It’s hard to believe that our annual convention and the SLE Rodeo have already come and gone for the year. Those events always create quite a bit of chaos around the workplace, but also are exciting ways to kick off a new year. With those events behind us, we are looking forward to all that the spring and summertime bring. In the coming months, we are focused on beef promotion, educating consumers and industry influencers at various courses and demonstrations and the big transition that lies ahead with Dr. Billy Powell’s retirement. We’re also gearing up for summertime youth events and taking on some new projects in the office.
Keep reading to learn more about all that’s happening this week and what lies ahead for the ACA!
NCBA Legislative Conference
Our fearless state leaders are taking on our nation’s capital this week to attend the NCBA Legislative Conference, also known as the #DCBeefMeet. ACA Executive VP Dr. Billy Powell and Assistant EVP Erin Beasley have joined State President Richard Meadows in Washington D.C. to catch up on federal government activity involving the cattle industry and meet with Alabama’s senators and representatives.
Today our leaders will be meeting with Congresswoman Martha Roby, Congressman Robert Aderholt, Congressman Gary Palmer, Congressman Mike Rogers, Congressman Bradley Byrne, Sen. Luther Strange and Sen. Richard Shelby. This has great effects on Alabama’s beef cattle industry!
Membership Reminders
Don’t forget to get those memberships AND checks into the state office or postmarked by this Friday, March 31 to meet our extended “Over the Top” Deadline. Counties that go “Over the Top” earn your president a red coat, and who doesn’t want one of those iconic ACA staples? Check out who’s already in the winner’s circle: Greene, Clay, Chambers, Houston, St Clair, Elmore and Dekalb counties. Great work!!
BQA Registration on BamaBeef.org
Be sure to check out all of the BQA trainings that will be held during April and May at the Research & Extension Centers across the state. All of these will be hands-on, interactive trainings to achieve BQA certification. Earning your BQA certification has never been easier, so don’t miss out on the opportunity. Visit us online to learn more. Registration is now open on for all sessions.
Questions about certification? Call Erin at (334) 265-1867.
A Busy Month of BEEF 101 Programs
The month of April will be spent educating influencers about beef at
Auburn University. The checkoff-funded program, BEEF 101, will host over 200 individuals from culinary students to Extension personnel who all share an interest of learning more about beef from pasture to plate. Cattlemen are encouraged to attend if they are interested. The dates are April 5, 10, 21 and 26. Contact Erin if you would like more information or if you would like to attend.
Bringing Recipe Videos to Social Media
Who’s seen one of those catchy recipe videos produced by Buzzfeed Tasty? They’re quick, fun and make preparing even the most difficult dishes look like a breeze. Well, your Beef Checkoff here in Alabama is jumping on the recipe video bandwagon. Last week, Checkoff staffers Kayla Greer and Erin Beasley set up shop to film four different recipes perfect for different times of the year including summertime, back to school season, tailgating and the holidays.
This week, Kayla Greer is hanging out behind the computer screen working to produce those videos. Stay tuned for those to post on the ACA’s social media outlets throughout the year!
Wildfire Relief Fund
A catastrophe of dire measure struck our friends to the west as wildfires swept across the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado starting the early morning hours of Monday, March 6. Over 1 million acres have burned leaving 500,000+ acres in Texas, 833,000+ acres in Oklahoma, 630,000+ acres in Kansas and 35,000+ acres in Colorado left scorched and barren. Tens of thousands of cattle have fallen victim to the raging wildfires that were fueled by 60 mph winds, and a known seven people have lost their lives. Thousands have lost homes, fences, barns, hay…entire homesteads…in a matter of hours.
The Alabama Cattlemen’s Association has a long history of offering relief to cattle producers who have experienced catastrophe. Cattlemen helping cattlemen is a story known all too well by Alabama beef cattle producers who have been on the receiving end of generous donations during times of devastation in our home state. That is why the Alabama Cattlemen’s Foundation has opened a Wildfire Relief Fund to raise money that will be donated to relief efforts in affected states.
Those interested in making donations can click here or by mailing a check to:
Alabama Cattlemen’s Foundation- Wildfire Relief Fund
201 South Bainbridge Street
Montgomery, AL 36104
We would like to remind you to keep these fellow cattle families in your prayers. We would also like to give a shout out to Cullman County cattleman Cody Rasco and his team of volunteers for answering the cry for help out west. Cody worked to gather fencing supplies and organized a team to take the load out west to donate and offer a helping hand. In his Facebook post, Cody said, “We had donations from North Carolina, and all over the Southeast. Words in these situations are hard to come by but your actions have spoken loud and clear. I’m honored and proud to be a small part of taking supplies to those ranchers in Wheeler, TX. We supplied them with 1,100 t posts, 43 wood posts, 40 or 50 rolls of wire, and thousands of clips and insulators.” Great work, Cody. Thank you for your outstanding representation of Alabama cattlemen.
Save the Dates! 11th Annual AJCA Round-Up
Take a break from your summertime siesta to join us in Montgomery for a fiesta! That’s right. The 11th annual AJCA Round-Up will be taking on a “South of the Border” theme at Garrett Coliseum’s livestock barns July 20-23. Stay tuned for registration information. We look forward to seeing you there!
Here’s a Few Handy Links You May Enjoy:
Thanks for reading this week’s post! We’ll be back next week- same time, same place. Until then, we want to remind you that you can stay in touch with us by following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Have a great week!
The members and staff of the Southeastern Livestock Exposition are preparing for the big event headed to Montgomery March 16-18. Staff has kicked off social media, radio, television and outdoor advertisements and has started making on-air appearances at WSFA-12, WBAM 98.9 and WACV 93.1 and WTXT 107.5 so far this week. On Thursday, rodeo clown Trent McFarland and staffer Kayla Greer will be spending the morning at the Montgomery Zoo as the duo attend the mayor’s weekly media briefing with Executive Director Dr. Billy Powell heads over to WAKA to record a tv spot followed by a radio interview at WTXT. SLE Livestock Week events kick off officially on Thursday as more than 230 registered participants compete in the SLE Livestock Judging Contest at the Garrett Coliseum. Jason P’Poole is pleased that for the second year, we’ve seen an increase in participation!
Chandler of Titus, Ala. Sarah Grace is 14 years old and has a beautiful voice you can all hear at the Friday night performance of the show. Not only was Sarah Grace’s audition outstanding, we had many!! So many, in fact, that the committee elected to select an entry for each show! We are excited to have Sydni Sikes with her sign language interpretation to perform at Wednesday’s Miracle Rodeo, Ella Langley of Hope Hull perform Thursday night, Sarah Grace Chandler on Friday and Mary Kate McPherson of Faunsdale at the Saturday matinee show.
ACA Assistant Executive Vice President Erin Beasley is spending time today the Certified Angus Beef Specialist Seminar in Mobile as it features foodservice and retail specialists from around the world. The conference focuses on education about the product from Pasture to Plate. By gaining more knowledge about this product, we can improve our education programs with retail and foodservice partners who sell CAB.
left and right! We are thrilled to meet all who are interested in this program and watch them grow in the years to come. If you want to apply, visit