Membership

As of May 31, 2013, your GCA membership

totaled 5014, with 4274 regular, 136 associates

and 604 junior members. Keep Asking your

neighbors and friends through the summer months

to become a GCA member! The benefits far out

weigh the cost!

JUNE is BEEF MONTH!!!

GBB kicked of Beef Month with events in Atlanta

and Floyd County on June 1st. If your chapter

hasn’t already planned a beef month promotion

event it’s not too late! We want to help you

prepare a terrific Beef Month promotion for your

community in June. Call the office for promotion

ideas, recipe brochures, press releases,

promotional items or tips on delivering the

powerful and positive beef message. Look for

GBB staff on TV in Macon and on the radio in

Atlanta and Savannah. To keep up with all of the

happenings – and to add your own event – visit

the GBB Pinterest board for Beef Month or follow

us on Facebook.

GCA Summer Conference – Don’t Miss It!

There’s something for everyone at the 2013 GCA

Summer Conference July 26-28 in Callaway

Gardens. If you miss the way GCA Convention

“used to be” – you should definitely attend the

Summer Conference. Enclosed is a full

conference schedule and registration form or you

can easily sign up today online at

http://www.gabeef.org/gca/summerconference.

Deadline for hotel reservations is June 25th

!

While we schedule plenty of fun activities and

free time – we also have committee meetings that

are open to all GCA members and feature

June 2013

informative speakers to help guide GCA policies

and activities. The Yon Family from Ridge

Spring, SC will present our keynote seminar

sharing their experiences of developing a

successful cattle operation “from scratch”! Bring

the whole family! There is so much to do at

Callaway Gardens – you’ll leave wishing you had

another day to stay and play!

The Young Producers Luncheon scheduled for

Saturday. This is an effort to gather folks that are

interested in participating as we develop a Young

Producers group within GCA. Past National

Cattlemen’s Young Producer’s Council Chairman,

Ben Neale, from Tennessee will be sharing

insights from his experiences. See the enclosed

detailed schedule for other planned activities.

Both Friday and Saturday evenings are a great

way to unwind with great food, music and plenty

of friends to share the experience with.

OFFICIAL BOARD MEETING NOTICE:

GCA President David Gazda has called a meeting

of the Board of Directors for Saturday July 27,

2013, 10:15 AM at the Callaway Gardens

Conference Center, Pine Mountain, Georgia.

The purpose of the meeting will be to hear reports

from GCA Committees and update GCA Policy to

address current industry issues.

Juniors Gear Up for Busy Summer

Beef Industry Scholarship Challenge (BISC) is at

the end of this month. We've got several teams

signed up, but if a team is interested and missed

the deadline, please give us a call at the office and

we will try to work something out! GJCA is really

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excited to take beef to Victory Lane this year! We

are also looking for farms, businesses and

individuals interested in sponsoring BISC and

Field Day. A $100 donation or more gets your

logo on the back of our shirts, and less than $100

is your name only. Any and every ounce of help is

greatly appreciated!

Junior Field Day will be held July 11 in Perry,

and this year we want juniors to walk the Road to

Stardom with us! We're holding a T-shirt design

contest again this year, so please send us your

ideas by June 25. Registration forms are attached

and are due June 25 to get the early bird

registration fee and shirt included in the price. It's

going to be a great time and we hope you can join

us!

Last but not least, we're looking for outstanding

juniors to take center stage as our officer team.

Junior officer applications are due June 15 and

are attached as well. Help us continue to grow this

organization!

GCA Headquarters Remodel Campaign

Local chapters across the state are stepping up to

help us reach our goal for the Building Remodel

Campaign. So far the following local chapters

have made donations:

Piedmont, Jackson Co., Ben Hill-Irwin, Floyd

Co., Red Carpet and Northeast GA.

The chapters that have generated the most

donations (including individual member

donations) are Mid-Georgia & Piedmont. The

chapter that raises the most money for the

fundraiser will have the new “Beef Culinary

Center” named in their honor.

Here’s a recap of donation recognition levels:

Individual - $250 or more will be recognized on

plaque in office, $1000 or more may have a brand

replica hung in boardroom;

Corporate/Association – $1000 or more will

receive recognition on plaque including logo;

Chapter – chapter that raises most money for

fundraiser will have “Beef Culinary Center”

named in their honor;

ALL contributors will be recognized in the

Georgia Cattleman magazine.

Region RoundUp Schedule Set

The annual Region RoundUp gathering of local

chapter leadership is set for the following dates

and locations:

August 13: Calhoun, GA, Gordon Co.

Extension Office;

August 20: Athens, GA, UGA Livestock

Instructional Arena;

August 27: Moultrie, GA, Colquitt County

Extension Office;

September 5: Lyons, GA, Vidalia Onion &

Vegetable Research Center;

September 12: Perry, GA, Houston County

Extension Office.

All meetings will begin at 6 PM with supper

provided. The RoundUp meetings have been some

of the most impactful gatherings for our industry

over the past several years. Tentative topics for

this year’s meeting include a State Checkoff

Update, Young Producers initiative report,

legislative priority discussion and building

remodel report. Representation from each chapter

in the state is needed to attend a RoundUp

meeting to help lay the groundwork for the

coming year.

Legislative Update

The Farm Bill and Immigration Reform debates

are heating up in Washington D.C. Farm Bill

priorities for cattlemen – EQUIP, Disaster Relief,

and Research funding have fared well through the

committee process. Votes by the full House &

Senate could prove more contentious. We

continue to watch for HSUS and other anti-

agriculture groups to try and insert harmful

language in the Bill. Most agriculture groups have

united to support immigration reform that will

improve the current H-2A guest worker program

and provide for a much needed immigrant labor

force that is safe and legal.