Well hello there, August. We see you’ve brought some wet weather along with your arrival! While the rain may slow down hay production, it won’t slow down work on the farm, nor will it slow down all the work happening here at the state office! Your Cattlemen’s Association is busy, busy this week with beef promotion, education, The MOOseum tours and planning for next week’s Board meeting. Keep reading to learn all about what’s happening at the ACA this week.
Bama’s Best Burger- 8 Regional Semifinalists Named!
It’s an exciting week as nominations have CLOSED for the 2018 Bama’s Best Burger contest and eight regional semifinalists have been named to move forward into the contest’s Facebook poll bracket challenge! The semifinalists are:
Region 1: Bentley’s Cheeseburger (Hartselle, AL)
Region 2: Union Jack Cafe’s Spicy Bacon BBQ Burger (Rainbow City)
Region 3: River Cafe’s Bacon Cheeseburger (Adger, AL)
Region 4: R & R Burgers’ T-Rex Burger (Springville, AL)
Region 5: Heard’s BBQ Signature Burger (Maplesville, AL)
Region 6: 82 West’s Cheeseburger (Union Springs, AL)
Region 7: Meat Boss’ Boss Burger (Mobile, AL)
Region 8: Our Place Diner’s Big Bopper Burger (Ozark, AL)
If one of these dives are in your local area, stop by, shake their hand, try the burger and get ready to vote beginning August 6 with a Facebook poll putting Bentley’s and Union Jack Cafe head-to-head for a seat in the final 4! The remaining bracket challenges will follow.
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
Off to Denver
For the remainder of this week, ACA Executive Vice President Erin Beasley will be joining ACA President-Elect Chris Langley, ACA Past President Richard Meadows and ACA Past President Jimmy Holliman in Denver for the NCBA summer meeting. At this meeting both policy and national checkoff decisions will be made in preparation for 2019. Chris represents Alabama as the policy director, Richard as the federation director and Jimmy is the policy chair for Region 2 which consists of the Southeastern states.
Beef Promo on the Road…Again!
On Tuesday, ACA Director of Education and Outreach Ali Cantrell has traveled to Destin, FL for the Alabama Grocers Convention to meet and learn from foodservice and retail groups. She took this opportunity to inform these groups about our services and educational programs such as BEEF 101. Upon leaving Destin, she traveled north to Birmingham for the ALACTE Summer Professional Development Conference where she presented to the Family and Consumer Science teachers about the Alabama Jr & Sr. High school state cookoff this spring and encouraged them to get their students involved.
Agriscience Educators
On Tuesday ACA Director of Industry Relations and Youth Programs Michael Agar traveled to Birmingham for the ALACTE Summer Conference to discuss AJCA programs with agriscience teachers from across the state. Michael spent much of his time promoting this year’s AJCA Round-Up as well as upcoming field days and the Junior Pasture to Rail program. We enjoy strong relationships with our ag teachers and appreciate all the effort that they put in to developing the next generation of Cattlemen.
Board Meeting Reminder
Board Members: Don’t forget about next week’s Summer Board of Directors Meeting on August 9 from 10 AM -2 PM. This is not a meeting to miss as we will be awarded red coats to Over the Top county presidents, prizes to our Top Hand Club members and drawing for the John Deere Gator sponsored by John Deere, SunSouth and TriGreen Equipment. If you haven’t already, you have until THIS FRIDAY to RSVP to Jessica Kennedy.
Back to School with Beef
It’s back to school season for little scholars and their teachers! We’d like to 
wish everyone Happy Back to School Wishes and encourage you to fuel those growing brains with the 10 vitamins and minerals found in delicious, nutritious beef! Whether it’s lean school lunches or brain-boosting family dinners you’re in the market for, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner has all kinds of kid-friendly and delicious meals for families on the go during a new season! Check out theses recipe collections:
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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