We sure missed getting to update you last week, but as you can imagine, with a Round-Up on the way and much to do in preparation for the big event, the blog got the boot last week! That’s alright, though. All that means is you’ll get a bang-up double feature this week, so keep reading to learn more about what’s happening this week (and last!) at the ACA in downtown Montgomery!
Junior Cattlemen Rocked the Round-Up
We are still in our seats from being knocked down by how much our Junior 
Cattlemen ROCKED the Round-Up. This year’s event ran seamlessly, had excellent participation and brought big reward for those who came and worked hard! Major kudos goes to ACA Director of Industry Relations and Youth Programs Michael Agar for organizing such an outstanding event and special thanks to all our sponsors and judges that made the weekend possible! Parents, you also deserve a round of applause for making sure your kids rocked the show.
Congratulations to Grand Champion Market Animal winner Anniston Bolding of Chilton County and to Supreme Champion Breeding Heifer winner Dow Boyd of Coffee County. We’d also like to commend Supreme Junior, Intermediate and Senior Competitors Rex Harrison (Cullman), Victoria Thompson (Lee) and Logan Strock (Autauga). Congratulations on a job well done all all our Junior Cattlemen participants!
Runoff Elections ✅
We had an important event happen in our state last week as the runoff election results showed that Rick Pate will be the next Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries winning by a margin of 57% over Gerald Dial.
Several key republican races were also finalized during the runoff including Congresswoman Martha Roby for the 2nd congressional district, Will Ainsworth for Lieutenant Governor, Steve Marshall for Attorney General, Chris McCool for Court of Criminal Appeals, Christy Edwards for Court of Civil Appeals and Sarah Stewart for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
The general election for the state will be Tuesday, November 6.
Deep South Stocker Conference
The state beef checkoff sponsored the Deep South Stocker Conference in Greensboro and welcomed over 100 cattlemen for a day of educational programs. This conference rotates each year between Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia and provides pertinent information to attendees related to market conditions, nutrition and herd health for the stocker industry. Hats off to the Alabama Cooperative Extension System for a well-attended, informative program for producers.
BCIA Board Meeting
Last Tuesday, the Alabama Beef Cattle Improvement Association (BCIA) held a board meeting to handle general business and provide a quarterly financial update. ACA’s Michael Agar attended on behalf of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and was given the mic for a few moments to provide an ACA update. During his discussion, he reminded board members about the upcoming checkoff referendum vote on October 24, put in a plug for the August Board Meeting, gave a Round-Up update to mention our youth in livestock and and informed them about our upcoming Cattlemen’s Bus Tour.
Bama’s Best Burger
Nominations are open now through THIS SUNDAY in the 2018 Bama’s Best 
Burger contest! If you’ve got a favorite burger joint with a jam-up burger worthy of a title, CLICK HERE to nominate it now. During this contest’s nominations process, the number of nominations matters most. Our committee won’t be studying the dishes to find the most unique like they do in the Best Beef contest, but instead, shear number of nominations is what will propel restaurants forward into the semifinals. Check out the eight regions of this year’s contest and out timeline of events!
- Region 1: Lauderdale, Limestone, Colbert, Lawrence, Morgan, Marion, Winston and Cullman counties
- Region 2: Madison, Jackson, Marshall, Dekalb, Blount, Etowah and Cherokee counties
- Region 3: Lamar, Fayette, Walker, Pickens, Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Jefferson and Bibb counties
- Region 4: St. Clair, Calhoun, Cleburne, Shelby, Talladega, Clay, Cleburne and Randolph counties
- Region 5: Sumter, Greene, Hale, Perry, Chilton, Autauga, Choctaw, Marengo, Wilcox and Dallas counties
- Region 6: Coosa, Tallapoosa, Chambers, Elmore, Lee, Lowndes, Montgomery, Macon, Bullock and Russell counties
- Region 7: Washington, Clarke, Monroe, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile and Baldwin counties
- Region 8: Butler, Crenshaw, Pike, Barbour, Covington, Coffee, Dale, Henry, Geneva and Houston counties
Timeline
- July 23-29: Nominations
- July 30- August 3: Obtain Semifinalist Photos
- August 6-12: Region 1 vs Region 2 Facebook Poll
- August 13-19: Region 3 vs Region 4 Facebook Poll
- August 20-26: Region 5 vs Region 6 Facebook Poll
- August 27- September 2: Region 7 vs Region 8 Facebook Poll
- September 2-28: Anonymous Judging
- October 2: Winner Announced
CLICK HERE to NOMINATE TODAY!
Southeast Alabama Regional Meeting
On Tuesday of this week, Regional Vice President Rodney Logan held a working lunch for his five counties (Houston, Henry, Dale Coffee and Geneva) at McLin’s Steakhouse in Daleville. The lunch invited the county leadership from those counties to visit with Rodney and ACA staffers Erin Beasley and Jessica Kennedy to discuss association business and build stronger relationships with those counties. Hats off to Rodney for having a representative from all of his counties at the lunch!
Trump Announces Aid in Trade War
President Trump has announced a $12 billion aid for farmers who have been affected by the trade wars. NCBA released the following statement yesterday:
“NCBA appreciates the efforts of the Trump Administration to ease the pain of retaliation on U.S. farmers and ranchers. For many years, U.S. beef has been a target for high tariffs and restrictive trade policies from notorious actors like China and the European Union. We support a vigorous approach to tearing down trade barriers, including non-tariff barriers that are not based on science. Trade agreements and trade enforcement are the most effective long-term solutions to the challenges faced by U.S. beef producers. Removing China’s highly-restrictive barriers on U.S. beef exports could unlock the full potential of that market and result in $4 billion in annual sales.”
Fall BEEF 101 Programs Get Fired Up
On Thursday of this week ACA Director of Education and Outreach Ali Cantrell and the Auburn Meats Lab staff will host a BEEF 101 for the Alabama School Nutrition Association. The program will give the association the basics of meat science including insight to the harvesting process, carcass evaluation and fabrication. This checkoff-funded program will teach the story about beef from “pasture to plate” and kicks off a busy fall with a full calendar of similar events with high school and collegiate culinary students!
Cattlemen’s Bus Tour
JOIN US AS WE EXPLORE THE BEEF INDUSTRY FROM PASTURE TO PLATE!
COST: $325/PERSON (Includes lodging, food and transportation)
FORM & FEE DUE SEPTEMBER 1, 2018
Join us on a 3-day, 2-night tour of the beef cattle industry across Georgia, 
Florida and Alabama! This tour is a true “pasture to plate” experience as it starts off with a tour of Golden State Foods in Opelika where McDonalds burger patties are produced followed by a stop at Buckhead Beef in Atlanta, Georgia where wholesale beef cuts are further processed into cut steaks ready for the restaurant.
After learning what happens to beef once it leaves the farm, we’ll stop for a visit at the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association and then tour Chatel Farms, an FPL feeding facility, in Reidsville, Georgia. We will then head south to tour the Georgia Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village at ABAC, wake up to tour the North Florida Research & Education Center and round out the tour at Southern Cattle Company in Marianna, Florida.
BUS TOUR AGENDA
For more information, contact Michael Agar at (334) 265-1867 or magar@bamabeef.org.
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