It has been quite the week here at ACA. With the roll out of CFAP, a magazine deadline, the upcoming Pike County Show and several Foundation projects (including Jackson, Coffee and Pike counties), there’s much going on! We’ve got news all around to bring your way as we head into the holiday weekend and official kickoff of summer grilling season. Speaking of grilling, we were supposed to be launching a nationwide summer grilling campaign today…but COVID-19 has forced us to delay until June 10. Don’t worry, we are still going to be promoting firing up the grill with beef until then. Keep reading to learn more about what’s happening— and what has happened— since our last update!
2020 SLE Rodeo Cancelled, Looking Forward to 2021
On March 13, 2020 the Southeastern Livestock Exposition (SLE) announced the postponement of the 63rdannual SLE Rodeo and Livestock Week amid growing concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. SLE leadership has been monitoring conditions related to COVID-19 and the sport of rodeo both locally and nationally over the course of two months and in doing so, has made the decision to cancel the 2020 rodeo and related events.
Tickets will be refunded through the agency in which they were purchased. If tickets were purchased through the Garrett Coliseum Box Office, contact (334) 356-6866 to request a full refund. Tickets purchased with a credit card through the SLE Rodeo Headquarters will be refunded automatically. For tickets purchased through Ticketmaster, rodeo patrons will receive an automatic refund of the ticket order amount to the method of payment used for purchase within 30 days.
Information on the 2021 SLE Rodeo and Livestock Week will be made available in coming months. Please monitor announcements and updates at www.SLERodeo.com or on our Facebook page.
USDA Announces Details of CFAP Program
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Below is a high-level summary of the program and additional details can be found in the attached rule and at https://www.farmers.gov/cfap/livestock.
Eligible Livestock for CFAP
CFAP assistance is available to livestock producers who have an ownership interest in eligible livestock that have suffered a five percent-or-greater price decline as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and face additional significant costs in marketing their inventories due to unexpected surplus and disrupted markets. The application period will open on Tuesday, May 26.
Cattle eligible for CFAP include:
- Feeder Cattle (<600 lbs.)
- Feeder Cattle (> 600 lbs.)
- Slaughter Cattle: Fed Cattle
- Slaughter Cattle: Mature Cattle
All Other Cattle (not including livestock used, or intended for, dairy production)
A single payment for livestock will be calculated using the sum of the producer’s number of livestock sold between January 15 and April 15, 2020, multiplied by the payment rates per head, and the highest inventory number of livestock between April 16 and May 14, 2020, multiplied by the payment rate per head.
Producers must provide the following information for CFAP:
Total sales of eligible livestock, by species and class, between January 15, 2020, to April 15, 2020, of owned inventory as of January 15, 2020, including any offspring from that inventory; and highest inventory of eligible livestock, by species and class, between April 16, 2020, and May 14, 2020.
Learn more at » https://www.farmers.gov/cfap/livestock
Giving Back With a Virtual Cookoff
The weekend, the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association will be partnering with the Montgomery Biscuits and Bama-Q to host a Virtual Burger Cook-off at the Biscuits stadium in Montgomery. This cook-off will raise awareness about the impacts of COVID-19 and host as a fundraiser for local organizations benefiting healthcare workers and restaurant workers. On May 22, Montgomery County Cattlemen will be cooking 150 ribeye steak sandwiches in the stadium to serve healthcare workers at Baptist Medical Center East and meet with media to talk about the cook-off on Saturday. Bama-Q will broadcast the burger cook-off live through multiple outlets (Facebook, fireTV, ROKU) on May 23 and viewers will be able to donate through an online donation platform directly to Biscuits Charitable Foundation. We are excited to be part of this event that features our favorite protein, beef, on the kickoff weekend for summer grilling!
Marketing Meat Direct to Consumers: A Three-Part Webinar Series
In response to growing demand for local meat products, the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and the Alabama Beef Checkoff Program have partnered with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Sweet Grown Alabama to host a three-part webinar series to educate Alabama farmers on the steps required to raise, harvest and market their products in a way that complies with state and national regulation, ensuring a safe and wholesome product for consumers to enjoy.
If you are interested in learning from this series, please pre-register for this virtual event by CLICKING HERE. Webinar access information will be provided following your submission and will be sent via the email address provided in the form.
The webinar will occur as follows:
- June 1, 2020 | 12:00 P.M.
Creating the Product Consumers Expect
– Carcass Goals
– Nutritional Management of Cattle, Pigs & Small Ruminants
– Other Management Considerations - June 3, 2020 | 12:00 P.M.
The Processing Process
– Choosing a Processor
– Dry Aging vs Wet Aging
– The Math: Dressing Percentages and Carcass Yields - June 5, 2020 | 12:00 P.M.
Getting Your Product to Market, and Getting Paid for It
– Where to Sell Your Product
– How to Price Your Product
– How to Advertise
– The Ins-and-Outs of Farmers’ Markets
– Intro to Sweet Grown Alabama
If you have any questions, please contact Ali Cantrell at the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association at (334) 265-1867.
14th annual AJCA Round-Up
Registration is now open for the 14th annual Alabama Junior 
Cattlemen’s Association Round-Up. Happening July 16-19 at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, this annual junior event is full steam ahead. The agenda might look a little different this year as the public speaking and career development contests were moved to the convention, and a showmanship clinic and a Bred & Owned show were added to the events lineup. A full schedule and the rules packet are available on the website, along with registration. Check it out >> www.BamaBeef.org/RoundUp.
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