During the Cattle Industry Convention trade show attendees stopping by the Alltech booth got a rare treat, if you were there for the Alltech Beef, Bourbon and Beer Happy Hour Reception. Served at the reception were Alltech’s new Town Branch Bourbon and Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. I’m not sure what the status is of distribution and availability of the bourbon yet but the beer is world class award winning.
When tasting Town Branch Bourbon, you will find a golden amber honey color, which is your inviting introduction to this masterfully crafted bourbon. Pleasant woody and oaky aromas lead into caramel, toffee, brown sugar and hints of cherry. The lavish and complex flavors are smooth and sweet with a gentle warming leading to a long finish.
Yes. That pretty well describes our taste taste in Nashville.
I think you’ve got to love a company that buys a brewery (Lexington Brewing & Distillery) and turns it into a major component of its overall marketing campaign. I think I’ve said this before!
The reception was part of the effort to acquaint cattle producers with the new Alltech Beef Advantage Program.
Contrary to popular belief, eating beef is not bad for the environment and Dr. Jude Capper with the Department of Animal Sciences at Washington State University has 
American consumers have never had a safer supply of beef, but there’s always room for improvement, according to Dr. Guy Loneragan, professor of food safety and public health at Texas Tech University,
Guy says that there are several ways producers can do even more to avoid problems on the pre-harvest level. “The first thing I would say is for producers to stay engaged and be engaged, because knowledge is a very powerful weapon,” he said. “Beyond that, the industry has invested quite heavily into the development of several promising controls, like pro-biotics – the beneficial bacteria we find in yogurt, some strains appears to be quite effective in cattle too.” 
More than 200 young people from 25 states participated in the youth cattle judging contest held in conjunction with the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention and 
NCBA youth programs were championed by former NCBA President Andy Groseta of Cottonwood, Ariz., who prompted the organization to develop additional programs for youth in the cattle industry. The judging contest has grown significantly since first introduced at the 2009 Cattle Industry Convention, where 60 young people competed. 
“It’s obviously been a year of identity,” said outgoing Federation chairman David Dick of Sedalia, Missouri (pictured right). The proposal the Federation developed last year, which was approved by the CBB and NCBA during the convention, outlines how joint checkoff committees will function in the future. “Basically it allows us to start building a new committee structure.”
“You might ask why we as the beef industry care about laying hens,” said 
Regarding international trade, a resolution was passed that codified NCBA support of a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that removes tariff and non-tariff trade barriers for U.S. beef to participating countries, which include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. 
The Equal Access to Justice Act is one issue that many may not be familiar with – I know I wasn’t. NCBA Government Affairs Vice President Colin Woodall explains. “This is a long-standing government program that was put in place to allow people who don’t have the financial means available to sue the government,” said Colin. That includes people like veterans, widows of vets, people trying to get benefits, etc. “Unfortunately, it’s been hijacked by extremists groups who are using the money to sue the Department of Interior, the Forest Service, to get federal lands ranchers kicked off their land. They’re using taxpayer money to fund their activist agenda.”
“There’s a whole lot of market signals in place for growth in this industry,” Forrest Roberts said in his report to the NCBA membership during the annual business meeting at the Cattle Industry Convention on Saturday morning. “NCBA is riding a wave of momentum.”
From left to right, they are: President J.D. Alexander from Pilger, Nebraska; President-Elect Scott George from Cody, Wyoming; and Vice President Bob McCan of Victoria, Texas.
People were still signing up when I passed through the registration area after noon today. I talked to a few of them and most were from somewhere in Tennessee, like Retha and Johnnie Marlin who drove down from Springfield, which is just about 30 miles due north of Nashville. 
The 
We haven’t played the Guess Whose Boots? game in a long time here on AgWired, but since I have been taking lots of photos of boots here at the Cattle Industry Convention, we decided it must be time.
These two guys – still current president Bill Donald of Montana and soon-to-be president J.D. Alexander of Nebraska – are just about as different as night and day. For example, while pony-tailed Bill is most at home riding the range on horseback, J.D. prefers taking to the highway on a Harley. But the two have become fast friends over the past year serving together on behalf of all cattle producers.