At the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Annual Meeting today, NASDA members elected the next cohort of officers for 2023-2024. Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur will serve as NASDA’s 2023-2024 President and will host the 2024 NASDA Annual Meeting on Sept. 22-25, 2024.

“The opportunity to serve NASDA as President is incredibly humbling and certainly an honor, and I appreciate the support of my fellow ag Commissioners in this new role,” Arthur said. “Agriculture looks different all across the United States, but I look forward to working together to cultivate common ground as we help producers feed, fuel, and clothe the world. NASDA members will remain steadfast in our commitment to strengthen and promote agriculture in this country, and I am excited to continue this work with my colleagues.”

Also elected to NASDA’s Board of Directors are Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward (Vice President), Maine Commissioner of Agriculture Amanda Beal (Second Vice President) and Washington State Director of Agriculture Derek Sandison (Secretary-Treasurer). Wyoming Director of Agriculture Doug Miyamoto will serve as NASDA’s Past President and Indiana Director of Agriculture Don Lamb will serve in the At-Large position. Connecticut Commissioner of Agriculture Bryan Hulburt, Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Joe Guthrie, Missouri Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn and Utah Commissioner of Agriculture Craig Buttars will serve as the Northeastern, Southern, Midwestern and Western representatives respectively.



Dating back to 1891, Stillwater Milling Company has been supplying ranchers with the highest quality feeds made from the highest quality ingredients. Their full line of A & M Feeds can be delivered direct to your farm, found at their Agri-Center stores in Stillwater, Davis, Claremore and Perry or at more than 125 dealers in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Texas. We appreciate Stillwater Milling Company’s long time support of the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and we encourage you to click here to learn more about their products and services.

 

Jimmy Taylor Selling US Beef With a Smile During South Korea and Japan USMEF Trade Mission

I had the chance on Wednesday morning to talk with with the Chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and Oklahoma Rancher, Jimmy Taylor. 

Taylor talked with me as he began the second leg of the journey in Tokyo, Japan- this after spending a couple of days in South Korea with the U.S. Meat Export Federation Trade Mission.

Taylor says that he wore his cowboy hat on the trip- and that his smile has been met with smiles from virtually everyone he has met- saying “I think that means they think I’m the good guy.”



USMEF CEO Dan Halstrom says Taylor is a great ambassador when it comes to selling US Beef- “Jimmy stands out in the a crowd over here- I’m saying that in a good way with his cowboy hat and he is pretty much taller than everyone over here so that’s a very good marketing tool.”

“This is very important to come over here and look and see how our checkoff dollars are working through USMEF and these two very important markets,” Taylor said. “They are our number one and number three markets overall in value. Last year, in the record-setting year, South Korea was our top market at 2.7 billion dollars, and Japan was our number three market at 2.4 billion dollars.”

Clay Burtrum Sees Great Value in Livestock Risk Protection Coverage 

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am featuring comments from Farm Director, KC Sheperd’s visit with Vice President of Operations at Farm Data Services and Oklahoma cattle producer Clay Burtrum. Butrum talks about the “ins and outs” of Livestock Risk Protection.

Livestock risk protection, Burtrum said, was created about 25 years ago. LRP is a risk management tool for all livestock producers and is eligible for anyone who wants to have a floor and buy insurance on their cattle.

“It is not a morbidity policy,” Burtrum said. “This is a price protection program.”

With prices as high as they are, Burtrum said it is critical to protect those high investments.

“We are really going to see those numbers start to climb, so when you look at the bottom dollar of what these prices are, we have to learn to protect them,” Burtrum said.

Thirteen weeks is the minimum contract that can be purchased, Burtrum said, and the maximum contract is 52 weeks.

On Friday, Sept. 15, the OSU Alumni Association will be honoring six graduates with the Distinguished Alumni Award. One of those honorees is Terry Stuart Forst, the general manager of the Stuart Ranch—Oklahoma’s oldest ranch under continuous family ownership- which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2018. 

Forst graduated from OSU in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in animal science. She then attended the ranch management program at Texas Christian University in 1992.

After graduation, Forst returned to Stuart Ranch to work for her father, running the horse program and helping with the cattle operation. Forst has evolved the horse program to be one of the American Quarter Horse Association’s leading breeders.

Forst was the first woman president of the Oklahoma Cattleman’s Association and its first woman recipient of the Cattleman of the Year Award in 2007. She was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2007, Oklahoma Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2012 and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2020. Forst was also recognized as the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry 2017 Significant Woman in Agriculture.

Besides Forst, two of the other six honorees are alums of the College of Agriculture- Ken Starks who graduated with an Ag Economics degree in 1976 and Lieu Smith who graduated with an Agricultural Engineering degree in 1954.

Noble Research Institute Expands New Program For Farmers and Ranchers

Noble Research Institute announced the expansion of Essentials of Regenerative Ranching, a new educational program designed to help ranchers enhance and restore the land, making it more resilient and reaching livestock grazing goals through regenerative management. Essentials of Regenerative Ranching provides producers with practical tools, hands-on experience and guidance to make data-driven decisions to decrease costs and improve profit.

The Essentials of Regenerative Ranching course has been expanded to three new locations in Texas and Oklahoma. Registration is open now at www.noble.org/essentials. Seating is limited, so early registration is recommended.

“Program participants gain working knowledge and experience of monitoring and improving the health of their soil, grazing livestock more strategically and making informed financial decisions,” said Hugh Aljoe, Noble Research Institute’s director of ranches, outreach and partnerships. “We use a mix of classroom and field work to send producers home with the tools they need to begin making changes on their ranch.”

Farmers and ranchers navigate uncertainty from weather, fluctuating market prices and escalating costs of inputs. Many producers are seeking new tools that offer greater control and reduce their operational uncertainty. Through this course, ranchers and farmers will calculate their financial situations, determine initial stocking rates, carrying capacity and grazing goals.

Prussic Acid Toxicity Threatens Livestock in Extreme Weather

Prussic acid toxicity, commonly linked to the consumption of Johnsongrass, is a serious condition that can be fatal to livestock. Recent rains after a period of dry weather have heightened the toxicity risk.

Barry Whitworth, DVM, senior Extension specialist/state Beef Quality Assurance coordinator for the Oklahoma State University Department of Animal and Food Sciences, said when temperatures rise and the ground dries out, certain plants in the sorghum family become toxic and can kill cattle at a rapid rate. Johnsongrass is one of Oklahoma’s most invasive plants.

“Hydrocyanic acid, which is also referred to as cyanide or prussic acid, is a toxin created when the harmless hydrocyanic glycosides in plants are stressed or break down,” he said. “Once a plant’s hydrocyanic glycosides are damaged, they quickly convert to prussic acid.”

When cattle ingest plants high in hydrocyanic glycoside and break them down by chewing, prussic acid is released in the rumen and absorbed into the bloodstream. Whitworth explained that once prussic acid reaches the circulatory system, the toxin prevents cells in the body from taking up oxygen. The blood becomes saturated with oxygen that cannot be absorbed by cells, and cattle perish from asphyxiation within minutes. Rosslyn Biggs, DVM, OSU Extension beef cattle specialist, explains what happens in this video from SUNUP, the television show of OSU Agriculture.