This week, the annual Ag in the Classroom Road Trip, which is called Ag on Route 66, started in Oklahoma City and stayed in the central part of the state for the multi day event. Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education and is supported by multiple groups from ag community.

Teachers attending the 2019 Ag on Rt 66 tour were welcomed by Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Blayne Arthur at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. Teachers then traveled to Express Ranches in Yukon where they spent the morning learning about embryo transfer in cattle and touring the Clydesdale horse facility.

Other highlights of the day included a presentation from SouthWest Dairy Farms, showcasing their mobile dairy classroom.

After lunch, teacher visited the Bornemann Farms in Union City, Okla. where they learned about soybean and wheat production in Oklahoma.

Additionally, teachers toured Fort Reno where they had the chance to visit the historic museum. They also participated in workshops designed to provide interesting and interactive ideas to incorporate agriculture in the classroom as they interacted with researchers from the Ag Research Service station at Ft. Reno. 

The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB), formed in 2015, is a multistakeholder initiative developed to advance, support and communicate continuous improvement in sustainability of the U.S. beef value chain. The Noble Research Institute has been a part of the USRSB since its inception. The Noble Research Institute was a founding member of the organization. 

The USRSB represents the producers interests. The Noble Research Institute fits into the USRSB as a civil society member. However they are there as producers as well. So, the Noble Research Institute represents producer interests in addition to the viewpoints that participating producer members bring. 

These entities came together to define sustainability for the beef industry. The USRSB defined sustainability as "a socially responsible, environmentally sound and economically viable product that prioritizes planet, people, animals and progress."

Donnell Brown and his wife Kelli operate the seedstock end of the RA Brown Ranch out of Throckmorton, Texas. Brown uses the advancements in technology on his ranch and he believes the information we can utilize in our ranch operations is and will continue to be a real game changer.

"The DNA technology we have is remarkable. We can know more about a young breeding heifer before we ever breed her the first time. We can know as much about her as if she had produced up to 20 calves for most traits," Brown said. "With that, we can more specifically target and produce those ideal animals. That includes traits like calving ease, growth, carcass merit, reproductive traits and efficiency - and efficiency, I believe, is the next great frontier."

According to Brown, with the new technology advancements genomics and efficiency are increasing, even with limited resources. He breaks down his idea of efficiency as essentially, doing more with less natural resources.

Listen to Brown share more on genomic enhancement in the livestock industry, on our latest Beef Buzz - click here.