Oklahoma's Latest Farm
And Ranch News

Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
Friday, October 16, 2020
AFR Youth Program Launches Public Speaking Tutorials
If 2020 were a normal year, the American Farmers & Ranchers/Oklahoma Farmers Union (AFR/OFU) Cooperative would be planning its annual AFR Youth Speech Contest. Agriculture students statewide would be preparing their speeches in hopes of high judges’ marks and first place trophies. But, this is not a normal year.

This year, concerns of Covid-19 exposure, coupled with potential venue closures, caused the contest to be canceled for the first time in 75 years. In its place, AFR/OFU has created a new professional development opportunity for students statewide. Associate Farm Director, KC Sheperd caught up with AFR/OFU President Scott Blubaugh to talk about what they are doing instead of the contest this year to help those who want to learn about public speaking.

The “Mastering the Art of Public Speaking” (MAPS) video series fulfills the AFR Youth Speech Contest mission to encourage young Oklahomans to hone their public speaking ability through speeches about agriculture, natural resources, policy and science.

“Public speaking is an indispensable skill students use throughout their lives,” said AFR/OFU Cooperative President Scott Blubaugh. “We’re very proud of the AFR Speech Contest and what it’s done to foster professionalism and confidence in Oklahoma’s youth. It was an extremely difficult decision to cancel this year’s competition, and we knew we had to do something in its place. So, we decided to designate 2020 as the ‘Year to Teach.’”

We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network weekdays-

if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it- click below for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays and KC Sheperd on RON.
Sponsor Spotlight


National Livestock was founded in 1932 in Oklahoma City. National’s Marketing Division offers cattle for sale weekly at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City. The Finance Division lends money to ranchers across several states for cattle production. The Grazing Division works with producers to place cattle for grazing on wheat or grass pastures.

National also owns and operates other livestock marketing subsidiaries including Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction in Ada, Oklahoma, OKC West Livestock Market in El Reno, Oklahoma, and the nation’s premier livestock video sale, Superior Livestock Auction. National offers customers many services custom made for today’s producer. To learn more, click here for the website or call the Oklahoma City office at 1-800-310-0220.


Rural Oklahoma is full of some of the greatest success stories throughout the entire state and are a main reason Oklahoma is on track to become a top 10 state.

The Road to Rural Prosperity will dive into these stories each week bringing you insight into the great things happening in and to rural Oklahoma. We will bring you stories covering rural life, agriculture, energy, healthcare, tourism and politics all affecting rural America.

The Road to Rural Prosperity is here to tell stories about rural America, for rural America.

Today's Road to Rural Prosperity trek brings us to the State Chamber of Oklahoma- and a chance to talk with their President and CEO, Chad Warmington. Chad is not a native Okie- but has been "all in" on Oklahoma since he took a job on the staff of then US Senator Don Nickles. He married a Guthrie girl and rejoined the State Chamber of Oklahoma in February 2020- just ahead of the Pandemic that has changed everything. He cares deeply about Oklahoma- and is committed to improving the business climate of all of the state- including Rural Oklahoma. Our conversation with Chad is being powered today by the Oklahoma Rural Water Association.

To find out more about our full series of Podcasts on The Road to Rural Prosperity- click or tap here.

To hear this Podcast you can click here or tap below:


For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis- at NO Charge!


We also appreciate our Market Links Sponsor - OKC West Livestock! 


We invite you to check out our website at the link below too that includes an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.
God Bless!
Reach Out To Us:
Tim West
President/General Manager
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network

2401 Exchange Avenue,
Suite F
Oklahoma City, OK 73108

405.317.6361
Ron Hays
Director of Farm Programming
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network

405.473.6144