The North American Piedmontese Association
(NAPA) is a Washington, USA registered non-profit
Livestock Registry Association.
NAPA offers animal
Registry Services to Piedmontese breeders across the
USA and Canada. Registration of cattle is a very important
part of Breed Improvement, as it allows breeders to
keep accurate records of pedigree so that they may
make informed selection in their breeding programs.
By registering the pedigree, birth date and permanent
tattoo - breeders have a formal record of "which
animal is which" in a herd. Breeders have a reliable
database to refer to, in case their own records become
confused or lost. Independant third-party official
pedigree records support and verify your own personal
breeding records. These records are then available
to affect EPD data for on-going breed improvement.
NAPA registry
also confirms the presence of the Piedmontese-specific
Myostatin gene in the registered stock, through requirements
of DNA testing for the gene. NAPA is the first
Cattle Breed Registry to base registration on a specific
gene. This is possible because the Piedmontese-specific
myostatin gene is present only in Piedmontese cattle.
A simple DNA test will confirm it.
Please
review this Glossary
of Definitions for the Registry and Recordation
of Piedmontese Cattle.
NAPA is committed
to the preservation of the Fullblood Piedmontese -
by definition, a 100% pure animal tracing through
registered pedigree to original Italian stock and
carrying 2 alleles (homozygous) for Piedmontese-specific
Myostatin. The Piedmontese evolved in only one small
part of the world (northwest Italy) and the world
population of 100% Fullblood Piedmontese is very low.
The Fullblood Piedmontese animal is the unique genetic
package capable of revolutionizing beef production.
As we are all in the early stages of understanding
the connections and effects of the various genes (including
myostatin) that are involved in this breed, NAPA believes
it is critical to preserve the Fullblood gene-pool.
In NAPA, therefore, Fullblood Registrations are maintained
in a seperate category from any and all 'crossbred'
Piedmontese cattle. NAPA does not utilize an "up-graded
purebred" registration format. Homozygous Piedmontese
cattle are either registered as "Fullblood"
(if they meet that criteria) or as "Naturalean™
Piedmontese".
The Naturalean™
category of registry / recordation is for Piedmontese
cattle that carry some other breed influence (cross
bred) and/or cattle that could have qualified for
Fullblood registry, but which cannot meet the requirements
for registered pedigree. (That is, a sire or dam was
not registered, or parentage cannot be verified) In
all cases, the cattle must be DNA test confirmed to
carry at least 1 copy of the Piedmontese-specific
myostatin gene. Naturalean™ Registration papers
are printed on grey paper - and carry the registration
number prefix of "N" or "NU".
The "NU" prefix indicates that the registered
pedigree information is in-complete. Fullblood registrations
are printed on white paper and registry numbers do
not have a prefix (except those indicating ET, for
Embryo Transplant, etc)
Naturalean test-verified
heterozygous (1-copy) animals are deemed "RECORDED"
and their reg. number prefix states "RECORDED".
Naturalean homozygous (2-copy) animals are deemed
"Registered".
A paper-less data
base record is also available called the "First
Cross" Paper-less Record File - for offspring
from a registered NAPA parent mated to a
non-Piedmontese animal.
Again,
please review this Glossary
of Definitions for the Registry and Recordation
of Piedmontese Cattle.
NAPA is also very
supportive of breeder's desire to introduce genetic
influences into the Piedmontese from other breeds.
The Naturalean category allows breeders great flexibility
in their programs, while ensuring that the primary
genetic influence from the Myostatin gene is not lost.
Piedmontese breeders may crossbreed to introduce polled
or color genetic features...with the Naturalean registration
papers also indicating the level of known Piedmontese
blood (as a percentage, for example 50%, 75%, 99%
etc) and clearly stating if the animal carries 1 or
2 alleles for Myostatin. No animal will be recorded
that does not carry at least one Piedmontese-specific
myostatin gene.
So, registering your stock is the
first step to long term breed improvement. Tattooing
your animals is essential to this process. A permanent
identification mark in the animal's ear allows
for tracing and verifying that animal. The tattoo
mark gives us 3 vital pieces of information: 1)
the owner at birth, 2) the number designation given
by the owner at birth, and 3) the year letter to
tell us how old the animal is. For full Instructions
On How and Why to Tattoo, click HERE.
NAPA membership
is invited on an Annual basis, with accepted members
receiving full services through the calendar year,
for the low fee of $70.(effective Jan. 1, 2006) Members
are eligible to vote on any and all NAPA Bylaw changes,
and to elect officials to the 7 member Board of Directors.
All voting is done by mail-in ballot, so that everyone
may have their opinions counted, without the need
to personally attend meetings. For this reason, no
"proxy voting" is allowed. Each member receives
one vote - and additional votes based on the number
of NAPA registered animals that they own at the time
of the vote. For every 5 NAPA registered Fullblood
animals, and for every 10 Naturalean™ registered
animals, the member receives 1 additional vote; capped
to 20 additional votes. This means that the maximum
number of votes a member may have is 21. (Visit
this LINK
to
view the NAPA By-Laws, in PDF file.) The
philosophy behind this "weighed vote" is
to correct the imbalance that exists between breeders
with lower numbers of cattle and those with larger
herds. In most breeds, there are significantly more
breeders who have less than 100 animals than breeders
with more than 100 head. The cattle industry norm
is to see the smaller breeders come and go - while
the larger breeders tend to remain in the business.
(The average "life span" of a registered
cattle breeder is some 7 years.) Therefore, an association
voting policy of "one membership - one vote"
will always favor the many smaller breeders over the
few larger breeders. NAPA has endevoured to correct
this by using the weighted vote policy. However, note
that the NAPA membership is still comprised of a majority
of 'smaller' breeders (less than 50 Fullblood or Naturalean™
cattle), as are most breed associations.
NAPA provides
excellent support to breeders to promote the breed
and their individual programs through the regular
magazine (subscription comes with membership) and
reasonably priced advertising rates. The NAPA magazine
"Your Piedmontese Voice" is circulated to
an ever growing list of industry leaders and commercial
cattlemen, as well as Piedmontese breeders.
The annual National
Show is held at the prestigious National Western Stock
Show (NWSS) in Denver, Colorado each January. Visit
the NWSS site at http://www.nationalwestern.com
Check
out the Pedigree & Members
Search Engines pages ! To
find NAPA members by name or by State, and to
search for registered cattle by name or tattoo
or registry number...this Search Engine is a
valuable service offered by NAPA's Registry Office,
the CLRC.
Fee
Schedule Click this Link to go to
the NAPA Fee Schedule for all services from
membership to registry and animal transfers.
Printable
Forms Click this Link to go to the
page where you may access PDF file printable
forms, for Membership, animal registration
or DNA testing.
Questions or comments should be directed
to the NAPA Executive Director - Vicki Johnson
- at 306-329-8600 or by email to NAPA@yourlink.ca
