Article
1. Name
A. The name of this association shall be the Mississippi
Beef Cattle Improvement
Association, Inc. (Miss. BCIA, Inc.)
Article
2. Purposes
A. To promote the use of performance records as a tool for
within herd improvement of production efficiency and quality
of Mississippi Beef herds.
B. To emphasize economically important traits in beef cattle
that can be improved through selection and culling programs
based on records of performance.
C. To emphasize the importance of good management practices
in breeding, feeding health, and marketing programs.
D. To charge and receive membership dues and other fees only
as determined necessary by the Board of Directors to carry
out the above purposes without profit.
E. To cooperate with other like-minded organizations,
associations, etc. whose policies are consistent with the
above purposes and policies of the Mississippi
BCIA.
Article
3. Membership and Dues
A. Membership in this association shall be any breeder or
producer who is
interested in the purposes of Article 2 and persons who, by
virtue of their
position with the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service,
Mississippi
State University, commodity groups, or governmental
agencies, are working
with the Miss. BCIA programs at the state or area level.
These members
also include the Executive Vice-President and the President
of the Mississippi
Cattlemen's Association.
B. Dues as determined by the Board of Directors, will be due
yearly prior to the
acceptance of cattle consigned to sales.
Article
4. Meetings
A. One regular annual meeting of this association shall be
held each year at a location
and an exact date to be designated by the Board of
Directors.
B. The Board of Directors may have one or more special
meetings each year upon the call of the President and the
Secretary. Twenty-five (25) percent of the members
may file a petition at any time demanding a special meeting
and stating the specific
business to be brought before the Association. The president
and the secretary
shall thereupon call such meetings. The Executive Committee
may meet as its
members deem appropriate to manage the affairs of the
Association.
Article
5. Elections and Votes
A. Each member shall have one vote and only one vote on each
question presented to
the association for action. Firms, partnerships,
corporations or associations shall be entitled to only one
vote. No proxy votes shall be allowed.
B. Elections will be by majority vote at the time of the
election.
C. A majority of the members present shall constitute a
quorum for transaction of
business of any meeting.
Article
6. Directors
A. The affairs of the BCIA shall be guided by the Board of
Directors made up as
indicated:
&. At least two (2) commercial producers
&. At least four (4) purebred producers
&. Executive Vice-President of the Mississippi
Cattlemen's Association
&. President of the Mississippi Cattlemen's
Association
&. Representative of the Animal and Dairy Science
Department, Mississippi State
University
&. One (1) Extension Animal Scientist
&. One (1) Area Extension Agent
&. Representative from Hinds Bull Test Station
&. Representative from South Mississippi Gain on Forage
Bull Testing Program
&. Past Presidents of the Mississippi BCIA
&. Representative from the locations of BCIA sponsored
sales.
B. The Board of Directors shall have general supervision and
control of the Association
and its affairs, and shall, within the limits of these
by-laws, approve all rules and
regulations for the management of the Association and the
guidance of its members,
officers, agents, and employees. Further, the Board of
Directors shall be responsible
for installing an adequate accounting system to meet the
requirements of the
Association, for setting assessment fees in keeping with the
purposes of the
Association, and for seeing that accurate records are kept
on all transactions.
C. Commercial and purebred producers will serve three (3)
staggered year terms. The
nominating committee will initially nominate the commercial
and purebred producers for a one (1), two (2), or three (3)
year term and present those nominees along with their other
nominations at the annual meeting.
D. When a vacancy on the Board of Directors, occurs, other
that the usual expiration of
term, the president/chairman/director of the organization
represented by the retiring
Board member shall appoint a qualified member to fill the
unexpired term, subject to
approval of the Association membership at the next regular
meeting.
Article
7. Officers
A. The officers of this association shall be a president,
one vice-president, a
secretary, and a treasurer.
B. The officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the
association members at the
time of the annual meeting.
C. Officers will serve a two (2) year term.
Article
8. Duties of Officers
A. President: It shall be the duty of the president to
preside at all meetings of the
Association, Board of Directors and executive committee. In
the absence of the president, the vice-president shall
perform the duties of the president.
B. Secretary-Treasurer: It shall be the duty of the
secretary-treasurer to maintain an
office in which a complete file of business of the
association is kept. The secretary-treasurer shall handle
all correspondence coming to the office and keep the
membership of the association informed as the occasion
arises to matter of importance. The secretary shall mail to
each member at the last known address, a notice of every
meeting at least ten (10) days prior to the time of such
meeting.
Article
9. Administration
A. Business of the association shall be managed by the
executive committee, which
shall consist of the president, vice-president and
secretary-treasurer. The executive
committee may be convened, upon request of the Secretary,
with any and all such
requests being made through the Association President, who
shall act as Chairman
of the Executive Committee.
Article
10. Parliamentary Authority
A. The rules contained in ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER shall
govern this
association in cases not covered by these
by-laws.
Article
11. Amendments
A. These by-laws may be amended by a two thirds (2/3)
majority vote of the members
present at any annual meeting provided the proposed
amendments have been mailed
to every member at the association at the last address
furnished by him at least ten
(10) days prior to the date of the meeting, at which the
amendments are to be
considered.
Article
12. Program of Work
A. This association shall sponsor programs and other
activities, which it considers
proper in forwarding the interest of beef cattle breeders
and producers who are doing
performance testing in Mississippi.
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