After a bitter cold week, who all is enjoying these warmer temperatures!? Cattle…and cattlemen…across the state are getting the opportunity to thaw out and accomplish tasks on the farm in preparation for the spring months that are quickly headed our way! Now, that’s something to be excited out! Speaking of spring, our spring calendar is filling up quick. The two most important events are the ACA Convention & Trade Show and the SLE Livestock Week. Be sure to keep reading to learn more about these events and get important deadline information!
ACA Convention & Trade Show- Early Bird Ends Next Week!
First thing’s first. If you want to attend convention AND save $20/ 
attendee, be sure to get registered by NEXT WEDNESDAY! Beginning February 1, Do-It-All and One-Day Package pricing will increase by $20/attendee. No exceptions! Also be sure to get your room at the Embassy booked by visiting this link or calling (256) 327-7838 and giving the block code “ACA.” This will ensure you get a room on the Cattlemen’s Block!
Click Here to Register Now! Or call us at (334) 265-1867 to register by phone.
Now- for the fun stuff. This year’s convention schedule is packed with great speakers, an engaging and interactive trade show, junior cattlemen activities and live entertainment. Here’s the run down!
On Friday, get ready to kick off the convention with Cattlemen’s College 1 which is all about “Cattle Handling and Disease Prevention,” followed by our Opening General Session led by Ranch House Designs Chief Marketing Officer and Alabama-native Ashley Grant. After that, grab your dancing’ boots and head on over to the trade show where Tim Tyler’s Piano Experience will bring the toe-tapping tunes, and we’ll have a delicious menu ready for you to graze around. During that nightly social, we’ll also host our annual PAC Auction with some awesome items including a 2-day, 2-night hunt at “The Swamp Whitetails,” a Winchester Commemorative leaver action rifle, a black baldy oil painting, bull credits, a registered Brangus bull, Stetson boots and SO many more neat items you’ll want to take home! If you’re interested in donating an item to the PAC Auction, give Erin Beasley a call at (334) 265-1867.
Now that’s just the Friday fun. Saturday will bring a whole host of exciting 
educational events starting with the ACA Annual Membership Meeting where you’ll elect your new state officers. After the changing of the guard, Cattlefax Senior Market Analyst Kevin Good will lead our General Session 2 as he discusses market, weather and import/export outlooks. After the Cattlemen’s Luncheon with featured speaker Gov. Kay Ivey, the trade show- with over 75 vendors- will open up and our afternoon of Cattlemen’s Colleges will commence. Topics include estate planning, pasture management and nutrition and information on Extension’s “Pasture to Rail” retained ownership program. Last but certainly not least on the convention agenda is our awards banquet where we’ll induct new members to the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame and award over $55,000 in scholarships to deserving students. Following the awards banquet, grab those dancin’ boots again as the Rexton Lee Band amps up our Blue Jeans Ball!
Junior Cattlemen are not left out of the fun. This week, your checkoff staff has been working on an elaborate and educational scavenger hunt for those junior cattlemen to enjoy and build those teamwork skills. They’ll also have their own speaker and get to participate in leadership games and activities with ACA Director of Industry Relations & Youth Programs Michael Agar.
We sure hope you’ll Hoof It to Huntsville to the 75th annual ACA Convention & Trade Show! It’s sure to be a great time of education, networking and getting involved with your association.
SLE RODEO TICKETS ON SALE NOW
The 61st annual SLE Rodeo is coming to town March 15-17 at Garrett 
Coliseum. PRCA 2017 Stock Contractor of the Year Frontier Rodeo Company’s elite bucking stock, PRCA Freestyle Bullfighting and hometown funny man Trent McFarland are sure to combine to make one excellent show for the whole family! Kids events will be available where your little buckaroo can play in the dirt like a real rodeo cowboy. If you’re in the market for an awesome stocking stuffer idea, you’re in luck. SLE Rodeo tickets are on sale now! Call us at 888-2RODEO2 or visit us online to order tickets to the show and to learn more about the 2018 SLE Rodeo!
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
As ACA Membership Coordinator Jessica Kennedy works diligently to put in county memberships, we encourage county leaders to help her out by setting aside 30-45 minutes to complete a training webinar for the new membership software, i4a. Software training webinars are still happening! If you have not signed up for training please send Jessica the days that are best for you and if you want a 12pm, 3pm, or 7pm slot. Please choose multiple times and days of availability. If you’re not a big emailer, give her a call at (334) 265-1867.
On that note, we also want to encourage you to keep an eye out for renewal notices as the second renewal mailout is hitting mailboxes this month! Be sure to get those memberships sent to the state office.
COUNTY MEETINGS HAPPENING ACROSS ALABAMA
County annual meetings are in full swing, and your state staff is excited to buzz all around visiting those meetings. If a state staffer isn’t in attendance, then one of our outstanding officers are. This week alone we’ve hit (or will hit!) Shelby, Jefferson, Tallapoosa, Lee and Colbert counties. Stay updated with the “when” and “where” of meetings by visiting our Cattlemen’s Calendar. If you’re meeting isn’t on the list, be sure to send that information to Jessica.
Jessica is also anxiously awaiting your county leadership updates and county annual meeting photos. She needs the names and contact information of the newest county leaders in order to organize the updating of the magazine and website as well as provide the correct correspondence for important letters and emails pertaining to Board Members. Please send those updates to Jessica! She is also looking out for information on your upcoming county meetings. Send those dates, times and locations her way to get them included on our online calendar and to line up a state representative to attend the event. If you’d like a county meeting mailout done, please give Jessica TWO WEEKS notice. Those mailouts take a good bit of time to design, print and label, so please give us plenty of notice to do a clean, thorough job for your county.
International Army Wives Visits aca
We had an interesting group stop by The MOOseum this week. The 
Maxwell AFB International Officer Wives, a group representing over 50 ladies, stopped by to learn more about the beef cattle industry. What’s interesting about this group is that they’re from all over the world. Group members from Romania, Egypt, Brazil, India and even the U.S. brought great questions to their tour. They and their little ones enjoyed exploring The MOOseum, and they even got to visit the Alabama Livestock Hall of Fame and donor booths on the third floor. We had the unique opportunity to answer their many questions about beef and cattle production while touring. We appreciate this group stopping by to learn about an industry that’s so important in our home state.
YCLP CLASS V APPLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE
The Alabama Cattlemen’s Association recognizes the need to cultivate our future leaders of the association and industry. The Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Program (YCLP), funded in part by the Alabama State Beef Checkoff, aims to do just that by identifying the state’s top young cattlemen and developing them into leaders of the future.
The three primary goals of the YCLP are:
- Provide participants with a “pasture to plate” experience of Alabama’s beef industry
- Equip participants with the tools necessary to become an effective leader and to share their beef story with their peers
- Create a network of young cattlemen who the ACA can depend on to help with beef promotion and issues management as well as become industry leaders in the future
The YCLP consists of six meetings dispersed across Alabama over the course of a year. The class will be selected by a committee based on applications submitted. Preference will be given to those nominees who are between the ages of 20 & 40, but do not be discouraged to nominate yourself or someone else who falls out of that range.
If you’re interested in the program or would like to nominate someone, find the form in the December issue of the Alabama Cattleman magazine or print the application.
Alabama Junior Cattlemen Pacific Tour 2018
Lauderdale County Cattleman Brian Smith and his county Junior 
Cattlemen are at it again as they headed west on their Alabama Junior Cattlemen Pacific Tour 2018! While on this trip, they visited with the California Cattlemen’s Association located in Sacramento, Cal. and visited the ranch of Tim Koopman where they learned about his California cattle operation and his efforts in environmental management. Look out for more information in the February issue of the “Alabama Cattleman” magazine.
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