Records fell Wednesday night at the Oklahoma Youth Expo Night of Stars Gilt Sale- 131 Gilts sold for a record $1,259,250- a $9,612 per head average, also easily a new record. This eclipsed the 2021 Matinee version of the Night of Stars sale that came several days after the rest of that year’s OYE wrapped up because of PED concerns. The old record in 2021 was a million dollars and a $7812 per head average.

The individual record of $60,000 that was also set in 2021 was swept away as well. The new OYE and NATIONAL record for a gilt hit $92,000 for the 75th pig in the sale(well into the second half of the sale)- this gilt was the 31st Dark Cross and was shown by Jaylee Buck of Kiefer FFA.

Earlier in the Sale-the Reserve Supreme Crossbred shown by Gage Winters of Altus FFA sold for $80,000- and that was the new OYE record for about an hour until Jaylee Buck drove her dark cross gilt into the ring.

After the sale- I talked with sale manager Blake Kennedy of Kennedy Ventures about the records and how this Night of Stars will be remembered for a long, long time.

MEANWHILE- the 2023 Market Animal show is heading for the finish line- at 5 PM today- over $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded and then the Big House will once again host the Grand Champion drive of the OYE.

The top winners of the Market Animal competition will be sold at 4 PM on Friday in the Sale of Champions- click here for the full schedule of these last days of the 2023 OYE.

Our coverage of all the young people involved at the OYE is powered by Hilliary Communications.



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. 



Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside of the United States and Canada, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA (NYSE:MRK), announced on January 31, the results of the company’s first-ever consumer transparency research study.

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am speaking with the Executive Director of Value Chain & Consumer Affairs at Merck Animal Health and author of the study, Allison Flinn, about that research.

The consumer transparency study focused on consumers’ growing interest in transparency and its importance in their purchasing decisions and brand trust. The study explored consumer desire for transparency in animal protein, such as meat, fish, eggs, and dairy, and their perceptions of industry transparency when it comes to animal welfare and sustainability. It also looked at the interplay of transparency and traceability and consumers’ willingness to pay for transparency label claims.

“Merck Animal Health conducted the transparency in animal health protein consumer research study because we really feel at our company that we have a role to play in improving the health and well-being of animals, empowering farmers and ranchers with the technology and the solutions they need to continue to invest in their business, continue to grow their business and to really provide solutions to unmet needs,” Flinn said. “We know that consumer preferences certainly impact and drive evolution and change within the industry, and because we feel we have a role to play in contributing to animal health and well-being, we want to also help connect all of that good work that farmers and ranchers are doing on their operations to building consumer trust in food labels.”

CP-KCS Merger Approval Disappoints National Wheat Organizations

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) are disappointed that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) has approved the Canadian Pacific Railway’s merger with Kansas City Southern Railroad.

In public comments submitted to the STB on the proposed merger in February 2022, USW said the market power held by the Class I railroads has serious implications for U.S. wheat’s competitiveness compared to other major exporters. NAWG shared similar public comments with the STB in February 2022, which outlined how reliant wheat is on rail and how decreased rail-to-rail competition hurts shippers and growers alike. Now, this merger takes the U.S. rail system from seven to six Class 1 railroads.



USW and NAWG believe the STB has given a greenlight to rail consolation without regard for the consequences on agricultural shippers from lack of competition in the U.S. rail sector.

“U.S. rail industry consolidation has led to poorer, not improved, service for agricultural shippers,” said USW President Vince Peterson. “In addition, we see extreme disparity in rates for wheat shippers. Rail rates over the last decade have increased exponentially and rates for wheat are higher than rates for other commodities even with similar handling characteristics. Those higher rates make U.S. wheat less competitive in the global market at a time when higher prices already hurt our competitiveness.”

At the Oklahoma Youth Expo, Associate Farm Editor, Reagan Calk, had the chance to visit with Lacey Dale Gracia and talk about this year’s “This One’s for The Girls” event put on by Diamond Hats.  

“This was just a dream birthed in my heart,” Gracia said. “One year, I was sitting at the National Finals Rodeo with Mr. Bob Funk, and we were sitting at the ladies’ luncheon, and I just wanted to give the girls a couple of hours to step outside of the barn and remember that they were girls, because they are working just as hard as the guys out there.”

The goal of “This One’s for The Girls,” Gracia said, is to provide an environment for the girls at the show to be inspired, make memories, and take part in learning essential lessons to take with them as they navigate their lives.

Each year has been a different theme, Gracia said, ranging from etiquette to cell phones.

“This year, our theme happened to be ‘Oh, The Places You’ll Go’ from Dr. Seuss, where the girls have gone around to different booths and learned different aspects to grow them up as they go so many places in life,” Gracia said.

NCBA’s Todd Wilkinson: Traceability is a Means to Safeguarding the Industry

The President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Todd Wilkinson of South Dakota has offered up this Op-Ed on the topic of animal disease traceback:

"When asked what concerns me most for our industry’s future, one of the first things that comes to mind is the threat of a foreign animal disease outbreak on U.S. soil. This is why animal disease traceability has been a primary focus for me as an NCBA leader.

"In 2021, the NCBA Board of Directors approved a strategic plan to give the organization a more focused approach to engaging with cattle producers, policy makers and consumers. Traceability was identified as one of our strategic priorities and the NCBA Traceability Working Group was formed. For the past year, I’ve chaired this group comprised of producers throughout the country from every sector of the industry. Our mission was to evaluate the current industry efforts to identify and trace animals through the cattle and beef system in the United States and develop a set of requirements for any eventual system that might be put in place in our industry.

"For me, leading on this issue means making it clear what a traceability system must do to work in the best interests of cattle producers. We believe that a traceability system must:



• Advance the electronic sharing of data among federal and state animal health officials, veterinarians, and industry; including sharing basic animal disease traceability data with the federal animal health events repository (AHER).

• Use electronic identification tags for animals requiring individual identification in order to make the transmission of data more efficient."

Oklahoma, Stronger Than Ever

Oklahoma State Treasurer Todd Russ’ office is assessing the situation going on nationally with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. While this is an unsettling situation for the customers and investors of SVB, this is also a wakeup call to all financial institutions across the nation as rough economic times may be looming on the horizon.

“Bank regulations in America are among the most strict and comprehensive in the world. Contrary to the Biden administration, I don’t think we need more regulations on banks,” said Russ. “The fundamentals are in place. SVB just needed to follow sound practices and the California regulators maybe should have stepped in sooner with guidance.”

“Stress testing the portfolio of a bank is a regular and ongoing practice. California regulators let SVB get out of hand before they identified the weakness in the bank holdings,” Russ continued. “The loan to deposit ratio is also a key indicator of good financial health and liquidity. SVB was clearly over loaned outside of the ratios. Poor liquidity puts extreme pressure on a bank’s capital and the capital to asset ratio is also a critical ratio.”

The State has no direct investments or holdings in Silicon Valley Bank. Some of the pension portfolios took minor changes as indexed funds adjusted to the market but remain on a profitable path.

BASF advances innovation pipeline with integrated solutions to accelerate agriculture’s transformation

BASF presents the latest advancements in its agricultural innovation pipeline of crop protection, seeds and traits, and digital solutions. Their focus is to provide much-needed solutions for farmers to overcome local and crop system specific pest pressures, climate challenges, changing regulatory requirements and rising consumer expectations.

Executing on its strategy in agriculture announced in 2019, the company is directing its innovations to improve outcomes for major regional crops, such as soy in the Americas, fruits and vegetables in Europe and rice in Asia Pacific. The value of the innovation pipeline remains strong, with an estimated peak sales potential of more than €7.5 billion fueled by products launched within the next ten years.

“Our goal is to become an ever more integrated provider of agricultural solutions and to expand the options we can offer to farmers. This is why we continue to invest substantially across our broad pipeline of agricultural technologies, with €944 million spent on Research & Development in 2022,” said Dr. Livio Tedeschi, President of BASF Agricultural Solutions. “Farmers can continue to rely on us to innovate and deliver new active ingredients, innovative formulations, and traits to get more value from their production, both economically and environmentally.”

“Our pipeline demonstrates that we are not only leveraging our deep expertise in chemistry and environmental sciences, but also matching it with leading biotechnology and digitalization approaches for next generation solutions,” adds Dr. Peter Eckes, President R&D and Regulatory of BASF Agricultural Solutions. “BASF’s industry-leading weed-control pipeline is a premier example of how our multidisciplinary approach yields solutions that balance the needs of farmers, society and the environment.”