I recently had the chance to catch up with the President of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Rodd Moesel, to talk about the 2023 OKFB Annual Meeting to be held on November 10-13 at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Oklahoma City.

The three-day event will feature Young Farmers and Ranchers competitive events, Women’s Leadership Committee luncheon, Farm Bureau policy development, the election of statewide Farm Bureau leaders, and more.

One special guest that will be in attendance, Moesel said, is the President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Zippy Duvall. The head of the AFBF Women’s Leadership Committee, Isabelle Chism, will also be at the event along with the Young Farmers and Ranchers committee chair, Matt Fimon. All three of the AFBF leaders got into town early enough to meet with the OkFB Board for dinner last night- and two guests who stopped by and visited with the Board for a few minutes were House Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole of Oklahoma and House Armed Forces Chairman Mike Rogers of Alabama.(Cole, Moesel, Duvall and Rogers pictured last night)

A feature of the Saturday sessions, Moesel said, will be the Grassroots Business Sessions, where members will vote on the organization’s grassroots policy positions, considering resolutions by county Farm Bureaus from around the state. One of the links below takes you to our earlier conversation with Steve Thompson about the Resolutions Session to happen Saturday.

Moesel said the meeting as a whole will provide visitors with the chance to fellowship with their fellow agriculturalists and leaders from across the state.

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Jarold Callahan Named the 2023 Inductee of the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am talking with Jarold Callahan about the start of Cattlemen’s Congress and the award he will be receiving this weekend on November 12 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Callahan has been named the 2023 inductee of the prestigious Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery. He will be the 378th member of the gallery, and his portrait will be unveiled during an induction banquet held on November 12 during the North American Livestock Exposition.

Callahan was born and raised in far northeast Oklahoma in Welch on a farm where they raised crops, hay and cattle. Jarold attended NEO and then Oklahoma State- judging livestock both places- and later was the Livestock Judging Coach at both institutions. After a lot of success in those coaching and teaching positions- he took on the role of Executive Vice President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association for five years before becoming President of Express Ranches in 1996.

As President of Express Ranches, Callahan oversees one of the largest seed stock operations in North America, and he has also been at the forefront of bringing forward the newest major livestock show in North America: Cattlemen’s Congress.

During Covid, many major livestock shows were canceled, Callahan said, so with the help of many, Cattlemen’s Congress in Oklahoma City was born.



“We called the breed associations and had all the breed associations come into Oklahoma City, and the breed association members were hungry for it,” Callahan said.

Wheat Production Unchanged in Latest WASDE Report, Allendale’s Rich Nelson Says It’s a "Mild" Report

USDA on Thursday slightly bumped up crop production for corn and soybeans and brought down projected ending stocks for both crops as well.

USDA increased the 2023-24 corn production by 170 million bushels (mb) to 15.234 billion bushels (bb) — a surprise that was beyond the pre-report estimates. If that holds, that breaks the 2016 production record. USDA also increased soybean production by 25 mb to 4.129 bb.

Farm Director, KC Sheperd, had the chance to talk with Allendale’s Rich Nelson about this month’s report. The November report, Nelson said, is usually a more mild report.

“Usually, by this point, we are only seeing mild changes to the established production numbers on corn and soybeans,” Nelson said. “Wheat production is already decided at the end of September in a special report, so relatively quiet numbers are usually seen on this report here.”

On the wheat side, Nelson said there was a moderate increase in stocks, and the export numbers didn’t see much change.

According to the latest Oklahoma drought monitor report, exceptional drought remains at zero percent, unchanged from the past three months.

Extreme drought or worse is at 1.16 percent, unchanged from last week.

Severe drought or worse is now at 13.68 percent, unchanged from last week.

Moderate drought or worse is now at 35.81 percent, down just slightly from last week’s 35.82 percent.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions are now at 50.39 percent, up just slightly from last week’s 50.27 percent.

According to the 6-10-day precipitation outlook map, the eastern half of the state is standing at a near-normal chance of precipitation through November 18th. The western half of the state, including the panhandle, is leaning above a 33 to 40 percent chance of precipitation through November 18th.

Kim Anderson Discusses Crop Prices as Corn, Soybean and Cotton Harvest Continue

As the Oklahoma soybean, corn, and cotton harvests are underway, this week on SUNUP is Oklahoma State University Extension grain market economist Kim Anderson, talking about the prices of these commodities and harvest.

“Looking at corn, they have been taking a beating over the last month or so,” Anderson said. “It looked like they have bottomed out. They went down to $4.45, somewhere in that range, and back up to $4.54.”

The harvest of corn is 95 percent complete in Oklahoma, Anderson said, and the stocks-use ratio is predicted to be 26 percent, which is slightly below the average.

Soybeans had close to an 80-cent rally, Anderson said, as about 60 percent of the crop has been harvested in Oklahoma. Soybean stocks are high around the world, Anderson said, but tight in the U.S.

Cotton is coming in better than expected, Anderson said, and is 45 percent harvested in Oklahoma.

“You would expect cotton prices to bottom out here, and maybe come up, but they have taken a beating because of this increased production or above expectation on production,” Anderson said.

USMEF Strategic Planning Conference Underway in New Orleans

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) kicked off its Strategic Planning Conference Wednesday in New Orleans, covering a range of topics impacting global demand for U.S. pork, beef and lamb. 

USMEF Chair Dean Meyer, a livestock and grain producer from Rock Rapids, Iowa, welcomed attendees with a reminder of how the organization brings together diverse sectors of agriculture to work toward common objectives. 

“Regardless of the sector we are based in, we’re able to come together on most issues and provide a unified voice,” Meyer said. “And I don’t need to tell you, American agriculture needs that unified voice now more than ever, because there are critical programs and issues that need our support.” 

Meyer highlighted the urgent need for progress crafting a new Farm Bill and reauthorizing agricultural appropriations, citing examples of programs critical to the U.S. meat and livestock industries. Protecting the U.S. livestock herd from foreign animal diseases is one such need, and Meyer drove this point home by noting that next month will mark the 20th anniversary of the first BSE case in the United States. This incident prompted most international markets to halt imports of U.S. beef, with some countries remaining closed for several years. 

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