It's a Red Flag Day- with critical conditions for all three of our Panhandle counties as well as the western counties in the main body of Oklahoma- the warning has been issued from noon til 9 PM today as we anticipate low humidity, gusty winds and warm temperatures for the region.

Winds are expected to blow 15 to 25 miles from the southwest- gusts up to 40 are likely. Relative humidity as low as 5% and temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s.

Bottom line- any fires that develop could spread rapidly.

Looking ahead- we will have cold air messing with us Saturday morning at sunrise- northwest Oklahoma will be flirting with temps at or slightly below 32 degrees- that would well after the average last freeze date for the state. Woodward has a predicted low Saturday morning of 31- Boise City may see mid 20s on Saturday.



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During AFR (American Farmers and Ranchers) Day at the Capitol, Farm Director KC Sheperd visited with Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Dell Kerbs about the latest legislative work for agriculture in the state.

“On the agriculture side, it has been pretty smooth sailing this session,” Kerbs said.

One of the things Kerbs is working on is making sure extension offices at Oklahoma State University have what they need to serve their constituents and Oklahomans across the state.

“We can’t do it without those extension offices,” Kerbs said. “They are of such vital importance to our communities all over, and especially our rural areas.”

Regarding drought relief, Kerbs said the House overwhelmingly supported a few bills involving the Emergency Drought Commission.

Introducing Steven Sanders of the Guthrie FFA Chapter, Your 2023 Northwest Area Star in Agribusiness

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 Agribusiness competitor Steven Sanders of the Guthrie FFA chapter representing the Northwest Area.

Sanders said his project began his freshman year of high school when the Oklahoma Youth Expo’s guilt sale was moved to an online format, and the sale allowed exhibitors to scratch guilts from the sale.

“That is what started my business, is I actually scratched one of them from the sale and started breeding sows,” Sanders said.

Sanders not only has his breeding sows, but he also has boars which he collects semen from. Sander’s operation branches off from his family’s larger operation, he added.

We Remember- April 19, 1995

It's a date that if you lived anywhere in Oklahoma- you remember what you were doing and where you were at at 9 AM- to be exact 9:01 AM.

I was in my office at 50 Penn Place in northwest Oklahoma City- opening markets were soon going to happen and then we heard...something. It was like thunder and I could look our my window and could see a tiny plume of smoke rising from downtown Oklahoma City. Moments later- we got word from downtown that there had been some sort of explosion. The details came in a rush- our radio network soon picked up the non stop reporting that was just beginning from our Oklahoma City radio station- and it would be a couple of days before we returned to regular programming.

By 9:15- we were being told by the FBI that we had to leave our offices as we shared that building with the agency and they were fearful that the downtown bombing of the Murrah Building was a terrorist action- and our building might be next. We finally got back into the building 36 hours later.

Later that week- we were in Stillwater making preparations for the Stars Over Oklahoma presentation that we built and produced each year for the upcoming State Convention at the Convention Center in Oklahoma City- just a couple of weeks away.

A few days later- FFA officials said there was no choice- the State Convention would be postponed as the Myriad was being used as a staging area for the response to the bombing- in fact it was a temporary morgue for bombing victims. We helped with the replacement event for the convention later that year at that state fairgrounds in OKC.

USDA's APHIS was one of the agencies that suffered loss that day- Dr. Peggy Clark was killed that morning- she was a veterinarian for USDA. Dr. Clark is the mother of Dr. Rosslyn Biggs and Blayne Arthur- they reflected on the lessons that she taught them- lessons that have made them both very successful in their efforts to serve agriculture in this state and well beyond.

Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas was in the early days of his service to the state as a Congressman. His district office for Central Oklahoma was in the old Post Office building across the state from the Murrah Building- and that office was rearranged by the strength of that blast- no one was hurt in the Lucas office- but most people who worked in that area will never forget the power of that bomb and all that followed.

Yep- We Remember April 19, 1995 at 9:01AM.

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am visiting with the managing director of Meat and Livestock Australia, Jason Strong.

“When we look at sustainability issues, it is very much a developed world issue, and where we have choices, there is a lot of interest, a lot of discussion, about what those choices should be,” Strong said. “Interest in sustainability is really a significant space we are seeing increased, not just awareness but also action.”

Strong said he has plenty of discussions with international customers about trade implications, but from what he has seen, consumer purchasing decisions are not driven by sustainability.

“We know that climate is one of, if not the most important issue on people’s minds, yet we still don’t have that connection between consumer purchasing decisions and climate-positive activity, so how we manage that becomes a real challenge for us,” Strong said.

Australia practices traceability efforts, Strong said, allowing the consumer to see where their beef comes from, all the way back to the ranch it was raised on.

Craig Meeker with NSP Applauds Sorghum for being a Resource Conserving Crop

At the 2023 National Association of Farm Broadcasters Washington Watch event in Washington D.C., Farm Director KC Sheperd got the chance to visit with the Chairman of National Sorghum Producers, Craig Meeker, about an update on all things sorghum.

Meeker said a relevant safety net for producers is going to be essential in the 2023 farm bill.

“We can’t put the safety net six inches off of the cement floor when we are thirty feet in the air,” Meeker said.

It will be critical that producers understand how the safety net works, Meeker said, and it needs to be predictable.

“I think we can do better by the taxpayer and by the producer if we have something like that,” Meeker said.

Federal crop insurance is another priority, Meeker said, as he believes it is the cornerstone of all risk management policies in all farm country. Without crop insurance, Meeker added, farming would be a lot more difficult.

Tough Environments Require Tough Cows

Mark Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist, offers herd health advice as part of the weekly series known as the “Cow Calf Corner” published electronically by Dr. Peel, Mark Johnson, and Paul Beck. Today, Johnson is talking about achieving benchmarks in the cow herd.

Recently I had the opportunity to interview James Henderson of Bradley 3 Ranch on our Ranchers Lunchtime webinar series. The Bradley 3 Ranch is located in Memphis, TX and has a earned a reputation for producing high quality Angus and Charolais seedstock that are uniquely well-adapted to their environment. The Bradley 3 Ranch is famous, innovative and award winning. The title of my article this is borrowed from James Henderson’s topic last week. 

The tough environment the 600 head of registered cows at Bradley 3 Ranch is described by James as follows:

• Low rainfall (23 inch average per year, considerably less than average over the past 18 months)
• Bad water (high in nitrates and sulfates)
• Large acreage (16,000 acre ranch)
• Temperature extremes (-10 to 123 degrees F)
• Heavy brush
• Toxic weeds
• Predators

CHS partners with OSU to hold grain engulfment training

Safety is a core value at CHS, and we appreciate the opportunity to build working relationships with local first responders and fire departments. In an effort to strengthen these relationships, the CHS location in Frederick, Okla., held a grain engulfment training in conjunction with the Oklahoma State University Fire Service Training team.

Funding for the training, meeting supplies and rescue equipment came from a variety of sources including a grant from Oklahoma State University, CHS based in Frederick, and the CHS Seeds for Stewardship grant program, which supports organizations and projects that are focused on safety, ag education, and strengthening and uplifting hometown communities. CHS employees, local first responders from four fire departments, OSU Extension and local EMS attended the classroom and hands-on training.



CHS is proud to support rural communities, fire departments and first responders. “CHS has provided financial support to purchase much-needed equipment,” says Justin Green, Frederick Fire Department. “We have a mutually supportive relationship, which is valued and appreciated.”

The CHS Seeds for Stewardship grant program has recently provided funds for a new grain rescue tube and a thermal imaging camera, which are both being used by the Frederick Fire Department.