Texas Hay Hotline

• TDA does not guarantee the quality or availability of hay or pastures offered by suppliers.
• TDA is not responsible for e-mail spam generated through the public hay hotline.
• USDA has reported e-mail scams that target hay suppliers. TDA advises you to use sound business judgement when responding to inquiries from hay buyers who request suspicious payment arrangements.   

New facilities unveiled during Stocker Conference

New facilities at the E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter that will be used for stocker cattle research were shown to nearly 150 attendees at the recent Deep South Stocker Conference. The Alabama Cattlemen's Association was instrumental in securing the funding used to construct these new facilities. Highlights from the conference are coming in the September issue of the Alabama Cattleman.

Below are pictures of the new facilities:

Livestock Groups Applaud Coliseum Agreement

Following a press conference hosted by Alabama Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan and attended by Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange, leaders of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and the Southeastern Livestock Exposition are optimistic about the future of the Garrett Coliseum.

“This new agreement should be positive both for our rodeo to be held next March as well as all the cattle and horse shows that call the Garrett Coliseum home. The facility will remain open and the door is wide open for renovation efforts to improve the grounds,” says Dr. Billy Powell, Executive Director of the Southeastern Livestock Exposition. Powell serves as Vice President of the Garrett Coliseum Redevelopment Corporation.

The new agreement, signed by the Garrett Coliseum Redevelopment Corporation and the Alabama National Fair, will allow the Fair’s staff to manage the facility so that events like the SLE Rodeo and the Alabama National Fair as well as other shows and meetings held throughout the year can still happen. In addition, the budget for the facility will have an additional $50,000 appropriation from Montgomery County and $75,000 from the City of Montgomery to be paired with $246,000 in state funds for operation of the facility.

“The fact that the Coliseum will remain open for business is good news. Plus, the bonding authority now held by the Redevelopment Corporation means there’s real potential for raising monies for renovation efforts that we all agree are needed,” says Camp Powers, President of the Southeastern Livestock Exposition.

The Garrett Coliseum Redevelopment Corporation was created during this year’s legislative session by a bill sponsored by State Rep. Joe Hubbard and State Sen. Dick Brewbaker which expanded the Agriculture Center Board. The new entity responsible for the Coliseum includes the Governor, State Finance Director, Commissioner of Agriculture, Mayor of Montgomery, President of the Montgomery City Council, County Commission Chair, plus four others who currently sit on the Agriculture Center Board.

Below are pictures from the press conference:

BCIA Producer of the Year Nominations Open

Alabama BCIA is accepting nominations for BCIA Producer of the Year Awards for 2011.  Each year, BCIA selects a nominated commercial and purebred producer to be awarded with these titles, and Alabama BCIA then nominates those individuals for the Beef Improvement Federation’s (BIF) Producer of the Year awards.

Each nominee needs to be an active member of Alabama BCIA in order to be considered for nomination. If you have any questions or to verify that your potential nominee or nominees are an active member of Alabama BCIA, please contact  state BCIA office using the contact information listed below. The nominees will be featured and the winners announced at the Alabama BCIA Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation to be held in conjunction with the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Convention on Friday and Saturday, March 30-31, 2012 in Huntsville at the Von Braun Convention Center.  

To nominate a commercial or purebred producer for these awards, please go to www.albcia.com, look under the Association Information menu tab on the left and select the Producer of the Year Forms to download the applications.  Please have your nominee or nominees complete either the BCIA Commercial or Purebred Producer of the Year Award Application in order for your organization to nominate an individual or individual for these awards.  Please also send in at least 5 digital or film photos (and up to 10) of each nominee and his or her cattle operation with the completed application.  Please include a picture of the person(s) and cow and/or bull photos.  

All applications and photos need to be mailed or emailed into the Alabama BCIA office by Monday, October 17, 2011.  Please mail the completed application to Michelle F. Elmore, 40 County Rd 756, Clanton, AL 35045 or email to elmormf@auburn.edu.

Please contact Alabama BCIA if you have any questions about these award applications.

Website: www.albcia.com

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Fall Army Worm Update

UPDATE: ARMY WORMS ARE NOW BEING REPORTED STATEWIDE


The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has updated a new interactive tool for cattlemen and hay producers to use in locating available armyworm sweep nets and also to track the emergence of armyworms across Alabama.

Almost all county extension offices in the state have sweep nets available for use, as well as all Regional Animal Science and Forage Extension agents, and many cattlemen throughout the state. To see which cattlemen have nets, please go to:
http://maps.acesag.auburn.edu/Alabama_Armyworm_Watch/default.aspx 
There is a little "i" button on the top menu bar.  Click that, then click on the county you are interested in, and you will see the cattlemen who have sweep nets. In the future, this map will reflect where armyworms have been detected.

The you tube video on how to use a sweep net is ready, it can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qwg3TP9INo

The next step: making sure we communicate where fall armyworm problems have been found, so everyone  will be aware they need to get out and start looking for armyworms. When you hear of where and when an armyworm infestation has been located, please relay that information to Extension Entomologist Dr. Kathy Flanders at Auburn University (334-844-6393 or flandkl@auburn.edu)

The first installment of a two part article on fall armyworms appeared in the Alabama Cattleman magazine in June, with part two published in the July issue.

Current chemicals registered for fall armyworm can be found in the forage IPM Guide:
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0500-A/VOL1-2011/forage.pdf 
or in the fall armyworm circular:
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1019/ 
The IPM guide lists one insecticide, a premix of Karate and Coragen called VOLIAM XPRESS, which is NOT available in Alabama.  That premix will be marketed under a different name in Alabama, but the state label is still pending.

National BBQ Tour Visits Alabama

Recently, the Inaugural Sam's Club National BBQ Tour made a stop in Alabama. Competition was tough but the slow smoked beef, pork, and chicken was anything but.

The National $1 Beef Checkoff played a role in the event and put the beef we love on center stage. Hungry consumers had the opportunity to interact with "Grill Master" Michael McDearman and sample some delicious brisket, ribeye steak, and strip steak.

To see a listing of winners from the competition, click here.

Below is a collection of photos from the event:







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Who has Alabama's Best Burger?

Voting is underway in a new contest being hosted by the Alabama Cattlemen's Association to decide Alabama's Best Burger. Anyone can vote for their favorite restaurant in Alabama who they think serves the best burger in their state.

To vote now, please click here.

Complete contest rules are listed below:



Qualifying Burgers: 
‐ Burger restaurant must be in the state of Alabama.
‐ Burgers must be made of 100% ground beef and must be in patty form.  
‐ Burgers may contain any form of condiment, sauce, spice, or topping as long as the patty is made solely of beef (no mixtures of beef, poultry, etc.) and is served on a bun or bread product.
-Every component of burger must be placed between the bun or bread pieces, or served open-faced on a bread product.

Methods of Voting: 
‐ Voting can be done by visiting bamabeef.org and clicking the “Alabama’s Best Burger” icon.

Rules:
‐ Voting will go on from July 21, 2011 to September 30, 2011 at 12:00 PM and can be submitted online by visiting www.bamabeef.org and clicking on “AL Best Burger” icon.
-Only one vote per person is allowed

Judging:
‐ A team of judges will conduct on-site burger tasting after the “Top 5” is announced.

Burgers will be judged based on: 
o Appearance
o Taste
o Proper Cooking

Winner Receives:
- Publicity and write-up in The Alabama Cattleman magazine
‐ Statewide press release announcing winners
‐ Trophy or display to put in restaurant to advertise that you won “Alabama’s Best Burger” contest.




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