Conference on Animal Production in Seoul, and present a paper entitled Persistence of inter-sheep variation in methane production.
Kerst Stelwagen, AgResearch Ruakura, to attend the combined American Dairy and Animal Science Association meetings in Denver, presenting a number of papers on aspects of milk secretion.
Tom Barry, Institute of Food Nutrition and Human Health, Massey University, to attend the International Deer Biology Congress in Hungary and the World Deer Farming Congress in Ireland.
George Davis, AgResearch Invermay, to attend the European Association of Animal Production meeting in Warsaw and present a plenary paper on the Modes of utilisation of major genes in sheep flocks.
John Smith, AgResearch Ruakura, to attend the International Symposium of Spermatology in Montreal, presenting a paper on Seasonal changes in the seminal plasma protein profiles of rams, and to visit laboratories in the US.
Animal Science Award ReportsGarry Waghorn, AgResearch Ruakura, used his Award to attend, among other things, the 18th International Grasslands Congress in Canada. Two presentations of special interest concerned the critical parameters for good quality silage making including the variation in nutritive value between batches, and breeding forage for improved quality. Garry found the most successful plant breeding programmes were those that incorporated the plant breeder into a team, including but not limited to agronomists, animal scientists and plant pathologists. An important finding was that selection for improved nutritive value can improve digestibility without compromising digestibility and yield. Garry believes that ryegrass may be best selected for its ability to increase animal intake rather than digestibility. A visit to Utah confirmed the importance of smell and taste in diet discrimination in sheep with local researchers trying to determine ways of making sheep more willing to eat sage brush, the dominant herb in that part of the US. In understanding diet selection in sheep and goats, aversion, preference, learning and memory are being investigated.
NZSAP Science and Technology AwardThe objective of this new award is to recognise the conference paper which, in the opinion of the judges, represents the greatest advance in science and/or technology of relevance to animal production. It is to be called the NZSAP Science and Technology Award and will be a cheque to the value of $250 and certificate(s) to the author(s) involved. The amount of the Award will be reviewed by the Management Committee every 5 years. All papers presented at the Annual Conference, except for invited and/or review papers, will be eligible for the Award. The Award will be assessed by a judging panel consisting of 3 members of the Society plus the President and will be convened by the President. The judging panel will pre-select up to 5 papers on the basis of their abstracts and will assess both the oral and written papers for their advancement of science and/or technology. Judging criteria will include scientific excellence, level of innovation and likely level of impact on animal production (in its widest sense). Where possible the recipient(s) of the Award will be announced at the Conference dinner and/or in the Newsletter following the Conference.
Wool Technology and Sheep BreedingThis journal, previously published by the University of New South Wales, is now published by the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ). Members of the New Zealand sheep and wool industries, from farmers to scientists, are invited to subscribe and/or contribute, with original articles dealing with on-farm production, handling, transport, early-stage processing and marketing of wool, and all aspects of sheep breeding and husbandry in Australia and New Zealand. For further details, contact the Editor, Dr David Cottle, WRONZ, Private Bag 4749, Christchurch, New Zealand. Phone 03 325 2421 Fax 03 325 2717 E-mail Cottle@wronz.org.nz
Upcoming Events
Reproduction in Domestic Ruminants, 1-4 August 1998
The Fifth International Symposium on Reproduction in Domestic Ruminants
will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Further information can
be obtained from Ms Kathy Thomas, Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
Lab, Colorado State University, Fort Collins Colorado 80523, USA.
Telephone: 001 970-491-5621 Fax: 001 970-491-3557
E-mail:
kthomas@cvmbs.colostate.edu
International Society for Animal Genetics, 9-14 August 1998
The International Society for Animal Genetics meeting is to be held in Auckland.
Further details can be obtained from Dr Tom Broad, Invermay Agricultural Centre,
Private Bag 50034, Mosgiel, New Zealand.
Telephone: 03 489 3809 Fax: 03 489 9038
E-mail: broadte@agresearch.cri.nz
Quality Food and Fibre, 24-26 August 1998
"Dimensions of quality in food and fibre production" is the theme of the NZ Institute of Agricultural Science/NZ
Society for Horticultural Science/NZ Agronomy Society National Science Convention in Hawke’s Bay. For
further details contact Susan Fitzgerald, Hawke’s Bay Research Centre, HortResearch, Private Bag 1401,
Havelock North.
Telephone: 06 877 8196 Fax: 06 877 4761
E-mail: NATSCI.CONVENTION@HORT.CRI.NZ
Meat Science and Technology, 30 August - 4 Septmber 1998
The 44th International Congress of Meat Science and Technology with the theme of "Meat
consumption and
culture" is to be held in Barcelona, Spain. Contact the Congress Secretariat,
AOPC - ICoMST 1998, Edif Colon,
Av. Drassanes 6-8, E-08001 Barcelona, Spain.
Telephone: (34) 93 302 7541 Fax: (34) 93 302 1255
E-mail: aopc@ncsa.es
Farm Animal Endocrinology, 7-10 December 1998
The Third International Conference is to be held in Gembloux, Belgium, and includes a special topic on the
somatotrophic axis. Further details can be obtained from University of Agronomy, Molecular Biology & Animal
Phsiology Dept, 13 Avenue Marechal Juin, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium.
Telephone: 32(0)81-622418 Fax: 32(0)81 613888
E-mail: GH.IGF@FSAGX.AC.BE
Web page: http://www.fsagx.ac.be/gh_igf/
Nutrition of Herbivores, 11-16 April 1999
The 5th International Symposium on the Nutrition of Herbivores to be held in
San Antonio Texas, is dedicated to an ecological approach to the nutrition of
herbivores and will focus on mechanistic concepts of the biological process that
comprise nutritional ecology. Further details can be obtained via the web site
home page ( http:// cnrit.tamu.edu/conf/isnh) or by contacting W.C. Ellis,
Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843;
Phone USA-409-845-5063
E-mail:
w-ellis@tamu.edu
Animal Science and Production, 15-18 May 2000
The 9th Animal Science Congress of the Asian Australasian Association of Animal
Production Societies is to be held in Sydney in conjunction with the 23rd
Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of Animal Production. For more
information contact Dr Peter Wynn, Department of Animal Science, University of
Sydney, PMB3, Camden NSW 2570, Australia. Telephone: 61 46 55 0232
Fax: 61 46 55 2374
E-mail: peterw@camden.usyd.edu.au
Membership
The New Zealand Society of Animal Production warmly welcomes the following new members:
Penny Back AgResearch Grasslands
Justine McGrath DRC, Hamilton
John Bass AgResearch Ruakura
Julian Waters Auckland
Phil Farquhar AgResearch Invermay
Scott Champion Australia
Bridget Clark DRC, Hamilton
David Cottle WRONZ, Lincoln
Michael De Veth DRC, Hamilton
Ally Dowle Kaikoura
Aaron Meikle Alexandra
Seok-Hong Min Ruakura
Angela Molloy Tikokino
Luis Peluffo Argentina
James Skerritt Hamilton
Jane Symonds Blenheim
Jason Peters AgResearch Grasslands
Resignations were accepted from 8 members.
A reminder that nominations are still open for the 1998-99 Management Committee of the Society. All
offices, except the Immediate Past-President and Executive Secretary, are open for
election. Nomination forms (see December newsletter) signed by the proposer, seconder
and nominee, must be in the hands of the
Executive Secretary by 1 May 1998.
About this issueThis Newsletter is compiled at AgResearch Poukawa and copied and distributed by the Animal and Veterinary Sciences Group, Lincoln University, Canterbury.
Any contributions should be forwarded to:
Mark Fisher
AgResearch, Poukawa research Station,
P.O. Box 8144,
HAVELOCK NORTH
E-Mail: fisherm@agresearch.cri.nz
