Ag Groups Voice Strong Oppositions to the Legalization of Recreational Marijuana (SQ820)

Yesterday, the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, and American Farmers and Ranchers met for a press conference in Oklahoma City opposing State Question 820, on the legalization of recreational marijuana. Members from these three organizations believe the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state will have harmful repercussions for Oklahomans, especially in rural Oklahoma.

At the conference, made up of several local news outlets, KC Sheperd, Farm Director, had the chance to visit with leaders of each of these organizations about the implications of legalizing recreational marijuana in the state.

“This is an issue we have been in agreement on, all through this adventure on cannabis or marijuana, and this is a huge election next Tuesday,” said Rodd Moesel, OKFB president. “Everybody has been very concerned and worried about different aspects of the marijuana question for some time. This is going to be a chance to vote on whether to allow to expand to recreational in our state or to stop it from expanding to recreational in the state.”

As marijuana in the state already has caused implications for rural Oklahoma, Moesel said, if it becomes recreational, that will only multiply these issues. As ten percent of Oklahomans poses a medical marijuana card, Moesel said studies say that percentage will double as the population becomes more involved with marijuana.



Midwest Farm Shows is proud to produce the two best Farm Shows in the State of Oklahoma annually- the Tulsa Farm Show each December and the Oklahoma City Farm Show each April. 

They would like to thank all of you who participated in their 2022 Tulsa City Farm Show. 

Up next will be the Oklahoma City’s premier spring agricultural and ranching event with returns to the State Fair Park April 13-14-15, 2023.

Now is the ideal time to contact the Midwest Farm Show Office at 507-437-7969 and book space at the 2023 Oklahoma City Farm Show.  To learn more about the Oklahoma City Farm Show, click here. 



Spring Bull Selection Tips with Jarold Callahan of Express Ranches

President of Express Ranches, Jarold Callahan has been busy preparing for the Express Ranches Annual Spring Bull Sale coming at 12 p.m. this Friday, on March 3, at the ranch in Yukon, Oklahoma. In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am visiting with Callahan, and talking about spring bull selection.

“A good-looking bull has to have a really good phenotype, he has to have good feet and legs, he has to be gentle, have good docility, and then along with that, I think you want a low to moderate birth weight, then you want really rapid growth from birth to weaning and from weaning to yearling,” Callahan said. “To go along with that, then we need to have good carcass measures because eventually, their progeny is going to enter the food chain and there is awfully good premiums for the upper two-thirds of the choice grade, as well as prime, and the premiums have been really, really good on those cattle and so I think you want good carcass characteristics as well.”

With good common-sense, science and “cowboy logic,” Callahan said at Express Ranches, they select for the best genetics, prioritizing a good phenotype with structural correctness and good feet and legs on the bulls.

“We also try to use the technology through DNA and through the performance information that is supplied to make sure that they have got EPDs, which is a prediction of what that bull is going to transmit to his progeny,” Callahan said.

As the nation prepares to build back the cow herd, Callahan said high-quality cattle will be in tremendous demand.

2022 Oklahoma Leopold Conservation Award – Smith Family Farm

Jimmy and Cathy Smith farm with their children Spencer and Calli. They credit conservation practices and technological advances with saving time and money, and benefitting the landscape. Growing rye as a cover crop has improved the Smith’s soil, which average 2 to 4 percent organic matter compared to the statewide .5 percent average. They began interseeding rye on their fields prior to harvesting cotton in 1998.

There was a time when they used a moldboard plow to integrate rye back into the soil each spring. They now terminate the cover crop with herbicides rather than tilling it. Jimmy had completed a transition from conventional tillage to strip tillage to no-till practices across his 2,200 acres of cotton by 2010. Smith Family Farms also grows 200 acres of rye, some of which is used to graze their herd of 40 beef cattle.

The rest produces the seed used to plant that year’s cover crop. Rye grows on the farm’s sandiest soils that cannot produce cotton. To improve water quality in the Elk City Lake watershed, the Smiths utilize nutrient management plans and have fenced off riparian areas from cattle with assistance from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Services. They also retrofitted watering facilities for wildlife, resulting in an uptick of local turkey and deer populations. Much of Smith Family Farms borders residential areas of Elk City.

Associate Farm Editor, Reagan Calk, had the chance to visit with BASF Senior Field Technical Representative, Troy Bauer about biological seed treatments and the benefits for growers who use these treatments.

“Biological seed treatments, from our perspective, are products that contain the live biological organisms, and they usually benefit the plants we are using them with,” Bauer said. “So, in the case of Vault IP Plus, we have a biological product that has bacilli strains- two bacilli strains- in the product as well as a live rhizobia product in there that will benefit growers.”

Sometimes, individuals may have uncertainties regarding the benefits of biologicals, Bauer said, but Vault IP Plus is a proven biological product that has been on the market.

“The rhizobia that we have in Vault IP Plus is a very high-quality live rhizobia source, and it is a product that maximizes nitrogen fixation for the grower, and many of the soybean growers out there know that soybeans get at least 60 percent of their nitrogen from that symbiotic relationship with rhizobia.”

NCBA Condemns House and Senate Bills Aimed at “Checkoff Reform”

Legislation introduced today in the House and Senate represents nothing more than another attempt to allow activists to dictate to producers. Sens. Booker and Warren have long been supported by animal rights groups, and this collective group of bill sponsors has worked long and hard to dismantle our industry’s only self-funded promotion and education effort. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), and their partners Sens. Rand Paul, (R-Ky.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the Senate bill. Reps. Nancy Mace, (R-S.C.), and Dina Titus, (D-Nev.) introduced the House bill.

“In 2021 cattle producers overwhelmingly denied a referendum to end the Checkoff with detractors coming nowhere near the required signatures to petition for the termination of this vital program. The Beef Checkoff has a long track record of support among cattle producers,” said NCBA president and South Dakota cattleman Todd Wilkinson. “Congress has plenty of work to do that could be far more beneficial to Americans. They should focus in areas of urgent need, rather than wasting time on these unwelcome “reform efforts,” that would only benefit anti-agriculture activists.

The Checkoff’s legality and current implementation has already been upheld by multiple federal courts and, last year, the Supreme Court denied a petition challenging the Checkoff. Cattle producers understand the high return on investment and increase in beef demand the Checkoff provides.

Puzzling Politics-If It’s Not Broke- We Have to Fix It

Expounding on the Checkoff story- we wanted to share with you a commentary written this week on the introduction of the checkoff legislation by Steve Dittmer- here's the first few paragraphs- Steve's full treatment on this subject is our website- the link is below.

"Politics is a strange game sometimes. Well, most of the time. 

"Like, how does a couple of usually smart, common sense senators decide to team up with a couple of very leftist, absolutely know-nothing-about-agriculture senators to attack a non-taxpayer funded entity that has brought more good to agriculture than any other set of programs? Makes no sense on the surface — or any other way that we’ve been able to fathom. 

"Yet in actual fact, it was a couple of years ago that we sat in on a video session with Sen Mike Lee (R-Ut) and he didn’t even understand a fundamental basic of the checkoff system. He thought taxpayers were funding the agriculture commodity checkoffs. 

"We can somewhat understand Sens. Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma) joining in the checkoff attack. They’ve made no secret of the fact that they don’t like American agriculture and know better how to fix it. Booker has made a comprehensive proposal to overhaul agriculture that basically destroys the most efficient system producing the most high quality and safest food on the planet in favor of some idealistic vision of agriculture as it was decades ago. His ideas would create supply chain problems like we’ve never seen and escalate prices in a fashion to create starvation worldwide."

And- R-Calf Cheers "Checkoff Reform" Legislation

R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard issued the following statement in support of the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act (OFF Act). The OFF Act will reform all commodity checkoff programs, including the beef checkoff program.

“The decades old beef checkoff program is ill-suited to meet the needs of today’s cattle farmers and ranchers, in fact, the program promotes corporate control and globalization over the interests of America’s cattle producers. We applaud these Senators and Representatives for introducing this legislation to meaningfully reform the beef checkoff program so it can begin working for, rather than against, American cattle producers.

“The OFF Act will provide the necessary accountability and transparency to prevent the misuse of producers’ checkoff dollars.”

EPA Approves Year-Round E15 for 2024

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued a proposed rule in response to a plan put forth by Gov. Mike Parson and seven other Midwest governors to ensure drivers have access to year-round fuel containing 15 percent ethanol (E15) starting in 2024.

“We applaud Gov. Parson and his counterparts for working within the law to ensure drivers have access to lower-cost, lower-emission E15,” noted Missouri Corn Growers Association President Clint Stephens of Advance. “Higher ethanol blends help improve the environment, save consumers money at the pump, and support a homegrown market.”

In December, Gov. Parson joined other Midwest governors who petitioned EPA to request a waiver through the Clean Air Act for lower-volatility gasoline during summer months. According to the act, EPA has 90 days to approve the governors’ plans. It took EPA more than 10 months from the initial request to issue this proposed rule, delaying implementation until 2024.

Superior Livestock to Sell 34,840 Head Today in Regular Video Auction

VIDEO CATTLE AUCTION

THURSDAY

March 2, 2023

BROADCAST LIVE FROM THE

Superior Livestock Office & Studio

3320 E IH 20

Hudson Oaks, TX 76087

DISH NETWORK ~ CHANNEL 997

www.superiorclicktobid.com

SUPERIOR SUNRISE @ 7:30 A.M. (CST)

VIDEO AUCTION @ 8:00 A.M. (CST)

** OFFERING 34,840 HEAD **

11,640 FEEDER STEERS ~ 6,055 FEEDER HEIFERS

8,065 WEANED CALVES ~ 955 CALVES ON COWS

7,880 BEEF DAIRY CROSSES

245 BRED STOCK