Month: March 2022

Welcome to the Bama Beef Blog, where you can check out the latest news from the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association, the Alabama Beef Checkoff Program and the Southeastern Livestock Expo. Keep reading for more info!

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DOWN TO EARTH: AGRICULTURE SUSTAINS ALABAMA

Sustainability is a buzzword that has captured the attention of producers and consumers alike, and agricultural communicators from across the state are taking on the buzz. In March 2021, communications staff from commodity representatives and trade organizations across the agricultural sector began meeting to discuss how to tackle this topic. The result of almost a year of conversations— Down to Earth: Agriculture Sustains Alabama.

This yearlong public education campaign is a collaborative communications effort designed to be a voice for agricultural stakeholders in Alabama to promote the sustainable, conservation-minded practices farmers and ranchers are already doing. The goal is to reach 1 million Alabama consumers to influence their beliefs by promoting the work of farmers and ranchers across the state— to tell YOUR story. We know your goal is to create as much output with as little input, all while protecting the environment for future generations, and it is now time we, as communicators, do a better job of telling that story. To do that, the group has broken down the sustainability topic into six main points: Carbon Emissions, Animal & Plant Efficiency, Data & Technology, Conserving Natural Resources, Smart Land Use and Sustaining for the Future. We will be extending this campaign via digital advertising, broadcast news, print media, and a video campaign. The 2021 Farm-City theme also reflected this concept, which served as an excellent soft launch and way to introduce this tricky topic in an interactive way to school children across the state. 

Working group members include the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association, the Alabama Farmers Federation, Alabama Poultry & Egg Association, Alabama Agribusiness Council, Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, Sweet Grown Alabama, the Alabama Commission, Simply Southern and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. ACA’s Kayla Greer is a co-chair to this statewide, collaborative effort alongside Caleb Hicks of AP&EA. 

The campaign officially launches TOMORROW  March 31, 2022 with an event called “Down to Earth Day” in Pike Road, AL. It will include an educational field trip portion, public education event, and a media conference with elected officials as our special guests. This is YOUR campaign, so if you want to be part of it as a spokesperson, event volunteer, or just learn more about how to help spread the message, contact Kayla Greer at (334) 265-1867 or email her. Otherwise, please help us spread the Down to Earth message on social media beginning March 31, 2022 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Scholarship Banquet This Friday

On Friday night, the Alabama Cattlemen’s Foundation Scholarship Banquet will be held at the Wetumpka Civic Center. The foundation is awarding over $80,000 this year to deserving students from across the state! The foundation is funded through sales of the Cowboy Tag, so go buy you one today. Several scholarships are also available through the generous endowments from families in the state.

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

The 2022 membership year has officially kicked off, and we are headed boldly in the direction of 10,000 members! May counties are hosting annual meetings. Please, contact Jessica Kennedy at our office to let her know about county meeting dates and leadership changes OR complete this online form to notify us of your meeting, assign a mailout, and request a guest speaker. As always, leaders, we encourage you to enter new members and renewals by the 15th of each month to guarantee they stay on the magazine distribution list and to deposit checks in a timely manner. Also, PLEASE send county leader updates to the state office so we can update them for future mailings, emails, etc. Contact Jessica to let her know who your county officers are!

As a reminder, the deadline for the Membership Cash drawing is March 31. Get membership in before that date in order to make the drawing!

Legislative Update

The legislature is back to town this week after taking a week off for spring break. Today marks the 25^th day of the session, which means things are in crunch mode. Both budgets still need final passage and are working their way through committee action this week. The ACA is keeping a check on several budget items and also monitoring bills through this home stretch. The senate ag committee meets this afternoon before legislators go into session for the day. 

It’s cook-off time!

Coming up on April 9, the Alabama Beef Checkoff, FCCLA, and Alabama CattleWomen’s Association will be hosting the Alabama Jr. and Sr. High School Beef Cook-off competition. We are excited to host students from all of the state at Jefferson State Community College where they will present creative and delicious beef dishes for our judges. Winners will win money as well as the notoriety of being a Beef Cook-off Champion. While judges are tasting, the students, teachers, and parents will be participating in educational programs from chefs from Jefferson State Community College, Registered Dietitian Elesha Ergle, and they will get to see ultrasound tech, Amanda Engle, ultrasound the ribeye area of a calf.

SLE Rodeo Recap

Thank you to everyone who came to the 2022 SLE Rodeo and Livestock Week! This was an incredibly successful event on all fronts. We are thrilled to see the youth programs growing each year.

In 2022, the Southeastern Livestock Exposition was able to support 350+ youth rodeo competitors, 200+ junior beef and swine exhibitors, and 300+ youth competed in the 7^th annual SLE Livestock Judging Contest including not only 4H and FFA, but also 16 collegiate teams from across the country! We are thankful for the support from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. With their help, we were able to give over $75,000 in scholarships to Alabama’s youth in agriculture. Our charitable efforts don’t stop there. The SLE also donated $8,300 to a special group in 2022: The Alabama Sheriffs Youth Ranches. Girls from the Tallapoosa County Ranch even volunteered their time to help with the 2022 Miracle Rodeo, and they (along with ~140 other people) also joined us for our first ever Cowboy Church in the Teague Arena on March 20.

Not only are we proud of the joint efforts we receive to promote and support our youth, but we are also proud to have had a sold-out rodeo on March 19! The SLE Rodeo is part of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) NFR Playoff Series. Thanks to this great accomplishment, we welcomed a number of world champions to Montgomery, AL!

We hope to see this event continue to grow, so save the dates for next year and tell your friends: the SLE Rodeo will bring the best in bucking stock and the best cowboys back to the Garrett Coliseum to compete again March 17-19, 2023. We look forward to seeing you there!

BAMA-Q SLE RODEO STEAK CHAMPIONSHIP

The SLE Rodeo hosted the 2^nd Annual Bama-Q SLE Rodeo Steak Championship. We had two winners for the steak championship, Steak A & B winners were Jeff Moody and Marty Plute. This competition saw 48 contestants from all across the country, and we even had one participant come all the way from New Zealand. Troy Bilbrough flew in from New Zealand to compete for the Steak Cookoff Association World Championship in Fort Worth, TX the week before and then made the trip to Alabama for the Bama-Q SLE Rodeo Steak Championship. A special congratulations also goes also to Catherine Noble who won the Hot Dog Ancillary competition!

YCLP Council elected and set to meet

The Young Cattlemen’s Leadership Program Council will be meeting tomorrow. They will elect a YCLP Council Chairman, vote on incoming YCLP Class IX seats, discuss the YCLP Alumni Reunion and other business. We look forward to the first meeting of newly elected council. 

The newly elected council members are:

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