October Beef Month has arrived! We’ve kicked off the month with all kinds of exciting promotions, announcements and programs, all centered around our favorite protein- beef! Your state staff is extra busy promoting, preparing for a new membership year, building a magazine, planning upcoming events…all the exciting tasks that come with working for Alabama’s best folks, cattlemen. Keep reading to learn about how your checkoff dollars are at work this week and learn how you can get involved with all that’s happening!
Bama’s Best Burger Announced
Imagine a half-pound beef patty topped with made-from-scratch pimento cheese and a fried green tomato. If your mouth is watering at the thought of a burger of this caliber, then a trip to Black Rock Bistro in Jasper, Ala. is due in your future.
On Monday the 2017 Bama’s Best Burger contest culminated with the announcement of the winning burger, Black Rock Bistro’s “Alabama Burger.” This dish represented the contest’s central region while the Rattlesnake Saloon, Tuscumbia, “Duke Burger,” Montgomery-based Hamburger King’s “Deluxe Cheeseburger” and Our Place Diner’s, Ozark, “Bacon, Egg & Cheeseburger” represented the north, south and gulf regions.
Black Rock Bistro will get a visit from our staff as well as a plaque presentation, a year’s bragging rights and an influx of food enthusiasts looking to try Bama’s Best Burger! Congrats to the Black Rock Bistro team.
Membership Update
The new software is still in the works and will be available to all counties who wish to use it by November. ACA Membership Coordinator Jessica Kennedy is working on creating tutorial videos for counties to review. These videos will focus on specific training in areas that county secretaries will be using to input membership, print reports and other options available should you choose to use those. Also, Jessica will be leading some training webinars that county leadership can join in on their computers and ask questions live. County secretaries will be receiving information on electronic check option if the county opts to keep electronic check information or county bank card on file at the state office. This option will eliminate waiting on checks to be mailed and processing and will allow for more real time updated membership. You can choose to decline this option and continue to process membership via check by mail. Also, counties will receive one login and it will be given to the county secretary who enters membership. Those logins will be sent once we have everything set up and ready to go. If you have any questions please send those to Jessica and stay tuned for all the exciting updates!
In other membership housekeeping: the 2018 dues statements will be mailed out November 1. It is very important that you email Jessica with the name and address of the person who will be responsible for receiving those remittances. If she doesn’t hear from you by October 15, the remittances will be defaulted to the state office. Email those addresses to Jessica by October 15. Also, Jessica has mailed membership cards to all counties who did not attend the regional meetings. We ask that county leadership only issues those cards to the members who have paid their 2018 dues. Last but not least- don’t forget that October is Beef Month in Alabama! Please email Jessica photos of your county activities!
Beef 101 with Piggly Wiggly & Sysco
On Tuesday, 52 foodservice and retail representatives from Piggly Wiggly 
and Sysco Gulf Coast joined us at the Auburn Beef Teaching Unit & Meats Lab to learn about beef from pasture to plate. ACA President Richard Meadows welcomed the group, helped lead a conversation about the beef life cycle and gave a background on his cattle operation. Jason and Dr. Misty Edmondson spoke to the group about beef production practices during a live animal evaluation then Meats Lab staff fabricated a beef carcass into retail cuts for the group to see. It was a great program and introduced many of those who sell our product to the production and meat science aspects of the industry!
Buckhead Beef + Golden State Foods
This week, ACA Executive VP Erin Beasley hosted NCBA Supply Chain Relationship Management Director Shelley Bradway to Alabama as she visited several distributors and participated in Beef 101. On Monday, Beasley and Bradway headed to Atlanta to visit Buckhead Beef to discuss educational opportunities and resources available to them through the beef checkoff. Following Beef 101 
on Tuesday, Shelley along with program staff and AU Meat Sciences faculty toured the new Golden State Foods meat plant in Opelika. This
plant will produce fresh and frozen beef patties for McDonald’s locations across the Southeast, and we’re pleased with the new relationships with both of these beef companies.
Youth Production Field Day
Parents, teachers and county junior cattlemen advisers…stop what you’re doing and grab your calendar! Save the date for Nov. 11 at Langley Farms in Camp Hill for a Youth Production Field Day where Dr. Soren Rodning, Sarah Dickinson and Courteney Holland will teach on a variety of topics including BQA, calving demos, body conditioning scoring and forage testing. Registration is available at www.BamaBeef.org/ProductionFD. Lunch will be provided and a farm tour of Langley Farms will follow the morning’s learning opportunities.
Scholarship Apps- Now Available
Alabama Cattlemen’s Foundation scholarship applications are now 
available online at www.BamaBeef.org/Scholarships. We encourage you to visit the site and explore the many scholarship opportunities for high school and college students in Alabama. Each year, the AFC gives over $50,000 in scholarships to deserving students whose parents or grandparents are members of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association.
Check out the many scholarship opportunities, and don’t forget- the deadline is Dec. 1 at midnight!
IBOTTA APP LAUNCH
One week ago today we launched a statewide campaign with a consumer app called ibotta. This app offers rebates on groceries and household items, and starting today, you’ll find a $2 OFF roast coupon for any brand/variety of roasts purchased in most Alabama food retail stores. This campaign will sell over 5,000 roasts throughout the month and will provide consumers with great information about the beef industry!
So far, our stats tell us we’ve earned over 1,200 redemptions on this coupon. That means in just one week, this coupon has inspired the sale of over 1,200 roasts!
CLICK HERE TO EARN THIS REBATE
BEEF UP THE BLOOD SUPPLY
On Oct, 13 from 10-3 the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association will host a “Beef up the Blood Supply” campaign. We have partnered with Alabama Department of Ag and Industries and LifeSouth to bring a blood drive event to the Cattlemen’s Building in downtown Montgomery.
The ACA will be providing a steak sandwich to patrons of the event who donate blood. With the recent natural disasters that have struck our fellow Americans, it is more important than ever to ensure we have an adequate blood supply. Rewarding donors with a steak sandwich grilled up by an Alabama cattle producer is an ideal opportunity to involve the community in this charitable effort while encouraging them to eat beef during October Beef Month.
Here are a Few Handy Links You May Enjoy:
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