December 4, 2020

Re: AB Select 2020

The ACA has been diligently working on how to safely host the Annual AB Select Sale, Annual Meeting and Bull Futurity event in the extreme circumstances we are currently facing. After many sleepless nights, consultations and hours of planning, we have received approval to host the event with several modifications to the original concept.

This year we will only be able to have ‘essential’ core business events as part of our Select weekend. Our Annual meeting will be postponed until we are able to safely meet in person again. We plan to update our membership on key business items online after the Select, but prior to the end of 2020. Watch for details in the next short while. This also means we will be unable to hold our Annual Banquet and Awards ceremony. We have selected a worthy candidate for each of the four awards and will share their stories with you in the near future. We will wait to present these awards in-person to give each recipient appropriate recognition when we are through this pandemic.

The Bull Show portion of the event has been deemed not essential and will not occur this year. However, we will still haveseveral bulls on display and will ask each of you attending to cast a ballot for the best bull calf and best pen of bulls in the barn. As an added feature, we will be videoing all bulls in attendance and will put together a video featuring these bulls for anyone to view at anytime. With no Farmfair or Agribition this year, this will be the only showcase of a variety of programs from across Alberta to select your next herdsire from.

The Select Sale will proceed as advertised. We have an extremely strong offering this year. Cattle will be on display and available for viewing beginning at noon on December 11 in Red Deer. You will have plenty of time to view the sale offering and the bulls on display at your leisure on Friday or Saturday. The sale will be hosted online on DLMS so you can watch and bid from the comfort of your home. The ACA has a very strong commitment to our youth and as such has decided to continue offering any 4-Her who exhibited a Charolais influenced project a $1,000 credit in the AB Select 2020 sale. We will allow qualified 4-Hers to utilize their credit online through DLMS if they choose for this year. Further details are available on our website. We will once again have our popular ‘$10,000 Pick of the Barn’ tickets available for $100 prior to the sale. Contact any Board member for your chance to win a sales credit or your choice of herdbulls on display!

There will be plenty of room at the Westerner to keep everyone safe. If you plan on attending in person on either December 11 or 12, we will have several safety precautions in place. In order to accommodate social distancing, we will be in both the East and West pavilions at the Westerner. When you arrive at the event, you will be asked to sign a waiver. The waiver will inform you of the risks associated with entry into the event and ask a few basic questions regarding your health. This will also allow us collect required contact tracing information we require for Alberta Health Services. Everyone attending the event will be required to fill out a waiver and parents will be asked to fill out waivers for minors. No-touch temperature checks will be utilized and symptom screening will be done prior to your entry. This is done to ensure everyone in attendance is healthy and is added protection and insurance for everyone attending. Red Deer currently has a mandatory face covering bylaw in effect. This means either face shields or masks must be worn in the facility.We will provide masks or face shields upon entry. We will have several sanitization stations throughout the facility. We encourage people to utilize these stations to accommodate proper hand hygiene practices. We will ask everyone to maintain physical distancing between cohorts. We know you haven’t seen your friends and fellow breeders for quite some time but please be respectful of this rule and keep some space between yourselves when discussing business. Finally due to the new guidelines sent out by AHS, we are unable to have any meals or bar service on-site this year. We all look forward to the banquet and pre-sale lunch each year but unfortunately this year this is not plausible so plan meals accordingly.

We would love to see you this year at the event! We have taken all protocols that are available to us to keep everyone safe for the duration of the event. With the added square footage of the second pavilion, we do not anticipate any issues with occupancy for the duration of the event. We felt it was necessary for us to inform everyone of what to expect prior to attending and thank you for your understanding and compliance with our safety protocols. If you are feeling unwell before coming to the event, please stay home this year to help keep everyone safe.

If you are feeling uncomfortable attending in person, feel free to watch the sale online on DLMS from the comfort of your home. If you need any help evaluating any lots, we have an extremely competent sales team on site at your disposal and a host of consignors more than happy to answer any questions. We should have the video of the display bulls online shortly after the event so watch for that as well!

I hope to see you in Red Deer next week!

Stephen Cholak
President – Alberta Charolais Association

ACA Booster of the Year Award 2018  
Debbie Cholak, Lamont, AB 

Congratulations  goes to Serienko Cattle Co., Palmer Charolais, Leddy Cattle & Polzin Cattle 
SVY Taurus 711E, sired by HRJ Crowd Favourite 515C