Alabama Agriculture & Forestry Steering Committee meets with Governor Bentley

Feb 12, 2015

Presented a plan outlining job creation and adding money to state economy

The two go hand-in-hand, money and employment.

More jobs means there’s more work being done, more products being sold and therefore more money going into the economy.

The Steering Committee for the Alabama Agriculture & Forestry Strategic Plan, whose members include John McMillan, Agriculture & Industries Commissioner, Dr. Billy Powell, President of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and Leigha Cauthen, Executive Director of the Alabama Agribusiness Council, met with Alabama Governor Robert Bentley and presented a plan to enhance the State’s future.

The plan, entitled “The Strategic Plan to Grow Alabama’s Agriculture, Agribusiness, Forestry, and Forest Products Industries – 2015-2020” is designed to create jobs and increase Alabama’s economy.

If the plan is enacted, it would see up to 58,000 jobs created and put approximately $7 billion back into the Yellowhammer State.

“Alabama is on the cusp of the golden age of agriculture and forestry,” said Commissioner McMillan in a press release.

The plan’s keys to turning this plan into a successful venture include:

Develop greater access to capital for small businesses in the agriculture and forestry industries
Develop Alabama’s workforce education with a focus on secondary and post-secondary education and career mentoring programs
Maintain and improve the transportation systems for the movement of goods

“Agriculture, forestry and related businesses represent nearly 40 percent of Alabama’s economic output of $70.4 billion a year, and this Strategic Plan provides a clear and concise direction of improving the lives of Alabama’s working families through economic expansion,” Governor Bentley said.

In 2013, Alabama’s top crop was soybeans with more than $239 million produced, followed by cotton and corn.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.