OSU to Host Workshop Series for Producers Interested in Selling Direct To Consumer Beef

Farm Director, KC Sheperd, caught up with Oklahoma State University Extension Farm Management Specialist Courtney Bir and talked about OSU’s upcoming Direct-to-Consumer Meat Sales workshop series.



Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center is set to host two upcoming workshops designed to teach participants about direct-to-consumer meat sales.

The first of the two workshops will take place on Aug. 9 at FAPC. The second workshop is slated for Sept. 12 at the Canadian County OSU Extension Office, 218 N Country Club Rd., in El Reno, Oklahoma.

“During Covid, when there wasn’t a lot of meat on the shelves, there was a lot of interest in getting food locally and getting food direct from farmers and ranchers,” Bir said. “With that came an increased demand for direct-to-consumer beef, and we really needed to help ranchers understand both the opportunities and the pitfalls with selling meat direct to consumer.”

The workshop series will help producers decide what they should price their beef at to be profitable and help them to develop a plan based on input costs.



Oklahoma Farm Bureau works to improve the lives of all Oklahomans by supporting our state’s agriculture community. As Oklahoma’s largest general farm organization led by Oklahoma farmers and ranchers, OKFB takes grassroots values and advocates for agriculture at the state Capitol and in Washington, D.C., to ensure our way of life continues for generations to come.

Farm Bureau hosts leadership events, supports our state’s agricultural youth and connects consumers with agriculture in order to build a brighter future for our state. Become an OKFB member today online at okfarmbureau.org/join. Together, we are rural Oklahoma.



Livestock Risk Protection Policies Provide Producers with Peace of Mind With Price Protection

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am visiting with the Vice President of Operations at Farm Data Services, Inc. and Oklahoma cattle producer Clay Burtrum, about Livestock Risk Protection.

While LRP has been around for many years, USDA has continuously made LRP more affordable and applicable. Farm Data offers Livestock Risk Protection policies out of Stillwater.

“The Livestock Risk Protection is one of the most important tools we have right now if you are a cattle producer,” Burtrum said. “Whether you are a cow-calf producer, a stocker producer, or a feedlot producer, LRP is the tool that you can use to protect your bottom line on those cattle.”

Prices come out each day, Burtrum said, so around 4 p.m. in the afternoon, individuals can call a licensed crop insurance agent that sells LRP to get quotes on prices.

“You can insure unborn cattle if you have a preg check, you can insure feeder steers, feeder calves, feeder heifers, and you can ensure cattle that are going onto the feedlot that are going to be 1400 pounds as well,” Burtrum said.

Grassland CRP Accepted Nearly 2.7 Million Acres in 2023 Signup

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting offers for nearly 2.7 million acres from agricultural producers and private landowners through this year’s Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signup, which received a record setting sign-up of 4.6 million acres in offers. This working lands program allows producers and landowners to continue grazing and haying practices while protecting grasslands and further the CRP’s impacts. Grassland CRP is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s broader effort to address climate change and conserve natural resources. 

“This year’s Grassland CRP signup demonstrates the continued popularity, success and value of investments in voluntary, producer-led, working lands conservation programs,” said Zach Ducheneaux, administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “Grassland CRP clearly demonstrates that conservation priorities and agricultural productivity not only have the capacity to coexist but also complement and enhance one another. Through all our working land conservation programs, farmers and ranchers play a critical role in helping secure the future of both our food production and our natural resources.”   

USDA had to accept fewer acres and a lower percentage of offers than in 2022 because the program has reached its acreage cap, Ducheneaux added. “With a low number of acres expiring in 2024 and 2025, getting any closer to the statutory cap of 27 million acres would hinder USDA’s ability to conduct meaningful future signups or to implement existing and new Conservation Reserve Enhancement Partnership (CREP) agreements in 2024.” 

Oklahoma Farm Bureau members are invited to attend one of the 11 August Area Meetings held across the state, signifying the beginning of the grassroots organization’s policy process.



Members will be able to consider some of the leading issues facing agriculture and rural Oklahoma as they prepare to develop an organizational policy for 2023. Members also will receive various organizational updates.

The first pair of August Area Meetings will be on August 14- one in McAlester and the other in Guymon.

The final session comes August 29th in Lawton.

USDA Data Reveals Shifts in Food Purchasing Behavior

A lot happens between when a crop is harvested or a cow is milked and when a consumer sits down for breakfast. Generational trends influence how and where people enjoy eating and the convenience of accessing and transporting food shifts how farmers and ranchers market their goods and build relationships with processing facilities and retail outlets. Market-moving events, like COVID-19 or rising inflation, disrupt these trends and have often exposed new or unexpected avenues for consumption. This article reviews the latest food expenditure data with an eye on consumption trends important to maintaining food business competitiveness in the modern marketplace.

USDA-Economic Research Service’s (ERS) Food Expenditure Series tracks the value of the U.S. food system by reporting on total food and beverage spending. This spending data is categorized as food consumed at home or food consumed away from home, such as at restaurants or hotels. For both the food at home and food away from home categories, spending is broken down further by the type of retail or food service outlet from which food and beverages were purchased.

Between 1997 and 2022 total nominal spending on food at home increased from $376 billion across the nation to $1.047 trillion, a 178% increase and an average annual increase of 4%. During the same timeframe, food away from home increased from $336 billion to $1.343 trillion, an almost 300% increase and an average annual increase of 6%. Between 1997 and 2022, the consumer price index for food increased 95%, meaning inflation explains much of the increase in food spending across both categories, though there are other factors. Total food away from home spending has surpassed food at home spending since 2007, except for a flip in 2008 during the onset of the Great Recession.

Due to Excessive Heat 13 Oklahoma Counties are Contiguous Disaster Designations

This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or to refinance certain debts. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability. 

Impacted Area: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas 

Triggering Disaster: Excessive Heat 

Incident Period: May 1, 2023 through September 30, 2022

Application Deadline: September 13, 2023

Animal rights groups bring in $800,000,000+

Today, the Animal Agriculture Alliance released two reports detailing the interconnectedness of the animal rights movement, as well as tactics targeting animal agriculture. The Animal Rights Extremist Web exemplifies how animal rights groups are strategically connected in many ways, including personnel and financial support. The Radical Vegan Activism in 2022 report highlights efforts to attack animal agriculture and the true intentions of these organizations with quotes from leadership.

“No matter the animal rights extremist group or the tactics used, they all share the same goal of eliminating animal agriculture and taking meat, dairy, poultry, eggs, and seafood off of our grocery store shelves and family tables,” said Abby Kornegay, manager, issues and engagement, Animal Agriculture Alliance. “These reports succinctly detail those true intentions, the strategic efforts of the animal rights movement to further their agenda, and key tactics for the animal agriculture community to be aware of.”

Nearly one-third of animal rights extremist attacks documented in 2022 targeted farmers and food workers, putting them and animals in danger. Documented direct actions to animal agriculture include:

• 95 vandalism incidents
• 70 stolen animals
• 60 criminal trespasses
• 10 arson cases
• 9 harassment and intimidation incidents