Checkin' on the Checkoff: From Spring Successes to Summer Sizzle

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Welcome to Cattle Connect, your insight into Alabama's beef cattle industry.
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I'm your host, Bailey Watson, and this is Cattle Connect, brought to you by
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the Alabama Cattlemen's Association.
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All right, cattlemen and cattlewomen, welcome back to another episode of Cattle Connect.
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I hope that each of you had a great Memorial Day weekend and was able to kick
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off the start of summer the right way.
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It was a little bit rainy and gloomy across the state, but we did get some much
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needed rain that we needed for all of our producers throughout the state.
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Today, I'm joined by Manager of Industry Outreach, Michael Smith,
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for another Checking In on the Checkoff episode.
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We're going to update you since we last talked in March about some of the beef
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checkoff programs, promotions, and events that have been happening across the state.
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We'll revisit some of the activities we talked about in March to kind of give
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y'all a report of how those activities went, and then we'll give you a preview
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of kind of what we're going to be doing this summer.
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From youth events and producer outreach to the summer grilling promotions we're
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going to do, We're going to jump right in it. So with that, welcome, Michael.
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Bailey, so glad to be back in here in the podcast studio. And you're right.
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It has been a rainy few days, but I've not heard many folks complaining.
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It's much needed rain. Very thankful for it. Yeah, for sure.
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Let's jump right into telling our listeners kind of about what we've been doing
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and what we have coming up.
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So first thing I kind of want to hit on is stockyard visits.
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So you spent some time going around stockyards across the state this spring,
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and I know you've got a lot of visits coming up in the summer.
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Tell me about where you have been and where you plan to go this summer.
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Yeah, it's been good to get back out on the road and go see all of our friends
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out at all the stockyards.
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And it's one of the things I really enjoy doing here because the stockyard owners
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are our friends, but also our members who are also friends are all there as well.
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So got started kind of after we wrapped up in March and made my way down to
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Frisco City and saw my buddy Michael Jordan down there and had a great sale
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there. was able to spend a good part of the day there with those guys and then.
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Got up to Coleman, like I've said here before, excellent stockyard up there
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and with a mighty fine breakfast.
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So they start the sale early in the morning. And if you go to Coleman,
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you got to get the breakfast.
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So I went up there and saw, got to visit Mr. Hoagy Parish.
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And it's always good to go up and see him and kind of visit with him.
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And he's done a lot of business down in my neck of the woods.
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So we know a lot of the same folks.
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And so that's always a good time there. And then, of course,
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here close by, friends there at Mid-State, been there.
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Actually twice. And Scott and Billy and Dick Ferrier, that whole group there,
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they're just great folks to see there.
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And then the Gibbs family up in Fort Payne, got to know them from visiting up
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that way and going to some county meetings.
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So I made my way up there and it's always good to kind of travel across the
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state and see kind of what's selling where.
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You know, there's still a lot of excitement in the market. You know,
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we're still seeing super high numbers and the cattle are still coming in.
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So I would just encourage all of our listeners, all of our producers,
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you know, take advantage of what we have in this state with those stockyards where you can really.
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Manage your herd and they're bringing top dollars. So, and they're just great.
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And some of these I've named and the others that I will go see,
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they're great supporters of what we do here.
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And we want to just kind of give back and be allies to them as well. Yeah.
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Yeah. It's really important. We've talked about it before to have that relationship
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with the stockyard owners.
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And as you said, if you're a producer, encouraging to reach out to those stockyard
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owners in this strong market, they will tell you, they will help you.
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They want you to get the best money for your calves or your cattle possible.
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So having that relationship with them is really important to kind of know how
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to get the best value out of your calves.
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You're right. And we're blessed in the state to have so many and to have so
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many spread out geographically like we do.
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We've got close to 20 stockyards in the state that sell Mondays,
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Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and a couple on, I think, Thursdays and Saturdays.
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So you've got places to go market your cattle here. And it is a great asset.
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Yeah. And different options depending on your breed. We've noticed that you've
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pulled me to these stockyard visits and we went to West Alabama and that's the
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most eared cattle I've ever seen in my life.
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Yeah. I remember leaning over and asking you if you were interested in taking some to Virginia.
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Where do you do you plan to hit the rest of them this summer? Absolutely.
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Yeah. My plan is to hit all of them, hopefully multiple times.
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So we try to build that in as we travel around other events and RVP meetings,
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county meetings, try to make the most of that time. Yeah.
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And it's just it's a good time. It's a great way to spend a day.
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Yeah. And and it's good, too.
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It allows me to kind of get.
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My finger on the pulse of the producers as well and see what they're seeing.
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And it really allows us to gather some good info and bring back here to help
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kind of direct what we do. So for sure, it's all good.
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I like how you brought up the regional vice president meetings that we've been having.
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Michael, can you talk about those a little bit? I know it's kind of more on
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the association thing, but where you do do a lot of producer outreach,
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you have been going to those.
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So tell me what those have kind of encompassed because those have really been
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going on in the spring after convention is really when they took off.
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Yeah, we got started with those. And that's something that Wyatt and Jim and
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Randy, they're all participating in those as state officers and really trying to just meet, you know,
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our RVPs and our county presidents and getting everybody together in one place.
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I've been to multiple of these, but it's amazing to.
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You hear the same stories at every one, you know, and the same challenges,
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but also you pick up some wins there as well.
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So and it allows you to take things back to your county.
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It's helped me immensely in Shelby County. Yeah. Of hearing what other county
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presidents are dealing with, seeing what works for them and taking ideas back.
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It's made me look like a genius there. And all the Shelby County folks are laughing.
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But you're able to see across the state what works. And we've got areas in the
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state where a lot of the counties kind of cross those county lines and work
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together and some don't. And that's not a personal thing or whatever.
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It's just we're kind of all doing our own thing. And I've taken away from that.
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We need to be better neighbors, you know, in all of our counties and help each
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other and work together.
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So that's been something that I've got to go participate in this spring. Yeah.
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And it's really been good. And to see the folks come together and,
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you know, it gives you another number in your cell phone. I talk about that all the time.
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You don't have to know everything if you know everybody.
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So you can pick up your phone, you can ask a question and it helps because we're
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all we're all working towards the same goal.
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And I've just found that the ingenuity, the hard work and the hustle in some
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of these counties, it's something to be in mind for sure.
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Yeah, and it's been really nice, I know, especially as we've brought in some
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new RVPs to introduce those counties to their regional RVPs and form that relationship
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with them because our RVPs really want to be there to help those counties.
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You know, we talk to counties all the time, but they are a good bridge to our
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state leadership, for sure. It's a good channel of just moving information.
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Yeah. You know, well, Bailey, so I've been doing that. I've been on the roads,
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putting some miles on the old beef truck there.
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But you've had quite a busy time here in the office.
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And back, I guess it was the beginning of April. That's when we hosted the AJCA Spring Youth Field Day.
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And we also had an Alabama junior and senior high school beef cook-off.
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So those were a lot of events required a lot of heavy lifting on your end and
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from a lot of our other partners as well.
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Can you give everybody an update on those two events? Yeah, it's been a busy spring.
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I think that everybody in the office would agree, you know, spring is a big time for youth events.
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And in the office here, I've kind of been head down, not really talking to everybody
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as much until a few weeks ago. I was like, hey, guys, nice to see y'all again.
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But, you know, we did talk about kind of the details of the Spring Youth Field
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Day and the Alabama Junior and Senior High School Beef Cook-Off in our March episode.
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So if you would like to kind of know more about what went on there,
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I would recommend going back and listening to our March checking in on the checkoff episode.
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But just for to report to some of our listeners how those events did.
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Our AJCA Spring Youth Field Day was on April 1st. we had 75 youth attend.
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They went through BQA stations and came out with their BQA certification that day.
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Big shout out to our Beef and Forges extension team because they led those different stations there.
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Couldn't have done that without them, but, you know, had that.
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And then our Alabama junior and senior high school beef cook-off took place.
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We had 18 entries from across the state and we gave out over $1,800 in monetary prizes to the winners.
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So good turnout there. That is supported through the Beef Checkoff Program.
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It was a very successful event. Couldn't have done it without our cattle women.
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Very thankful for them that day. They were doing the hard work, you know, honestly.
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I mean, we did, we organized it, but they were doing the hard work.
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And they really helped me considering this was my first time running that event.
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But that was beginning of April.
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At the end of April, we did another consumer outreach effort in partnership
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with some other southeastern states.
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This is one that you kind of initiated, Michael, because you had done the partnership
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with Bristol. And it's something different than we have done in the past.
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So we actually did a partnership with a NASCAR driver for some consumer outreach.
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Can you talk about that a little bit, Michael? Absolutely.
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So we last year, we had a really successful partnership with some southeastern
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states with their cattlemen association, beef councils, however they promote beef in their state.
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And we got together with them on the baseball game at Bristol last year.
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And that kind of sparked a lot of interest in all of us about working together in the future.
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And so, and this came along at a good time for us as it is nationally,
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you know, checkoff dollars are down. And so...
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Our job is to present opportunities to the Chekhov Council and they decide what,
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you know, what we want to fund and whatnot. And our job is to make the most of those funds.
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And so we had an opportunity at NASCAR, which at Talladega, which I know the
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past few years, we do some kind of beef promotion there.
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Yeah, we either in October, mostly in the fall race, we usually have a backstretch
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banner that says beef, it's what's for dinner on the backstretch and do some
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steak samples usually or something like that.
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But we decided to change it up a little bit this year. We did.
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And trying to maximize those dollars, but also kind of do something a little
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different that may reach more people.
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And so we were able to partner with these other states and promote beef in Alabama,
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but also, I guess you could say nationally as well, through Mr. Jeb Burton.
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If you're a longtime NASCAR fan, you know the Burton family, Ward and Jeff.
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I think Jeb is Ward's son, I believe.
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But we were able to partner with him. He's got a sponsorship with Golden Corral.
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And so partnering with him and their other states, we had some beef logos on
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his car, on his helmet, and even positioned inside the in-car cameras that are
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huge when you watch the race on TV.
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You saw a lot of beef. It's what's for dinner on that. And Jeb's a pretty good
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racer as well. So we thought that would be great.
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A good partnership there because he's pretty good at what he does.
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And you and I have got to know him. He is very much a supporter of beef.
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He's a supporter of agriculture.
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And he's definitely one of us. I promise you, if he lived here,
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he'd have a beef tag on the front of his pickup.
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I gave him some. There you go. I gave him some. Yeah. He's probably rolling around Virginia.
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Is he from Virginia? Yeah, he's from Virginia. Yeah, Virginia. Okay.
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So he's probably rolling around Virginia right now with a Bama beef tag on the front, hopefully.
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But yeah, we were able to go there and do that. And not only that,
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but we partnered with Jeb for him to actually go into the infield.
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As most of you know, the infield, that's one of the draws there at Talladega.
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So Jeb was able to go down there and we were able to give away two prize packs
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on Friday, which was just beef promo material and also some beef as well.
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So the folks, the fans there in the infield got to enjoy that and meet Jeb up close and personal.
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And I believe you were there with that kind of riding around on a golf cart with him.
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Yeah. Yeah. That was your first time seeing. Yeah, it was it was an experience. That is for sure.
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But they say, you know, you kind of coordinated the front end of it.
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And I kind of went and did the on-site activation and we did hand out those prize packs.
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And we also handed out tons of koozies and beef. It's what's for dinner towels to the fans.
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So those two prize packs went to two lucky groups. And we actually had some
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footage that Jeb's team captured of him giving out those products to those fans.
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And it was shared on his Facebook.
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We reshared it. And it got a lot of views, I think. On his Facebook,
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it had over 3,000 views. So...
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You know, that was really good. And that was part of our partnership with it.
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And, you know, I think you kind of mentioned this. What's so valuable about
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these Southeastern partnerships is, correct me if I'm wrong, Michael,
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but if we were to just put our logo on just the ACA, if we were to put the Beef
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It's What's For Dinner logo on Jeb's car,
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it would cost us $50,000. Yeah.
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However, if we partner, we can split that up between six, seven, eight states. Right.
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So that that allows us to still do that and also has benefits of reaching other
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states while kind of keeping it within our budget. That's right.
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And what it kind of on the on the business side of it, instead of doing a backstretch banner in October,
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which is a stationary thing, what we were able to do here, like you said,
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those partnerships, we were able to spend less money and I think get more bang for our buck.
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And we've got the same thing, I believe, happened in October.
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So we're getting two races out of this for less money. And I think more person-to-person impact.
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That's something that we've talked
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about, you know, trying to maximize our marketing dollars as a whole.
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You know, we want to do things that focus on person-to-person contact this year.
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And I think this helped us do that.
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You know, anytime I think in the infield when they see a driver riding around,
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that's going to draw some attention. They were coming for those beef towels,
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too. They wanted those towels.
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I mean, they were like, yeah, beef is what's for dinner. And I was like,
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yeah, you know, it was good.
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Before we move on, Michael, can you tell our listeners, because Jeb's kind of
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have that logo on his car for, well, throughout the season, from my understanding. Yeah.
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So can you tell our listeners, if they are NASCAR fans, where they will see that logo?
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Yeah. So you've got it on the back spoiler.
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So the in-car cam, either looking back from through his back window,
00:15:09.343 --> 00:15:14.063
or if you're behind him, and hopefully he's in front, they've got views from
00:15:14.063 --> 00:15:16.083
people behind him, but you have it there.
00:15:16.183 --> 00:15:21.983
It's on the, I guess, the front side of the driver's window on that column there. There's a name for that.
00:15:22.523 --> 00:15:26.323
It's on both. Yeah. Isn't it like A post or C post? Something like that.
00:15:26.323 --> 00:15:29.023
I'm not a good race car. It's a post. Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:29.766 --> 00:15:33.066
We would call it our door seal here in a regular car, but yeah,
00:15:33.066 --> 00:15:36.506
it's on that post there that kind of goes around the roll cage there,
00:15:36.706 --> 00:15:40.826
the front side of the driver's and the other side, but also on his helmet.
00:15:41.366 --> 00:15:45.666
So, and they've got the stickers positioned on the in-car shots too.
00:15:45.866 --> 00:15:50.426
So it's a lot of visibility for what we're doing and more so than just,
00:15:50.426 --> 00:15:52.426
you know, a stationary banner. Yeah.
00:15:52.566 --> 00:15:57.206
And it should be some good coverage. And I know I gave him some of those beef,
00:15:57.206 --> 00:15:59.926
it's what's for dinner towels because he said during his interviews he was going
00:15:59.926 --> 00:16:03.866
to like wipe his face with it and stuff I was like that's awesome but unfortunately
00:16:03.866 --> 00:16:07.166
Jeb did not have the outcome we wanted at Talladega
00:16:07.166 --> 00:16:12.706
he crashed I believe which I would never wish that on anybody but I've always
00:16:12.706 --> 00:16:17.566
heard that's when you get the most publicity to your car yeah when the dust
00:16:17.566 --> 00:16:21.606
settles the car's finally still again and so you can see those and and yeah
00:16:21.606 --> 00:16:24.606
and even then they're going to put a camera on him getting it out of the car.
00:16:24.846 --> 00:16:29.866
And so it's good. Those NASCAR folks have figured out the marketing side of
00:16:29.866 --> 00:16:30.906
it for sure. Yeah, they have.
00:16:31.406 --> 00:16:35.846
But it was good. I know Wyatt Sasser, our state president, was able to go with
00:16:35.846 --> 00:16:40.206
some folks and he was able to visit with some folks from Golden Corral and just
00:16:40.206 --> 00:16:42.646
kind of talk as a producer, you know, on the beef side.
00:16:42.786 --> 00:16:45.666
So it was, I think, time well spent.
00:16:46.526 --> 00:16:50.906
When beef's on the table, family mealtime. This sounds better.
00:16:52.086 --> 00:16:56.886
Find recipes for the entire family at beefitswhatsfordinner.com.
00:16:57.006 --> 00:16:59.266
Funded by beef farmers and ranchers.
00:17:02.696 --> 00:17:08.996
So moving out of April and into May, you had a big event that we were all super
00:17:08.996 --> 00:17:13.636
excited about leading up to it and probably more excited about now after we've wrapped it up.
00:17:13.736 --> 00:17:17.516
And that was our inaugural youth cattle working contest.
00:17:17.916 --> 00:17:23.936
And that's something that I greatly believe in and I help spread the word on to everybody I knew.
00:17:24.136 --> 00:17:26.896
So Bailey, tell everybody about that and how it went.
00:17:27.156 --> 00:17:31.336
I know we've kind of already talked about it a little bit, but now that we've done it, how'd it go?
00:17:31.616 --> 00:17:34.356
It was fun. Good. Didn't you think it was fun? I loved it. Yeah.
00:17:34.496 --> 00:17:38.416
I loved it. It was a long day, which was to be expected with the first contest,
00:17:38.436 --> 00:17:40.816
I think. But it was fun. Yeah.
00:17:41.316 --> 00:17:46.056
I've told everybody if the kids had as much fun as I did, then we're doing good. Yeah. You know?
00:17:46.856 --> 00:17:51.076
But, yeah, so we had that on Saturday, May 2nd at Mid-State Stockyards.
00:17:51.216 --> 00:17:55.056
And, again, I've really talked about this a lot, but kind of what that day looked
00:17:55.056 --> 00:18:00.916
like is youth worked. They first came in and they filled out a cattle processing plan.
00:18:01.454 --> 00:18:05.394
And then they worked three head of cattle through a shoot, all without adult assistance.
00:18:05.634 --> 00:18:08.714
They were judged by three judges, including a veterinarian, Dr.
00:18:08.834 --> 00:18:11.814
Rodning, Dr. Soren Rodning, was there judging them.
00:18:12.074 --> 00:18:16.294
We also had Tad Eason, who is the vice president, going to be the president
00:18:16.294 --> 00:18:18.414
of Alabama's Livestock Marketing Association.
00:18:18.914 --> 00:18:23.514
They're judging as well as someone from Mississippi State who has seen the contest before.
00:18:24.034 --> 00:18:28.474
But just great turnout. Now, we had five teams from across the state and a lot
00:18:28.474 --> 00:18:32.014
of spectators, you know, kind of want to see what this competition is about.
00:18:32.654 --> 00:18:35.894
And, you know, my hat's off to these kids, honestly.
00:18:36.354 --> 00:18:41.594
They stepped out of their comfort zone and competed in a competition that they
00:18:41.594 --> 00:18:44.074
have not seen anybody do before. Right.
00:18:44.394 --> 00:18:47.714
It has never been done in Alabama. They didn't really know what they were walking
00:18:47.714 --> 00:18:50.954
into, but they they did it with confidence and they did well.
00:18:50.954 --> 00:18:56.434
So I do want to take a second to recognize the teams and the members of the
00:18:56.434 --> 00:19:01.614
teams, because I do think because these kids were the first to step out of their
00:19:01.614 --> 00:19:04.594
comfort zone and do this competition, I think they deserve to be recognized.
00:19:04.594 --> 00:19:09.634
So we had a team from Tuscaloosa composed of Neil Thomas Miller,
00:19:10.074 --> 00:19:11.754
Ellen Fair, and Aiden Clements.
00:19:12.134 --> 00:19:17.154
We also had a team from Cherokee slash Etowah, that county partnership you were
00:19:17.154 --> 00:19:22.054
talking about, composed of Olivia Miller, Eli Morgan, and Carly Komen.
00:19:22.663 --> 00:19:27.323
Then we had a team from Southeast Tri-County. They were composed of multiple counties.
00:19:27.583 --> 00:19:30.583
So Merrick Carter, Aubrey Lovelady, and Luke Meadows.
00:19:30.803 --> 00:19:36.863
We had a team from Franklin County, Blayden McDuffa, Dacey McDuffa, and Paige Denton.
00:19:37.223 --> 00:19:40.783
And then a team from St. Clair County, composed of Aubrey Jones,
00:19:41.283 --> 00:19:43.863
Mallory Middlebrooks, and Tanner Craven.
00:19:44.043 --> 00:19:46.763
Our third place team was a team from St. Clair County.
00:19:47.083 --> 00:19:51.603
Franklin County Top Hands was the second place team. And our first place team
00:19:51.603 --> 00:19:53.743
was this team from Southeast Tri-County.
00:19:54.083 --> 00:19:59.203
So Mary, Aubrey, and Luke will go to represent Alabama at the National Cattle
00:19:59.203 --> 00:20:02.183
Working Contest in September, which will take place in Kentucky.
00:20:02.483 --> 00:20:07.323
So super excited to see how they do and how they represent Alabama.
00:20:07.323 --> 00:20:08.883
Well, we're going to win.
00:20:09.083 --> 00:20:12.983
Yeah. Like, you know, we're going to win. I think so. Yeah. We play to win around
00:20:12.983 --> 00:20:14.203
here in Alabama. Absolutely.
00:20:14.483 --> 00:20:18.623
Yeah. So it was really good turnout. I was very happy with it.
00:20:18.623 --> 00:20:22.603
But like I said, round of applause to those kids who stepped out of their comfort
00:20:22.603 --> 00:20:24.783
zone and did a great job, you know.
00:20:25.343 --> 00:20:29.803
Well, I'd like to say, too, that on our side here of not having done it before,
00:20:30.103 --> 00:20:35.083
you know, everything that, you know, I rolled in here last year and I kind of
00:20:35.083 --> 00:20:39.703
just, you know, you get yourself up to speed running at the pace of play and
00:20:39.703 --> 00:20:42.663
you just kind of fall in and, you know, everybody kind of shows you what to
00:20:42.663 --> 00:20:44.003
do, where to stand, where to be.
00:20:44.003 --> 00:20:47.023
And on this one, we had never done it before.
00:20:47.183 --> 00:20:52.023
And I talked and a lot of other folks talked about how smooth it went.
00:20:52.463 --> 00:20:56.163
And I think that's a testament to you and your planning and coordinating that
00:20:56.163 --> 00:21:00.143
deal. And I've heard a lot of buzz about it kind of out in the state.
00:21:00.363 --> 00:21:04.883
I think definitely next year we're going to have more teams. And I think it will work.
00:21:05.586 --> 00:21:09.186
I think it's going to be a big thing. Yeah. And I think it will be one of our,
00:21:09.186 --> 00:21:15.266
I think, foundational pillars for young people in this state to get an opportunity to do that.
00:21:15.426 --> 00:21:17.626
And this is something that you'll take with you forever.
00:21:17.846 --> 00:21:21.206
Oh, yeah. As long as you're handling cattle and livestock, this is something
00:21:21.206 --> 00:21:27.006
that, you know, you can take, you may be 16, but you'd be doing this when you're 66 or 76.
00:21:27.466 --> 00:21:30.886
And so I think this is a great program that we do.
00:21:31.086 --> 00:21:34.406
Yeah. So if you see any of those kids I mentioned, make sure you just,
00:21:34.566 --> 00:21:37.806
tell them a good job. For just doing it.
00:21:38.026 --> 00:21:40.686
They all did a great job. It was really close in the scores.
00:21:40.866 --> 00:21:45.026
And if you see Merritt, Aubrey, or Luke, just wish them good luck as we go compete
00:21:45.026 --> 00:21:46.986
with them at the National One in September.
00:21:47.126 --> 00:21:51.466
Absolutely right. But also that first week of May, we wrapped up our Spring
00:21:51.466 --> 00:21:54.386
Beef 101 series that takes place at Auburn University.
00:21:54.926 --> 00:21:58.646
We've talked about Beef 101 a lot on this podcast. But can you kind of tell
00:21:58.646 --> 00:22:01.146
us how we did this spring with that series?
00:22:01.286 --> 00:22:04.606
Because we had a good spring with the Beef 101 series.
00:22:04.866 --> 00:22:12.526
It was excellent. We had six sessions there total. We were able to host over 475 attendees.
00:22:12.726 --> 00:22:16.566
And that is from, y'all, that's from all over the state.
00:22:16.766 --> 00:22:21.486
That is not just ag kids that come to this. It's culinary students.
00:22:21.806 --> 00:22:25.626
Mostly culinary students. Yeah, you're right. It's mostly culinary.
00:22:26.146 --> 00:22:33.426
And junior colleges, it is a wide swath of people who will be interacting and
00:22:33.426 --> 00:22:36.826
working with beef. So it's so good to get them there.
00:22:36.946 --> 00:22:39.846
And what I like about it is when...
00:22:40.281 --> 00:22:43.101
When they're inside with you and then they're outside with me.
00:22:43.261 --> 00:22:46.881
And then when we get them all in the cooler there, when they process the carcass,
00:22:47.021 --> 00:22:48.521
the questions that come about.
00:22:48.961 --> 00:22:53.121
And that's the goal. I think that's the goal is to educate and inform.
00:22:53.481 --> 00:22:56.701
And, you know, it's not just an easy field trip out of school.
00:22:56.901 --> 00:23:00.341
You know, we give them a lot of information, a lot of data.
00:23:00.681 --> 00:23:05.101
And we're able to, one thing I like about it, being outside on the producer
00:23:05.101 --> 00:23:11.121
and the veterinarian side is we're able to dispel a lot of myths about how we produce beef and,
00:23:11.744 --> 00:23:16.724
So being able to do that and having them ask questions and having our producers,
00:23:16.964 --> 00:23:20.104
having our veterinarians that come and give their time to do that.
00:23:21.184 --> 00:23:25.224
Having them be able to be there and tell their story to people who are genuinely
00:23:25.224 --> 00:23:26.824
curious about it and want to learn.
00:23:27.164 --> 00:23:30.344
I always ask the question when we get them out back, how many has never been
00:23:30.344 --> 00:23:33.084
up close with a cow before? And hands go up. Yeah. And I'm like,
00:23:33.144 --> 00:23:34.144
well, today's your day. Yeah.
00:23:34.424 --> 00:23:37.964
So we let them finish up, you know, take pictures and get up close.
00:23:37.964 --> 00:23:42.224
And what I try to drive home on my portion of it is the care,
00:23:42.324 --> 00:23:48.204
the concern, and the time that it takes to produce, you know, this quality beef.
00:23:48.604 --> 00:23:52.724
And we reached 475 people with that message. Yeah, yeah.
00:23:52.884 --> 00:23:58.664
And we've got, I know there are teachers and instructors that come back who have been there before.
00:23:59.304 --> 00:24:03.344
They help ask questions because, you know, the light bulbs went off for them.
00:24:03.444 --> 00:24:08.044
And so they're able to, they help us. And we're just, what I like about it is
00:24:08.044 --> 00:24:09.384
we're putting more advocates out there.
00:24:09.664 --> 00:24:13.844
We're putting more people out there to help tell our story the right way.
00:24:13.984 --> 00:24:18.244
Yeah. And even if they just go into the grocery store with their parents,
00:24:18.344 --> 00:24:22.224
they're like, Mama, you know how long it took to get this to where it is,
00:24:22.344 --> 00:24:25.524
this state to where it is? It's, you know, it's a great program.
00:24:25.744 --> 00:24:31.744
We'll be going back into that program in the fall. So we'll provide updates on that.
00:24:31.744 --> 00:24:35.944
If you have any questions, interested in either bringing students,
00:24:36.504 --> 00:24:41.184
being a veterinarian or a guest producer speaker, or just kind of want to come
00:24:41.184 --> 00:24:44.324
as a producer and just see what's going on, just reach out to Michael or me.
00:24:44.324 --> 00:24:48.984
Yes, and that's something, before we move on, I wanted to just kind of toe-tap
00:24:48.984 --> 00:24:51.564
again that we mentioned at the board meeting.
00:24:51.864 --> 00:24:57.344
If you want to help tell your story, we would love to have you email me,
00:24:57.644 --> 00:25:01.824
msmith at bamabeef.org or bailey at bwatson at bamabeef.org.
00:25:01.844 --> 00:25:05.784
And we're going to put a list together of folks who are interested in doing
00:25:05.784 --> 00:25:09.264
that because it allows you to tell your story. And it's fun, too.
00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:14.819
I think when you do that with people that don't know a lot and they ask questions
00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:18.419
and there really aren't, I've not heard a dumb question out there yet. Yeah.
00:25:18.859 --> 00:25:21.299
Not even one that I want to turn my head and laugh at. No. You know,
00:25:21.419 --> 00:25:25.419
they ask good questions and it kind of lets you tell your story.
00:25:25.539 --> 00:25:29.279
So we'd love to have you, if you want to get on the list for that with us,
00:25:29.379 --> 00:25:30.299
we'd love to have you on. Yeah.
00:25:30.739 --> 00:25:38.519
Yeah. Yeah, well, after that, we kind of went into our board meeting and your
00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:41.699
first YCLP Class 13 session, Michael.
00:25:41.939 --> 00:25:45.339
I know a couple of weeks ago, you and Mitchell were on this podcast talking
00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:50.219
about why should you do YCLP, talking about the council, how the council is
00:25:50.219 --> 00:25:52.359
beneficial to this program.
00:25:52.499 --> 00:25:56.699
But one thing y'all did not talk about and it had not happened was,
00:25:56.899 --> 00:26:00.319
A, who is now in the YCLP Class 13?
00:26:00.639 --> 00:26:04.299
And B, what did y'all do throughout that first session? So hand the mic over
00:26:04.299 --> 00:26:06.279
to you to talk about YCLP, Michael.
00:26:06.459 --> 00:26:11.359
Yeah, it's great. I call them Lucky Number Class 13, and they are a super,
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:13.179
super great group of folks.
00:26:13.659 --> 00:26:18.059
I've got to know them kind of before we got started. So getting them here and
00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:22.399
seeing them in person and talking to them, it was kind of like talking to an old friend.
00:26:23.179 --> 00:26:27.039
And a lot of the folks, not all, but some of the folks in this class,
00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:28.859
we kind of knew ahead of time.
00:26:28.939 --> 00:26:32.599
And it's exciting for me for them to even be here and see it.
00:26:32.999 --> 00:26:36.359
But yeah, we got started at our May board directors meeting,
00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:41.659
kind of customary thing we do here of letting them see that and getting them started right.
00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:45.179
And something we did different this year was on Wednesday night.
00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:50.319
When I went through the program, we showed up here Thursday morning with everybody
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:51.359
here for the board meeting.
00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:53.819
And you kind of didn't know who was who, who's in the class,
00:26:53.819 --> 00:26:57.319
who's not. And so we wanted to do it a little different this year.
00:26:57.479 --> 00:26:59.779
So Wednesday night, we had them here at the building.
00:27:00.582 --> 00:27:05.002
Our executive committee was wrapping up their meeting. And so we got to share
00:27:05.002 --> 00:27:10.242
a dinner with them upstairs on the third floor and just real informal,
00:27:10.522 --> 00:27:12.202
just getting to know one another and talk.
00:27:12.562 --> 00:27:18.622
And so we did that. And then we, one of the foundational things for me is learning
00:27:18.622 --> 00:27:23.822
about the association and the history of the association. So we were able to split the group in two.
00:27:24.222 --> 00:27:27.922
And our very own Kayla Greer here, who is alumni of class two,
00:27:28.062 --> 00:27:32.642
we were able to split the group in two and do a tour of the building because
00:27:32.642 --> 00:27:35.102
there is so much history here in this building.
00:27:35.442 --> 00:27:40.122
And what I wanted them to see and grasp is they're a part of something really
00:27:40.122 --> 00:27:41.662
big that's been around a long time.
00:27:41.802 --> 00:27:46.482
And so I wanted them to see and understand that because I remember the first
00:27:46.482 --> 00:27:49.082
time I got a tour of the building, it meant something to me.
00:27:49.202 --> 00:27:51.122
And so I wanted them to be able to do that.
00:27:51.482 --> 00:27:54.942
And we did that. Then we rolled into the board meeting like normal.
00:27:55.142 --> 00:27:59.862
I told them all, I said, at any cattleman's event, I said, we're going to do two things.
00:28:00.222 --> 00:28:02.582
I said, we're going to feed you and we're going to take your picture.
00:28:02.902 --> 00:28:04.082
It's just what we do here.
00:28:04.362 --> 00:28:09.782
And so we fed them Wednesday night, got them here, took their pictures on Thursday morning.
00:28:09.902 --> 00:28:12.702
Those pictures are now on our website. So you can go check them out.
00:28:13.022 --> 00:28:14.042
Great looking group of people.
00:28:14.742 --> 00:28:19.642
And we of course did the board meeting, fed them again, because again, that's what we do.
00:28:19.842 --> 00:28:24.942
And we got on the road. We got all of our kind of get to know one another stuff out of the way.
00:28:25.022 --> 00:28:30.602
And we got on the road and And we left here on Thursday, went down to Mid-State Stockyards, Mr.
00:28:30.882 --> 00:28:35.882
Nate Lipscomb, who is very involved in the association. And he served as the
00:28:35.882 --> 00:28:38.102
first Chekhov Council chairman.
00:28:38.462 --> 00:28:42.522
And that was awesome because he talked about...
00:28:43.316 --> 00:28:47.636
You know, the funding and stuff for YCLP and his passion for that.
00:28:48.216 --> 00:28:52.636
I mean, it was, it was awesome. You know, I thought we were going for a stockyard
00:28:52.636 --> 00:28:56.396
visit and it was, it turned into so much more than that.
00:28:56.536 --> 00:29:01.756
And he just shared his passion for the industry, you know, what they have to offer there.
00:29:01.976 --> 00:29:05.776
And it's like I said earlier, like Nate said, Hey, you know,
00:29:06.036 --> 00:29:08.236
sell them somewhere here in Alabama. You ain't got to come here.
00:29:08.516 --> 00:29:12.856
You know, we'd love to have you, but, you know, take advantage of your stockyards. And he, you know,
00:29:13.230 --> 00:29:17.990
Just shared a lot of wisdom and a lot of just knowledge on the Chekhov side
00:29:17.990 --> 00:29:21.110
of things, which, of course, funds the Young Cattlemen's Leadership Program.
00:29:21.310 --> 00:29:26.130
And so we did that. And then that Thursday evening, we met our way to CK Cattle.
00:29:26.550 --> 00:29:30.070
Had a great visit there with Medeiros and Evans family there.
00:29:30.210 --> 00:29:35.890
And we had an incredible supper brought to us by Russin Wilson and the team
00:29:35.890 --> 00:29:37.370
there at Alabama Farm Credit.
00:29:37.790 --> 00:29:41.810
Russin is an alumni of the program as well. Awesome. And of course.
00:29:42.290 --> 00:29:46.210
Bradfield Evans, Charlie Medeiros, and then Kathleen Medeiros,
00:29:46.370 --> 00:29:48.630
you know, they're all alumni of the program.
00:29:49.010 --> 00:29:52.750
And so, you know, they were super great hosts as usual.
00:29:53.030 --> 00:29:57.030
And we got to get a tour of their place and spent the night,
00:29:57.170 --> 00:29:58.770
Wednesday night, Thursday night at Kickback Ranch.
00:29:59.030 --> 00:30:02.270
They've always been good partners with us here. Yeah, they have. And it's nice there.
00:30:02.410 --> 00:30:05.970
It is nice. It's quiet. It's nice, you know. And that just gives time too for
00:30:05.970 --> 00:30:08.070
the class to kind of get to know one another.
00:30:08.330 --> 00:30:12.730
And then Friday morning, we wrapped up. up in Ataga County at Ataga Farming
00:30:12.730 --> 00:30:17.690
Company with the Wendland family there and got to get a tour of their whole operation.
00:30:17.950 --> 00:30:24.590
We all were able to fit in a bus, which is the first time I've done that YCOP
00:30:24.590 --> 00:30:26.190
rise. And that was really fun.
00:30:26.470 --> 00:30:31.810
So we had a tour there with the Wendland family and then they did a lunch for
00:30:31.810 --> 00:30:34.310
us there. Ataga County Cattlemen cooked a lunch.
00:30:34.550 --> 00:30:39.510
Oh, and I forgot to add, And Thursday morning, we started out with Mr. Bill. Oh, yeah.
00:30:40.030 --> 00:30:43.730
Yeah. Attaugue County, past president, past state president.
00:30:44.470 --> 00:30:50.650
CBB board member. Yeah, he's our Alabama rep. I mean, it was so cool when we
00:30:50.650 --> 00:30:53.830
were at the Cal Bill's place, we were finishing up and one of the guys in the
00:30:53.830 --> 00:30:57.190
class came up to me and he kind of elbowed me in the arm. He said,
00:30:57.350 --> 00:30:58.470
I can't believe I'm here.
00:30:59.034 --> 00:31:03.674
And I said, I know it's cool, isn't it? He said, I cannot believe all this man
00:31:03.674 --> 00:31:05.994
is doing and I'm hanging out with him at his place.
00:31:06.234 --> 00:31:09.674
And you never know it with him. That's right. And I thought to myself,
00:31:09.874 --> 00:31:12.814
I was like, that's what we want out of this program.
00:31:13.514 --> 00:31:18.214
But yeah, we wrapped up at Cowbills and then made our way to Otago Farming.
00:31:18.374 --> 00:31:21.774
And then Cowbill actually joined us for lunch there and helped cook. Yeah.
00:31:22.174 --> 00:31:26.894
Y'all had a great weekend. We did a lot. Yes, which is good to kick it off.
00:31:26.894 --> 00:31:30.274
And I loved how you added that Wednesday night addition.
00:31:30.534 --> 00:31:34.274
I think being able to get them together, to get to know one another and see the building.
00:31:34.494 --> 00:31:37.434
So shout out to you. But I do want to take a second, Michael,
00:31:37.474 --> 00:31:42.094
to allow you to tell our listeners who this class is. I know it's a long list for you.
00:31:42.314 --> 00:31:47.014
But if you want to go on and tell our listeners who's in lucky number class 13. Absolutely.
00:31:47.374 --> 00:31:51.214
So we'll go in alphabetical order here. We'll start with Miss Brittany Bell
00:31:51.214 --> 00:31:54.894
down in Monroe County. Brett Ennis in Tallapoosa County.
00:31:55.614 --> 00:31:57.174
Aaron Fowler, my neighbor there
00:31:57.174 --> 00:32:01.814
up in Jefferson County. Mr. Wayne Scooter Greenhill down in Mobile County.
00:32:02.214 --> 00:32:04.634
Miss Holly Hall in Shelby County there with me.
00:32:05.214 --> 00:32:10.914
Courtney Heritage from here close by in Elmore County. Beth House down in Canucka County.
00:32:11.414 --> 00:32:15.474
Daniel Jones from Autauga County, kind of a familiar name. And his wife,
00:32:15.574 --> 00:32:18.474
Josie Jones from Autauga County. Some of y'all may have heard of Josie.
00:32:19.034 --> 00:32:23.254
She's in the class this time. Dr. Maggie Justice from there in Lee County.
00:32:23.894 --> 00:32:27.934
A lot of you, I'm sure, know Maggie and all that, you know, just her wealth
00:32:27.934 --> 00:32:31.194
of knowledge that she has. And she's just super fun to hang out with, too.
00:32:31.614 --> 00:32:33.594
Wesley Kibler down in Houston County.
00:32:34.134 --> 00:32:35.954
Patrick Kirkland down in Covington
00:32:35.954 --> 00:32:40.114
County. We've got Suzanne and Robert Littlepage from Choctaw County.
00:32:40.723 --> 00:32:45.403
A married couple there joining with us. They and the Joneses are our only married couples in this class.
00:32:45.803 --> 00:32:49.363
We've got Corey McClain, one of my guys there in Shelby County.
00:32:49.703 --> 00:32:52.603
We've got Morgan McPherson from Marengo County.
00:32:52.943 --> 00:32:57.803
We've got Luke Mosler from Morgan County. Paul Odom from over in Coosa County.
00:32:57.983 --> 00:33:02.943
Paul is the first ever member of Coosa County to be in a YCLP class.
00:33:03.183 --> 00:33:07.283
So shout out, Paul. Yeah. Paul's getting it done with us. So we've got Ella
00:33:07.283 --> 00:33:09.423
Joyce Poston from Lee County.
00:33:09.823 --> 00:33:14.543
We've got Kaitlin Reeves over in Dallas County. We've got Dalton St.
00:33:14.743 --> 00:33:16.123
Sin from down in Dale County.
00:33:16.503 --> 00:33:23.383
We've got Jackson Talbert down in Geneva County and Abigail Waller coming to us from Bullitt County.
00:33:23.543 --> 00:33:26.623
Her husband went through a couple of classes ago.
00:33:26.883 --> 00:33:32.683
And then we got Morgan Wells in Covington County. So we've got a great group there,
00:33:32.963 --> 00:33:39.023
about 24 of them, all directly involved in ag some way, but also,
00:33:39.023 --> 00:33:42.863
you know, kind of working some day jobs that are also industry partners as well.
00:33:43.023 --> 00:33:48.563
So pretty good age range on this group. And that's also a good thing.
00:33:48.683 --> 00:33:53.403
But yeah, as you heard, they're scattered out across the state and they're eager
00:33:53.403 --> 00:33:55.463
to travel and see how it's done elsewhere.
00:33:55.683 --> 00:33:59.583
Alabama is so geographically and geologically diverse.
00:33:59.743 --> 00:34:03.783
So getting to see how it's done kind of across the state is going to be a good
00:34:03.783 --> 00:34:05.743
thing for them. We're super excited.
00:34:06.023 --> 00:34:08.903
And for our listeners, I know that's a lot of names to process.
00:34:08.903 --> 00:34:12.483
If you want to put a face to the name, I would recommend going to our Facebook
00:34:12.483 --> 00:34:16.063
page, go back a couple of weeks ago and kind of look at,
00:34:16.343 --> 00:34:20.903
you know, we do have that post, as Michael said, where we have their headshots
00:34:20.903 --> 00:34:24.843
and their names and where they're from. So I would recommend doing that for sure. Yep.
00:34:25.143 --> 00:34:30.283
And it's also on our website under Beef Checkoff. You can go down to YCLP and
00:34:30.283 --> 00:34:34.443
see not only their headshots, but also all the previous classes. So. Yep.
00:34:34.983 --> 00:34:37.523
Yep. This really good group. We're super excited. Yeah, it is.
00:34:37.623 --> 00:34:39.103
I'm excited to see what they'll do.
00:34:39.931 --> 00:34:45.791
So that's kind of our kickoff for summer here, that spring, that May board meeting there.
00:34:46.011 --> 00:34:50.151
So, which means one thing, Bailey, summer grilling season is here.
00:34:50.291 --> 00:34:53.831
Yes, it is. Which is one of my favorite, absolute favorite times of the year. Yeah.
00:34:54.071 --> 00:34:58.451
But it's also a busy time for you and I as we go out and promote beef.
00:34:58.751 --> 00:35:04.831
What are some ways that we're promoting beef here as the association kind of across the state?
00:35:05.011 --> 00:35:08.331
Yeah, like you said, we really kind of amp up our advertisements,
00:35:08.691 --> 00:35:09.691
our consumer advertisements.
00:35:09.931 --> 00:35:13.991
During the summer because summer grilling season is just so popular in the state.
00:35:14.251 --> 00:35:19.271
We have plenty of lakes, warm weather, you know, everybody wants to be outside on the grill.
00:35:19.411 --> 00:35:22.571
I will be honest, just me, myself, I've been on the grill like three times this
00:35:22.571 --> 00:35:26.071
week, you know, just it's so nice outside. You want to do something on the grill.
00:35:26.511 --> 00:35:32.671
So you will start seeing advertisements on some websites promoting summer grilling,
00:35:32.871 --> 00:35:36.871
promoting these consumers to grill beef this summer.
00:35:37.051 --> 00:35:44.051
So, you know, we had some digital advertisements in May on AL.com that consumers can see.
00:35:44.211 --> 00:35:49.251
But one thing we have done this year is we have put advertisements on Yellowhammer.
00:35:49.551 --> 00:35:54.311
So our Beef It's What's For Dinner digital advertisements that have pictures of beef.
00:35:54.411 --> 00:35:57.791
And then if consumers click on it, it takes them directly to the Beef It's What's
00:35:57.791 --> 00:35:58.791
For Dinner website, right?
00:35:59.031 --> 00:36:03.631
We decided to do those advertisements on Yellowhammer this year because of all
00:36:03.631 --> 00:36:07.251
the traffic that is going on with political elections coming up.
00:36:07.431 --> 00:36:09.331
And those have done very well, you know.
00:36:09.571 --> 00:36:12.391
So that's what we're doing on the digital side.
00:36:12.651 --> 00:36:17.531
Another thing we have done is we have done one e-commerce campaign already,
00:36:17.531 --> 00:36:19.051
and we will do another one.
00:36:19.291 --> 00:36:24.611
So what that is, e-commerce is, for those of you that may shop on Walmarts.
00:36:25.123 --> 00:36:30.923
App and do pickup, Sam's Club app, any of those stores that do those apps,
00:36:31.123 --> 00:36:35.623
there are banner ads at the top, right, that you can click on and it takes you
00:36:35.623 --> 00:36:36.623
directly to that product.
00:36:36.943 --> 00:36:42.303
So of course, ours is beef, right? So we put a banner ad that shows up on some
00:36:42.303 --> 00:36:46.583
of these apps and when consumers click on it, it takes them to the meat case
00:36:46.583 --> 00:36:50.523
that they can buy, right? We saw a lot of success with that last year.
00:36:50.723 --> 00:36:54.743
In the state of Alabama, for every dollar we invested on advertisement,
00:36:55.043 --> 00:36:59.063
we saw $107 return on investment worth of beef sales, right?
00:36:59.343 --> 00:37:03.883
So our Beef Checkoff Council just really liked how this performed last year.
00:37:03.943 --> 00:37:08.843
So we kind of decided to invest our advertisement dollars into those campaigns this year.
00:37:09.263 --> 00:37:13.723
We'll be doing some Facebook advertisements that will show up to our consumers,
00:37:13.963 --> 00:37:15.223
encourage them to eat beef.
00:37:15.363 --> 00:37:19.443
Those do really well. Maybe some commercials and stuff going on in the southeastern
00:37:19.443 --> 00:37:24.983
region, but really ramp up our summer grilling, our advertisements to these
00:37:24.983 --> 00:37:28.723
consumers to encourage them to continue to buy beef this summer.
00:37:28.903 --> 00:37:34.503
And that's something I want to real quickly touch on here as we get close to wrapping up.
00:37:34.643 --> 00:37:39.023
But, you know, been a member of the association a while and tried to stay involved
00:37:39.023 --> 00:37:40.743
and knew all that was kind of going on.
00:37:41.503 --> 00:37:47.623
But been a staffer here almost a year now. And that's something that I learned coming to work here.
00:37:48.484 --> 00:37:53.324
You know, for somebody like myself, you know, I kind of, okay,
00:37:53.424 --> 00:37:55.504
well, we're advertising digitally, whatever.
00:37:56.744 --> 00:38:00.244
That can absolutely be tracked, those metrics.
00:38:00.624 --> 00:38:06.564
And that blew my mind at how it's not, this stuff isn't just thrown out there.
00:38:06.784 --> 00:38:11.684
But you can track it and you can see the involvement with it and you can see
00:38:11.684 --> 00:38:12.984
the number of folks you're reaching.
00:38:13.024 --> 00:38:20.444
And that just blew my mind. And I really bought into that because I almost before
00:38:20.444 --> 00:38:23.744
looked at it as, well, we're doing that. But who knows if it's reaching anybody?
00:38:24.284 --> 00:38:28.624
We've got direct numbers on this. You know, we can go to an event somewhere.
00:38:28.784 --> 00:38:32.064
We may not know an in-person event. We may not know how many people are there.
00:38:32.644 --> 00:38:39.104
But on this, you know. Yeah. And I think that is such an advantage because it reaches so many people.
00:38:39.144 --> 00:38:41.344
Yeah. And to see the return of.
00:38:41.786 --> 00:38:45.526
Through the, I think it was walmart.com to see that return on that.
00:38:45.986 --> 00:38:51.326
And that's just one snippet of the rest of it. So that's something that you
00:38:51.326 --> 00:38:53.826
and the whole comms team do a great job on.
00:38:53.886 --> 00:38:56.386
And it's really impressive to me.
00:38:56.506 --> 00:38:59.926
That is definitely a good way to advertise.
00:39:00.206 --> 00:39:04.206
And like I say, I get a little lost in the sauce on some of that stuff,
00:39:04.226 --> 00:39:06.946
but it definitely, it works.
00:39:07.106 --> 00:39:09.946
Well, just like our producers like to see their return on investment on their
00:39:09.946 --> 00:39:12.866
cattle, we like to see our return on investment with those checkoff dollars.
00:39:13.126 --> 00:39:15.306
Absolutely right. Yeah. Yeah. That's what we've got to.
00:39:15.666 --> 00:39:21.186
So, well, Bailey, finally, our next big event, we've got AJCA Roundup.
00:39:21.526 --> 00:39:26.966
It's coming to us July 23rd through the 26th here locally in town.
00:39:27.626 --> 00:39:30.126
Bailey, let's talk about Roundup. What you got for us? Yeah.
00:39:30.226 --> 00:39:35.126
I'll just kind of hit on that real quick. So, Roundup is taking place here in a couple months.
00:39:35.586 --> 00:39:40.546
Registration is now open for that. So, if you go to bamabeef.org forward slash
00:39:40.546 --> 00:39:46.526
events and click on AJCA Roundup event, it will take you directly to the Roundup website.
00:39:46.806 --> 00:39:50.766
You can go through there, kind of look through the competitions that we're going to be having.
00:39:51.006 --> 00:39:56.186
So in addition to our bull market and heifer show, we also have 12 other educational
00:39:56.186 --> 00:39:58.706
contests. We've added two new ones this year.
00:39:58.866 --> 00:40:03.986
So we have added a t-shirt design contest where the winner of that will actually
00:40:03.986 --> 00:40:07.906
have their t-shirt design on the t-shirts we're going to give to participants
00:40:07.906 --> 00:40:10.986
this year because it is the 20th annual roundup.
00:40:11.146 --> 00:40:12.986
So we need to celebrate.
00:40:13.366 --> 00:40:16.426
We're also adding an educational real contest.
00:40:16.766 --> 00:40:21.546
So those are the two new additions. We have decided with the addition of these
00:40:21.546 --> 00:40:26.426
two contests to take away the Golden Pitchfork contest this year for those counties
00:40:26.426 --> 00:40:28.346
who participate in that, just to,
00:40:28.958 --> 00:40:32.878
make some more room and everything, but super excited about that.
00:40:33.358 --> 00:40:36.258
Have a good judge coming. Dr.
00:40:36.918 --> 00:40:41.318
John Rayfield from Texas will be our judge. He is actually an Alabama native,
00:40:41.598 --> 00:40:43.258
but is now a professor at Texas Tech.
00:40:43.418 --> 00:40:45.578
Very extensive judging background.
00:40:45.838 --> 00:40:50.438
Our educational session speaker will be Heather Welper, who was also from Texas.
00:40:50.698 --> 00:40:53.478
We're just staying on the Texas theme this year. Nothing wrong with that.
00:40:53.618 --> 00:40:57.598
She will be doing our educational session on And you can't buy showmanship is
00:40:57.598 --> 00:41:00.898
her talk. So we hope to have her on the podcast and everything.
00:41:01.278 --> 00:41:04.678
So super excited about that. If you have any questions about Roundup,
00:41:04.818 --> 00:41:08.538
if you're interested in sponsoring the Roundup, please feel free to reach out to me here in the office.
00:41:08.798 --> 00:41:12.558
You know, I'm here. That's kind of going to be my task the next two months because
00:41:12.558 --> 00:41:16.438
it is a huge event. And we'd love to see everybody come out for the 20th annual one.
00:41:16.698 --> 00:41:20.318
Absolutely. Yeah. And there's so many folks that I'm sure listening,
00:41:20.718 --> 00:41:24.678
you know, participated in some way, form or fashion, maybe, you know,
00:41:24.738 --> 00:41:28.438
as they were growing up and we'd love to have, you know, them come out.
00:41:28.618 --> 00:41:31.118
It's an action packed weekend. There's so much stuff going on.
00:41:31.358 --> 00:41:34.578
And like you said, it's not just for showing cattle.
00:41:34.718 --> 00:41:39.738
There's plenty you can come and do and compete in. And it's just a really well done event.
00:41:40.178 --> 00:41:46.278
I've attended three or four of them before I came to work here and not on the show inside. Yeah.
00:41:46.438 --> 00:41:50.538
You know, just coming and checking it all out. And it's a really well done event.
00:41:51.401 --> 00:41:55.681
And we're going to have plenty of water and drinks because it will be July in Alabama.
00:41:55.921 --> 00:41:59.581
And snacks. Yeah. Yeah. I kind of hope some of this rain hangs around so it
00:41:59.581 --> 00:42:00.661
keeps the temperature down. Yeah.
00:42:01.021 --> 00:42:05.261
It's a really good event. And it's one of the kind of hallmark events we do
00:42:05.261 --> 00:42:06.941
here of just supporting youth.
00:42:07.101 --> 00:42:09.441
And, you know, this coupled with our cattle working contest,
00:42:09.441 --> 00:42:12.361
we got a lot of good stuff going for the youth here in the state.
00:42:12.521 --> 00:42:16.781
And that's something that I know everybody's pretty passionate about is that next generation.
00:42:17.161 --> 00:42:23.121
Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, again, go to that website, bamabeef.org forward slash events.
00:42:23.401 --> 00:42:26.441
Click on Roundup. Go to the website. Look through the rules packet.
00:42:26.921 --> 00:42:31.041
Register. If you have any questions, I'm here to help. But with that,
00:42:31.121 --> 00:42:34.141
Michael, we have some burgers to get to.
00:42:34.261 --> 00:42:37.921
Yes. Because Thursday was National Burger Day.
00:42:38.201 --> 00:42:42.761
So we are celebrating in the office today with burgers.
00:42:43.041 --> 00:42:48.021
Yes. Yeah. So we have some burgers to get to. I would like to take a second
00:42:48.021 --> 00:42:54.441
to our listeners to let y'all know that we have a new face in the office this week.
00:42:54.781 --> 00:42:59.281
Abby Burgess is going to be our ACA summer intern this summer.
00:42:59.281 --> 00:43:06.381
So you will see Abby doing everything from association work to beef checkoff
00:43:06.381 --> 00:43:08.961
work to AJCA youth events.
00:43:09.321 --> 00:43:14.201
Abby is calm, ag communications focused this summer. So with having three ag
00:43:14.201 --> 00:43:17.901
communication staffers in here, we hope to kind of give her some experience
00:43:17.901 --> 00:43:21.221
that, you know, would help her as she goes into her career.
00:43:21.641 --> 00:43:26.261
Super excited to have Abby as she did go through the junior cattleman's program.
00:43:26.261 --> 00:43:31.261
So it's crazy to see how far she's come, you know, and what she's doing now.
00:43:31.401 --> 00:43:36.261
So if you see Abby, just make sure you welcome her to the ACA office for the
00:43:36.261 --> 00:43:38.041
summer and wish her the best of luck.
00:43:38.181 --> 00:43:40.781
But with that, Michael, I think we should go get our burgers.
00:43:41.061 --> 00:43:44.661
Let's go do that. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Cattle Connect
00:43:44.661 --> 00:43:46.761
podcast. We look forward to seeing you next week.