The 2024 OYE is in the record books- and the Sale of Champions provided a strong finish- the sale of 214 top market animals sold for $1.5 million- matching last year’s record.

Ruby Bell of the Bristow FFA Chapter saw her Grand Champion Steer Bring $105,000, about $3,000 higher than last year’s Grand Champion. Bell’s Steer was the Champion Crossbred at the 2024 Show, and Ruby was all smiles as they hit the sale ring! The Buyers Group Included: Express Ranches, LNC, BOWO, McAfee & Taft, Express Pros, & OK Ag Credit.

The Grand Champion Barrow, owned by Wade Richey, sold for $30,000 with his Hampshire. The buyer who bought the 2023 Grand Barrow is Westgate Marketplace.

Next up was the Grand Champion Market Lamb, which sold for $16,000, up $1000 from last year. Clay Randall of the Canute FFA Chapter owned it. Last year, Clay’s Older Brother Colt earned himself a ride in the limousine at OYE, so Clay said this year’s event was extra special. Buyers for Randalls Lamb were CSTK and the Oklahoma State Fair.

The Final Grand Champion, the Market Goat shown by Jase Sparks of Hartsthorne FFA, brought $20,000, up $5,000 from last year’s total. This is the 20th year of the Goat Show at OYE. Buyers included McDonalds, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Mock Livestock Symposium, and Pfeiffer.

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The 2024 OYE came to a conclusion this past Friday with the Sale of Champions as described above- and what has traditionally been the biggest pay day of the two week event was actually eclipsed this year- at least when it comes to a final dollar amount.

As we covered it earlier last Tuesday- the Night of Stars had a higher total amount of dollars generated in 2024- $1.61 million dollars from the hybrid in person/online sale of 130 gilts that were the best of the Breeding Gilt Show that kicked off OYE March 12th. (Pictured above is the Supreme Commercial Breeding Gilt that sold for $175,000 last Tuesday)

Add in the $350,000 in Scholarships awarded during OYE this year- and you are pushing to around $3.5 million dollars generated for 4-H and FFA members involved in the world's largest junior livestock show.

The levels of participation continue to expand- all 77 counties sent more than 7,600 exhibitors to be involved in OYE one way or another- and that includes the growing Ag Mechanics Competition, the Shooting Sports Contest unveiled this past year and more.

We have tons of pictures from the show- take a look by clicking here on this 2024 OYE Flickr Album- and we want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Hilliary Communications for powering our OYE Coverage.

BY the way- you can go back and check out our more than twenty stories we posted during the 2024 OYE by visiting our Blue Green Gazette section of our website- available here.

Ag Spire Helps Ranchers Apply Practical Sustainability Goals that Generate Income

I am talking with Jared Knock, the Vice President of Business Development at Ag Spire, about how cattle producers can profit from sustainability plans.

While Knock is not working with Oklahoma producers just yet, he talks about what the future can look like for producers across the U.S. He said producers can learn about different sustainability programs by visiting  https://thesustainagnetwork.com/ .

“One of those is a project where we are looking to enroll 300 ranches in South Dakota, North Dakota, and surrounding states over the next five years,” Knock said. “It involves an incentive premium for calves, it involves cost-share mechanisms and technical assistance for forage plantings, cover crop plantings, rangeland plantings, and prescribed grazings.”

Knock said there are several different opportunities provided by Ag Spire to add revenue and practices that are beneficial to cow-calf operations with built-in incentives.

“To qualify for a program that we are doing, you have to be a grazing rancher,” Knock said. “Your cattle have to be out grazing at least six months out of the year.”

These programs are designed for the ranchers who rely extensively on grazing, Knock said, and they must commit to about 200 acres per year of regenerative seedings such as forest planting, range planting or cover cropping.

Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, the oldest and largest livestock association in the Southwest, elected Carl Ray Polk Jr. as president during the 2024 Cattle Raisers Convention & Expo on Saturday.

Polk, of Lufkin, Texas, is a respected figure within the industry, bringing extensive expertise and a proven advocacy track record to his two-year term as TSCRA president. As a third-generation rancher and land steward, Polk is well-positioned to steer the association toward continued growth and success. 

After the business session on Saturday in Ft. Worth, Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays and Carey Martin with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network talked to Polk on the Trade Show floor about his vision for the year ahead.

Polk acknowledges agriculture has issues- “we are in an industry that is challenged- whether it’s weather, whether it’s cost of capital- it’s a challenging industry- so therefore our membership is flat- so I feel like one of my focuses is to engage as many of our members as we can and be able to offer our platform to new members.”

Polk is proud of how people have responded to the historic wildfires of early March across the Texas Panhandle into western Oklahoma. “It’s pretty amazing- over 1.2 million acres were impacted and as of this morning, we have had almost 1400 donations and we are hovering right around $1.2 million dollars” given to their disaster assistance fund. He says that they have opened the application process for those who need help on their ranches because of the wildfire- he urged those who need assistance in both Texas and Oklahoma to click here and apply right away.

While TSCRA is primarily a Texas organization- they have members in Oklahoma and the group has several Special Rangers that help investigate ranch related theft in the state.

What’s the newest use for U.S. Soy? Try a biobased oil for chainsaws because the innovation isn’t slowing down – or bogging down in this case. Through a soy checkoff research and development investment, U.S. soybean farmers, in partnership with DEWALT® and Dynamic Green Products (DGP), introduce a groundbreaking sustainable solution: DEWALT®‘s soy-based Bar & Chain Biodegradable Oil, now available at Home Depot stores nationwide. With over 1,300 Home Depot locations, as well as online platforms including Bomgaars, Mac Tools, Grainger and Amazon, among others, consumers and farmers alike have easy access to this environmentally friendly product.

“It’s exciting to see the checkoff investment in this bar and chain oil pay dividends as it becomes widely available to more farmers as well as the professionals who care for parks, forests and more,” said Steve Reinhard, United Soybean Board chair and soybean farmer from Ohio. “This oil is yet another example of U.S. Soy delivering performance and sustainability benefits.”

This USB initiative in partnership with DGP is part of a strategic collaboration with the Airable Research Lab, a division of the Ohio Soybean Council dedicated to bringing sustainable soy solutions to the market in 2024. Fifth-generation farmer Bret Davis, who grows soybeans, corn and wheat in Delaware County, Ohio, describes his eagerness to be an early adopter of the product.

A day after encouraging the Oklahoma legislature to pass its own version of Texas’ Senate Bill 4, Attorney General Gentner Drummond has joined a legal brief supporting Texas in its effort to preserve that law.

If successful, Oklahoma and other states will be empowered to declare illegal immigration a state crime and authorize state officials to enforce it. House and Senate leaders already have indicated a willingness to craft similar legislation to protect Oklahoma. 

“The Biden Administration refuses to secure the border, so the states must act to protect our people,” Drummond said. “Oklahoma suffers the consequences of our porous border every single day. A legal victory for Texas clears the way for local law enforcement in Oklahoma and throughout the country.”

Filed by Drummond and 21 other state attorneys general, the amicus brief argues that states have the right to enact and enforce laws that do not explicitly conflict with federal statute. “Texas essentially has codified portions of federal immigration law as Texas state law,” reads the brief. “That renders much, if not all, of S.B. 4 complimentary to federal law, not in conflict with it.”