Howdy there, cattlemen! After a long weekend and quite the turnaround in the office, we missed getting to chat with you last week. To make up for it, we’ll make this post extra informative and make sure you have all the information you need to stay in touch with your state cattlemen’s association. As July is scooting by at a rapid rate, we’re busy will all the many preparations and planning that is required for our many fall promotions and events. Fall…sheesh. When did half of 2017 get away?
Nevertheless, we know you’re busy with cutting, baling, raking and all the many other jobs of being a cattleman, but beat this humid noontime heat with a break on our blog!
Last Week Recap
Beasley Takes Over as Exec
When staff arrived in the office last Wednesday after a welcomed long weekend celebrating July 4, the crew was under new leadership. Longtime staff member and former Director of Checkoff Programs Erin Beasley took over her new role as executive vice president of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association. Since taking on this role in the past week, Erin has moved on up to the big office and gracefully transitioned into her leadership role. Our association is surely in great hands as Erin has an expansive knowledge of the beef cattle industry and a team of great volunteer leaders to work alongside. The future is bright!
Bama’s Best Beef presentation
ACA Checkoff staff Erin Beasley, Kayla Greer and Michael Agar had 
the pleasure of visiting BBQ Stop in Jefferson County last Wednesday to present its plaque for winning our 2nd annual Bama’s Best Beef contest. They were joined by ACA Vice President Chris Langley and his wife Elizabeth who spoke during the the presentation and enjoyed the delicious “Brisket & Mac” dish.
The ACA representatives were also joined by press staff of the Trussville Tribune and Birmingham-based food critic and friend of the beef industry Comedienne Joy. Both outfits did print and video stories on our winning restaurant.
On top of meeting new friends of beef, we had the opportunity to learn about the owners of BBQ Stop, Cliff & Debbie Mortimer. Alabama transplants by way of Ohio, this duo makes a perfect restaurant-owning team. While Cliff is the head pitmaster who has won over 250 barbecue cook-offs across the nation, Debbie handles all the aesthetics and public relations needed to promote a family-owned restaurant. The food was outstanding! The brisket got two thumbs up from our beef-loving team and Chris and Elizabeth even purchased a bottle of their award-winning “Southern Peach” bbq sauce. If you ever find yourself in Clay, swing by and give them a try!
AJCA Round-Up- registration closed
Last Wednesday, registration for the 11th annual AJCA Round-Up closed, and we are proud to have over 150 young cattlemen from across the state heading to Montgomery next week for a FIESTA good time. They’ll participate not only in cattle shows, but cattle judging, team grooming, public speaking, essay, career development, ad design, a cook-off and so many more fun contests!
Director applications have also been submitted, and we’re proud to have so many qualified young cattlemen running for a leadership role. We’ll have elections for one seat in each district during the 3-day event. Check out our candidates…
District 1:
- Emma Merriman
- Reagan Murphree
- Ashley Ruf
District 2:
- Will Jordan
- Michael Morrison
District 3:
- Nathan Gullatt
- Chelsea Langley
- Sarah Parker
District 4:
- Josh Graham
- Bryce Hendricks
- Jacob Meadows
10,000 Members And Counting
After a major membership drive run by the state team and with the help of county chapters across the state, the ACA met its 2017 goal of having 10,000 members! In fact, the membership final count for 2017 was 10,024! That being said, the 2017 membership year is now closed and all memberships sent in to the state office will be applied to 2018.
Strides are being made toward the application of our new membership software, I4A. The software is in testing and will be up and running in the fall. ACA Membership Coordinator Jessica Kennedy mentioned that anything entered in the old database will not be processed moving forward, so send all membership to the state office in a spreadsheet with member name and number along with money.
JOHN DEERE GATOR TICKETS: We have John Deere Gator drawing tickets 
for sale now, and we need to sell many more than we have! Tickets are $10 or 3 for $20. Just think…$10 and you could be the proud winner of a John Deere Gator XUV 560. Give Jessica a call today to purchase your tickets over the phone or have her mail you a booklet! The drawing will be held at the August 10 Board of Directors Meeting.
Washington County Field Day
ACA Director of Industry Relations and Youth Programs Michael Agar enjoyed spending this past Saturday in Fruitdale, AL with Washington County cattlemen while learning about the benefits of sun hemp, rotational grazing and livestock mixes from Richard and Steven Petcher. We appreciate Tommy Fuller and the Washington County leadership team for the invite and for hosting a great field day for producers.
Now for This Week…
Simmental Junior Nationals
On Monday, ACA’s Michael Agar got the opportunity to break out his 
livestock judging skills as he took the Intermediate Division reasons at the Simmental Junior Nationals Youth Livestock Judging Contest in Hattiesburg, MS. We were proud to have numerous AJCA members compete within this division. These kids were challenged to rank four head of cattle from best to worst in six classes, including cow/calf pairs, bulls and replacement heifers and keep/cull.
Following the judging portion of the contest the participants gave a brief set of reasons to judges that briefly described what they saw and their reasoning for placing the class the way they did. Michael noted that he was very impressed by the youth involved in the contest as a whole and particularly within the state of Alabama. Great job, juniors!
ACAE Lunch & Learn
The ACA was proud to host the Alabama Council of Association Executives during their monthly luncheon on Tuesday as the group discussed the work being done to establish a conference center in Gulf Shores. Association execs from across Alabama joined in our building to learn about these new opportunities.
NCBA Summer Conference
ACA President Richard Meadows, Past President Bill Lipscomb and Executive Vice President are on a plane to Denver as we type! The trio will be in Denver until Saturday attending the NCBA Summer Conference where they’ll be updated on all the work happening out of our parent organization.
Stocker Conference
Friday, July 14th, ACA’s Michael Agar will travel to Hale county for the Stocker Cattle Shortcourse which has been organized by REA Brenda Glover. We will head on on Thursday to Hale County to meet with ALFA’s District VI Director Wallace Drury where they’ll spend the day visiting with a variety of cattle producers. Michael is looking forward to meeting with West Alabama cattle producers!
AUGUST BOARD MEETING- SAVE THE DATE
Board of Directors: Don’t forget our Board Meeting to be held August 10 at the ACA Building in downtown Montgomery. We look forward to seeing each of you and updating you on all we’ve done this summer as well as telling you what to look forward to in the fall!
Here are a Few Handy Links You May Enjoy:
Thanks for reading this week’s post! Until we post again next week , we want to remind you that you can stay in touch with us by following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.