Attorney General Gentner Drummond and attorneys general from neighboring states joined in a lawsuit against the Biden administration over a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) rule that designates the lesser prairie chicken as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The rule took effect last week.

“I will not allow the Biden administration to punish Oklahoma farmers, ranchers and energy producers with this blatant overreach of the federal government,” Drummond said. “This rule truly presents an existential threat for cattle grazing, energy production and other vital aspects of Western Oklahoma’s economy.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas by Drummond, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association offered quick reaction to the Attorney General's efforts. “The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) applauds Attorney General Drummond’s suit against the Biden Administration’s overreach regarding the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Western Oklahoma cattle raisers have done and continue to do a great job preserving and promoting wildlife habitat. OCA appreciates Attorney General Drummond’s commitment to protecting Oklahoma ranchers from these unnecessary, burdensome regulations.”



Midwest Farm Shows invites you to join them today through Saturday for the 2023 Oklahoma City Farm Show!

Over three hundred exhibitors have all the latest in agriculture with a full line of displays, including tractor, sprayer, tillage, harvest equipment, cattle management products, and more.

Exciting events at this year’s show:

• Free Coffee & Rolls each morning!
• Daily $1,000 “SHOWBUCKS” drawing ~ Sponsored by Great Plains Kubota
• Ride and Drive Spartan Mower giveaway ~Sponsored by Spartan Mowers
• OSU Extension Seminars — Thursday and Friday at 1:30pm
• Live Music by Rusty Rierson!

Admission and parking for the event at the OKC Fairgrounds is free!

To learn more about the Oklahoma City Farm Show, click here

During Oklahoma Ag Day at the Capitol, Farm Director KC Sheperd had the chance to visit with Senator Brent Howard, who received the 2023 Agriculture Achievement Award in the place of his late father, Bob Howard.

Howard talks with Sheperd about the legacy his father left behind.

“He set good examples for all of us, and I like to think that the world is a little better just because Bob was in it,” Howard said.

Howard said his father was the fourth generation to work on the family farm in Southwest Oklahoma, where they raise cattle, wheat, and Bermuda grass. Howard said his father’s biggest legacy was his involvement in the community and his service.

“Every board that he seemed to get on, he really put all of his effort in and tried to make that organization, whether it was Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the Wheat Growers Association, or even our local church, the best it could be,” Howard said.

Introducing Gage Slagell of the Hydro-Eakly FFA Chapter, Your 2023 Southwest Area Star in Agricultural Placement

During the month of April, the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and Oklahoma Farm Report are spotlighting the 17 Area Stars of Oklahoma FFA that are among the highest achievers in the organization.

The stars come from the five areas in four categories- Star in Ag Placement, Star in Agriscience, Star in Agribusiness, and Star in Agricultural Production.

One Star Finalist featured in the coming days from each of the categories will be named the State Star Award Winner during the 97th Oklahoma State FFA Convention coming up on May 2nd and 3rd in Tulsa, Okla.

This week, our coverage of the 2023 Oklahoma FFA Star Award Finalists continues with Ag Placement competitor Gage Slagell of the Hydro-Eakly FFA chapter representing the Southwest Area.

“I work for Triple S Farms in Hydro, Oklahoma, and Triple S Farms is a very diverse SAE program,” Slagell said. “We produce crops like watermelons, sweet potatoes, potatoes, wheat, soybeans, and peanuts. With those crops, some of those crops will be used as organic crops.”

Slagell is grateful for the help he has received with his project, especially from his dad and grandpa.

“They are always constantly pushing me to do better,” Slagell said.

Slagell also participates in livestock judging, trap shooting, and FFA proficiencies.

“These past two or three years, I have been a national finalist for proficiencies, and through that, I have been able to go to (FFA) national convention and just experience that great moment,” Slagell said. “At national convention in 2021, I was named a national champion of diversified crop production. I would say that has been my favorite moment.”

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am featuring comments from Rabobank’s senior beef and cattle market research analyst, Lance Zimmerman of Rabobank, about building back the cowherd and market prices.

“We had record-high liquidation this past year,” Zimmerman said. “We have had an ample number of heifers get shipped off to feed yards instead of staying home at farms and ranches. As a result, we simply need to see the moisture trends turn their tide.”

With tight feed supplies and low pasture inventories, Zimmerman said, high cattle prices still are not enough to cover the feed bill.

“We need to see the calf market rebound and stay at elevated levels,” Zimmerman said. “We need to see moisture conditions not just come and replenish what we lost but have some staying power so that when we are looking across those prairies, they are healthy, green, and vibrant again. When we look at our hay stocks, we have an ample supply to get us through winter and then a little margin on the sides.”

Reaching ideal pasture conditions will take a few years, Zimmerman said, and that needs to happen before the cow herd reaches peak performance levels.

Bob Funk at Express Ranch To Be Inducted into Hall of Great Westerners This Saturday

Back in January during the Cattlemen's Congress Supreme Drive- a special announcement was made by Jeff Ewing with National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum- he told the audience that Bob Funk will be officially inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners on April 15th.

Here's the bio from the upcoming induction of Mr. Funk that happens on Saturday.

Bob Funk Sr. has been in the staffing industry since 1965, beginning his career at a national firm in Seattle before moving to Oklahoma, where he founded Express Employment Professionals in 1971. As Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Funk led Express on a trajectory of success that grew the business into one of the nation’s largest privately held staffing companies. Today, Express puts more than a half million people to work each year and records more than $3 billion in annual sales. As president and chief executive officer of Express Employment Professionals – Oklahoma, Funk also operates one of the largest and most productive Express franchises with more than 50 offices in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Kansas.

Funk’s talent for excellence in business extends beyond the staffing industry. As owner of Express Ranches, he produces some of the nation’s finest stock of Angus and Hereford cattle and is the largest Angus genetic seedstock producer in America. Express Ranches is also home to Funk’s collection of championship-winning Clydesdales and Percherons, which compete in horse shows across the U.S. and Canada each year.

AFR Day at the Capitol Brings together AFR Members and Legislators to Tackle Issues

Farm Director KC Sheperd caught up with American Farmers and Ranchers President Scott Blubaugh at AFR Day at the Oklahoma Capitol and talked about this year’s event and the issues covered.

“We do this once a year, our legislative day, where we bring the members in from all 77 counties to come up here, talk to their legislators, the senators, the reps here, and other elected officials, and let them know what is on their mind,” Blubaugh said.

This event has grown over the last few years, Blubaugh said, and AFR membership enjoys the chance to attend AFR Day at the Capitol.

“It really helps us get our policies passed into law, or in many cases, we are trying to defeat a bill that is bad legislation that would hurt our membership and folks in the country,”

Blubaugh said. “So, this is a big deal. It really makes these senators and representatives realize what a big organization American Farmers and Ranchers is and that our membership is big, and we are all over the state.”

It is special for AFR membership to come out and have their voices heard, Blubaugh said, as it makes a big difference.

Goodwell, Oklahoma—the “New Death Valley?”

There is a new blog post out at the Southern Plains Perspective. Read below!

That’s quite a headline.   Let me answer that question; Goodwell is not becoming the “New Death Valley.” That said, it is really, REALLY, REALLY dry in Texas County in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

It’s now been over 221 days since Goodwell has received a quarter of an inch or more of rain. This comes after Goodwell set the record for all-time lowest annual precipitation in the entire State of Oklahoma total with 6.48 inches in 2022.  According to the drought monitor that was released last Thursday, Goodwell has now received a whopping 0.6 inches through March 31 in 2023.

All of this was pointed out to me by Oklahoma State Climatologist Gary McManus last week (I interviewed Gary for our podcast—you can listen to him here). Gary suggested that I take a look at the mesonet record for Goodwell (if you have never checked out the Oklahoma mesonet, you should, including subscribing to Gary’s daily mesonet ticker). I believe his direct quote to me was, “The rain numbers in Goodwell? They’re like Death Valley.”

Obviously, there was a bit of hyperbole in what Gary was saying…but not much. Death Valley has had .96 inches of rain in 2023.  Goodwell has had .63. 

So far in 2023, Goodwell, Oklahoma is dryer than Death Valley.