What's Going On Wednesday: June 22, 2016

It's officially summertime in Alabama. 

Even though it's felt like it for two months now, the pop-up thunderstorms, high humidity and ridiculous heat indexes have verified its arrival. We hope our cattlemen are staying cool out in the hay fields and while keeping up with everyday tasks on the farm. We urge you to remember to dangers of the Sun and high heat, so don't push it out there! Grad your cowboy hat, water cooler and take a quick breather while you find out what's going on this week at the ACA. 

Executive Committee and ACF Joint Meeting

Tuesday was an eventful day for the ACA staff, Executive Committee and Alabama Cattlemen's Foundation board as they met to discuss ACA/ACF programs Tuesday. The group gathered at Sysco Central Alabama located in Calera to meet, learn and enjoy a delicious, beefy meal prepared by Sysco's Chef James.

While at Sysco, the group of 18 ACA leaders toured the loading docks and were floored at the organization of a distribution system that is firmly dedicated to three major branches of food safety- traceability, sustainability and cold storage integrity. A system of codes and wearable technology used by Sysco ensures proper handling to guarantee safe, quality food upon delivery. As cattlemen, we appreciate the highest level of integrity used in handling our prized product. Thanks, Sysco! 

This was an important meeting as the group disucussed a few major topics relating to the ACA and ACF. The discussion points of the day were:

• Alabama Cattlemen's Foundation scholarships
• Cowboy Tag Sales
• Increasing AJCA Chapters in the state
• How to Increase Private Treaty Sale Checkoff payment
• and Membership, including the new Associate Membership

Good discussion and brainstorming will leave the ACA staff busy as we begin to take that feedback and develop programs of work. Some of those new programs of work will be announced at the August Board Meeting. 

Alabama Cattlemen's Foundation Scholarships 

One of the topics was scholarships at yesterday's meeting, and the ACF Board is proud to announce the creation of three new scholarships for the upcoming school year. Stay tuned for more information! 

The ACF Board also reflected over the past 20 years of scholarship funding by Cowboy Tag sales and voted to honor two men who helped get this tradition started. The ACF Board is pleased to say that at the 2017 Scholarship Banquet, two "Tagged for Greatness" scholarships will be given under the names of Representative Curtis Smith (Colbert County) and Senator Bobby Denton (Chilton County), the Alabama leaders who were instrumental in getting the Cowboy Tag passed into law, in appreciation of their service. 

Be on the lookout for scholarship applications to come out in October! 

AJCA Round-Up

The 10th annual AJCA Round-Up will be here before you know it! Just think, one month from today, we'll all be enjoying the events and contests at Garrett Coliseum. 

All the information you need 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 and it working daily on all the details associated with this year's show! 

BamaBeef.org - Under Construction!

The new BamaBeef.org is OFFICIALLY under construction with a completion date set for August 11. 

Get excited as this new streamlined website will offer all the user-friendly functions of a modern site with a good, old-fashioned look! The plan is for it to become your #1 resource to anything related to Alabama's Beef Cattle Industry. 

While ACA's newest webmaster Kayla Greer has been busy in online training and generating the website's content, the website design team has been working on completing the overall look of the site. We are excited to see what they've come up with as we are expecting those to hit our inbox any second. Stay tuned as training continues and we get closer to our launch date! 

Western Supermarket Meets the Beef Girl

On Thursday, ACA's Erin Beasley will be judging all seven of the Western Supermarkets stores in the Birmingham area for a current summer grilling promotion. Each store will be judged on decoration, meat case display and safety/cleanliness in the cutting room. At the end of the promotion, tonnage increase for each store will be factored into the overall winner of the promotion.

The MOOseum

The MOOseum is buzzing with activity from summer camps and day cares! We've got groups coming by to learn and play daily. 

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.

Speaking of The MOOseum, big plans are in the works for renovation, and we mean it! Dr. Billy Powell, Erin Beasley and Kayla Greer are working this week to make renovation plans and edits. Get ready for the same, great children's center with a fresh face! 

Membership Report

The membership number of the day is 11,052 members of the ACA! We reached 11,000, and plans for 2017 Membership promotion were discussed at Tuesday's Executive Committee meeting. These plans included county officer training from the state staff at regional meetings to be held in the fall, so wait to hear more from that! We're here to help. Call us if you need anything! 

Also, 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.

Junior Beef Expo

Thursday will bring a meeting to finalize plans for the 2017 Junior Beef Expo. Attending this meeting will be represenatives from the Southeastern Livestock Exposition, the Alabama Farmers Federation, Alabama FFA and Auburn University. 

Stay tuned and get excited for next year's state show! 

Beef Fact Friday: Tailgating Food Safety

That's right. It's time for Saturday's down South...almost!

What does that mean? Football, obnoxious outfits, marching bands, cheerleaders and of course, TAILGATING.

At the Alabama Cattlemen's Association, we encourage our state's dedicated tailgaters to #BeefUpYourTailgate and make beef the star of your tailgating menu! It's an easy, nutritious way to charge up for the big game! Not to mention, it's a favorite across all ages!

In Alabama's hot summers and cold winters, however, it's important to keep food safety a ^top^ priority at your tailgate so you can enjoy those delicious meals and stay healthy for the game later! A lot of questions arise from concern for food safety, and that's why today's #BeefFactFriday is all about how to safely handle your beef while preparing, cooking and storing up for your tailgate. 

Keep in mind that the "danger zone" for beef is 40-140 degrees Fahrenheit. ACA's Erin Beasley said, "Tailgate food in the danger zone has the potential for ready-to-eat microorganisms to grow at an exponential rate. A good example of this is a dip made with beef probably contains some kind of dairy product like mayo, cream cheese, etc. This is a great place for listeria to grow in the danger zone."

Here's a great Q&A to answer your questions about how to safely tailgate with beef:

(The information provided below is Food Safety Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Alabama Cattlemen's Association does not claim ownership of the information in the proceeding Q&A.)

Q. Several of us are planning a tailgate party.
How can we handle the foods safely?

A. Keeping food at a safe temperature between home, a store or restaurant, and the tailgate location helps prevent foodborne illness. Follow these tips from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that your food stays safe.

· Carry cold perishable food like raw hamburger patties, sausages, and chicken in an insulated cooler packed with several inches of ice, frozen gel packs, or containers of ice.

· Place an appliance thermometer in the cooler so you can check to be sure the food stays at 40 °F or below.

· When packing the cooler for an outing, be sure raw meat and poultry are wrapped securely to prevent their juices from cross-contaminating ready-to-eat food.

· To keep food like soup, chili, and stew hot, use an insulated container. Fill the container with boiling water, let it stand for a few minutes, empty, and then put in the piping hot food. If you keep the insulated container closed, the food should stay hot (140 °F or above) for several hours.

· If you can’t keep hot food hot during the drive to your tailgate, plan ahead and chill the food in the refrigerator before packing it in a cooler. Reheat the food to 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer.

Q. How do you handle marinated meat for tailgate
cooking?

A. Some recipes state to marinate meat and poultry for several hours or days, either to tenderize or add flavor. Acid in the marinade breaks down connective tissue in meats.

Always marinate food in the refrigerator, not on the counter. If some of the marinade is to be used for basting during smoking or as a sauce on the cooked food, reserve a portion of the marinade. Don’t put raw meat and poultry in it. Don’t reuse the marinade
from raw meat or poultry on cooked food unless it’s boiled first to destroy any harmful bacteria. 

Transport marinated meat and any reserved marinade in a cooler, and keep it cold until grilling it.

Q. Can you partially cook food at home so it grills faster at the tailgate gathering?

A. No. Partially cooking meat or poultry ahead of time should only be done if the food goes immediately from the microwave or stove to the hot grill. Partial cooking of food without cooking it to a safe temperature allows harmful bacteria to survive and multiply. Once meat or poultry starts cooking, continue cooking until it reaches a safe temperature as determined with a food thermometer.

Q. What are the safe temperatures for cooking meat and poultry?

A. Cook food to a safe minimum internal temperature to destroy harmful bacteria. Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside. Use a food thermometer to be sure the food has reached the temperatures recommended below.

Cook all raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks,
chops, and roasts to a minimum internal
temperature of 145°F as measured with a food
thermometer before removing meat from the heat
source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for
at least three minutes before carving or consuming.
For reasons of personal preference, consumers may
choose to cook meat to higher temperatures.

Cook all raw ground beef, pork, lamb, and veal to an
internal temperature of 160°F as measured with a
food thermometer.

Q. How do you avoid cross-contamination?

A. When taking food off the grill, use a clean platter. Don’t put cooked food on the same platter that held raw meat or poultry. Any harmful bacteria present in the raw meat juices could contaminate safely cooked food. In hot weather (above 90 °F), food should
never sit out for more than 1 hour.

Q. Are leftovers from a tailgate party safe to eat later?

A. Some people have so much fun at tailgate gatherings, they never actually watch the sporting event. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe for the food to stay unrefrigerated before, during, and after the event. Holding food at an unsafe temperature is a prime cause of foodborne illness. Store perishable food in the cooler except for brief times when serving. Cook only the amount of food that will be eaten to avoid the challenge of keeping leftovers at a safe temperature.

Discard any leftovers that are not ice cold (40 °F or below) after the game. Food should not be left out of the cooler or off the grill more than 2 hours (1 hour when the outside temperature is above 90 °F).

Beef Fact Friday: Transglutaminase

Has the term “transglutaminase” got you concerned about feeding #BEEF to your family? Does calling it "meat glue" help at all? 

Don’t worry, this week’s #BeefFactFriday will show you it’s a naturally-occurring enzyme that breaks down during the cooking process. It also helps packing plants to be as sustainable as possible by using the maximum amount of meat from a carcass.

Don’t let the scientific terms scare you. Learn more at Facts About Beef. 

Beef Fact Friday: [No] Antibiotics in Beef

Antibiotic use is a hot topic in the agricultural industry.

"Drugs in meat? Not so. Farmers and ranchers work with veterinarians and animal nutritionists in order to protect the health of their animals and the health of consumers."

For more information dealing with antibiotics in the beef industry, check out http://factsaboutbeef.com/2012/12/09/drugs-in-meat-not-so-farmers-and-ranchers-work-with-veterinarians-and-animal-nutritionists-in-order-to-protect-the-health-of-their-animals-and-the-health-of-consumers/.