Livestock breed societies/associations, by their very nature and character, are governments. They have governors (CEOs and Boards) and they have constituents (Members) who pay taxes (fees) to remain in good standing within the association.
Government in itself is not inherently good or bad. It’s a necessary tool or service. There is one scenario worse than bad government, and that is no government.
In my opinion, a breed society has three key objectives and mandates.
- Keep Records and Process them Meaningfully
- Grow/Protect Market Share for the Breed/Brand
- Organize Events
Most breed associations follow this mandate and promote healthy leadership by the members and for the members. Staff and boards were designed to serve at the discretion of their members.
Corruption occurs when societies partake in mission creep to go beyond these three mandates. Power becomes seductive and the staff and board assume prominence over the members themselves.
Here are a couple of examples of mission creep or overreach by breed associations.
- A group of National Angus Associations taking millions of dollars in grant money for methane research without consulting its membership.
- The ubiquitous practice of breed associations taking objective EPDs and publishing subjective trait leader lists.
When breed societies gain a majority market share in their countries or regions, they move from being governments to becoming empires. Empires, by their very nature, are arrogant. When an empire becomes arrogant, its constituents become subjects. This is TYRANNY.
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