What's Going On Wednesday: September in Review and the First Week of October

Hello again, everyone, and Happy Fall! We haven't been blogging the past few weeks because we've been on the road in different areas of the state meeting with county leaders at our regional workshops. That being said, there's a lot to catch up on, so take short break from feeding, working new calves, baling hay or rain dancing to catch up on all things that have been going on at the ACA the past month. Enjoy!

Regional Meetings

 Success. That's one word we would choose to describe the six regional meetings we hosted across the state during September. We were thrilled to have 56/67 counties and over 100 county officers in attendance. The meetings offered a platform for state staff to update counties on the 2017 membership campaign, strengthening county chapters, October Beef Month promotions and utilizing social media.

Here's a few brief reminders from the regional meetings to jog county leaders' memories:

• Check your leadership information on the County Chapters Page of the website. If there is any wrong information, let Jessica know. 
• Send Jessica the information for your upcoming annual meeting as soon as you have it. This will allow us to get it on our online Events Calendar as well as help line up an ACA representative to attend. 
• When submitting membership, all counties are required to send in payment before members can be processed.
• 2017 Renewal Statements will be mailed on November 1st. Those who pay their 2017 dues and have them turned into the state office by November 28th will be entered into a drawing to win one of three cash prizes- $250, $150, $100
• The "Over the Top" deadline is February 28th. This means all memberships must be submitted on or before that date to go "Over the Top."
• Email addresses are vital during the 2017 membership drive because this is how members will gain access to the online magazine. 
• If you are interested in participating in the Cowboys in the Classroom program for October Beef Month, contact Jessica and she will mail those books your way. We have two books this year for ages kindergarten- 2nd grade and 3rd-5th grades. Please specify which books you'd like!

October Beef Month

October means one thing here at the ACA office...BEEF MONTH!

We're looking forward to seeing all the activities hosted in the counties to promote our favorite protein, beef. Be sure to send pictures of your county activities to Kayla Greer so she can share them on Facebook! Get out there and promote beef...as for the state office, we're doing LOTS of beef promotion this month. Check it out:

Breaking Bread Food Festival
ACA staff kicked off October Beef Month at Sloss Furnaces late September to attend the Breaking Bread Food Festival hosted by the Birmingham Originals group. We handed out hundreds of beef samples and informational tools and spoke with many millennial-aged consumers about beef! Special thanks to Jefferson County President Jim Miller, Shelby County cattleman Cynthia Hylton-Murer, Lee County member Dr. Wayne Greene and ACWA Vice President Evelyn Brown for their help in the promotion! 


Alabama's Best Steak Winner Announced

We are proud to announce the winner of the Alabama's Best Steak contest! Big Mike's Steakhouse of Thomasville is serving up the best ribeye in Alabama in 2016, so stop by and give it a try. Congrats to Big Mike's! 

#ALSteakTrail

We've got an exciting new promotion going on this year for October Beef Month, and it's been extremely successful in only five short days! On Oct. 1, we launched on Facebook our #ALSteakTrail promotion that features 12 outstanding restaurants that have been consistent competition in past Alabama's Best Steak contests. Facebook fans are encouraged to visit one of the restaurants, order the ribeye, snap a picture of their plate and post the picture as a comment on the contest announcement using the hashtag #ALSteakTrail. Each week throughout October, one lucky winner will win a drawing for a $100 gift card to that restaurant. 

So far, the contest (with the help of its allocated budget) has yielded an impressive reach of over 109,800 Facebook fans and received eight entries, 745 "reactions," 426 shares, 85 comments and gotten us to OVER 14,000 FACEBOOK FANS! We are thrilled with the return on the contest so far! 

We've also got some standard ads out featuring beautiful beef imagery that offer Facebook and Instagram users a direct link to BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com . This is what they look like! If you see them, be sure to share!!

Beef 101

Director of Checkoff Programs Erin Beasley will be hosting a few Beef 101 programs throughout October Beef Month to teach industry influencers about beef from "pasture to plate." In fact, she's in Auburn today with a group at the Lambert-Powell Meats Lab. 

Alabama Cattlemen's Foundation Scholarships

Scholarship applicaitons are now LIVE on the website through Dec. 1. All you have to do is visit www.BamaBeef.org/scholarships to find out information on our many "Cowboy" tag and endowed scholarships and apply! Encourage young people in your county to get those applications in today and don't miss out on the more that $50,000 in scholarships we award annually! 

Junior Beef Expo Registration

Junior Beef Expo registration is also now LIVE on the site through November 1! Register your child and their animal(s) today with our online form and payment process. The link below is also where you can find rules and information about upcoming validation points for market animals participating in this year's show. Note: Market Animals MUST be validated at one of the validation locations listed on the website before registration can occur.  

Click Here for JBE Information and Registration

Beef Quality Assurance- FREE

Now through November 13, you can become Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) certified for FREE, courtesy of our friends at Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. Simply visit www.bqa.org and use the code BIVIBQA to waive registration costs. Being BQA certified is your consumer-friendly story to tell, and we want you to tell it today! Contact Erin Beasley with questions about your certification. 

EMERGENCY Hay Shortages

ACA state officers and staff met with Gov. Bentley following the

October Beef Month proclamation signing and updated him on the critical hay shortages in northeast Alabama. We informed Gov. Bentley that we may need an emergency declaration to aid in hauling hay into this area as winter approaches. He said he would work with us to ease restrictions.  

Following that meeting, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the Alabama Farmers Federation, ACA and others held a conference call to discuss the issue further. During the conference call plans for establishing a Hay Directory for those who have hay for sale and those needing hay for locate a source were discussed. The hope is to have that Hay Directory available within two weeks at the Dept. of Ag. We will inform members when that Hay Directory is available. Extension will have more information on wintering cows using other feedstuffs. 

Meetings, Dinners, Discussions and Special Deliveries

Your state staff and officers stay busy meeting with different individuals and groups on your behalf. Here's a list of the many meetings ACA Executive Vice President Dr. Billy Powell has been to lately:

• He had a nice visit with Andy White, LMA’s World Livestock
  
  Champion Auctioneer, during a Monday sale at Montgomery Stockyards late in September. Dr. Powell spoke with the Ohio native then stuck around at the sale to hear his chant. 
• Dr. Powell met with Rep. David Standridge and Rep. Randall Shedd recently to discuss ways to work with the House Rural Caucus and other organizations representing rural Alabama during the 2017 Regular Session.
• Chuck Sykes, Conservation Department Director, and Dr. Powell spoke about a problem with black vultures along the Tennessee River. ACA is working with the Alabama Farmers Federation on getting a system in place to make it easier for producers to obtain permit.
• He also attended dinner with University of West Alabama's president and Board of Trustees to get an update on the state’s only collegiate rodeo team. Following the dinner meeting, he attended a collegiate rodeo on campus.
  
• Lastly, Dr. Powell made a special delivery to Joe Reed’s farm to meet with a SunSouth Demopolis representative as he delivered the John Deere Gator that Joe won by joining as a 2016 new member. Congrats to Joe! 

Bull Sales in Alabama

It's bull sale season in Alabama, and you can stay informed on upcoming sales by visiting our Events Calendar. State staff and officers are traveling across state to attend the many upcoming sales, and we look forward to seeing you there. As an added incentive for our magazine advertisers, when you buy an ad in our magazine, your event is published on our events calendar. That way, all the upcoming sales are always available in your back pocket on your smartphone.

Check out the many other courses, Extension workshops, meetings and sales available on our website today. 

Thanks for tuning into this week's blog! We'll be here next week with more news so you can stay in touch with the Alabama Cattlemen's Association state staffers. To stay in touch between now and then, visit our website or follow us on Facebook. 

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