Tom Fanning of Buffalo Feeders was named the 2017 Oklahoma Cattleman of the Year by the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association a their 65th Annual Convention in Norman on Saturday evening. Fanning has served as the Northwest District Vice President of the OCA, serves as the Chairman of the Oklahoma Beef Councl and worked to coordinate this spring all of the wildfire relief that flowed into northwest Oklahoma after hundreds of thousands of acres were burned in early March of this year.



It was especially his work to coordinate the huge amount of money, equipment and supplies into Woodward, Harper and Beaver Counties that was spotlighted on Saturday evening at the OCA Awards Banquet. Fanning led a small army of volunteers in the three counties and beyond that worked to get the help that poured in from across the United States to ranchers that were hurt by the massive fires that killed over a thousand cattle, destroyed hundreds of miles of fence and burned over 500,000 acres in Oklahoma and Kansas. Fanning worked with the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Foundation in distributing $1.2 million dollars of cash donations as well as working tirelessly for weeks in making sure that feed and hay and fencing materials that were donated found a home on ranches that were damaged or destroyed.

After the presentation of the award- we talked with Tom about the honor and about how his part of the country has recovered from those wildfires of early March- click or tap here to read more and to LISTEN to our conversation with Tom Fanning.

ALSO FROM THE OCA CONVENTION- We say congrats to Weston Givens of Arnett- who was installed as the new President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's- he will serve a two year term and follows Charlie Swanson who has served the past two years- details on the new officer team of the OCA is available here.

OCA also handed out lots of scholarships at their 2017 meeting- details on those dollars for education handed out are available here and available here.

 

The USDA released three different reports last week, offering insight into the size and pace at which the livestock industry is moving cattle through beef pipeline. I reached out to OSU's Dr. Derrell Peel, an extension livestock market economist, for his take on the reports.

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. This week Kellie Muller of Martha, Okla. is featured this week as a Significant Woman in Oklahoma Agriculture.


"It was the summer of 2006. A guest in the Mullers' farm house near Martha, Okla., sat at the kitchen table visiting with Matt Muller.


"Within a few minutes, wife Kellie, then 31 years old, entered the room.


"In her arms was a stack of freshly laundered towels.


"While the towels were neatly folded, it would appear her life was coming unraveled - unless you know Kellie Muller.


"She was bald.


"The smile was just as warm as the towels she had taken from the dryer, but her thick brownish/black hair was gone.


"In the middle of wheat harvest, she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. A large tumor was removed. She had a double mastectomy and had finished her third chemotherapy treatment a few days earlier.


"On that summer morning in 2006, Kellie sat down at the table and told the visitor, "It was tough initially. It's kinda like farming, when you can't control the rain, and this is something you can't control. That's when you have to totally rely on Jesus for daily strength, especially around the kids."


"Matt and Kellie Muller are nearly 11 years down the road from that day, and as always, they are up to their hearts in farming."

If you are involved in the beef business, chances are you know the tagline: "Beef. It's What's for Dinner." According to Alisa Harrison with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, that slogan is as relevant and effective today as it was when it was first adopted by the Beef Checkoff years ago. In a recent conversation, she told me, that statement will continue to herald the beef industry's branding efforts, as the central theme for a new promotional campaign, scheduled to debut this October.


"It's an iconic brand. The beef industry has been using it for over 25 years and it's interesting that even with the young Millennials, it still has a lot of equity," Harrison said. "We'll be relaunching the "Beef. It's What's for Dinner." brand - merging the discussion we're having with consumers about the product, as well as how it's produced. We're very excited about it and looking forward to October when we launch."


The relaunch of the brand will include among other things, an awareness campaign focused on producer image and a new flagship website that will consolidate the industry's existing eight website platforms. The one-stop shop for all things beef will be the landing for anyone with questions about beef. NCBA will utilize social media and other new digital technologies to push consumers to the website for the information they seek. In addition, a big focus of the campaign will obviously spotlight the product - beef.


"Our product is really our best asset," Harrison insisted. "We're making it a little more front and center than it maybe has been. And all under the banner of the "Beef. It's What's for Dinner." brand and leveraging the strength and equity of that to propel our message forward."


Listen to Harrison and I speak more about the new campaign being launched in the months to come, leveraging the time-tested "Beef. It's What's for Dinner." brand, on today's Beef Buzz - click here.

The National Association of Corn Growers expressed its concern for legislation that was blocked in committee last week. 

In a statement, the NCGA thanks the bipartisan sponsors of the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, and tactfully expressed disappointment in the fact that the legislation would not advance.

It's understandable to think that once the market is flooded with a product of a certain quality that premiums would evaporate over time for that product. Beef for example. With production practices becoming better and better, the quality of beef continues to get better also. And now, Certified Angus Beef is reporting that more beef than ever is grading well enough to be qualified for their brand. But, it seems they are defying the odds. Premiums for CAB beef, have continued to rise even with more CAB beef on the market. 

 

Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas will chair a REALLY BIG SHOW on Tuesday morning as his Senate Ag Committee will hear testimony from farmers and ranchers from 14 states on risk management as it relates to Commodities, Credit and Crop Insurance in the 20154 Farm Law and upcoming 2018 Farm Bill.

Click or tap here for more details- note that it starts early- 7:30 AM CENTRAL TIME- and you can watch on the Senate Ag Committee Web Site.

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We will get into this in more depth tomorrow- but want to say congrats to Jake Fanning of Laverne FFA who has named at the end of this past week as one of the four finalists for Star Farmer of America consideration for 2017. 

Yep- that's the same family- Jake is the son of Tom and Michelle- he was the 2014 State Farmer of Oklahoma and his brother Lane was the 2017 Star Farmer of Oklahoma earlier this year.

Click or tap here for the National FFA release from Friday with the list of all of the star finalists for 2017.

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Finally- a quick note- there will be a Canola 101 Workshop tomorrow in Stillwater- all the details on that can be found in our calendar- click or tap here to learn all about it.