As part of a continuing series of stories on Significant Women in Oklahoma Agriculture, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry and Oklahoma State University are recognizing and honoring the impact of countless women across all 77 counties of the state, from all aspects and areas of the agricultural industry. The honorees were nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of 14 industry professionals. Karen Eifert Jones of Waukomis, Okla. is featured as the latest Significant Woman in Oklahoma Agriculture- here's a part of the profile on Jones as written by Bryan Painter of ODAFF:

"Two years gave way to more than two decades.


"After graduating from Oklahoma State University, Karen Eifert Jones intended to go off and work for a couple of years and then return to the land of her raising, just off U.S. Highway 81 near Waukomis in Garfield County.


"Instead, Jones spent more than 20 years away from home working in the agriculture industry in ag finance, ag chemical sales, government programs and farm management.


"However, two decades isn't all that long when you consider her ties to the reddish silt loam soil where she was raised go back more than 125 years to her great-grandfathers. That connection was powerful enough, that Jones did return in 2008 and many days can be found covered from brow to jeans in that dirt she loves so much.


"One recent honor goes a long way in describing Karen Eifert Jones. This year, she was a recipient of Oklahoma State University's "Master Agronomist" award. Recipients of this award, initiated in 1947, have participated in agronomic education efforts and have contributed valuable public service because of their unique efforts in the fields of soil conservation, range management, or crop production.


"Both on and off the farm, Jones has remained a faithful friend to agriculture throughout her life.


"I have always had a deep faith in God's plan for my life," she said. "I could never have predicted many of the turns my life has taken. So, no, I didn't always know that I would be back on the farm I grew up on. I was at peace working in whatever facet of agriculture I was in and simply trusting God's plan."


Click over to our website to continue reading about Karen and her involvement in Oklahoma's agriculture industry.

No other agricultural groups have fought harder to fully repeal the so called "Death Tax," than the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Known also as the federal estate tax, this measure is seen by many as the government's greedy hand in the pockets of farmers and ranchers, which has in many cases has created significant hardship for families trying to transfer the family business from one generation to the next. Over the years, it has seen rollback after rollback, at the hands of these two organizations, moving the tax rate exemption from $600,000 at 55% in 1997 to where it is now, at $5.49 million with a rate of 40%. Danielle Beck handles tax policy for NCBA and told me that their intention is to get rid of the burdensome tax law once and for all, with hopes resting on the Trump administration's penchant for tax reform.


"One of the general concepts in the White House plan for tax repeal is a full repeal of the Death Tax," she said. "We were thrilled that during the White House press briefing on tax reform, Mr. (Gary) Cohn did commit to a full and immediate repeal of the Death Tax as opposed to some sort of staggered proposal."


Good news, indeed, but the fact is, the Death Tax has actually been fully repealed once before. Obviously, though, it didn't last for long. Beck remains optimistic this will not be the case this time around.


"The devil is in the details - we have to wait and see what happens," Beck conceded. "It really depends on whether or not Congress has bipartisan support for whatever their tax reform package is."


Listen to NCBA's Danielle Beck and I discuss the possibility of fully repealing the Death Tax under the Trump administration, on Friday's Beef Buzz - click here.

The trade agreement that has been responsible for much of the economic success throughout North America, NAFTA, was highlighted this past week by a team of Mexican brewers attending the Montana Ag Summit in Great Falls, Montana, calling attention to the many benefits enjoyed by the US, Mexico and Canada under the terms of the treaty.

With more than 680,000 metric tons of barley valued at $220 million purchased by Mexico over the last 10 marketing years, Mexico is the largest buyer of US barley. This has generated $48 million in additional economic activity through the grain supply chain. Reciprocally, beer is Mexico's largest export to the US. 

Since the election, the Trump administration has been very vocal about exiting or at least renegotiating NAFTA. Just recently, our new USTR Robert Lighthizer informed Congress that the administration was indeed seeking to renegotiate the trade agreement, which has since been scheduled to take place during mid-August of this year.

Ag groups from all three nations, have been lobbying to protect the treaty and keep free trade between our borders in place, as disruption could potentially cause dramatic economic loss to the ag sector.

"The Mexican brewing industry is strong customer for U.S. barley producers, thanks to the preferential trade terms in NAFTA and three decades of work by USGC," said Kimberly Atkins, USGC vice president and chief operating officer, whom hosted the team. "In this growing and increasingly competitive market, the market access and tariff benefits U.S. barley producers have under NAFTA must be preserved."

Learn more about the team of brewers from Mexico and their visit with US farmers, by clicking here.

The Fed Cattle Exchange has been operating on-line as an internet based livestock auction platform, for some time now, and has made a name for itself as a useful tool in price discovery for the cattle market.

Last week, it was announced the website had been redesigned and the new look was debuted this past Friday.

The redesign also features a reduced PO fee of $1 per head and a rollback function to help quickly establish trade. The rollback function was developed to aid in creating more competitive bidding and robust data points for the industry to view during trading sessions.

The Fed Cattle Exchange has proven to be very versatile, assisting cattle feeders in achieving greater exposure to buyers. Most consigners benefit from having multiple buyers bid on their cattle on a weekly basis, which can especially benefit producers who feed in areas where the number of field buyers has decreased in recent years.

For a complete look at all the changes to the auction site, click here and read the original announcement, or watch a video tutorial.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service's 2012 Census of Agriculture, agriculture operations could be categorized as: individual and family ownership, partnership, corporation, or limited liability company. Of all the operations reported, 84 percent were listed as sole ownerships, 6.3 percent as partnerships, 5 percent as corporations, and 4.7 percent as LLCs.

Jason Bradley, Agricultural Economics Consultant at the Noble Research Institute recently penned an article describing what each of these are, and offers some advice to producers on which business structure would best fit each individual and their operation.

Each of these structures has pros and cons that should be weighed out before investing in the process of becoming one. That being said, while, Bradley offers his own perspective, he insists that the owner and/or operator of the ranch is the most familiar with the business and should be the one to ultimately make the final decision of which structure would be best.

As mentioned, most farm or ranch operations can be categorized as a sole proprietorship - which is about as simple as it gets. You are the owner and the operator. You get all the profits, and handling the taxes is pretty straight forward, says Bradley. Any income made through the business is your income and is handled as such. Another advantage is there isn't much to being in business. You have a product or service, you sell that product or service, and you're in business. Now, while you get to enjoy all the profits, you are also responsible for any losses or debts. A major downside to a sole proprietorship is that there is no legal separation between you and the business. The business can be held liable for any debts or liabilities you took on personally, and you may be liable for any of the business's debts or liabilities. These liabilities include loans and lines of credit as well as the actions of you and your employees.

To read the full article and learn more about the other structure types, click here, and decide which one is right for you and your operation.

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center received a $900,000 portion of a $6.6 million grant from the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture recently for research funding to combat childhood obesity. The funding is made possible through NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.


"Healthy habits start with families," said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. "With these NIFA investments, we are helping at-risk families make lifestyle changes that will add up to a lifetime of better health for their children."

The grant is backed by AFRI, America's flagship competitive grants program for foundational and translational research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. The AFRI Childhood Obesity Prevention Challenge Area supports projects to gain a better understanding of the factors behind childhood weight gain, to develop and expand effective interventions, and to train more parents, caregivers, and educators to promote childhood obesity prevention.

OU is one of ten universities in the US to receive a portion of this grant. You can learn more about the mission of this grant and get a complete list of the schools that won part of this grant,
by clicking here.

More than 20,000 producers and pork professionals, including more than 1,000 international guests, are expected to attend this week's World Pork Expo. Presented by the National Pork Producers Council, World Pork Expo is the largest gathering of international pork industry professionals in the world and will be held June 7-9 at the Iowa State fairgrounds in Des Moines. For more information, please  click here.