The search committee that has been looking for the replacement to Dr. Tom Coon who officially retires next month from his position as Dean and Vice President of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University has found their man.

It was announced on Friday by OSU President Kayse Shrum and Provost Jeanette Mendez at the OSU/A&M Board of Regents meeting that the Committee has selected Dr. Jayson Lusk to succeed Dr. Coon in early August- subject to final approval from the board this coming week.

According to an email circulated by Mendez- “Dr. Jayson L. Lusk is currently serving as Distinguished Professor and Head, Department of Agricultural Economics, at Purdue University, a position he has held since separating from Oklahoma State University in June 2017. As you may remember, Dr. Lusk arrived at Oklahoma State in March 2005 as a tenured Professor and holder of the Willard R. Sparks Endowed Chair. Over the next twelve years, Lusk served as a distinguished member of the Agricultural Economics faculty, earning the honorary title of Regents Professor in 2013.

During his time at Oklahoma State University- Dr. Lusk led a project that surveyed consumers about their attitudes on meat purchases at both the retail and restaurant levels. The Food Demand Survey conducted by Dr. Lusk featured the opinions of a thousand plus consumers monthly.

In our coverage of this announcement- we have dug into our archives and included a wide ranging interview that we did with Dr. Lusk in his office at Ag Hall about his work on the Food Demand Monitor and a lot more. Click on the button below to read the current bio of Jayson Lusk- and to hear his comments in 2016- it's remarkable how many of the same issues that we talked about that day are still relevant here in 2023.

On a personal note- I am pretty certain that it was not lost on the Search Committee the fact that Dr. Lusk toiled away for a dozen years in the old Ag Hall- and that while he will once again have an office there later this summer- he will be the Dean that will lead DASNR across the street into the New Frontiers Ag Hall facility in a year or so. He will have a special appreciation of the new digs for DASNR and the Ferguson College of Ag that is on its way- thanks to the vision of a man he will succeed- Dr. Tom Coon.



The Oklahoma Agriculture Mediation Program knows this is a hard time for farmers and ranchers. We want you to know we are still open, and we are still here for you. The Ag Mediation program is a free service that provides mediation to agriculture producers who may need help with ag-related disputes.

At Oklahoma Ag Mediation, we have been helping people in agriculture resolve conflicts since 1987. We know firsthand about working together to resolve conflicts, so you don’t have to go through the court systems. Let our professional mediators help you. Mediation is allowed for lease issues, farmer/neighbor disputes, family farm transitions, and more. These services are available at no cost for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers in all 77 counties. For more information, you can go to ok.gov/mediation, or give us a call at 800 248 5465.

According to the internet- Juneteenth is a relatively new annual holiday observing the end of slavery in the U.S. It marks the day (June 19, 1865) when news of emancipation reached people in the deepest parts of the former Confederacy in Galveston, Texas.

Juneteenth became a Federal holiday two years ago in 2021.

Few businesses will be closed today- but federal offices, including USDA service centers, post offices and more will be closed today.

One report from USDA in Washington that we usually get is Crop Progress on Mondays- it won't be released until tomorrow afternoon this week.

Ag Futures and the Stock Market will also be on a holiday schedule today- no day trade today- but futures will have their overnight trade Monday evening at their normal times.

World Livestock Auctioneer Championship Showcases Value of Buyers Competing at the Local Sale Barn

On this episode of Beef Buzz, I am visiting with some of the Oklahomans that were on hand at the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship held in Arcadia, Florida. Pictured above is Justin Dodson of Welch, Oklahoma who was one of three of the world semifinalists who call Oklahoma home.

Ben Hale currently serves as the president of the Livestock Exchange, which is the group of commission firms at the Oklahoma National Stockyards. Hale’s family owns Western Livestock Commission at ONSY, and they also operate the Comanche Livestock Market, the Woodward Livestock Market, and they have a livestock market in Knoxville, Iowa.

“We gripe about the packer, how much control they have of it, and the reason they have it is because there is no competition,” Hale said. “I know people like to forward contract cattle and sell them in the country, but the problem is, if we don’t have options, you don’t know what your cattle are worth in the country.”

For the business to remain successful for generations to come, Hale said the auction method must continue to be utilized. Without selling cattle through live auction, Hale said there will come a time when cattle cannot be priced.

“I want to keep it competitive and keep it local,” Hale said.

Last week, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Young Cattlemen’s Conference (YCC) program concluded its successful relaunch after a three-year hiatus. This year’s class included 71 leaders from across the nation and every segment of the beef industry. After nine days of intensive leadership training and a five-city tour which showcased every facet of the beef industry, these leaders completed their trip with a full day of representation in Washington, D.C. The event, which is sponsored by Corteva Agriscience, Elanco, Farm Credit, Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, John Deere, Tyson and NCBA, is designed to give participants exposure to the full supply chain. Completion of YCC prepares participants to serve as leaders within their state associations in addition to being advocates for NCBA and the beef community.

The 2023 class began its journey in Denver, Colo., with classroom sessions designed to provide background knowledge about NCBA and the work it conducts on behalf of its members and the beef community. In Denver, participants took part in leadership development sessions, media training, and hands-on demonstrations of the work NCBA does as a contractor to the Beef Checkoff. The group also made a visit to Greeley, Colo., to tour Five Rivers Cattle Feeding’s Kuner Feedyard and enjoyed an evening with Trent Johnson and the outstanding staff at Greeley Hat Works.

“The challenges facing cattle and beef producers increase every day. Part of NCBA’s role, and an important part of our success, is the ability to identify and develop leaders while also preparing them to meet these challenges head-on. YCC is a crucial part of this process and we are thankful to each of our sponsors for helping us conduct this important program,” said Wyoming cattle producer and NCBA president-elect Mark Eisele, who also participated in the trip. “Developing the next generation of leaders is just one of the ways that NCBA continues to protect and enhance the cattle business. The YCC program helps participants develop their leadership skills, while also exposing them to the full value chain in a way that not many producers get to experience.”

Rupert Claxton of Gira Foods talks International Issues of the Pork Industry

At this year’s World Pork Expo, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Intern Maci Carter had the chance to visit with Rupert Claxton, the meat director of Gira Foods. Claxton and Carter discussed economic hardships for the industry, movements away from pork, turning the pork markets around, and more.

“We’ve got this huge inflationary surge, that’s taking away people’s disposable income,” Claxton said. “So, at a global level, people don’t have the money in their pocket to go and buy food and meat that they had, and when they look at their choices, they tend to downgrade on meat very early on in that process.”

Claxton said that with his job, he gets the opportunity to travel internationally and look at the meat industries from many angles. His observations have been that COVID created a huge hurdle, and in the recovery of that, downgrading meats has been a large result.

“We know if we look at the sustainability agenda, the animal welfare agenda that’s being pushed, that we’re seeing some of the younger generations off to eat less meat,” Claxton said. “So yeah, I think we’re getting very near the top end of what a US consumer will eat at a per capita level, and the industry has to start to think about how to address what it does next, and how it goes off for that consumer.”

EPA announced a one-week delay to its rollout of the final renewable volume obligations, which set annual biofuel blending targets under the RFS, including proposed RVOs for 2023, 2024, and 2025.

EPA and Growth Energy filed a notice with the court agreeing to extend the June 14 deadline that was set by consent decree to June 21, which was quickly shared in various media reports.

In December, EPA announced blending mandates at a level that would essentially curtail growth in soy-based biofuels over the next three years, drawing surprise and concern from ASA and others in the biofuels industry. ASA called the draft set rule “deeply disappointing for the biofuels industry” and has continued emphasizing how significantly dialing back volume obligations threatens the integrity of the RFS and producers.

ASA Chief Economist Scott Gerlt told Bloomberg this week that EPA’s proposed numbers would “almost flatline demand despite growth in the industry.”