What's Going On Wednesday: September 23, 2015

Happy Fall, y'all! Fall means all kinds of wonderful things. It means football, cooler temperatures that make farm labor much more tolerable, calving season for our Fall calvers out there and, of course, October Beef Month! 

We've got all kinds of exciting things going on at the Cattlemen's. We are staying so busy in the office that we can't find dates on the calendar to fit in all the meetings and events we need to have! That's a good problem to have, though, because we love working for our cattlemen. Check out #WhatsGoingOn this week at the ACA.

AJCA Growth Plan

ACA staffer Curt Berry has been working to establish a plan to increase numbers and activity in the Alabama Junior Cattlemen's Association. County presidents be on the lookout for a letter regarding advisory nominations for prospective chapters in the state! If you've got ideas or questions, call or email Curt. 

SLE Rodeo Planning is Underway

On Tuesday, the Southeastern Livestock Exposition hosted its members at the annual business and membership meeting with SLE President Thomas Ellis presiding. Following the committee and business meetings, the SLE was treated to a steak dinner in the building and fun and fellowship was had by all. Members were encouraged to seek out new members, get the groundwork moving on their committees and start thinking about sponsorships for the 2016 SLE Rodeo. ACA/SLE staffers also gave updates on their plans of action regarding the Junior Beef Expo, advertising, financials and the Cowboy Cookoff. 

The 2016 rodeo will be held March 17-19, 2016 at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery. Stay tuned on the SLE Rodeo Facebook and SLE Rodeo website for updates and ticket sales. 

Thomas Ellis and Dr. Billy Powell will be heading to Omaha, Nebraska for the rest of this week for the Global Rodeo Conference.

October Beef Month Proclamation

As of 2 p.m. this Wednesday afternoon, October will officially be proclaimed Beef Month in Alabama. The ACA officer team and ACA staffers will join the Governor in his office as he makes it official with his proclamation and signature. The ACA officers will present Gov. Bentley with a platter of ribeye steaks in honor of the occasion. The first October Beef Month proclamation occurred in 1964 at the desk of Gov. George Wallace. 

Speaking of October Beef Month...

ACA Membership Coordinator Selina Knight will be working throughout Wednesday to put together requested October Beef Month boxes for counties. If your county chapter plans to have a booth at a county fair during October or would like to participate in Cowboys in the Classroom, call or email Selina to get promotional items! 

Social Media Spotlight

We'd just like to take a quick second to announce that the ACA Facebook page has reached over 5,000 likes! We are very excited about this, and on October 1, we will be announcing on the page, who won the beautiful steak knife set! 

Be on the lookout for exciting things during #OctBeefMonth and get ready to share, share, share the word about BEEF!

Checkoff Corner

The Beef Girl Heads South

Erin will be at a beef seminar for Associated Wholesale Grocers Thursday in Mobile. Over 30 meat market managers in South Alabama and Mississippi will meet to learn about current trends in the retail market, and ACA will present relevant market information and new consumer trends related to beef.

The Beef Girl Heads East

After a day spent in Mobil with the Associated Wholesale Grocers, Erin will spend Friday at the Lambert-Powell Meats Lab in Auburn along with AU faculty and local producers putting on an educational BEEF 101 session for the Sysco Central Alabama sales team. Lastly...

The Beef Girl Heads North

Erin stays busy working to promote our favorite product, beef...even on the weekends. This Sunday, Erin will head to Birmingham to the Breaking Bread Food Festival to promoting beef as an early event for October Beef Month. The Birmingham Originals is a group of 35 independently-owned restaurants in the area that produce this festival. The ACA sponsors an iron chef competition featuring four of their chefs and unique beef cuts. If you're interested in the Breaking Bread Food Festival, you can get more info here.  

What's Going On Wednesday: August 19, 2015

We weren't kidding when we said August was a busy month! Brace yourself because you're about to see why! Get the scoop about what's happening in the ACA office for this week's #WhatsGoingOnWednesday!

The MOOseum Remodel

ACA staff is getting re-engaged this week on The MOOseum renovation project. After 20+ years and thousands of families later, it could use a freshening up! That's why Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week have in part been dedicated to the project and deciding on needed upgrades and how to accomplish those!

We are excited for the future of The MOOseum and its ability after this renovation to integrate into the hands-on, technological world we live in...but don't worry, that good ole' Alabama Cattlemen's heritage will still remain nestled at the very core of The MOOseum. 

Speaking of The MOOseum, if you're a school teacher or home school teacher looking for a fun educational experience for your students, book your tour today! Just call Jessica at (334) 265-1867!

Alabama's Best Steak

Congratulations to the 2015 Alabama's Best Steak contest "Fiery 4" finalists! 

• OH! Bryan's Family Steakhouse, Tuscumbia
• Bull Pen Steakhouse, Oakman
• Elmer's Restaurant, Notasulga
• The Old Barn Restaurant, Goshen 

These four finalist will compete in anonymous taste-test judging throughout the month of September! Stay tuned to find out who's home to Alabama's best ribeye steak!

Political Front

The ACA will be working with the Alabama Farmers Federation to co-host a fundraiser for Danny Crawford, a long-time ag leader and special election candidate for House District 5. The fundraiser will be held Thursday, August 20 from 4-6 pm at the ACA building. 

Bettering Alabama's BQA

Friday, August 21 will host a meeting for Alabama's Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program. Dr. Soren Rodning is the recently-named BQA coordinator for the state of Alabama, and ACA staff will be meeting with him Friday to discuss ideas for expansion of the program in the state and ways to increase the number of BQA-certified producers across Alabama. 

Stay tuned on upcoming BQA programs!

ACA Summer Board Meeting

On August 27, ACA Board members will gather from around the state to discuss upcoming events, vote on association matters and get an update from the executive office. A reminder to the Board members to mark their calendars and an encouragement to our members to contact your county president following the meeting to get updates about what went on. As a member, it's important to stay in the know!

Save the Dates

Go ahead and mark your calendars for the 2016 ACA Convention and SLE Rodeo. The ACA Convention will be held February 26-27 at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Birmingham, and the SLE Rodeo comes to town March 17-19 at Garrett Coliseum. 

Save the dates and get excited for our upcoming events! We can't wait to see you there!

Growing the AJCA

The Alabama Junior Cattlemen's Association (AJCA) is more than just calf shows. It's more than scholarships, ribbons and awards. It's a way to involve Alabama's youth in the beef industry so that they can learn early about our industry. Building on that education, it's a way to train, mold and develop our youth into future leaders. It's a way for today's leaders to invest in tomorrow's success. 

We firmly believe in this at the ACA, and that's why staffer Curt Berry has been assigned the task to increase AJCA member numbers across the state. Help him in this task, and sign your kids up! Click here to join online today!

Throwback Thursday: 1978

In honor of the 2015 AJCA Round-Up, this week’s #ThrowbackThursday will throw you back to 1978’s dapper group of AJCA officers.

Pictured from L-R are AJCA President Johnny Smith, Cullman County; Vice President Joy Yeager, Lee County; Secretary Susan Steinhilber, Sumter County; and Treasurer Kim Yates, Randolph County.

Our AJCA officers were awesome back then, and they're awesome today! Pictured above are today's industry leaders and at the Round-Up, we are working to develop tomorrow's leaders.