Month: February 2020

As usual, it’s a busy week here in Montgomery! You ACA staff is moving in all directions as we prepare for spring events, beef promotions, a busy legislative season and, of course…the SLE Rodeo. We’ve got boots on the ground and are excited for all that’s to come on our hectic spring calendar. Keep reading to learn more about what’s going on with your Alabama Cattlemen’s Association this week. 

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Saddle Up for the SLE Rodeo

Tomorrow will host a day of big fun as we welcome media from across the state and River Region in for our 2020 SLE Rodeo Media Luncheon! More than 120 SLE members and media personalities will join to learn about our upcoming events, and we will highlight them for the services they’re offering to help promote the rodeo! We look forward to this event each year.

 

Also, this week launched our radio campaigns, as staffer Lauren Wilson is out and about beginning to do interviews, and billboards across Alabama are beginning to light up with the news about the 2020 show! Sponsors continue to roll in, and we are down to the nuts and bolts of executing this year’s event. If you’d like to take part in our Wrangler voucher program— where if you spend $70+ on Wrangler jeans, you can get a ticket to the show— you can find those vouchers available at Sikes & Kohns, Camo Country and Bridges Western Wear.

 

Speaking of the rodeo, we are 22 days out from the first performance of 2020! Buck on over to www.SLERodeo.com/Tickets now to secure your seats at the greatest show on dirt! This year’s show is sure to please as we’re featuring freestyle bullfighting, the best stock in the PRCA, all kinds of children’s events and hometown rodeo clown, Trent McFarland! We’ve got some awesome ticket deals available for you to take advantage of, so don’t wait. Get on over to www.SLERodeo.com to learn more about all that SLE Livestock Week offers and to purchase your tickets today! And don’t forget- we offer group ticket sales to groups of 25+ members.

 

 

BCIA Meets at ACA

The Alabama Beef Cattle Improvement Association (BCIA) will host their annual meeting at ACA this Saturday. We are excited to host our friends of the BCIA. The event will feature an interactive discussion on “Replacement Heifer Marketing Options and Opportunities” with an Alabama BCIA producer panel moderated by Josh and Michelle Elmore, Alabama Cooperative Extension agents. The ins and outs of replacement heifer marketing, dos, don’ts, and things to be sure to consider from experienced beef cattle professionals and producers. Following lunch, Alabama BCIA Rresident Malcomb Peagues will preside over the BCIA Annual Meeting and Awards Presentations.  Visit this direct link to the BCIA website for the full event schedule:https://albcia.com/bcia-2020-annual-meeting You can register on site for $35.00 a person.

 

 

ALDA in Town

This week, ACA Director of Education & Outreach Ali Cantrell will be attending the Alabama Dietetics Association (ALDA) Annual Meeting in Montgomery. ACA will be sponsoring the speaker, Carolyn Williams PhD RD, for Friday morning. She will be speaking on The Anti-Inflammatory Diet and incorporating lean red meat into a healthy lifestyle.

 

 

2020 Spring Youth Production Field Day

Information is now available on the 2020 Spring Youth Production Field Day being hosted on April 18 at Quail Valley Farms in Oneonta, AL (Blount County). Youth will enjoy a variety of educational topics from EPDs to cattle judging and from ultrasound scanning to a farm tour. Lunch will be provided at this FREE youth event, and it is brought to all youth of our state by the Alabama Beef Checkoff Program. Registration for this event will open this coming Monday, March 2. Learn more » www.BamaBeef.org/FieldDay

 

 

ACA MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

As of today, the ACA is proud to represent 6,678 members in the 2020 year and counting as county meetings are still happening, although the calendar is lightening up. That puts us at 70% for the year, but we aren’t stopping until we reach 10,000!! This week, we are excited to see Walker County Cattlemen’s and Baldwin County Cattlemen’s host their annual meetings and for the Shelby County Cattlemen’s Association to put on their annual rodeo!

A couple of deadlines to remember as we get deeper into the year:

• Early Bird Membership Drawing: March 31, 2020
• Over the Top Red Coat Deadline: June 30, 2020
• Top Hand Recruiting Deadline: December 31, 2020

 

 

COOKOFF SEASON

Beef Cook-offs are underway throughout Alabama! Now that convention is over, Staffer Ali Cantrell is preparing for our Alabama Jr. & Sr. High School Beef Cook-off on April 4. If your county has hosted a local beef cook-off, be sure to get your winners registered on our website at www.bamabeef.org/events/2020/alabama-juniorsenior-high-school-cookoff and contact Ali Cantrell if you have any questions.

 

 

Thanks for reading this week’s post! Until we post again, we want to remind you that you can stay in touch with us by following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

That’s a wrap! We have put a bow on convention, and are thrilled with the turnout of this year’s event. Keep reading for a recap and saddle up as we head into SLE Rodeo season! Busy is an understatement around this office as we finish up county annual meeting season, head into spring beef promotions, execute the rodeo, begin planning for a busy summer of youth activities and YCLP…and well, basically do everything we did last year and then some. Keep reading to follow along our busy week!

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THANK YOU

Thanks to all who attended, spoke at, sponsored or contributed to convention in any way!! The 77th annual ACA Convention & Trade Show was one for the books. We hope you enjoyed each event and speaker as much as we did. Of course, the bow on top is getting to spend a weekend fellowshipping with our favorite group of folks!

 

Throughout the course of the weekend, we hosted over 320 pre-registrants and over 80 walk-in visitors. What a great group! The crowd enjoyed an excellent trade show, engaging speakers, tons of education and of course, delicious beef! We also elected our new slate of state officers and regional vice presidents. They are:

• President: Larry Reeves, Coffee County
• President-Elect: Clay Kennamer, Jackson County
• Vice President: Jim Jordan, Clay County
• Executive VP: Erin Beasley

• RVP: Chip Cleveland, Autagua County
• RVP: Joe Bradley, Randolph County
• RVP: Steven Smith, Franklin County
• RVP: Alvin Stinson, Butler County

 

Again, thanks to all who came. Be sure to save the date for next year— March 5-6, 2021 in Birmingham!

 

 

SLE Rodeo Coming to Town

We are 29 days out from the first performance of 2020! Buck on over to www.SLERodeo.com/Tickets now to secure your seats at the greatest show on dirt! This year’s show is sure to please as we’re featuring freestyle bullfighting, the best stock in the PRCA, all kinds of children’s events and hometown rodeo clown, Trent McFarland! We’ve got some awesome ticket deals available for you to take advantage of, so don’t wait. Get on over to www.SLERodeo.com to learn more about all that SLE Livestock Week offers and to purchase your tickets today! And don’t forget- we offer group ticket sales to groups of 25+ members.

 

The SLE Media Luncheon will take place next Thursday to officially kick off the upcoming rodeo festivities. With a month to go until the rodeo, advertising and ticketing will move into high gear as staff prepares for the event. Visit www.SLERodeo.com for a full list of events taking place at the rodeo and to take care of your ticketing needs.

 

 

AJCA Junior Contest Success

Congrats to the 20+ juniors who came and participated in our first ever convention contests! We had a great day of contests on Saturday, and our judges raved about how impressed they were in our young people. Here’s who placed in this past weekend’s events:

Junior Division Public Speaking 

• First Place: Mason Smith
• Second Place: MacKenzie Smith
• Third Place: Will Speros

 

Intermediate Division Public Speaking

• First Place: Blair Wyrosdick
• Second Place: Victoria Thompson
• Third Place: Rex Harrison

 

Senior Division Public Speaking

• First Place: Trace Strock
• Second Place: Heather Gladney
• Third Place: Madison Stewart

 

Career Development

• Third Place Career Development Competitor: Heather Gladney
• Reserve Supreme Career Development Competitor : Will Jordan
• Supreme Career Development Competitor: Josie Chance

 

2020 Alabama Cattlemen’s Convention Quiz Bowl Champion Team

Team Name: Bibbaloose

• Johnathan Chance, Josie Chance, MacKenzie Smith, Heather Gladney

 

2020 Alabama Cattlemen’s Convention Quiz Bowl Reserve Champion Team

Team Name: Bust the Knowledge

• Izzy Kent, Bence Upchurch, Aiden Upchurch, Blair Wyrosdick

 

 

CookOff Season

Beef Cook-offs are underway throughout Alabama! Now that convention is over, Staffer Ali Cantrell is preparing for our Alabama Jr. & Sr. High School Beef Cook-off on April 4. If your county has hosted a local beef cook-off, be sure to get your winners registered on our website at www.bamabeef.org/events/2020/alabama-juniorsenior-high-school-cookoff and contact Ali Cantrell if you have any questions.

 

 

Alabama Legislative Update

The legislative session is in its third week. So far, over 200 senate and close to 300 house bills have been dropped. The ACA is monitoring several bills related to environmental and animal regulations. Additionally, the ACA will be hosting several legislative groups in the coming months at the building to discuss topics of interest to the cattle industry. As in past years, the ACA also hosts the Ag Coalition group every Tuesday of the session to discuss bills pertinent to agriculture. Stay tuned as we play watchdog for you to protect your right to farm!

 

 

Beef Education Kicks Off for Spring

ACA Director of Education & Outreach Ali Cantrell will be traveling to Brookwood High School tomorrow for their Career Technical Education Safety Day. Ali will be visiting with students about the pasture to plate story for Beef Cattle and how HACCP guidelines are a part of that system along with food safety.

 

Beef 101’s will kick off next Wednesday with 40 culinary students from Boaz High School. We’re excited for a new year of Beef 101’s and if you would like to attend a program this spring we have three scheduled for March 24, April 1 and 9. Please contact Ali Cantrell if you are interested.

 

 

Membership Update

As of today, the ACA is proud to represent 6,372 members in the 2020 year and counting as county meetings are still happening! On Thursday, staffer Kayla Greer will hit the road to Selma for the Dallas County Meeting while our new president, Larry Reeves, heads north to St. Clair County.

A couple of deadlines to remember as we get deeper into the year:

• Early Bird Membership Drawing: March 31, 2020
• Over the Top Red Coat Deadline: June 30, 2020
• Top Hand Recruiting Deadline: December 31, 2020

 

 

Social Advertising Going Strong

This year, as an initiative of both the checkoff and the association, our cattlemen elected to put more dollars on social advertising to reach both producers and consumers with our messaging. Since January 1, we have hosted constant rolling ads through our business accounts on both Facebook and Instagram (as they are owned by the same company), and we have been very pleased with the results of these cost-effective campaigns. Since the start of this new marketing strategy, we have had a reach of over 82,000 users and encouraged more than 4,500 link clicks to either our website, www.BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com or www.BeefBoard.com.

 

Ads include messaging directed toward consumers with Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand content, while ads targeted at Alabama beef cattle producers promotes both membership and the work of your checkoff dollars, funded by the respective accounts. If you see an ad (or a rodeo one for that matter), be sure to share it and help us get the most bang out of your buck!

 

 

AJCA Spring Field Day

Be on the lookout for registration for spring field day to open the first week in March. This year our field day will be held in Blountsville, Alabama at Quail Valley Farms on April 18. We look forward to seeing our youth come out and spend a day learning some new things about our industry!

 

 

YCLP

Our sixth class of the checkoff-funded Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Program (YCLP) graduated at Convention this past weekend, and we kicked off a spinoff program, the YCLP Council. We are now accepting applications for our seventh class of YCLP. Applications for this program close on February 29. 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 21 & 40, but do not be discouraged to nominate yourself or someone else who falls out of that range. Click here to apply » www.BamaBeef.org/YCLP 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading this week’s post! Until we post again, we want to remind you that you can stay in touch with us by following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Productivity is strong here in Montgomery as your team of state staffers and officers are working to offer you an outstanding convention, an entertaining and successful rodeo, increased youth events, a watchful legislative session, a five-star cattle magazine, mouthwatering beef advertising and an association you can be proud of…all while keeping you in the know about what’s going on! We’re excited for what’s to come next week as we welcome so many of you to Montgomery. Keep reading to learn more about what’s happening at the ACA this week!

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2020 ACA CONVENTION & TRADE SHOW

WE’RE CATTLE DRIVING TO THE CAPITAL NEXT WEEK! You have until TOMORROW to pre-register for the 77th annual ACA Convention & Trade show to be held February 14-15 at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Convention Center. Please note that walk-in registrations are welcome, but meals are not guaranteed. If you want to secure your seat at the table, register before our deadline TOMORROW!

What better way to say “I love you” on Valentine’s Day than to bring your darlin’ to our Friday night event, the Sweetheart Shindig?  Not to mention all the fun and excitement around our General Sessions, featuring Donnell Brown of R.A. Brown Ranch and a CattleFax update, informative Cattlemen’s Colleges and Alabama’s biggest cattle industry trade show. We’ve also host NCBA CEO Colin Woodall as our Cattlemen’s Luncheon featured speaker. Don’t miss this exciting event!

 

You can register online today by visiting www.BamaBeef.org/Convention or you can call us at the office and we’ll take your registration by phone! (334) 265-1867

 

 

Cattlemen Going Deep in the Heart

Staffers Erin Beasley and Ali Cantrell will be flying to San Antonio this for the 2020 NCBA Convention and Cattle Industry Trade Show. Staffer Ali Cantrell will be setting up a booth in one of the largest trade shows and looks forward to visiting with cattlemen. Throughout the three conference days, Ali will be attending checkoff-related meetings to receive updates on checkoff programs while Erin and the team of state officers and leaders attend policy, issues and organization meetings.

 

We salute Lee County CattleWoman Evelyn Greene who will take office as the American National CattleWomen’s president and look forward to celebrating her at a reception in San Antonio. We’re also proud to have Floridian Marty Smith taking the gavel as NCBA president to represent the Southeast.

 

 

 

SLE RODEO- TICKETS, GET YOUR TICKETS!

Buck on over to www.SLERodeo.com/Tickets now to secure your seats at the greatest show on dirt! This year’s show is sure to please as we’re featuring freestyle bullfighting, the best stock in the PRCA, all kinds of children’s events and hometown rodeo clown, Trent McFarland! We’ve got some awesome ticket deals available for you to take advantage of, so don’t wait. Get on over to www.SLERodeo.com to learn more about all that SLE Livestock Week offers and to purchase your tickets today!

 

This week, ACA Director of Rodeo Programs Lauren Wilson met with new and potential sponsors, pre-recorded Business Breaks with WSFA to air nearer to the rodeo and began work on the Media Luncheon!

 

 

Alabama Legislative Session Kicks Off for 2020

On Tuesday, February 4, Alabama legislators gathered for their first day of session in Montgomery. In preparation for this legislative season, the Ag Coalition met here at ACA to discuss bills that could potentially take effect on Alabama’s agricultural industry. These watchdogs, including ACA’s lobbyist Erin Beasley, will spend much time in the State House over the next few months protecting your right to farm and keeping tabs on bills that may hinder your efforts to feed our growing population. Stay tuned for any updates, but we are hoping for a quiet season.

 

 

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

To date, our ACA membership count is up to 5,941 and counting as county meetings are still in full swing. This week, staffers and officers will be on the road to attend the Chambers, Henry, Dale and Choctaw county meetings. New week, we look forward to visiting with the over 500 expected cattlemen coming to Montgomery and honoring our John Deere Gator winner, Priefert Chute “Over the Top” County winner, our Top Hand Club recruiters and our incoming state officers!

 

 

Consumer and Producer Advertising Going Strong

For 2020, cattlemen elected to push harder on our consumer and producer advertising. Throughout the year, you’ll see more producer-driven print ads in state agricultural publications and constant digital ads on social media driving producers to learn more about the work of thier checkoff dollars at www.BeefBoard.org. For consumers— like producers— constant Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. digital ads  through Facebook and Instagram will be pushed in addition to programs such as our consumer e-newsletter and advertising on  sporting fields across the state, consumer and influencer publications and on high-traffic billboards during summer grilling and October Beef Month. Our second monthly e-blast of 2020 will send on Friday to over 10,000 inboxes and features the heart-healthy benefits of lean beef in celebration of Heart Month.
To hear and little more about this initiative: Check out this link.

 

 

JUNIOR CATTLEMEN UPDATE

Next week will be our FIRST Youth contest held at ACA Convention. We are excited to see the juniors of Alabama compete in public speaking, career development, and the quiz bowl contest. If you missed out on the registration and wish to compete in the contest we will be accepting walk up registration at the registration booth on Friday the 14^th at convention. The quiz bowl material will be general beef cattle knowledge (breeding, beef nutrition/cuts, cattle handling and practices). It will also include some Alabama Cattlemen’s Association, Alabama Cattlewomen’s Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and Alabama Junior Cattlemen’s Association history questions. If you are competing in the quiz bowl and looking to brush up on your knowledge here are some links.

AJCA: www.BamaBeef.org/AJCA

ACA: https://www.bamabeef.org/p/about/18

ACWA: http://alabamacattlewomen.com 

NCBA: https://www.ncba.org/about.aspx

 

Spring Field Day

Be on the lookout for registration for spring field day to open the first week in March. This year our field day will be held in Blountsville,Alabama at Quail Valley Farms on April 18. We look forward to seeing our youth come out and spend a day learning some new things about our industry!

 

 

Stopping in at Sales

This past Saturday, Staffer Ali Cantrell traveled to Cullman Stockyard to watch the Northeast Alabama Performance Breeders Sale. It was a great day of visiting with fellow cattle men and to witness 60 great angus bulls go through the sale!

 

 

YCLP

Our sixth class of the checkoff-funded Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Program (YCLP) will graduate at Convention in February. We are now accepting applications for our seventh class of YCLP. Applications for this program close on February 29. 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. Click here to apply » www.BamaBeef.org/YCLP 

 

The YCLP main focuses are to build on leadership and networking skills. If you are an alumni of this program we are excited to say we are starting a YCLP Council for alumni. The meeting introducing this idea will be held at convention on Saturday at 3:00 pm. We invite all alumni to this meeting to discuss the future of this program and it’s alumni opportunities to come!

 

 

Thanks for reading this week’s post! Until we post again, we want to remind you that you can stay in touch with us by following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.