What's Going On Wednesday: November 18, 2015

Meetings, Meetings and More Meetings

The theme this week is meetings! These are important as we close out the 2015 year and work toward a successful 2016. See #WhatsGoingOn around the ACA office this week with your state officers and staff! We're staying busy working for Alabama's beef industry and its cattlemen. 

Executive Committee and November Board Meetings

The top priorities on the list of meetings this week are the Executive Committee meeting this evening at the ACA and the November Board meeting tomorrow. At these meetings, our state Executive Committee and Board members will receive staff updates about events and upcoming projects. The most important task for these meetings, however, is the presentation of the proposed 2016 Beef Checkoff Marketing Plan and 2016 budget for approval. 

Stay tuned for pictures and updates from these meetings on the ACA Facebook page. 

Beef Girl in Birmingham

Monday night ACA staffer Erin Beasley gave a presentation on beef quality and new cuts in foodservice to the Birmingham chapter of the American Culinary Federation. The group consisted of students all the way to executive chefs, and they asked a lot of questions about hot topics related to cattle and beef.

Calling All State Ag Communicators

On Tuesday, ACA staffer Kayla Greer joined ag communicators from across the state for a meeting hosted at the Alabama Farmers Federation. At this meeting, the group received an update on happenings with the Simply Southern television show, a partnership between the Alabama Farmers Federation and the Alabama Farmers Cooperative. They were informed about the newest mobile education apps and iBooks generated by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and shared their favorite e-newsletters that keep them in the know about what's going on in American and Alabama agriculture daily. The group then enjoyed lunch and fellowship where marketing and promotion ideas were swapped. 

Food Forum with Troy University

Past ACA President Jimmy Holliman, Will Gilmer (Alabama dairyman) and ACA's Erin Beasley participated on a virtual panel for the 3rd year in a row with the Food and Nutrition online class at Troy University. Students are given a wide array of movies and research articles to explore during the class and then formulate a question for industry professionals to help them better understand the issues. Many of the questions we encountered were related to antibiotic and hormone use in beef/dairy and safety of the product. Each year Dr. Teresa Johnson, class professor, says the online food forum is rated the favorite part of the class by students in their end of the semester review.

YCLP Abroad

This weekend, the Young Cattlemen's Leadership Class II will head northwest as they go on an overnight trip for farm tours and leadership training. The group will be convene in Aliceville in Pickens County, and it will visit Dee River Ranch and Vista Farms Cattle Company. The class will lodge the night Saturday at Cameron Quail Lodge where leadership training and discussions will take place. Some of the topics they'll discuss include leadership projects, qualities of leadership and hot topics in today's beef industry. Beef, fellowship and leadership training will be enjoyed by all.

Outside the ACA

It's no secret that ACA's Executive VP Dr. Billy Powell stays busy. Not only does he stay busy with ACA meetings, events and generating content for the Alabama Cattleman magazine, but he stays busy in other ag-related outlets in the state. This vast foundation of involvement allows him to better serve the ACA's members across many realms involving state agriculture. See below for a list of meetings he's been to just this week!

• He participated the Ag Center Board/Garrett Coliseum Redevelopment Board meeting. The Board continues to look at ways to fund work to improve and update the facilities at Garrett Coliseum. 
• Dr. Powell attended the Alabama Agricultural Development Authority Board meeting and discussed potential ag loans and future role for this authority.
• He was active on a conference call in reference to the NCBA CEO Search Committee, which is seeking an outstanding individual to lead NCBA.
• He's reviewing a compilation of all the current statutes relating to livestock dealers, brands, and the charter board in prepare for a members with Ag Department attorney to suggest revisions of some of the laws in preparation of the 2016 Legislative Session.
• As he serves as the Alabama FFA Foundation Secretary/Treasurer, he also was busy compiling  2014-2015  Alabama FFA Foundation information for the Foundation's CPA to look over. 

That's what's going on this week!

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 12, 2015

Meetings, meetings and more meetings- that's the theme of this week at the Cattlemen's building! Task force meetings, committee meetings, board meetings...so many meetings! They're all, however, for the betterment of our association and Alabama's beef industry, so your ACA staffers are happy to conduct or attend as many meetings as it takes! 

Also, our Checkoff and Magazine staffers are preparing for the big month of October- Beef Month in Alabama! Get ready for events, promotions and some pretty cool social media campaigns as well as the "Bulls of Fall" issue of the Alabama Cattleman.

See #WhatsGoingOn around this Cattlemen's office this week:

Alabama's Best Steak

We are in the "Enticing 8" round of the 2015 Alabama's Best Steak contest and the competition is getting hot! This portion of the bracket challenge kicked off Monday at noon and so far over 9,000 votes have been recorded! The bracket closes Saturday, August 15 at midnight, so submit your vote before then at www.AlabamasBestSteak.com. 

The final "Fiery 4" restaurants will be announced Monday, August 24 and anonymous judging will begin and continue throughout the month of September! Make sure your favorite restaurant makes it to the "Fiery 4" and vote now! 

Mag Ads...Get Your Mag Ads!

As we mentioned earlier, October's issue of the Alabama Cattlemen magazine is the "Bulls of Fall" issue, and we are offering an advertising special too good to pass up! If you call and reserve your spot by Sept. 10, we can get you a quarter-page, two-color ad for only $200! If you've got a bull sale going on, then this is the deal for you! 

Get your spot in our October issue today by calling our office and asking for Nicky or by emailing her.

Obesity Task Force Meeting

The Alabama Obesity Task Force held its quarterly meeting Tuesday in Birmingham. The group- comprised of nutrition professionals and organizations- met to discuss initiatives in the state that are helping Alabamians make healthy lifestyle choices, and ACA staffer Erin Beasley was there to make sure beef was well represented!

A new campaign was recently kicked off called "Get Moving Alabama." It features a theme each month to keep the state moving. The ACA is looking for ways to become involved as a lead organization as a part of October Beef Month planning! The next meeting for the task force will be held at the ACA building in December, and Erin will present ways that beef fits into a healthy diet.

Department of Agriculture and Related Industries Board Meeting

Not only was Erin out representing the beef industry in meetings on Tuesday, but the newest ACA staffer Curt Berry was also! Curt spent a chunk out of his day at the Dept. of Ag and Related Industries Board Meeting where a variety of topics were discussed from avian influenza to financial business related to the happenings of our legislature's special session. 

On a topic more related to our industry- State Veterinarian Dr. Frazier gave a report on a proposed rule to change the way bulls are tested for Bovine Trichomoniasis. This rule would simplify the testing process in the future.

SLE Committee Meetings

On Friday our SLE Rodeo officers and committees are meeting in house to discuss the upcoming 2016 SLE Rodeo and the events associated with it! The rodeo will be held March 17-19, 2016 at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery.

Be on the lookout for social media surveys regarding what you'd like to see at next year's rodeo! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates!

What's Going On Wednesday

Weekly activities, meetings and events around the Alabama Cattlemen's Association are never the same. While the ACA officers pop in from out of town and staffers travel to speak to different groups to promote and educate about beef, AJCA officers are busy planning the next big event and the MOOseum is always buzzing with the sound of young folks learning about the Alabama cattle production and the beef industry. The ACA staff and officers stay busy working for an industry we all love promoting, educating about and bettering.

Here's an update about #What'sGoingOn around the Alabama Cattlemen's Association this week!

2015 AJCA Round-Up

"Catch and Wave" at the 9th Annual AJCA Round-Up on July 23-26 at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery. Round-Up is open to all Alabama Juniors ages 9-21 who have paid their 2015 AJCA dues. Membership forms and a schedule of events are available here. If interested contestants have already paid their 2015 dues, Round-Up entry forms can be found here. The deadline for entry is July 1, 2015.

New Faces: Summer Intern

Madison Tew of Ozark, Ala. will be joining the ACA staff this summer as an intern. Madison recently moved back home after attending Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas for the past two years and competing on the school's Livestock Judging Team. She will be attending Mississippi State University this fall as an agricultural communications major but not before she spends the summer in Montgomery at the Alabama Cattlemen's Association. 

Her responsibilities will center around this year's AJCA Round-Up. Madison, a former competitor of the Round-Up, has seven years of experience with the show and will be an invaluable asset to the AJCA officer team and the ACA staff as they join to plan and promote this year's show. 

Welcome, Madison! We look forward to having you around this summer!

Social Media Takeover

With the shifting of time and technology comes the need to update ways of reaching an audience. Snail mail is becoming a thing of the past, and email and social media blasts are taking its place. Better yet, just post it on social media! 

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the Alabama Cattlemen's Association recognize the need to stay on top of the newest and best ways to keep in touch with our producers and consumers and has taken the necessary steps in order to do just that. Alabama Cattlemen's has welcomed a new staffer whose job focuses on enhancing and maintaining the ACA and the SLE's presence on social media platforms.

The Facebook (Alabama Cattlemen's Association) is actively posting daily themed posts targeted on educating consumers, keeping members updated on what we are doing with their state and national checkoff dollars and informing producers on upcoming events or legislation. The Twitter (@ALCattlemen) follows suit on educating and promoting the beef industry, while also serving as a vehicle to market this blog. An Instagram is in our future to reach out to our millennial audiences, and we are predicting some social media contests with beefed up prizes in the future. Also in our future is a major overhaul of the ACA website. 

To keep up with the upcoming 2016 SLE Rodeo dates, check out it's Facebook  and Twitter accounts as well as its website. 

Exciting things are happening for the ACA and its online presence. Follow us on our pages to keep up with our exciting changes!