Nationally- planting of the US Corn Crop is now two thirds complete- and soybean planting stands halfway done. The "I" states are ahead of their five year average in planting these 2023 crops- and one state that jumps out is Missouri- they have 98% of their corn crop planted, which is 23 points ahead of their five year average and 62% of their soybeans in the ground- 38 points ahead of their five year average.

IN OKLAHOMA:

Winter wheat headed reached 84 percent, up 9 points from the previous year but down 2 points from normal. Winter wheat conditions rated 11 percent good to excellent, 38 percent fair and 51 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 7 percent good to excellent, 29 percent fair, and 64 percent poor to very poor. 

Corn planted reached 58 percent, up 16 points from the previous year and up 2 points from normal.

Corn emerged reached 43 percent, up 19 points from the previous year and up 8 points from normal.

Sorghum planted reached 23 percent, up 16 points from the previous year and up 9 points from normal.

Soybeans planted reached 18 percent, down 5 points from the previous year and down 8 points from normal.

Cotton planted reached 16 percent, down 2 points from the previous year and down 1 point from normal.

Pasture and range conditions rated 23 percent good to excellent, 33 percent fair and 44 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 19 percent good to excellent, 27 percent fair and 54 percent poor to very poor. 



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At the Dedication Display of Mona Lee Brock, Farm Director KC Sheperd had the chance to visit with the American Farmers and Ranchers Secretary, Paul Jackson, about the impact Brock had on the lives of many.

The event honored the late Mona Lee Brock for her farm stress advocacy work during the 1980s Farm Crisis.

Brock is recognized within Oklahoma and across the nation for her work—country music star Willie Nelson called her “The Angel on the End of the Line” as she took farm stress calls from distressed farmers and ranchers facing foreclosure and dealing with drought, low farm prices, high-interest rates and devalued land prices (high inflation). 

Mona Lee Brock was a retired educator whose own family experienced the loss of their farm. Over time, Brock began to take calls not just from Oklahomans, but from farmers across the country. She ultimately helped save not only thousands of farms but also thousands of families. Remarks were made by several families impacted by Brock, including Jim Esbenshade, Scott Blubaugh, Wayne Allen, and Brock’s son, Ronnie Brock. Ag Secretary, Blayne Arthur was also on hand for the reveal.

Historic Education Package Announced Monday- OKFB and AFR Offer Rural Oklahoma Reaction

After weeks of stalemate- Oklahoma House and Senate Leaders, along with Governor Kevin Stitt, have agreed to a massive $625 million dollar education package- which breaks the Capitol logjam and will allow other appropriation measures to come together as a part of a fiscal year 2024 budget as we rapidly approach the end of the regular session of the legislature for 2023.

According to NonDoc- "the grand agreement that will pump more than $625 million of additional dollars into public school districts, adjust the state funding formula to support smaller schools and raise teacher salaries statewide between $3,000 and $6,000.

"According to House Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka), the historic education funding agreement will also cause him to send the governor HB 1934, a new refundable tax credit program for private school and homeschool families that the House had withheld from the governor’s desk despite voting to approve it May 2. That tax credit package has a payout cap of $150 million for its first year, which brings the total new allocation toward education closer to $800 million in a year where lawmakers have had about $1.2 billion in additional recurring revenue to allocate."

Both Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the AFR provided the Oklahoma Farm Report with reaction following the announcement at the State Capitol.

OKFB's Steve Thompson provided us his view of the key elements of the deal- "$500 mil recurring increase to the funding formula. $3-6k teacher pay raise based on years of experience. (This will be the third teacher pay raise in the last six years.) Six weeks paid maternity leave and $10 mil over three years for reading specialists.

"From a rural perspective the funding formula will be adjusted to benefit smaller schools and schools with longer bus routes. It increases the Redbud Fund for low property tax revenue districts to $125 mil, up from the current $44 mil. And it provides $50 mil for school safety, split evenly per school ($96k/district) for three years.

Thompson adds that OKFB is " Very thankful rural Oklahoma was so thoughtfully considered throughout the negotiations and excited about the additional support our rural schools will be receiving."

As for the AFR- here's their initial reaction: "AFR policy—developed and voted on by AFR member delegates—strongly opposes vouchers or tax credits. Although AFR does not support those funding mechanisms, we do support the several positives for public schools in this education plan, including an increase in funding, teacher pay raises and a significant allowance for school safety.

"In particular, we appreciate the Legislature’s trigger mechanism that cuts the aforementioned tax credits if public education money is reduced. We intend to hold lawmakers accountable for that trigger in the future.”

On May 9, at the 2023 Sirloin Gallery of Grands, the Sirloin Club of Oklahoma announced their five award winners for the 2023 agriculturalists under 40. The Sirloin Club of Oklahoma is a group of agriculture enthusiasts who gather each year to support Oklahoma’s 4-H and FFA students. The Sirloin Club supports exhibitors at the Oklahoma Youth Expo and Tulsa State Fair in their premium sales and also sponsors the National Land and Range Judging Contest.

Over the next few days, we will be showcasing the five award winners from five different categories: agricultural education, agricultural business, agricultural professional, crop production agriculturalist, and livestock production agriculturalist.

Today we spotlight Dr. Joe Freeman of Bovi-Gene, who received the 2023 Agricultural Business Award presented by the Sirloin Club of Oklahoma.

Officially established in the fall of 2022, Bovi-Gene, LLC is owned and operated by Dr. Joe Freeman. He is a licensed veterinarian by training and practice, but deep down believes himself to be an agriculturalist- most specifically- a lifelong student of animal science.

Within his practice, Dr. Freeman provides general veterinary care to both cattle and small animals but has focused a large part of his time on improving reproduction in beef cattle and developing his own cattle handling facility that is both safe and efficient for the cattle and the operator.

Farm Director KC Sheperd is talking with Oklahoma State University State Extension Beef Veterinarian, Dr. Rosslyn Biggs about Equine Herpesvirus and biosecurity.

“We did have an incident of equine herpes myeloencephalopathy that occurred in Tulsa County, and that occurred at a show,” Biggs said. “Kudos to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture for their response to that event, and kudos to our Tulsa Expo staff and leadership for getting right on it, getting the testing done, and getting isolation established for those.”

Equine Herpesvirus is a very common virus seen in the horse population, Biggs said, so it is one regularly vaccinated for. However, she added, vaccination does not guarantee full protection against the neurologic form.

“The challenge with our neurologic form is those that start exhibiting neurologic signs is 30 to 50 percent of those horses are going to die as a result of that infection,” Biggs said. “We want to be prepared. We want to have vaccinations on board, and we want to have those done well in advance, have those horses protected as much as we can immunologically before they hit that horse show and/or other events.”

The purpose of Beef Day is to provide our elected officials and those that work with them a tasty beef meal while promoting beef and building relationships. Oklahoma is the 5th largest beef producing state with more than 55,000 ranches statewide.

“Beef cattle is Oklahoma’s #1 Commodity adding over $3 billion to the Oklahoma economy annually,” said Michael Kelsey, OCA Executive Vice President. “It’s important for us to educate our elected officials that beef is more than just what’s for dinner here in Oklahoma!”

In addition to the OCA, The Oklahoma Beef Council, Oklahoma CattleWomen, Noble Research Institute and the Oklahoma State University Animal Science Extension set up booths inside the capitol rotunda all in an effort to promote beef and enlighten attendees on the daily, diligent efforts of ranchers to care for land and cattle.

“Events like this are a great tool to educate and create relationships,” Kelsey said. “Cultivating relationships with legislators and their staff is vital to my staff and I while advocating for Oklahoma beef producers.”

Complimentary boot shines will also available throughout the day.