What's Going On Wednesday- June 1, 2016

Well hello June! 

When did the past five months happen? If anybody knows, please call and tell us because we can't believe that the summer months are already here! We hope this week's blog post finds our cattlemen staying relatively cool and probably in the cab of a tractor pulling a hay baler. It's that time of year, so hit that tractor into auto pilot, kick back and enjoy finding out what's going on at the ACA this week! 

Bama's Best Beef Winner Announced!

West End Grill’s “Tot Roast” has been named “Bama’s Best Beef” after two months of social media promotion! After last week’s final round which generated over 1000 reactions, more than 100 shares and 139 comments, the Tot Roast was named the winner Friday, May 27 at 9 p.m. over the contest’s other finalist, Deano’s Grill’s “Deano Burger.”

The West End Grill owners and staff will be presented with a

plaque and on-site media conference directed by Alabama Cattlemen’s Association leadership and staff. We encourage all Huntsville-area members to visit West End Grill and offer your congratulations! Erin and Kayla certainly can't wait to try the dish themselves!

As described by the restaurant’s menu, the Tot Roast is, “crispy fried tater tots smothered in [West End Grill’s] Mississippi pot roast, cheese and gravy. One hundred percent Angus beef is slow roasted with a secret blend of spices and layered on top pepperoncinis and sticks of real butter, all to make the pot roast.” 

AJCA Round-Up

Want to know more about the AJCA Round-Up? Well you can know TODAY! All information for this year's show is available on our website, including links to registration! Don't forget, you must be a paid AJCA member in order to compete in the Round-Up. Join Today

Learn more, sign up and get ready for the 10th annual AJCA Round-Up to be held July 21-24 at Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery. We can't wait to see all our favorite Juniors, and they'll want to be there because Round-Up Coordinator Madison Tew has ordered some amazing prizes! 

Membership 

The membership number of the day is 10,849 members of the ACA. The renewal drive is over, and we will draw for the winner of the $500 beef certificate on June 8. Stay tuned! 

Don't forget our John Deere Gator drawing sponsored by John Deere, SunSouth, Tri-Green Equipment and Snead Ag. For every new member you recruit, your name and the new member's name will go in the drawing. ACA members also have the opportunity to purchase more chances to win by calling ACA at 334-265-1867.

Don't Miss Your Chance to Advertise!

The July issue of the Alabama Cattleman offers you the opportunity to maximize your advertising dollars and target your audience with this special magazine issue.

Since 1958, cattle producers have used this informative publication to help keep them abreast of industry happenings and learn about managing their business. Our readers are one of the largest purchasers of equipment, fencing materials, bulls, replacement heifers, semen, animal health supplies, chemicals, guns, ATV’s, boots, farmland and so much more. 

The July issue will be a special one, as it will be mailed to over 17,000 cattle producers and industry-related individuals across the state including the 12,000 members of the ACA. This special issue will include numerous educational feature articles and will be used as a reference for months to come. Please contact Nicky to reserve your space in the July issue by June 10th!   

AJCA Round-UP

BQA Mail Outs

Have you gotten BQA certified at an on-site training program this year? If so, be on the lookout for your certificate and bumper sticker in the mail. ACA Director of Checkoff Programs Erin Beasley got those put together and mailed out last week! 

Congrats and great job to our Alabama cattle producers who have become BQA certified! 

Cash for CAFOs

The Alabama Cattlemen's Association with be meeting Thursday morning alongside Alabama Farmers Federation Poultry Producers representatives at the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). The primary focus of this meeting is to discuss funding for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. Over $400,000 was added to the ADEM budget to offset CAFO expenses by the department, and this meeting will help determine a budget for this allowance. 

Make Way for a New BamaBeef.org 

You heard it right, a new ACA website is in the works! Erin Beasley and ACA Director of Social Media and Communications Kayla Greer had a conference call with our representative to get the paperwork in hand to launch the website redesign project.

Kayla has her sights set on this being her major project for the summer, and she hopes for an August launch date! The team of website designers are on board to help her reach that goal! Hmmm...maybe by the Summer Board Meeting? 

Engaging Post of the Week

The popularity of our Facebook is growing, as you may remember from the social media alert on last week's blog post! Last week we celebrated reaching 8,000 followers, and this week that number has already grown to 8,400. 

Even more exciting than that, however, is the popularity of a single post from this week! On Sunday, we posted the picture you see to the right. It reads, "Do not educate children to be rich. Educate them to be happy, so when they grow up they know the value of things, not the price." Pretty picture, pretty quote, pretty big numbers!! 

To date, this post has reached over 145,000 people through the power of liking, sharing and commenting. It has received over 7,000 reactions, over 1,600 shares, 172 comments and 3,800 post clicks. That's huge!

Think about it. That's 145,000 people who have been exposed to the ACA and our message just this week at NO cost to us. Thanks, Facebook! 

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The MOOseum

Schools are out. Temperatures are rising. Children are getting bored at home. 

We know how it goes, but we also know that The MOOseum is ready and waiting for your family to learn and play. Learn about beef cattle, sit on saddles, play in Cowboy Slim's kitchen and dress up like a rough-and-tumble cowboy for the afternoon. 

Book a tour for groups or just walk on in for individual families. We are located at 201 S. Bainbridge Street Montgomery, AL 36104. Got questions? Call 265-1867 or email Jessica. 

SASDA

Looking slightly ahead to next week, Dr. Powell will be spending his Sunday and Monday with the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture John McMillan serves as president this year and has invited Dr. Powell to speak at their Monday morning meeting. He will be speaking to 16 different states agricultural leaders on the Alabama beef industry and the impact of the checkoff dollars used to answer the question, "Where does my food come from?" 

Joint Meeting Ahead

The agenda is being made for the upcoming joint meeting of the ACA Executive Committee and the Alabama Cattlemen's Foundation Board. Just as a reminder, that meeting will be held June 21. 

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