CULTIVATING LEADERSHIP

People save animals. Since its earliest days, The Livestock Conservancy has established, maintained, and supported breed registries, clubs, and associations. People are our most important partners. By bringing together people focused on individual livestock breeds and creating community, we continue to prevent the extinction of endangered livestock and poultry breeds. But for every breed association helped to establish or strengthen, another declines in effectiveness or organizational health.

Nearly all breed organizations for rare and endangered livestock are volunteer-led and can seldom offer leadership or management training to their volunteers. The fine details of leadership and working together can become complicated and emotional, which can splinter groups rather than unite them. As the sole umbrella organization for rare and endangered livestock and poultry breeds and breeders in the United States, The Livestock Conservancy serves as a neutral resource for breed organizations and breeders to consult in times of trouble. The Livestock Conservancy’s advocacy and outreach enables associations, clubs, and registries to focus on effective inclusion of breeders and to develop sound procedures for the long-term genetic management of their breed.

Continuing our dedication to breed organizations, The Livestock Conservancy is excited to announce our Cultivating Leadership Initiative. This program will help breed associations, clubs, and registries establish and achieve high standards of operation for longevity and continued success. Thriving organizations save more livestock and poultry. Components of the Cultivating Leadership Initiative include Breed Organization Training and Pedigree Registration Services. These programs are available to breed clubs, associations, and registries as optional services. Organizations may adopt whichever building blocks are most needed to address their own situation.

Breed Organization Training

Breed association officers and registrars have few resources for training and continuing education. The Livestock Conservancy offers a series of online workshops addressing best practices for breed organizations to help them identify gaps and improve their organizational management and success.

The Fundamentals Training Series is divided into 9 modules. These modules are available individually or as a 9-module package. The cost is $35 per module or $280 for the series per organization. Training is open to all members of an organization.

• Module 1 – Establishing and Managing Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws
• Module 2 – Managing Membership
• Module 3 – Board Roles and Responsibilities
• Module 4 – Building and Maintaining an Effective Board
• Module 5 – Ensuring Accountability and Transparency
• Module 6 – Managing External Communications
• Module 7 – Managing Internal Communications
• Module 8 – Managing Risk
• Module 9 – Managing a Herdbook and Registry
• Modules 1 – 9 Complete Series

Advanced Topic Webinars – The cost is $35 per module, per organization. Training is open to all members of an organization.

• Civil Communications – Available for Streaming, Watch on Demand!
• Charting Your Course – Strategic Planning for Breed Organizations
• Conservation Planning – April 25, 2024 6:30-7:30 pm Eastern Time

Questions? Need more information? Please email info@livestockconservancy.org.

Pedigree Registration Services

A major responsibility of a breed association is registration of animals within the breed. As a neutral third party, we hope to remove one burden or source of controversy for some breed associations. Registries maintain pedigree information on all animals and have records for the breed as a whole. By contrast, non-registered, undocumented animals are lost both to a breed’s history and to its genetic future. Without registration, The Livestock Conservancy and breed organizations would lose track of the genetic resources inherent in those purebred animals. This information is essential to preventing extinction.

Within most rare breed organizations, the vital service of documenting and tracking purebred animals within the breed relies on volunteers. Registration activities can fall short when well-meaning registrars are unable to fulfill their duties or simply fall behind. A reliable pedigree registration service, at an affordable cost to breeders of rare and endangered livestock, will help secure rare genetics, increase accessibility of information for breeding decisions, improve the financial value of individual registered animals, and safeguard historical records for years to come.

The Livestock Conservancy serves as a private and secure back-up for breed associations managing their own registries and other breed data but who need a secure place to keep a copy of their information. Currently, The Livestock Conservancy performs registration services for seven breeds. A few are breeds with no existing association, while others transitioned their registries earlier this year. Two more registries are in the pipeline and we can add one more by the end of 2022.

To inquire about this confidential pedigree registration services for your organization, please email info@livestockconservancy.org. Applications are accepted on a first come, first served basis. A waiting period applies.

Stronger Together

Together, we are stronger. By educating and training organizations on the front lines of saving rare and endangered livestock, we can harness the power of strong, effective breed associations. The advantages of critical conservation work will be significantly multiplied beyond that which we could accomplish working alone.

If you have questions about any of the programs or services mentioned above, or would more information, please email info@livestockconservancy.org.

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We look forward to working with you!