What's Going On Wednesday: August 5, 2015

Can you believe it's already August?! We sure can't, and there's no time during this busy month to mess around at the Cattlemen's building!

The legislative special session, board meetings, board sales, task forces, planning committees and conferences are only a few of the things on our August calendar. Then throw in the start of 2016 membership campaigns, October Beef Month just around the corner and the normal day-to-day operations on our to-do lists, and all that causes for a busy month! 

Despite all this hustle and bustle, the staffers are excited to be working for our Alabama cattlemen daily to help maintain and better the beef industry in our beautiful home state. We don't mind staying busy for our members, so you take care of the cattle, and we'll take care of you!

Alabama's Best Steak Contest

WHOA- We are so thrilled by the response this year's ABS contest has received! The July nomination round brought in over 12,000 nominations representing more than 140 Alabama restaurants. However, only 16 of those could proceed (see below) to the "Sizzling 16" round which lasts until this Saturday at midnight! Cast your vote NOW at www.AlabamasBestSteak.com and be looking out for the announcement of the "Enticing 8" restaurants August 10th at noon.

Dinners, Dinners and More Dinners

With concerns about budget cuts, we hosted a steak dinner along with 20 members of the Ag Legislative Coalition for the Ag Commissioner and seven key committee chairs from the House and Senate. Discussions provide insight into the impact proposed budget cuts could have on the state’s #1 industry – agriculture and forestry.

Tonight (Wednesday), Dr. Billy Powell, Curt Berry and Kayla Sellers will be attending the Producers Feeder Calf Sale in Autaugaville, AL. A steak dinner will follow the board sale featuring 2,550 outstanding calves. ACA President-elect Bill Lipscomb manages this sale.

Thursday night will bring around 100 conference attendees to the Cattlemen's building for a steak dinner. Those attending the dinner will be part of the Deep South Stocker Conference held at Auburn University Montgomery Aug. 6-7. During the dinner, the conference goers will learn about the history of Montgomery and the Alabama Cattlemen's Association from Dr. Billy Powell.

WARNING: Remodel In the Works

It's time the MOOseum gets a facelift, don't you think? Well so do we and that's why several days out of this month will be spent in planning meetings dedicated to the modernization/updating of a valuable asset to our association- the MOOseum. 

There's no set timeline on this remodel. These meetings are solely for discussing the topic of a makeover and ideally creating a timeline. Until further notice, the MOOseum is open for business and waiting for you to stop by!

Dustpans! Get Your Dustpans!

Make the ACA a part of your everyday chores! How, you ask? Let us help you clean your house! That's right, stop by the MOOseum today to get an "Eat Beef" dustpan- handmade from 100-year-old wood straight out of Fort Deposit, Alabama! Talk about buying local! 

These novelty items are on sale now at the MOOseum for $20 each. Stop by today and grab on before they're gone! 

SLE Rodeo

Go ahead and mark your calendars! The 2016 SLE Rodeo will be buckin' back to town March 17-19, 2016 at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery! Look out on social media for some surveys of what you'd like to see at this year's rodeo event! Be sure to "Like"

What's Going On Wednesday: July 29, 2015

The AJCA Round-Up is over and the final "thank you" letters are being sent today, and our staff is catching its breath from the busy weekend and gearing up for a busy month of August! Not too much exciting stuff is going on around the office this week, so for #WhatsGoingOnWednesday, we're going to do more of a #WhatsAheadWednesday! Check it out:

Beef Checkoff at the FACS Summer Conference

Erin Beasley is spending her day doing checkoff work in Birmingham as she runs a beef education course with Culinard Culinary School. This afternoon she will be talking
to Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) teachers during a breakout session at their summer conference. Erin will be presenting the new lesson plans for beef consumer education materials.

Alabama Legislature 

The special session reconvenes Monday, Aug. 3 and following the session at the State House, Ag Commissioner John McMillan with the Department of Ag and other ag organizations in the state are having a dinner meeting with house and senate leadership about topics discussed in the session. The dinner will be hosted at the Alabama Cattlemen's Association building, and ACA reps will be in attendance. 

What's Ahead?

While we catch our breath and unwind from the Round-Up, we are also preparing ourselves for the busy month ahead. August brings with it many important meetings that will have an effect on future events hosted by the ACA and the SLE. 

During August we will be having a SLE committee meetings to work out a schedule of events for the 2016 rodeo, and the Junior Beef Expo committee will be in to work on the 2016 state show in March during SLE season. Meetings to discuss and plan the remodeling the MOOseum will come back to life in hopes of taking some large steps toward updating the visitor's experience. Last but certainly not least, our Summer Board of Directors meeting will be on August 27 at the ACA building. 

What's Going On Wednesday

The staff is staying busy around the Alabama Cattlemen's Association headquarters! Whether Erin is planning her next BEEF 101 session, Nicky is building next month's magazine or Selina is creating ways to enhance membership, there's always something happening to help make this organization better than before and to use your checkoff dollars in ways that will benefit you!

Check out #What'sGoingOn around the ACA this week.

Need a Bang for Your Advertising Buck? Look no further...

The month of June sneaked up on us all, which means that July is just around the corner! The Alabama Cattlemen magazine does a special issue each July, and by special we mean instead of mailing out the usual 12,000 copies statewide, we send more than 20,000 magazines to families and businesses in Alabama. 

What does this have to do with you? If you're looking to advertise your product, now's the time because while we increase our readership by more than 8,000 households, your cost of advertising remains the same. To spell that out- you get more for your money. Who doesn't want that?

If you're interested in advertising in July's Alabama Cattlemen, call Production Coordinator Nicky Bechard at (334) 265-1867 or email her at nbechard@bamabeef.org on or before June 15th.

AJCA Round-Up in Planning Overdrive

Summer intern Madison Tew is working diligently to make the 9th annual AJCA Round-Up the best yet! She's hoping participants can "Catch a Wave" and a great time at this year's show!

This week Madison is working on getting the awards made for this year's winners, and she's excited because next week we will be launching the online registration platform on the AJCA Round-Up website. Look out for that!

She encourages all who are interested in participating in this year's Round-Up to get your membership forms and dues in ASAP!

If you have any questions regarding the Round-Up, contact Madison at (334) 265-1867 or intern@bamabeef.org.

2015 AJCA Round-Up

July 23-26, 2015

Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, AL

Beef 101

Director of Consumer Marketing Erin Beasley stays busy traveling across the state promoting beef and educating industry influencers (dietitians, retailers, chefs, teachers, food service operators, etc) about the beef product life cycle, a process we call "Pasture to Plate." One way she does that is through an educational program designed for influencers called Beef 101. 

Thanks to our partnership with Auburn University’s Department of Animal Sciences, superior facilities, high quality cattle and top-notch instructors are available for use in the live animal and beef carcass demonstrations of the program.

Feedback from previous Beef 101 participants has been very positive with many claiming they had never experienced a workshop where they were able to have a hands on demonstrations with live cattle, beef carcasses and retail cuts. 

Erin will be in Auburn Thursday, June 4 for a Beef 101 session with family and consumer sciences (FACS) teachers for the program.

If you're a cattle producer interested in getting involved in the education process of Beef 101, contact Erin Beasley at (334) 265-1867.

Beef Prices Explained

It's no secret that beef prices are at an all-time high right now, but as an association that represents Alabama's cattle producers, the ACA is loving this trend; however, we realize from a consumer standpoint that this can be frustrating.

Many ask, why in the world are prices so high right now? Well, here's a great video to explain what goes into the cost of retail beef.

MOOseum Happenings

Summer programs, day camps and kids free from the constraints of school hours keep the MOOseum full during the summer months! Whether a group scheduled a tour or a family popped in after grabbing lunch downtown, everyone's welcome to stop by and learn about Alabama's beef industry. 

Stop by and visit Dusty, Cowboy Slim and Jessica- they'd love to have you!

If you're interested in bring your group by, schedule an appointment with MOOseum Coordinator Jessica Kennedy by calling (334) 265-1867.