Rain, rain go away. Our cattlemen have cattle to feed today.
We hope that all fared through this line of heavy storms well and that damages (if any) were minimal. It's a busy week as usual around the office and there's still a lot to get handled before we head north to Birmingham for Convention at the end of this month. Where, oh where, did January go?
Keep reading to catch up with #WhatsGoingOn this rainy Wednesday around the ACA Building:
Membership Update
Total membership for 2016 to date is 6,646. This month is your final opportunity to renew or join at the $30 rate. The dues increase will take effect on March 1st.Dates to remember for membership. Feb. 26 is the final chance for your county to go "Over the Top" by five members to qualify for the President's red coat. April 30 is the deadline for Top Hand Club (see prizes in the January Alabama Cattleman) and for your county to go "Over the Top" to qualify for the Priefert Squeeze Chute. April 30 is also the deadline for the Gator raffle.
This Week's County Meetings:
Thursday, Feb. 4: Cherokee, 6pm
Mobile, 7pm
Henry, 6:30pm
Tallapoosa, 6pm
Chambers, 6:30pm CST
Friday, Feb. 5: Dale
Saturday, Feb. 6: Russell, 6pm EST
Choctaw, 6pm
Fayette, 7pm
Elmore, 6pm
Learn more by viewing the Cattlemen's Calendar.
Legislative Front
The 2016 Legislative Session got underway Tuesday, and we expect
another battle on the General Fund budget. There is very little support for
increasing revenue so more cuts in agency funding appear to be on the table.
President Jim Akin and Dr. Billy Powell listened closely to Governor Bentley’s “State of the
State” address Tuesday evening, especially as he talked about plans to strengthen rural
Alabama.
Did You Say the Cow Herd is Rebuilding?
We sure did...The nation’s cowherd is rebuilding after a downslide that bottomed out in 2014, according to the USDA’s January 1 inventory. The inventory showed that all cattle and calves in the U.S. totaled 92 million head, a 3% increase above the 89.1 million head on January 1, 2015.In Alabama, cattle and calves showed an increase of 50,000 head as of January 1, making the new count 1.25 million head-
Lauderdale County Cattle Rustling
In light of the unfortunate calf butchering occurrences that have taken place on Lauderdale County cattle operations, the ACA urges state cattlemen and cattlewomen to remember the Cattle Theft Reward member benefit.
The ACA offers a Cattle Theft Reward program that prizes $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone stealing or destroying cattle on ACA member property. In order to qualify for the reward program, the following conditions must be met:
The ACA offers tips to its members that help deflect cattle rustling on Alabama farms. These tips include tattooing and branding cattle for the purpose of identification instead of relying solely on ear tagging, ensuring that the brand used is registered with the Stockyards & Brands Division of the Department of Agriculture and keeping detailed records on the type, description and number of cattle in each location. Other useful tips include locating loading pens away from highways, never keeping cattle penned overnight and varying the times of checking on or feeding cattle to keep employees, neighbors and others from noticing a pattern in daily routines.
If you haven't registered for the 73rd annual ACA Convention and Trade Show, then now's the time! Pre-registration, which would sign you up for meals, closes February 18.
We have a great lineup of guest speakers and a sold-out trade show for the Iron City Beef Bash Alabama Senior Senator Richard Shelby will be the keynote speaker at the legislative luncheon while Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, Ph.D., Administrator for the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, will be the general session guest speaker. Other guest speakers include USMEF's Dan Halstrom who will speak on "What Lies Ahead for the Beef Export Market," Soren Rodning, DMV, from Auburn University, nationally-recognized Extension Ag Economist Dr. Derrell Peel from Oklahoma State University and NCBA Executive Director of Producer Education Josh White.
Our trade show is sold out with over 60 vendors including companies like Tri-Green, Priefert, Fuller Supply, Deep South Livestock, Merck, New Holland North America, Southern Silage Company, Drummonds Farms, BamaWise, Verizon Wireless and many, many more! The trade show alone is worth the trip to the Iron City!
Friday night's Rotational Grazing is going to be a great time for all with fun, fellowship and boot, scoot and boogy-in' to Tim Tyler the Piano Man! Other entertainment and a photo booth sponsored by the Southeastern Livestock Expo will be available as well!
A special thanks to this year's Convention sponsors Alabama Farm Credit/Alabama Land Credit, Alabama Farmers Cooperative. Alabama Farmers Federation, AgriLabs, Alabama CattleWomen’s Association, First South Farm Credit, Fuller Supply Company/Preifert Ranch Equipment, Morgan Stanley, ServisFirst Bank, Southeast AgNet and the Southeastern Livestock Exposition.
More information regarding this year's convention is in January's issue of the Alabama Cattleman and there will be more in February's upcoming issue. Register online or by mail today by clicking the link above. Reserve your room at the Sheraton: CLICK HERE or call 205-324-500 BEFORE Feb. 21!
(Group code: AL CATTLEMEN'S ASSOCIATION)
The ACA's online presence and popularity has really taken a leap! On Tuesday, the ACA Facebook page celebrated reaching 6,000 likes, a 2,000 likes increase from May 2015. With weekly consumer-and-producer-targeted posts, this means the ACA is spreading the good word about beef and cattle production to more than 6,000 daily! It's Director of Social Media Kayla Greer's goal to have 8,000 likes by year-end.
If you don't already "like" us, click here and do so! Enter our contests to win awesome, beefy prizes and follow our daily posts to learn more about the industry and about our favorite protein, beef!
You're not going to want to miss this family fun show packed with entertainment! Frontier Rodeo Company, PRCA's Stock Contractor of the Year, will be bringing their best including PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year, Medicine Woman! In between the bucking, bulldoggin' and barrels, Pro Rodeo master comedian Lecile Harris
will entertain the crowd while celebrating 60 years in the business! Don't forget your boogie boots because following Friday and Saturday nights' performances, you'll get to go Dancin' in the Dirt to the Sweet Young'Uns (Friday) and the Wes Loper Band (Saturday). Just in case that's not enough excitement, Thursday night is First Responders Night where FREE general admission is granted to anyone who can present a first responders identification. Friday night is Ladies Night where all ladies tickets will be submitted for some juicy door prizes drawn throughout the show! Lastly, bring those battle cries to the rodeo Saturday
night for College Night, where college students can receive 4 tickets for only $40 with the presentation of a valid college i.d.
The ACA offers a Cattle Theft Reward program that prizes $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone stealing or destroying cattle on ACA member property. In order to qualify for the reward program, the following conditions must be met:
- The owner of the stolen/destroyed cattle must be a member in good standing of the ACA.
- One or more of the ACA “No Trespassing” signs must have been posted on the farm at the time of the offense.
- Applications for the award must be filed with the ACA within 30 days after the final conviction for the person stealing or destroying the cattle.
- The president of the county chapter in which the cattle were stolen must certify that all of these rules and regulations were complied with.
The ACA offers tips to its members that help deflect cattle rustling on Alabama farms. These tips include tattooing and branding cattle for the purpose of identification instead of relying solely on ear tagging, ensuring that the brand used is registered with the Stockyards & Brands Division of the Department of Agriculture and keeping detailed records on the type, description and number of cattle in each location. Other useful tips include locating loading pens away from highways, never keeping cattle penned overnight and varying the times of checking on or feeding cattle to keep employees, neighbors and others from noticing a pattern in daily routines.
Auburn Ag Alumni Wall of Honor
Dr. Billy Powell is headed to Auburn Thursday to be there in support of friends getting introduced onto the Auburn Ag Alumni Wall of Honor. Past ACA president Wayne Thames and longtime colleagues Jim Cravey and Dr. Stanley Wilson are being inducted. Barbour County cattlemen Walter Sonny Corcoran and longtime professor in Department of Animal Science and Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame member, Dr. Ralph Harris, are also being inducted posthumously.ACA Convention and Trade Show
President Akin and Dr. Billy will go over final plans for the “Iron
City Beef Bash” coming up in Birmingham while Jim is in Montgomery for the Legislative Session. The two, along with the rest of the state officer team and staffer Curt Berry, have been busy traveling across the state to visit county Annual Meetings to give updates on state programs and happenings.
If you haven't registered for the 73rd annual ACA Convention and Trade Show, then now's the time! Pre-registration, which would sign you up for meals, closes February 18.We have a great lineup of guest speakers and a sold-out trade show for the Iron City Beef Bash Alabama Senior Senator Richard Shelby will be the keynote speaker at the legislative luncheon while Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, Ph.D., Administrator for the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, will be the general session guest speaker. Other guest speakers include USMEF's Dan Halstrom who will speak on "What Lies Ahead for the Beef Export Market," Soren Rodning, DMV, from Auburn University, nationally-recognized Extension Ag Economist Dr. Derrell Peel from Oklahoma State University and NCBA Executive Director of Producer Education Josh White.
Our trade show is sold out with over 60 vendors including companies like Tri-Green, Priefert, Fuller Supply, Deep South Livestock, Merck, New Holland North America, Southern Silage Company, Drummonds Farms, BamaWise, Verizon Wireless and many, many more! The trade show alone is worth the trip to the Iron City!
Friday night's Rotational Grazing is going to be a great time for all with fun, fellowship and boot, scoot and boogy-in' to Tim Tyler the Piano Man! Other entertainment and a photo booth sponsored by the Southeastern Livestock Expo will be available as well!
A special thanks to this year's Convention sponsors Alabama Farm Credit/Alabama Land Credit, Alabama Farmers Cooperative. Alabama Farmers Federation, AgriLabs, Alabama CattleWomen’s Association, First South Farm Credit, Fuller Supply Company/Preifert Ranch Equipment, Morgan Stanley, ServisFirst Bank, Southeast AgNet and the Southeastern Livestock Exposition.
More information regarding this year's convention is in January's issue of the Alabama Cattleman and there will be more in February's upcoming issue. Register online or by mail today by clicking the link above. Reserve your room at the Sheraton: CLICK HERE or call 205-324-500 BEFORE Feb. 21!
(Group code: AL CATTLEMEN'S ASSOCIATION)
Social Media Update
The ACA's online presence and popularity has really taken a leap! On Tuesday, the ACA Facebook page celebrated reaching 6,000 likes, a 2,000 likes increase from May 2015. With weekly consumer-and-producer-targeted posts, this means the ACA is spreading the good word about beef and cattle production to more than 6,000 daily! It's Director of Social Media Kayla Greer's goal to have 8,000 likes by year-end. If you don't already "like" us, click here and do so! Enter our contests to win awesome, beefy prizes and follow our daily posts to learn more about the industry and about our favorite protein, beef!
2016 SLE Rodeo
The 59th Annual SLE Rodeo comes bucking into town March 17-19. This is a family event you don't wanna miss because this year has all kinds of new events including a parade to kick off SLE week! Tickets are easy to buy:
- Call 1-888-2RODEO2 and order over phone
- Visit www.SLERodeo.com and order online through Ticketmaster.
- Visit the Cattlemen's building in Downtown Montgomery or the Garrett Coliseum and buy your tickets in person
- Mail in a ticket order form, which can her found here.
You're not going to want to miss this family fun show packed with entertainment! Frontier Rodeo Company, PRCA's Stock Contractor of the Year, will be bringing their best including PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year, Medicine Woman! In between the bucking, bulldoggin' and barrels, Pro Rodeo master comedian Lecile Harris |
| The Sweet Young'Uns will perform Friday evening following the show, and the Wes Loper Band will party in true rodeo fashion Saturday! |
Saddle up and join in the family fun and entertainment for all ages all while enjoying America's original sport, rodeo! Visit our website for more information and a schedule of events.
