ANDDA DAL Election

Dear ANDDA Members:

I was asked if I would run for ANDDA DAL(Director at Large) and I have agreed to run.
Earlier this year I had also run for vacamt Western Director position but the seat went to
Margie Dykstra who is already bringing about updates to the program and I know she will
do an excellent job.

I would like to say that while I would, of course, appreciate your vote, I am
aware of at least one other person running for this seat and there is always the
option of writing in a candidate also. Please take an active role as a member of ANDDA
and pick the candidate you feel will best serve your district and the organization, please vote.

Let me introduce myself. My husband and I started with goats in 1999. We
weren’t quite sure what breeds would suit us best so we tried several including
Kinders, Alpines, Nubians and Nigerian Dwarf goats. We were lucky that our
initial herd of goats included three does and a buck from the Buttin’Heads herd
in Ohio. I cannot thank both Tom Rucker and Sue Rucker enough for their goat
guidance and mentorship over the years.

As we progressed with our goat keeping we decided that Alpines and Nigerians
best suited our needs and our own personalities and that is what our herd
consists of now.

I grew up with a background in beef cattle and we live in an agricultural area
that focuses on crop land with most livestock being more recreational and primarily
horses. As a former 4-Her myself, I am disappointed that our local 4-H club is
not more active in diary goats and I am also concerned in the general decline in
numbers, locally, that I’ve noticed in many of the livestock entries over the
years. However, I have sold goat to 4-H members in other clubs or areas of the state
and I try to work with them to educate them about goats and always appreciate
the updates I receive on how the goats are doing.

I am a past member of The American Goat Society, including a brief stint as
Newsletter editor. Unfortunately for us, many of the AGS programs were not
easily accessible to us here in Northwest Minnesota so we were not able to
participate in most of their programs.

When the Nigerian Dwarf breed was accepted into the American Dairy Goat
Association, we were able to sign up our entire herd for their programs and this
will be our 3rd year on DHIA 305 day test and participating in Linear Appraisal.
We also attend shows as our schedules and budget allow.

I am not afraid to ask questions and will work to try to find out answers. Of
course, I have opinions on topics also – just ask anyone who knows me, but I take the
privilege of representation seriously and while I cannot guarantee that I will
be ableto please everyone; in fact, I know it to be an impossible feat, but I will try
my best to act for the membership. I feel that ANDDA indeed has its work cut out for
it, representing two different registries that are divergent on some issues and
operations and ANDDA needs to be a unified and strong and pro-active
organization that continues to forward interest the wonderful Nigerian Dwarf
goat.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions for me.

Thank you for your consideration,

Trisha Tank
Bilrite Farms