Farm Director KC Sheperd recently talked with the Curriculum Coordinator for Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom, Annie Davis, about a glimpse of her new agricultural-themed book with characters Flat Aggie and Flat Annie.

“These are twin characters in a children’s book that I wrote based around agriculture,” Davis said. “Flat Aggie and Flat Annie, they actually start out as just two farm kids in Oklahoma, and a big wind comes with the barn door, so they become flat and have so many adventures, problems, and solutions throughout the book.”

Davis said although the story is fiction, all the agriculture information within the book is factual.

“We hope that this book will connect classrooms, connect different states, connect 4-H groups, connect FFA groups with their writing skills, and share different agriculture around the world,” Davis said.

There will be different versions of the book for different grade levels, Davis said, starting with a picture book for younger children and then a more advanced reading option for older students.

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.

International Demand for U.S. Beef Remains Strong Amid Tight Cattle Supplies

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am featuring Farm Director KC Sheperd’s interview with the CEO of the United States Meat Export Federation, Dan Halstrom, about U.S. beef exports and demand.

Halstrom emphasized that every country has a different perspective when it comes to the value of U.S. beef exports, which works to the U.S. cattle industry’s advantage. One important thing to note about international trade, Halstrom said, is that other countries value variety meats highly, whereas in America some of those cuts are less popular.

“The example I use is that our center of the plate, which centers heavily around middle meats, tenders, and ribeyes- that is not necessarily the case in a lot of these countries,” Halstrom said. “In Egypt, the center of the plate is beef liver. In a place like Peru, beef tripe is the center of the plate.”

Halstrom said the demand for U.S. beef from international countries is a testament to the high-quality product produced by American ranchers.

“The key to maximizing the cutout and the value for the U.S. beef industry and the whole supply chain is selling the entire carcass,” Halstrom said.

Farm Bill Spotlights Pork Producer Priorities at World Pork Expo

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) hosted a policy panel discussion yesterday at the 2024 World Pork Expo, where producer-leaders and experts highlighted the need to work with both sides of the aisle to support America’s pork producers.

Preparing for and preventing foreign animal diseases (FADs), navigating challenges posed by California Proposition 12, increasing market access programs for U.S. pork, and protecting herd health are the key priorities that NPPC has successfully advocated for within the farm bill.

“Having a proactive, producer-focused advocacy plan has enabled NPPC to elevate our common interests to impact inclusions in the 2024 House Farm Bill,” said NPPC President Lori Stevermer, a pork producer from Easton, Minnesota. “We appreciate our legislators addressing the issues facing the agriculture industry because they hold real-world implications for farms across the country.”

Our longtime friend Chase Adams, NPPC assistant vice president of domestic policy, discussed the complications created by California Proposition 12 in potentially opening the door to a web of 50 different, often conflicting, standards on how food is produced. “NPPC urges Congress to adopt a legislative solution in the farm bill to mitigate further impacts to both farmers and consumers,” he said, noting the legislation has led to price spikes as high as 41% for fresh pork in California and is negatively impacting consumers. (Editor's note- Adams knows animal agriculture like few others in DC do- he has worked for the cattle, sheep and now hog industries in his career.)

Farmer sentiment recovered somewhat in May following a sharp drop-off in April. The May reading of the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer came in at 108, up 9 points compared to April. Both of the barometer’s sub-indices rose as well, with the biggest improvement coming from the Index of Future Expectations, which climbed 11 points to 117, while the Current Conditions Index rose 6 points. Strengthening crop prices was a factor in this month’s sentiment improvement. For example, Eastern Corn Belt cash corn prices in mid-May were 6 to 7% higher than when the April survey was conducted, while cash soybean prices improved by 2 to 3% over the same period. The improvement in prices coincided with good corn and soybean planting progress as USDA reported the planting pace in mid-May matched the 5-year average. This month’s Ag Economy Barometer survey was conducted from May 13-17, 2024.

The Farm Financial Performance Index climbed to 82, up 6 points compared to April. The index is based on a question that asks producers to compare their farm’s expected financial performance to last year. Despite this month’s improvement in the index, it remained 15 points lower than at the end of last year indicating that producers still expect 2024 to be a more challenging year financially than 2023.

Nori Announces Carbon Credit Issuance through Bayer Carbon Program

Nori announced the issuance of over 125,000 Regenerative Tonnes from the Bayer Carbon Program in the U.S. in its marketplace, marking the largest single issuance of credits in the company’s history. The credits represent an unprecedented expansion to Nori’s carbon removal supply and add significant supply across the soil organic carbon industry as a whole. With this volume of credits, climate conscious companies have the opportunity to support regenerative agriculture and carbon removal at scale. In addition, there are more than 240,000 tonnes in the pipeline to be issued as carbon credits later this year.

Each Regenerative Tonne represents the removal of approximately one tonne of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through regenerative farming practices, with the carbon stored for 10+ years. The credits are third-party verified and boast co-benefits such as supporting soil health, helping reduce erosion, and increasing soil water availability.

The more than 125,00 credits issued and more than 240,000 credits in the pipeline are the result of regenerative practices adopted on over 190,000 acres of land across the U.S. by farmers enrolled in the Bayer Carbon Program. The program pays farmers for implementing regenerative practices, which include no-till, strip-till, and cover crops. The carbon is verified by an independent verification party, then Regenerative Tonnes are issued in accordance with Nori’s U.S. Croplands methodology.

Theileria Orientalis Ikeda: An Emerging Risk in Cattle

In the latest Cow-Calf Corner, Rosslyn Biggs, DVM,OSU College of Veterinary Medicine, State Beef Cattle Extension Specialist talks about a tickborne infection, Theileria orientalis Ikeda.

Cattle producers and veterinarians continue to fight anaplasmosis in herds across the United States. However, a new emerging infection may pose a similar if not greater threat. Theileria orientalis Ikeda is a tickborne infection, and when identified in United States herds has been associated with the Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, a relatively new tick species for the United States. T. orientalis Ikeda has caused major economic losses in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia primarily as a result of deaths or illness in beef and dairy cattle and other associated production losses. Fortunately, T. orientalis Ikeda poses no known human health risks. Neither the tick nor T. orientalis Ikeda has been identified in Oklahoma at this time.

Remembering the Greatest Generation- the 80th Anniversary of D-Day

Today is one of those days in history that very few of you that are reading this lived through.

I did not- I am the child of a World War II Vet who fought in the Pacific. But the incredible operation that resulted in turning all of World War II around- and hurling the Allies to eventual victory against both Germany and Japan is now 80 years in our rear view mirrors.

In an op-ed piece in the New York Times- Garrett Graff writes "D-Day was a titanic enterprise, perhaps the largest and most complex single operation in human history — an effort to launch a force of more than a million men across the English Channel on more than 3,000 planes and more than 7,000 ships; to methodically transport entire floating harbors, a herculean secret project known as the Mulberries, as well as 300,500 gallons of drinking water and 800,000 pints of blood plasma."

June 6, 2024, will mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings along the Normandy coast during World War II. This event, which ultimately led to the liberation of Europe, will be commemorated at Normandy American Cemetery. 

Individuals wishing to view the 80th anniversary of the D-Day livestream may do so by clicking on ABMC's YouTube channel- it starts early at 5:30 AM Central time.

We lost some 2,500 Americans on the beaches of France on that day- we are grateful for their ultimate sacrifice as we remember June 6, 1944.