When, oh when, did it become May?! Weren’t we JUST ringing in the New Year? Wow, well we guess the old adage is true, “time flies when you’re having fun,” because we sure do have fun working for you fine folks. Speaking of working, keep reading to find out what we’re up to this week in Montgomery.
Alabama Bicentennial Day Celebration Briefing
ACA staffer Ali Cantrell attended a briefing on Alabama Bicentennial Day on Monday to learn more about the upcoming festivities to come on December 13 -14. To celebrate Alabama’s 200 years of statehood, Montgomery will be hosting a parade on December 14 with 75 floats and entries showcasing Alabama history, counties, high school All-Star bands, Alabama notables, and the parade would not be complete without the beef truck and steer in tow! The rest of the day will host several celebrations, performances and demonstrations throughout downtown Montgomery including The MOOseum. Make it a point to come see us on December 14 and witness a wonderful chapter of history for the great state of Alabama!
Beef for Father’s Day Proclamation
Today the ACA and ACWA are heading to the Capitol Building to witness Gov. Kay Ivey sign the “Beef for Father’s Day” Proclamation. This is a annual tradition for the ACA to partner with ACWA to promote buying beef for the dad in your life on their special day. Let’s fire up the grill this coming Father’s day and treat those dads to a nice juicy steak!
HB518 in Committee
HB518, the association’s meat labeling bill addressing cell-cultured products, is in committee today The bill can be found here: http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/ALISON/SearchableInstruments/2019RS/PrintFiles/HB518-int.pdf The Senate version will be dropped tomorrow by Sen. David Sessions.
Bama’s Best Beef: Brisket vs Ribeye Showdown
As a reminder, this year’s Bama’s Best Beef finalists are:
- Smokin’ on the Boulevard (Florence) Beef Brisket
- Roadside ‘Que (Fort Payne) Bourbonzola Brisket Burger
- The Anatomy of Pi Food Truck (Jasper) Steak & Mushroom Pie
- Little Savannah Restaurant & Bar (Birmingham) Spicy Coffee Rubbed Cowboy Ribeye
Last week’s Facebook poll challenge resulted in a win by Roadside ‘Que of Fort Payne, knocking out The Anatomy of Pi. This week’s Facebook poll challenge has the Beef Brisket from Smokin’ on the Boulevard going head-to-head with the Spicy Coffee-Rubbed Cowboy Ribeye, and so far, the brisket has got the lead! Next week’s poll challenge will put the two finalists in a dual where they’ll duke it out for the title! Head on over to the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Facebook page to participate in the voting!
Industry Meetings: ADEM & ADT
The ACA was a part of a quarterly stakeholder meeting at the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). We stay engaged on land, water and air regulation as it pertains to the agricultural sector. We will also be involved in the Animal Disease Traceability (ADT) working group meeting at the Department of Ag and Industries on Friday. The ACA is heavily involved in the changing landscape of animal identification and is a key partner to the state veterinarians office as conversations and action move forward on the topic.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
The membership count of the day is 7,707 members and counting! County secretaries, be sure to be submitting that information to the i4a membership software or here to our state office! Hopefully by now, you’ve input all the renewals that flooded your mailboxes from the renewal statements. Board Members, be sure to save the date for our upcoming Board Meeting to be held Thursday, May 16 at 10 a.m. We’ll see you there!
Grilling Season & Consumer News
With May comes the kickoff of summer grilling season! Fire up those grills 
and throw down those steaks and burgers…yuuummmm. Also, throughout April we celebrated the bright, flavorful tastes of spring with savory springtime salads! Beef Checkoff Contract Dietician Elesha Ergle published a blog about the topic, and we blasted a consumer newsletter to over 10,000 inboxes with links to BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com. Be sure to check out all the consumer communication pieces!
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