October Is Beef Month in Alabama
The month-long celebrations are making waves across Alabama! County Cattlemen’s Chapters have SHOWN OUT as they have activated promotions in their local communities, and we could not be more proud of the creative, fun and educational opportunities they have designed to promote October Beef Month. Check out all that’s been happening from the state office and across Alabama’s 67 counties.
State Office Promotions
- Kathy Adams Phillips of Kathy’s Southern Kitchen was featured on WSFA in Montgomery, WBRC in Birmingham, Cooking with John on WKRG in Mobile and WTVY in Dothan to celebrate October Beef Month and promote beef across the state through cooking segments.
- ACA Director of Consumer Outreach Josie Jones was featured weekly on Talk of The Valley on WHNT in Huntsville to promote October Beef Month and share simple, family-friendly beef recipes. She also did a feature on Cooking with John on WKRG in Mobile.
- AJCA President Alyvia Watson joined Cooking with John on WKRG in Mobile to share a beef tailgating favorite.
- ACA employees donned their cowboy hats and joined the crowd outside The MOOseum for the Joy to Life Foundation’s annual Walk of Life – a 5k honoring those who have fought breast cancer and their families.
- Beef took on Talladega for the YellaWood500 on October 1 to kick off October Beef Month and show appreciation for race fans, who are a known loyal beef consumer group.
- ACA and Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner partnered with Bama-Q and BBQ Hill in Perry Hill to host two beef cooking classes. The focus was steaks, prime rib and brisket dishes, along with recommended pairings.
- Beef was at the center of the plate during three Alabama National Fair adult and youth cooking contests. Categories included appetizers, meatloaf and five-ingredient dishes.
County Activities
Chambers County
Members read to K4 and K5 students at Wadley High School as part of the Cowboys in the Classroom Program.
Cherokee County
Cherokee County Cattlemen hosted a steak sandwich sale.
Clay County
Clay County Cattlemen cooked steaks for the FACS Fall Festival and the Millerville Car Show, read to 52 elementary school classes across their county during their Cowboys in the Classroom program, hosted a youth Beef Cookoff, shared about October Beef Month during a community luncheon, and cooked for their local high school band before a Friday night football performance.
Colbert County
Colbert County Cattlemen’s Association and Farm-City partnered with five of their local Foodlands to showcase two local cattle producers during October. Signs were placed at the meat case in each location highlighting those producers and the content will be featured on social media. They also hosted a steak sandwich sale and had a great turnout.
Cullman County
Cullman County Cattlemen and Cullman Mayor Woody Jacobs proclaimed October to be Beef Month in the City of Cullman. County Cattlemen also worked with their local news to produce an article about October Beef Month and beef production in their county. Read the article here.
Elmore County
Elmore County Cattlemen hosted an October Beef Month kickoff October 1 that included campfire cooking demonstrations, steaks hot off the grill and beef cattle trivia. Then they read agriculture-focused books in 19 classrooms across the county for Cowboys in the Classroom, sponsored a Keenagers lunch for 60 people, hosted a program at a local assisted living facility where they cooked steaks for the residents and employees, and entertainment was provided by their cattlemen and local youth. County Cattlemen also worked with Allyson Andrews of Wildly Blessed to promote beef on Elmore Co TV, worked with Stanhope-Elmore FFA to host a steak sandwich fundraiser, and donated beef for two events happening in their community.
Geneva County
Geneva County Cattlemen’s Association promoted Beef Month at the Geneva Rotary Club meeting and hosted their county’s youth leadership group for a farm tour. The students learned about beef production, including feeder and cow calf operations.
Houston County
Houston County Cattlemen passed out beef samples and information at their county’s Farm-City festivities.
Lauderdale County
Lauderdale County Cattlemen served beef and provided agriculture exposure at their local October Fest. They also participated in Cowboys in the Classroom in 45 elementary school classrooms, and hosted a steak sandwich and hamburger sale to promote beef.
Lee County
Lee County Cattlemen had great day at the Syrup Sopping Festival where they sold raffle tickets for beef gift certificates, passed out jerky samples, hosted a kids’ corner, and networked with the community.They also participated in Cowboys in the Classroom with local schools.
Limestone County
Limestone County Cattlemen cooked steak sandwiches at the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention in Athens, AL.
Madison County
Madison County Cattlemen provided lunch for ENABLE – Madison County’s annual clay shoot fundraiser.
Morgan County
Morgan County Cattlemen sold steak sandwiches at the Falkville Fall Festival.
Montgomery County
Montgomery County read to second and third grade classes at Macon East Montgomery Academy as part of the Cowboys in the Classroom program.
Shelby County
Shelby County Cattlemen visited a local school to teach family and consumer science students about beef production and provide steak samples. The students responded with sweet thank-you notes for their time!
St. Clair County
St. Clair County Cattlemen served steak sandwiches at the Ashville Stockyard.
Sumter County
Sumter County Cattlemen fundraised for their county scholarship and passed out educational materials at the University of West Alabama Rodeo.
Walker County
Walker County Cattlemen held their annual Youth Beef Cook-off.
Washington County
Washington County Cattlemen sold hamburgers and hotdogs at the Chatom Homecoming parade.
Don’t see your county’s activity listed, but you held a promotion? Be sure to submit it to Josie Jones by October 31 to receive your Cattlemen of Beef Month points and get a social media shoutout!
CATTLEMEN’S FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATION
Alabama Cattlemen’s Foundation Scholarships are now open for application, brought to you by the Cowboy vanity car tag and many, generous endowment families! Opportunities are available for all stages of postsecondary education— from incoming freshmen to doctoral candidates who are members, or whose parents or grandparents are members, for at least two consecutive years. Explore these many opportunities and APPLY today at www.BamaBeef.org/Scholarships. Applications close Sunday, November 5.
Christmas from Cowboys
What do you get the person that has everything? The ACA has just what you need! This year, you can gift your friends or colleagues a membership to the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association. For $50, the person who receives your gifted membership will receive all of the member benefits, including 12 issues of the Alabama Cattleman magazine. The promotion will run from October-December and is a great way to get a new member into the organization. To learn more and get to gifting, visit BamaBeef.org/Join.
Rebates Available on Livestock and Grazing Practices!
Alabama’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts are reminding cattle producers that application sign-up for the Alabama Conservation Incentive Program (CIP) has begun! CIP supports several conservation practices for livestock and grazing including watering facilities, exclusion and cross fencing and herd health. New to the program this year are corral systems and feed troughs. Eligible applicants can receive a 75 percent rebate on the cost of installation. Check with your local soil and water conservation district for price caps and application deadlines. For more information, visit https://alabamasoilandwater.gov/cip/
Membership Report
We are proud to announce that the ACA has gone OVER THE TOP in 2023! Representing more than 10,000 members, we are grateful for the grassroots efforts that got us to this point, with time to spare in the membership year!
Membership Deadlines to Remember
The membership year-end deadline is December 22. We are in the last stretch to recruit new members for Top Hand prizes. The top recruiter will be awarded ten 12″ Priefert panels. Also, new members recruited will go into the drawing for a John Deere Gator and your name will be entered for each new member you recruit. Don’t forget, all counties who go Over the Top by year end will go into the drawing for the Priefert Squeeze Chute. Get those memberships entered or sent to the office by the deadline to count!
County Meetings
We need your county meeting dates ASAP if you would like them to run in the magazine. This is the easiest way to get the word out to your members! Send the date, time, and location information to ACA Director of Membership Jessica Kennedy.
Magazine Deadlines for County Meetings
December Magazine
Meetings on or before December 10 – Send information by Nov 5 for the magazine
January Magazine
Meeting dates on or before January 10 – Need information by Nov 5 for the December magazine
Meeting dates after January 10 – Need information by December 5 for the January magazine
February Magazine
Meeting dates on or before February 10 – Need information by Dec 5 for the January magazine
Meeting dates after February10 – Need information by January 5 for the February magazine
ACA at ACES Field Day
The Alabama Beef Checkoff sponsored the Tennessee-Valley Beef and Forage Field Day in Belle Mina, where ACA Director of Field Services Reid McGuire updated producers on ACA activities. Congratulations to the ACES Animal Sciences and Forages team on a great turnout! Be sure to check the ACA calendar for more producer education programs near you.
Alabama National Fair
On October 7-8, junior showmen from across Alabama gathered on the fairgrounds of the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery to compete in the Alabama National Fair Youth Beef Show. Showmanship, a heifer show and a market show filled the weekend as junior cattlemen brought their best to the show ring to exhibit not only for friends and family, but also for the thousands of visitors who make an annual trip to the “10 Best Days of Fall” at the Alabama National Fair. Congratulations to all youth exhibitors on an excellent show weekend and for their high-quality beef cattle projects, which were on display for the public throughout the show weekend.
Also, on October 10, the ACA hosted a booth in the agricultural barn at the Alabama National Fair. We welcomed hundreds of school children as they spun a wheel to get a BEEF prize and learned about about beef cattle in Alabama.
SUNBELT AG EXPO FEATUREd A ROAD TRIP THROUGH SWEET GROWN ALABAMA
The 2023 Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie, GA is in the books, and all Alabamians can be proud of how our state’s great agricultural industry was represented in the Spotlight State Barn!
Engaging activities and snappy swag abounded as nearly 10,000 visitors learned about Alabama’s diverse agricultural landscape— including agritourism, catfish, cattle, corn, cotton, dairy, forestry, greenhouse products, peaches, peanuts, pecans, poultry, sod, soybeans, strawberries and sweet potatoes. The exhibit received high praise from visitors and Sunbelt Ag Expo leaders alike!
Numerous Alabama agricultural organizations and businesses worked tirelessly to support the Sweet Grown Alabama mission and produce a worthy Spotlight State exhibit. At the cattle exit, visitors played “Pin the Cut on the Cow” as they learned about beef carcass anatomy and walked away with beef cuts sheets and a beef recipe card!
BEEF CHECKOFF TASK FORCE MEETING- YOU’RE INVITED!
Invitations to participate in the Beef Checkoff Task Force meeting are going out soon. At this meeting attendees from the beef cattle industry will work to develop ideas and programs for FY24 utilizing beef checkoff dollars. Any cattlemen is welcome to attend but we do need to know you are coming so we can make sure to have enough lunch. The meeting will take place at 10:00AM at the Cattlemen’s building on November 2. This is the best way to have a direct voice in how beef checkoff dollars are spent in the upcoming year. Please let us know if you would like to attend by contacting Erin at the office, ebeasley@bamabeef.org.
AU RESEARCH: SURVEY RESPONSE NEEDED
In late August, masters students at Auburn University launched a survey intended to assess the extent of use of byproduct feeds (and supplemental feed, in general) in beef herds across the southern United States. As part of the survey, Auburn also began collecting samples of various byproduct feedstuffs to build updated nutrient analysis tables for use in Extension publications across the region. Researchers have seen a good response to the survey so far, but they wanted to widen the sample population. If time allows, please complete the survey here: https://auburn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dari40gLkPAPM2O.
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