She is no longer Oklahoma’s Secretary of Agriculture- but that does not change the day to day duties of Blayne Arthur as she continues to serve as the Oklahoma Commissioner of Agriculture and the President of the State Board of Agriculture. Instead of being called Secretary of Ag- she is now officially called the Chief Agricultural Advisor to the Governor.

Earlier this year, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond responded with an opinion requested by a legislator on whether former Transportation Secretary Tim Gatz could also serve as director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority simultaneously. Drummond said the law doesn’t allow for it.

That impacted other cabinet secretaries for Governor Kevin Stitt. They sued. The state legislature weighed in on behalf of Commissioner Arthur and another member of the Stitt Cabinet, Susan Winchester, by granting them an exemption and permitting them to be dual office holders. Governor Stitt vetoed SB1196 back in March– saying he believed that the Secretary of Agriculture and other cabinet secretaries could continue to hold a Cabinet Seat and be an agency head- and at the time- he contended in his veto message that the courts would side with him.

The courts did not.

The Governor has decided to rename the job titles that most of his cabinet Secretaries had held- including Secretary of Ag Arthur. That position has been apparently eliminated and on the Governor’s website- those positions are now being called “Advisors.”

In case of Arthur- she is now Governor Stitt’s Chief Agricultural Advisor. According to the webpage on the Governor’s Advisors- “Blayne Arthur currently serves as the Chief Agricultural Advisor. Arthur is the state’s first female to hold the position. She acts as Governor Stitt’s chief advisor on policy development and implementation related to agriculture, food and forestry.”

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April Pork Exports Largest in Nearly Three Years; Beef Exports Also Trend Higher

April exports of U.S. pork reached the highest volume and value since May 2021, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). It was also a robust month for U.S. beef exports, which were the largest in 10 months and valued at just under $900 million. 

Fueled by a record performance in leading market Mexico, pork exports totaled 277,910 metric tons (mt) in April, up 14% from a year ago and the fifth largest on record. Export value climbed 18% to $778.8 million, the third highest on record. For January through April, exports increased 8% to 1.04 million mt, valued at $2.89 billion – up 10% from last year’s record pace.  

April beef exports totaled 111,580 mt, up slightly from a year ago and the largest since June 2023. Export value increased 5% to $898.7 million, also the highest since June. Through the first four months of 2024, beef export value was also up 5% year-over-year to $3.38 billion, despite a 3% decline in volume (423,445 mt). 

“Mexico also continued to shine on the beef side, along with the Caribbean, Central America and the Middle East,” said USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom. “These markets are benefiting from foodservice demand and currency advantages compared to the main Asian markets. The headwinds in Asia remain formidable, but the tourism boom in Japan has helped solidify demand and exports have stabilized this year, despite the continued weakness in the yen and strong competition from Australia. Robust retail and e-commerce demand has helped U.S. chilled beef continue to dominate in Korea and Taiwan.”

NCBA’s Samantha Werth Sees Potential for Sustainability Growth and Profitability in the Beef Industry

In this special “Best Of” edition of Beef Buzz, I am featuring my conversation from back in March with the Director of Sustainability at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Samantha Werth, talking about sustainability in the beef industry.

NCBA launched sustainability goals in November of 2021, Werth said, and since that time, one focus of NCBA has been defining what sustainability means for the cattle industry.

“For us, that comes down to the animals, the people, and the planet,” Werth said. “We are really focused on what we can do as a cattle ranching and producing community to advance sustainability initiatives, continuously improve as we have been for decades, and be able to leverage that work we are doing to share across the broader industry.”

When it comes to talking to producers about sustainability efforts, Werth said profitability is a big concern.

“If we are talking about a new grazing management strategy that is going to help with enhancing biodiversity on the land, are there ways we can enhance biodiversity for producers to help get them paid, essentially, for that work they are doing to enhance biodiversity,” Werth said. “In anything we are doing, we are looking at what are the opportunities to get support and what are the ways we are going to improve profitability for a producer if we are implementing sustainability practices.”

The Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center (OCPARC) Livestock, Forage and Pasture Management Research Unit (LFPMRU), formerly the Southern Great Plains Field Station (SGPFS), was established by the USDA in 1913 in Woodward, Oklahoma.

At the founding, the stated reason for choosing the location for research and development of plant cultivation techniques couldn’t have been simpler- “if crops grew here, they would grow anywhere.” The facility grew in scope and acreage under the support of newly created USDA agencies like the Soil Erosion Service, now the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and was operated by the USDA’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS).

Within the first 20 years, the research facility had become so valuable to local farmers and ranchers that they successfully lobbied Congress in 1934 to prevent its closure and reinstate its funding as part of the New Deal program. In 1938, to provide irrigation for the research efforts to improve the forages and other crops important to the Southern Great Plains, construction began on the Field Station Lake Dam (also called Experiment Lake Dam), along Spring Creek on the station’s acreage. The dam project was completed in 1939. 

Over the next several decades, the LFPMRU research focus fully shifted from field crops and trees-including jujubes, to grazing management and experimental grass breeding and growing. Methods developed at the research station were used to reclaim over 5 million acres of grazing land ravaged during the Dust Bowl. After years of reconstruction, on May 20, 2024, ARS and NRCS agency representatives joined with local Woodward stakeholders and national officials, including Congressman Frank Lucas, R-OK, in a ceremony to celebrate and dedicate the new Experiment Lake Dam structure. 

The damage was heartbreaking when the Smokehouse Creek Fire tore through western Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Panhandle and Texas in late February. Livestock, forage, hay and fencing were destroyed, and it will take years for producers and their operations to bounce back.

Unfortunately, western Oklahoma is familiar with the threat and destruction of wildfire. Oklahoma State University Extension asked the Extension agriculture educators in Roger Mills, Ellis and Beaver counties to reflect upon the 2024 Smokehouse Creek Fire and other wildfire events that affected the land and its residents to discuss how OSU Extension supports wildfire recovery.

Danny Cook (Roger Mills), Dana Bay (Ellis) and Loren Sizelove (Beaver) partnered with county emergency management agencies, community groups and other disaster response organizations to offer logistics support during and after the wildfires. From organizing supply donations and running transport to providing information on livestock and forage needs, Extension educators connect with local producers to help them navigate some of the darkest moments of their lives.

Cattle Producers Condemn Feeding Our Military Lab-Grown Meat

On this past Friday, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) condemned a Department of Defense (DOD) sponsored research grant that will fund the development of lab-grown meat products by manufacturing company BioMADE.

“It is outrageous that the Department of Defense is spending millions of taxpayer dollars to feed our heroes like lab rats. U.S. cattle producers raise the highest-quality beef in the world, with the lowest carbon footprint – and American troops deserve to be served that same wholesome, natural meat and not ultra-processed, lab-grown protein that is cooked up in a chemical-filled bioreactor,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “This misguided research project is a giant slap in the face to everyone that has served our country. Our veterans and active-duty troops deserve so much better than this.”

BUSY Week- Wheat Harvest Rolls, World Livestock Auctioneer Contest and LMA National Convention and More

We have finally put together a few days of dry weather to allow wheat harvest to jump into road gear in multiple spots around the state of Oklahoma. Here's a great sunset shot from Brittany Hukill of Hinton- it reminds me of our conversations over the years with her dad Jeff and granddad Wayne about harvest and life.

We will have the Crop Progress stats on harvest tomorrow morning and a detailed Oklahoma Wheat Commission harvest report on our website on Tuesday and in our email on Wednesday morning- that's a day later than we originally planned- but Wheat Commission Exec Mike Schulte has some duties that are pushing back our report by a day. Be watching for that.

ALSO this week- check out all he things that Oklahoma Farm Bureau has going in the days ahead in the story up higher in the email with Dustin Mielke- including Capitol Camp later this week.

AND- we are excited to welcome livestock market operators from across the United States as the Livestock Marketing Association gathers this week in downtown OKC at the Omni and will hold their 60th World Livestock Auctioneer Championship this weekend at the Oklahoma National Stockyards on June 15th. Check out our visit with Ben Hale about that by clicking here.