NZSAP Newsletter: March 2000

Editorial

The 60th Jubilee Conference of the Society to shaping up to be a great conference. Seventy-three abstracts were received for the conference which is being held in Hamilton, from Monday 26th to Thursday 29th June. Once again the finalists for the Young Members Award will present their papers in a feature session immediately after the Presidential opening address on Monday and will be followed by the Awards Ceremonies. The Young Members typically set a very high standard and the management committee encourage members to arrive on Monday to support these keynote sessions. The local organising committee, headed by Steve Davis, have lined up an exciting mix of international speakers and social events. The details and registration forms are contained in this newsletter. Membership subscriptions are due now if you are not attending the conference.

At last year's AGM there were comments about the conference coinciding with school holidays. It was too late to change 2000 conference dates but one solution is to bring the family to the Waikato region. There are a wide range of activities for the family in and around Hamilton (including the Hamilton Zoo, Exscite (hands on science and technology museum), Hamilton Gardens, Art and History Museum, Waikato river trips (paddle boat cruises or paddle your own kayak), Waitomo Caves, horse trekking and many more). Don't believe all the stories you hear about Hamilton weather. I have a long-range weather forecast from Waikato weather legend, Mr Harry Alcock, who correctly predicted an overcast New Years Dawn several months before the big event. Mr Alcock says there will be a large anti-cyclone over the country for several days of the conference week, it may be frosty but there is no sign of the river mist that sometimes plagues the airport!

See you at the conference!

Catherine Morrow

Presidential Comment

We must not rest on our laurels though. A concern that I have is that the Society is one dimensional. Its predominant activity is an annual conference for scientists. It also distributes funds from the Animal Science Fund and makes awards to people involved in animal production, but these and other activities are minor in comparison. Members of the management committee are continually on the outlook for ways that they can fulfill their brief on your behalf.

One option is to link activities with kindred societies. In this vein Peter Amer and Denis Elvidge have coordinated a Deer session at the ASAP/AAAP congress in Sydney following our conference. Also we are examining opportunities for joint sessions with kindred societies in New Zealand. The change in funding arrangements for research institutes and universities means that it is difficult to produce the Occasional Publications that were generated on a regular basis in the past. This deprives us of a major source of action, and income. The Society's involvement in specialist seminars has been considered but they would have to be self-funding. Let us hear your suggestions on what the Society could do. Give them to committee member, or raise them at the Annual General Meeting.

The Conference organising committee under Steve Davis's baton has put together a stimulating programme with a 21st century theme. Information on the content, and a registration form, are presented later in this newsletter.

To those that will present a paper at the conference, remember that members of the audience will evaluate your performance. This evaluation process has lead to a high standard of presentations. There have been some excellent presentations on complex subjects that have been made intelligible and interesting to the majority of the audience. To further improve the quality of communication, for the first time at the upcoming Conference, chairpersons will be evaluated for their effectiveness in facilitating delivery and discussion. Selected members of the audience will be asked to complete a simple evaluation form. Your assistance will be appreciated. If you are self-conscious about giving your evaluation to speakers or chairpersons, pass the completed form to a committee member or one of the local organisers who will pass it on.

A special feature at the Conference will be the launching of a CD-Rom containing all the Proceedings of the Society since volume 1, at a very reasonable price. Neville Jopson has done a magnificent job organising the production of the CD-Rom. He provides information on it later in the newsletter and it can be purchased on the registration form. It will be updated each year.

I look forward to the Conference and urge you to enter into the spirit of free communication and comment. I believe that back in the 1940's and 50's most of the audience was able to understand most presentations and felt free to comment on them in discussion time. The specialisation of science makes that is more difficult now. You may sit on your hands and thoughts, and stay within your comfort zone. But if everyone enters the Conference with the clear view that they will benefit most if they make a positive contribution to a startling exchange of intellect then we will all emerge excited by prospects for the 21st century.

Andy Bray

NZSAP Innovation Award (Science and Technology)

NZSAP Annual Conference 2000

The theme of the conference is:

The highlight of the Animal Welfare session will be the LIC lecture presented by Professor John Webster of Bristol University who is well-known in the UK for his many provocative views on animal welfare. The session will conclude with the Ron Kilgour Memorial Lecture to be presented by Prof. Paul Hemsworth, University of Melbourne. His topic will be: "The human factor: influence on livestock performance and welfare." At the core of the Welfare programme will be several presentations on quality assurance issues relating to the animal production industries.

The Meat session will feature several papers on muscle metabolism and, in particular will highlight the Ruakura work on myostatin, the gene associated with double-muscling. Invited speakers include Dr Tim Smith from USDA, (Clay Center, Nebraska, USA.) who will discuss quantitative trait loci for meat and Dr David Pethwick from Murdoch University, Western Australia. Alan Fraser (NZ Meat Board) will lead off the meat session, painting a picture of the future of the meat industry.

The Fibre session will feature Professor Phil Hynd who will present data from the University of Adelaide including the results from the wool transgenics research programme. A representative from Wools of New Zealand will discuss the McKinsey report on the future of the wool industry in NZ and Dr Warren Bryson (WRONZ) will discuss the potential for biotechnology in wool processing. A contract session has been organised by Sheep Improvement Ltd -the 'genetic engine' of the sheep industry.

The Dairy Session will feature Dr Rob Pringle from DRC who will provide an overview of the Industry biotechnology strategy. Another pair of Industry papers from Bill Vant of Environment Waikato and Stewart Ledgard from Ruakura will discuss the issue of the environmental impact of dairying.

The first afternoon will feature the Society's Presidential address and Young Members' Award contestants followed by presentations of the McMeekan and Sir Arthur Ward Awards.

Steve Davis

The Programme Committee received seventy-three abstracts, five were subsequently withdrawn and 57 manuscripts had been received for review by early March. Manuscripts are currently being peer reviewed (reviewers - please return comments to Sam Peterson by 24 March) and the deadline for the receipt of the revised paper is April 17 to ensure the proceedings are available at the conference. Before submitting final documents, authors should consult the document "Format for Electronic transfer of papers presented at NZSAP meetings" which was sent to corresponding authors or is available from the Editor. In the case of unavoidable withdrawal of a paper, the author must advise the Secretary in writing at the earliest possible date.

REMEMBER	17 April	Receipt of revised manuscripts to Editor
	17 April	Nominations for Committee to Exec. Secretary
	17 April	Nominations for McMeekan and Sir Arthur ward Awards to Exec Secretary
	2 June	Conference Registration to Deb Lawson
	26 - 29 June	60th Jubilee Conference in Hamilton
	31 July	Animal Science Award applications to Exec. Secretary

Further information on the 60th Jubilee Conference is available on the conference pages

NZSAP Millenium CD-ROM

2000 AGM Agenda

The 60th Annual General Meeting of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production Inc. will be held at the Hamilton Gardens Pavilion on Tuesday 27 June 2000.

Agenda

• Apologies
• Minutes from 1999 meeting
• Matters arising
• Presidential report
• Treasurer's report
• Editor's report
• Election of officers
• General business

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of NZSAP 28 June 1999

ATTENDANCE
Seventy two members in attendance. Minute Secretary Roland Sumner.

1. APOLOGIES
   Hugh Blair, Vern Clarke, Graham Everitt, Colin Holmes, Dave McCall, Robin Tervit.
   Moved Elvidge/ Smith Carried.

2. That the 1998 AGM Minutes be taken as read.
   Moved Barrell/ Smith. Carried.

3. MATTERS ARISING
   None.

4. PRESIDENTS REPORT
   Key points.
   
   • Current membership 521.
   • All members of the Management Committee now have prescribed jobs. Job descriptions have been written and will be reviewed and ratified at the next AGM after a year's trial.
   • Collaboration with other associations
     • AAAP: NZSAP will be managing two contracts at July 2000 Conference in Sydney on deer production.
     • NZSFM/Grasslands/NZIAS: Respective Management Committees are corresponding between each other to build closer ties and interlink conferences.
   • Encouragement for young people to enter agricultural research is provided through the Otago Science Fair and the CREST scheme.
   • Thanks to David Cottle for editing and delivery of Proceedings to the Conference.
   • Thanks to Dorian Garrick for initiating Special Interest Groups and Lynne Smith for work as Executive Secretary.

5. TREASURER'S REPORT
   Presented.
   That accounts as circulated be accepted as a true and accurate record of the financial accounts.
   Moved Smith/ Nicoll. Carried.

   Management Committee is proposing to increase earnings from fixed term investments by approximately 3% through investing up to $100,000 across several contributory mortgages as the current fixed term investments fall due for renewal.

   Recommended that the subscription for 2000 to remain the same as for 1999 at $55.00 (GST incl.) for Full members, $27.50 (GST incl.) for Student and Retired members and US$55.00 for Overseas members (outside New Zealand and Australia).

   That KPMG be re-appointed as auditors for the Society accounts.
   Moved Elvidge/ Sykes. Carried.

6. EDITORS REPORT
   Key points.
   
   • 77 "non-contract" Abstracts submitted with 67 of these published as papers and presented at the Conference.
   • Total of 86 papers, including Presidential Address, contract papers and LIC Lecture published.
   • All material forwarded to Invermay as pdf files for insertion onto the web.
   That Editor's report be accepted.
   Moved Cottle/ Smith. Carried.

7. ELECTION OF OFFICERS
   Nominations received for:-
   

   President	A R Bray
   Vice President	G K Barrell
   Secretary	R M W Sumner
   Treasurer	J F Smith
   Newsletter Manager	C J Morrow
   Web Site Manager	N B Jopson
   Publications Manager	N D Grace
   Chairman Conference Committee	S R Davis
   There being only one nomination for each position the nominated persons were declared elected.
   Editor	D J Cottle and S W Peterson
   S W Peterson elected by secret ballot.

    
   That voting papers be destroyed.
   Moved Bray/ Smith. Carried.

8. GENERAL BUSINESS
   
   • Request by Rex Webby for the dates of the Conference to be moved outside school holidays.
   • Request by Geoff Nicoll for the Management Committee to review the closing dates for Awards to better align with the "new" Conference date.

Nominations for Management Committee 2000-2001

New Blood

Nominations for committee members are requested by April 17. The nominee, nominator and seconder must be members of the Society. The committee will be elected by postal ballot with the result announced at the Annual General Meeting except that current Vice-President automatically becomes President, and the current President automatically becomes Immediate Past President.

The management committee of the Society consists of the following:

President	Treasurer
Vice-President	Editor of Proceedings
Immediate Past-President	Publications Manager
Secretary	Web Site Manager
Convenor of the Conference Organising Committee	Newsletter Manager
All offices except the President and Immediate Past-President are open for election.

 
Presently the committee meets three times each year - immediately before and immediately after the annual conference, and once in December to evaluate abstracts of papers submitted for presentation at the next conference. In addition to that it holds two or three telephone conferences each year. To understand how the various officers contribute to the strategy and operations of the Society, speak to current and past committee members.

The nomination form can be found at the end of the newsletter.

McMeekan and Sir Arthur Ward Awards

The McMeekan Memorial Award recognises an outstanding individual contribution made to New Zealand animal production and/or the Society, during the previous five years. Nominations must be signed by two financial members of the Society and must contain documented evidence of the way or ways in which the nominee's efforts have made an outstanding contribution to New Zealand animal production and/or the Society during the five years before the nomination. A potential recipient need not be a current member of the Society.

The Award is in honour of Dr C P McKeekan a foundation member, past president, life member and distinguished leader in animal production, research and administration in New Zealand and the world.

The Sir Arthur Ward Award recognises the successful application of scientific research or farmer experimentation through a series of trials or effective extension when applied to an aspect of animal production in New Zealand. The nominee may be an individual, a company or an organisation, and need not be a member of the Society. Nominations must be signed by two financial members of the Society and must contain documented evidence of how the nominee's efforts have made a substantial contribution towards the adoption of a practice(s) that has facilitated more efficient animal production in terms of output per animal, per labour unit or per farm. The phrase "adoption of a practice" is to be broadly interpreted and may relate to the development of a technique, a piece of equipment, or a husbandry practice; the effective encouragement of sound principles of animal production; or the development of a new aspect of animal production.

Nominations for both awards were due on March 1 but the committee has extended the deadline until April 17. Nominations must be submitted to the Executive Secretary and remain active for three years.

Animal Science and Production, Sydney 2000

The 9th Animal Science Congress of the Asian Australasian Association of Animal Production (AAAP) Societies is to be held in Sydney (2-7 July 2000) in conjunction with the 23rd Biennial Conference of the Australian Society of Animal Production (ASAP).
NZSAP were asked by the AAAP organising committee to put on two contracts on deer production. The Aussies obviously think that NZ has nothing new to offer in the way of sheep, beef or dairy production! The two contracts proposed were 1) feeding and management of deer and 2) reproduction and genetics in deer.

'Deer Feeding and Management' is to be convened and chaired by Dr Ken Drew of AgResearch, Invermay with the 3 papers being:

1. The productivity of deer grazing permanent pasture by Alistair Nicol, Glen Judson, David Stevens and Noel Beatson.

2. Feeding value of forages for venison production by Tom Barry, Peter Wilson and Peter Kemp.

3. Velvet antler production - improved nutrition and management by Tony Pearse, Jim Suttie and Ian Corson.

   All 3 papers to be delivered by the senior author.

1. Genetic Improvement of Farmed Deer by Dorian Garrick, Peter Amer and Mike Tate. The paper is to be delivered by Peter Amer.

2. Development and application of assisted Reproductive Technologies by Geoff Asher, Debbie Berg. D. Wells and Ian Scott to be delivered by Geoff.

3. New Directions for the Control of Seasonal Breeding in Red Deer by Graham Barrell, Greg Anderson and Luis Villa-Dias. This paper will be delivered by Graham Barrell.

Denis Elvidge

NZSAP Award Applications

The Animal Science Award is to promote and advance Animal Science and Production. Specifically it encourages early career development and supports contact with AAAP activities. Applicants must normally have been a member of NZSAP for at least one year prior to application and be a current financial member. Applications should be sent to the Executive Secretary by 31 July 2000 for consideration by the Management Committee in August/September 2000. The application format is available from the Executive Secretary and on this website.

Recent grant recipients

Animal Science Awards totalling $7,000 have been granted to the following members:

Emma Bermingham to present a paper from her current doctoral research at the joint AAAP/ASAP Animal Science Congress, 2-7 July 2000, Sydney.

Stephanie Bluett to present a paper at the 4th International neotyphodium/grass interaction symposium, September 2000, Soest, Germany and to visit the National Agronomy Research Institute (INRA) in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Michael deVeth to participate in the joint meeting of the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science, July 24-28, 2000, Baltimore, USA.

Eric Kolver to participate in the joint meeting of the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science, July 24-28, 2000, Baltimore, USA.

Jane Lacy-Hulbert to present two papers and a poster at the International Dairy Federation Symposium on Immunology of Ruminant Mammary Gland, June 11-14, 2000 in Italy.

Nicole Roy to present two papers at the joint AAAP/ASAP Animal Science Congress, 2-7 July 2000, Sydney.

 
Grants totalling $12,000 have been awarded to the following members to participate at the 14th International Congress on Animal Reproduction (ICAR) in Stockholm, Sweden in July 2000. Special funds for this were from the investment or the profit made at the Hamilton Satellite meeting to the last ICAR congress in Sydney 4 years ago.

Susanne Meier, to present the poster titled "The effect of feeding rumen-protected 3-omega fatty acids on ovarian and uterine function in dairy cows."

Sam Peterson to present "Seasonal effects on foetal growth in the sheep" and "Attempt to manipulate growth of foetal lambs using melatonin and bromoergocriptine."

John Smith to present "The effect of intravenous infusion of urea and ammonia on the plasma, follicular fluid and uterine mucosal levels in dairy cattle". John is the official NZSAP delegate to the ICAR council.

Jeremy Thompson to present an invited symposium lecture titled "In vitro culture and embryo metabolism of cattle and sheep embryos - a decade of achievement"

Robin Tervit is an invited speaker on "Cervine and Ovine in vitro embryo production" at the satellite 7th International Conference on Goats, Robin will attend the ICAR congress as co-author on three presentations.

Animal Science Award Reports

Andy Bray, AgResearch, Lincoln represented NZSAP at the 50th Anniversary of the European Association for Animal Production in Zurich during August 1999. Andy presented the paper "Sire effects on glucose tolerance and plasma metabolite levels in Merino cross lambs" at the conference. While in Europe he met with several collaborators and arranged the supply of wool samples from European breeds for the wool characteristics research programme.

Girish Upreti, AgResearch, Ruakura attended the International Gordon Conference on "Mechanism of Cell Signalling" in Singapore during September 1999. Girish presented a poster titled "Improvements in non-radioactive ELISA methods for measuring protein tyrosine kinas and protein tyrosine phosphatase activities" by G.C. Upreti and J. Oliver. Girish also visited the laboratory facilities of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore.

Special Interest Groups Update

Have you an itch you want scratched?
The formation of Special Interest Groups was seen as a way for members outside the Management committee to get done things that they wanted. They make it easy for like-minded people to promote specialist topics for inclusion in the annual conference, occasional publications, or any other activity of the Society.

The opportunity to register for special interest groups has been provided at the last conference and in newsletters. The results to date follow.

For most of these groups to be effective they need more people. One of the members has to be an enthusiast who will promote discussion. This is a further call to arms. Register your name in an interest group(s) with Lynne Smith, Executive Secretary, New Zealand Society of Animal Production, AgResearch, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton or email nzsap.animal@xtra.co.nz

The Management committee will help kick start the Groups at the annual conference then the aim is for the groups will be self-fueling.

List of topics and names... * = offered to be group champion

Biotechnology (7)
M. Aspin	P. Brumby	D. Cottle	P. Fennessy
P. Lynch	B. Palmer	T. Reid
Breeding and genetics (13)
P. Amer	M. Aspin	G. Barrell	P. Brumby
N. Clarke*	D. Cottle	P. Fennessy	N. Jopson
S. McDougal	C. Morris	S.A. Newman	B. Palmer
G. Verkerk
Communication / extension (10)
M. Aspin	S. Champion	R. Clarke	P. Gault
J. Jago	S. McDougall	T. Parminter*	J. Sewell
G. Struthers	G. Verkerk
Growth (5)
M. Aspin	C. Boom	B. Palmer	H. Reid
B. Thomson
Health and welfare (12)
M. Aspin	E. Fielden	M. Fisher	J. Jago
T. Knight	L. Matthews*	S. McDougall	C. Morrow
J. Pollard	H. Reid	T. Reid	G. Verkerk*
Lactation (5)
P. Back	D. Pacheco Rios	S. Peterson	H. Reid
J. Waters
Meat (13)
M. Aspin	A. Bray	S. Champion	N. Clarke
R. Clarke	N. Jopson	T. Knight	J. Pollard
B. Palmer	H. Reid	G. Struthers	B. Thomson
J. Waters
Wool (11)
A. Bray	S. Champion	N. Clarke	D Cottle
P. Kenyon	S.A. Newman	A. Pearson	S. Peterson
J. Pollard	T. Reid	J. Waters
Beef production (12)
M. Aspin	C. Boom	S. Champion	R. Clarke
N. Grace	J. Jago	T. Knight	L. Matthews
C. Morris	H. Reid	G. Struthers	J. Waters
Dairy production (17)
G. Barrell	P. Brumby	P. Gault	N. Grace
L. Hill	C. Holmes	J. Jago	P. Lynch
L. Matthews	S. McDougall	C. Morris	C. Morrow
D. Pacheco Rios	H. Reid	A. Sykes	G. Verkerk*
J. Waters
Deer production (9)
G. Barrell	R. Clarke	N. Grace	J. Jago
L. Matthews	C. Morrow	J. Pollard	H. Reid
J. Waters
Sheep production (9)
M. Aspin	G. Barrell	S. Champion	N. Clarke
R. Clarke	D Cottle	N. Grace	N. Jopson
P. Kenyon	T. Knight	P. Lynch	L. Matthews
C. Morris	S.A. Newman	B. Palmer	J. Pollard
H. Reid	T. Reid	J. Sewell	G. Struthers
A. Sykes	J. Waters
Nutrition (4)
C. Boom	N. Grace	A. Sykes*	J. Waters*

 
Groups suggested, but only one person interested to date: system analysis; behaviour; reproduction; organic production; goats

Create for the country

The CREST (Creativity in Science and Technology) Award programme for Form 1 to 7 students was the grateful recipient of NZSAP sponsorship in 1999. The funds went toward the CREST 'Create for the Country' promotion, designed to encourage rural school students to take on a real project of their own choosing, individually or as a team.

'Create for the Country' booklets were sent on request to registered schools for students to take home for discussion with Mum, Dad and whoever else might help. The main content was a set of examples of current New Zealand research; there's medicinal plants with condensed tannins, fungi used to clean up toxic sites, a simple way to catch thrips from HortResearch Karen Froud and scientist Brian Ward rolling on weedkiller with a paint roller. Problems such as dairy effluent and butter colour are there too.

The idea was to promote Science and Technology to rural communities and encourage creative student projects at the same time.

So what did the students do? We had carefully selected the research ideas so that they could adapt those ideas for their own project if they so chose. But such choices were rare. Most students acted on the advice in the CREST materials,  It's more fun if you choose your own project by tackling a hassle in your own life, or to help someone else .

And they did.

The kids we interviewed at Otunui School near Taumarunui, for example, had some great ideas and gave us useful feedback. James Street designed and built an electric fence flattener that enables his Dad to drive right over electric fences when he's feeding out. Thomas Sherson liked the stories of real on-farm research, so he was determined to help round the farm. An empty dip container with harness fitted and an old vacuum cleaner hose became a really efficient way to spread magamp without the effect on your hands. Leanne Tarei's boisterous puppies are thwarted in their efforts to wash their feet in their water bowl and Ben Heale's Dad has the solid  Docko-Mate  to help at docking time.

Similar stories rolled in from all over New Zealand as teachers sent in the returns so students could get their CREST certificates. Some of the ideas may sound a bit daunting for students, but the programme encourages them to use a consultant to help with their project. In interviews with successful CREST students they tell us this is a great idea. It can provide access to equipment, another idea when they get stuck, help with difficult or dangerous work, a steer toward more productive avenues of investigation and just plain encouragement. In their CREST booklet students find a tear-out sheet they can give their consultant which provides a bit of advice about the role. Consultants we've interviewed usually tell us they enjoyed the experience. It's amazed us how many people there are in the community, including the members of NZSAP, ready and willing to help students with CREST projects, a voluntary resource that schools rarely tap. A scheme such as CREST provides access to this invaluable opportunity for students.

Christine Cole

Upcoming Events

The First International Symposium on Antler Science and Product Technology, Banff, Alberta, Canada 9-12 April, 2000.
This symposium, the first of its kind, is designed to assist in building a scientific foundation for the rapidly growing antler nutraceutical industry. By providing a much needed scientific and technological forum for researchers and key innovators in the business communities to meet, to present their most exciting and valuable findings and strategies, and to build synergistic relationships for future development, the symposium promises to be the single most important event to date for this newly evolving industry.
This meeting will feature five main sessions: a) Biology of antler growth, b) Physico-chemical properties, c) Medicinal efficacy, d) Preventive and curative applications, e) Newly emerging processing technology and the current nutraceutical market.
Full details on the programme and registration can be found at http://www.afns.ualberta.ca/asptsymp

Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour, Sydney, 27-30 April 2000
The 27th annual conference of the Australasian Society for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASSAB) will be held at Macquarie University, Sydney. All conference material is now available on the ASSAB 2000 home page: http://galliform.bhs.mq.edu.au/assab_www/

New Zealand Society of Endocrinology, Queenstown, 3-5 May 2000
Deadline for submission of abstracts has been set at April 10, 2000. Please contact Dr Dave Grattan for further details for preparation of abstracts.

Ruakura Dairy Farmers' Conference, Waikato Events Centre, Hamilton, 10 May 2000
"The New Tomorrow" is the theme of the 52nd annual Ruakura Dairy Farmers' Conference. The Keynote Address will be given by Dr Jim Peacock, Chief of CSIRO Plant Industry on the potential of biotechnology for increasing on-farm performance. "The Way Forward is Efficiency" is the topic of the main morning session which will be presented by Dairying Research Scientists, Eric Kolver and John Penno. This session will provide a challenging look at where advances in efficiency will come from within farm production systems, using recent trial results to demonstrate a number of options. Workshop-style sessions occupy the afternoon, and cover topics linked to efficiency such as feeding the herd and getting a profitable milk response, and identifying and overcoming limitations to reproductive performance. Improving farm business efficiency is addressed in sessions covering time management, business planning and successful negotiation. An additional poster-style session gives snippets of new and exciting research underway at the Dairying Research Corporation. Entry to the conference is free. Registration opens at 9:30 am, with the Keynote address starting promptly at 10:00 am. Proceedings will be available for purchase on the day. Contact: Diane Young, Dairying Research Corporation, Tel. 07 838 5731.

Deer Branch, NZVA, 17th Annual Conference and New Zealand Deer Farmers Association 25th Jubilee Conference, Queenstown, 24-27 May 2000
The Deer Branch of the NZVA is having its annual technical conference in conjunction with the New Zealand Deer Farmers Association 25th Jubilee Conference.

New Zealand Veterinary Association Deer Branch Annual Conference
Technical papers and workshops will take place on May 24 and 25th, with joint sessions with the DFA conference on 26th and 27th. Technical content will include Tb, feeding and nutrition, papers on individual diseases, management and welfare, trace elements and reproduction. Papers are aimed at veterinarians, researchers and agriculturalists.
Enquiries to Peter Wilson

New Zealand Deer Farmer's 25th Jubilee conference
The conference will include technical sessions on deer performance and recent advances in reproduction, health and products. The DFA AGM and the Game Industry Board Formal General Meeting will be held at this conference and there will be an exciting social programme for all tastes. All enquries should be directed to Peter Doyle.

New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays, Mystery Creek, Hamilton, 14-17 June 2000.
The Fieldays is the greatest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere, it combines over 1100 exhibits with 100,000 plus visitors from New Zealand and around the world. In 2000 the feature is "Festival of Food".
Contact: Tel. (07) 843 4497

2000 International Science Festival, Dunedin, 1-16 July 2000.
Contact email: director@scifest.org.nz

Animal Science and Production, Sydney, 2-7 July 2000.
See special notice in this newsletter. For more information and registration Tel + 61 2 9351 2464; fax + 61 2 9351 3957; email: secretary@asap.asn.au

14th International Congress on Animal Reproduction (ICAR), Stockholm, 2-6 July 2000
The ICAR 2000 is being organised by the Societies for Theriogenology in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and will be held in Stockholm. For more information contact the Congress Secretariat, P.O. Box 5619, S-114 86 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel +46 8 459 6600; fax +46 8 661 9125; email: icar@congrex.se or visit the Congress website.

Joint Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) and the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), Baltimore, USA, 24-28 July 2000.
A full conference with a wide range of topics and sessions from Animal Behaviour and Well-Being, Animal Health, Beef Species, Breeding and Genetics, Contemporary and Emerging Issues, Dairy Species, Dairy Foods, Food Safety, Forages and Pastures, Goat Species, Growth and Development, Horse Species, Industry/ Technology Forum, International Animal Agriculture, Meat Science and Muscle Biology, Milk Synthesis, Nonruminant Nutrition, Physiology, Production and Management, Rabbit Species, Beef Cattle Nutrition Symposium, Ruminant Nutrition, Sheep Species, Undergraduate and Graduate Education, and Women and Minority Issues in Animal Agriculture is being organised.
Full details on the programme and registration can be found on http://www.baltimore2k.org
A special highlight of this year's meeting is the Joint Celebration "From Research to Innovation" with the European Association of Animal Production.

The European Association for Animal Production The Netherlands, 21-24 August 2000.
The 51st Annual Meeting of the EAAP, which will be held at the Netherlands Congress Centre in The Hague, at which study commissions will organise in total 40 different sessions on Genetics, Animal Nutrition, Animal Physiology, Cattle Production, Sheep and Goat Production, Pig Production and Horse Production. In addition, the commission on Animal Management and Health organises sessions on:

• Management of health and welfare I: measuring and monitoring
• Management of health and welfare II: process control and certification
• Alternative housing systems for pigs and poultry
• Livestock production and water quality
• High yielding dairy cows: physiology, nutrition, management and health aspects.

The International Association of Food Safety Professionals (IAFSP) cordially invites NZSAP members to join other New Zealand IAFSP members: http://maxpages.com/iafsp

Annual subscriptions and membership

Members: The 2000 annual subscription is now due!
For full members from New Zealand and Australia the fee is NZ$55.00 (reduced to NZ$ 27.50 for students and retired members). Members residing overseas (except Australia) pay US$55.00. A personal membership fee invoice is enclosed with this newsletter.
Please return this form with your payment. Students must have the form signed by their academic supervisor.

NZSAP now has the facilities to accept payment via credit cards.
VISA and MASTERCARD only.
This can be done by submission of the card Name on the card; card Number; card Type and card Expiry Date by either mail, fax, or Email to the NZSAP Executive Secretary detailing what and who the payment is for and including contact postal addresses and phone/fax numbers etc.

CARD SWIPE facilities for these two cards will be available at future meetings. Payment by Electronic transfer is also available to some clients but these are only accepted under strict conditions. Contact Lynne Smith for further details.

Non-members: An invitation is extended to those involved in the field of Animal Production to apply for membership in the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. The Society is concerned with all aspects of Animal Production and in particular:

• promoting communication and collaboration between those involved in animal production;
• promoting the application of sound practices in animal production;
• promoting the scientific study of animal production;
• holding a regular conference as a forum for presentation of technical and applied topics in animal production; and
• publishing conference proceedings and other occasional publications relevant to animal production.

Sixteen members who have not paid subscriptions since 1996 have been deleted from the list of members of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, as per the constitution.

A resignation was accepted from one member, leaving a current membership of 514.

1999/2000 Management Committee

See Committee contacts page

About this issue

This Newsletter is compiled, copied and distributed at AgResearch Ruakura.

Any contributions should be forwarded to:

Catherine Morrow,
AgResearch Ruakura
Private Bag 3123
HAMILTON

Email: morrowc@agresearch.cri.nz