After three preliminary qualifiers around the US with over 100 auctioneers competing from across the US and Canada- the thirty best traveled to Oklahoma City this past week to compete in the 2024 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship at the Oklahoma National Stockyards. The thirty semifinalists were narrowed to ten finalists on Saturday afternoon- and Wade Leist, Boyne City, Michigan heard his name called Saturday night at the awards banquet. Wade will spend the next year driving the custom-wrapped World Livestock Auctioneer Championship pickup all over the country to showcase his auctioneering talents and promote the livestock industry.

At the banquet, I got the first media interview with the new champion- and Leist says he was shocked to hear his name called- “You look around the room- you see thirty guys who could win it- you know there is only ten in the running at that point- the reserve and runner up have been named- you keep looking around and think which of these other 8 are going to win it-I guess I was the last one that I really thought would so it feels good.”

Number two in the world is an Oklahoma auctioneer- Dakota Davis of Waukomis. He and his wife own and operate the Enid Livestock Market- and Davis was named the Reserve Champion of the contest. Dakota actually drew first in the contest lineup and we captured some of his work selling the first drafts of the 2024 world contest- it's up on our Facebook page- click here to go and check it out.

We have interviews with Wade and Dakota- some video of Wade selling and more in our story linked below.

The vision of the Oklahoma Beef Council is to be a positive difference for Oklahoma's farming and ranching families and the greater beef community, and its mission is to enhance beef demand by strengthening consumer trust and exceeding consumer expectations. 

To learn more, visit www.oklabeef.org. Also, don't forget to like its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/oklabeef for stories on Oklahoma's ranching families and great beef recipes. 

And Check out this video below that helps you learn more about the Beef Checkoff- .

Governor Stitt Defends Special Session for A&M Regent Selection

This past Friday- I had the chance to talk with Governor Kevin Stitt about some of his latest work, from an open seat on the A&M Board of Regents to bills he signed during the 2024 legislative session.

First and foremost, Stitt talked about  his call for a Special Session of the Senate regarding an appointment to the A&M Board of Regents. One name surfaced for the Governor that he has sent forward as a nomination- former OSU Director of Athletics Mike Holder. Governor Stitt says he believes the Regents need a person who can help navigate the new world of college athletics and hopes that OSU can rise and become a leader within the Big 12 in the days to come. He contends Mike Holder will help that be a reality.

I asked about one name that was mentioned a lot during the search for a candidate- Jennifer Callahan. Governor Stitt said Mrs. Callahan would absolutely be a great choice- but that she chose not to allow her name to be put forward for consideration by the Senate at this time. That makes Holder the nominee for the Governor to push forward.

Regarding the 2024 Legislative Session, Stitt said he was happy to quickly sign the final budget deal approved by the House and Senate- saying he had promised leadership he would sign if they gave him certain things he felt were important- they are in the final package and he was pleased to honor his promise and sign the bill. Stitt says the process to pass the budget was a transparent process, and he was pleased with the elimination of the grocery tax.

Marketing Your Cull Cows to Achieve the Best Profit with OSU’s Derrell Peel

At the 2024 LMA Convention and World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in OKC, I caught up with Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, and talked about marketing cull cows to achieve the highest profit, heifer retention, and more.

Peel emphasized the value of feeding cull cows a little longer to improve their grade, and increase profit on those individual cows. For the average cow-calf operation, Peel said 15 to 20 percent of their total revenue comes from cull animals.

“From a producer standpoint, it is kind of a tradeoff,” Peel said. “Do you have the time, and the resources and the facilities to keep those cows? You are going to have to feed them a little bit.”

Looking at the Cattle Inventory numbers that USDA released on January 31st, Peel said the numbers in the report made it clear that the beef cow herd would be smaller in 2024.

Former Oklahoma Senate Approps Chair Roger Thompson Resigns

On Friday- Oklahoma Senator Roger Thompson of Okemah announced that he was resigning from the State Senate effective November first.

According to Non Doc- Thompson resigned about six weeks after he was suddenly removed as chairman of the Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee.

Thompson (R-Okemah) was first elected in 2014, meaning he had two years left in a third and final term that would have expired in 2026. His resignation will become effective Nov. 1.

“I am grateful and honored to have had the opportunity to serve the people of Senate District 8 for the last 10 years,” Thompson wrote in a brief resignation letter addressed to Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat.

Treat said nothing of the removal of Thompson in his comments on Friday about the resignation- “His faithful stewardship of the budget the past several years has led to record savings and record investments in education, behavioral health and infrastructure. Sen. Thompson has also helped navigate the Legislature through many difficult times, especially through the ARPA process. His work on developing the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency as co-chair has been instrumental in the successful outcomes we have seen come out of this office."

Senator Treat is in his final months as Pro Tem. Greg McCortney, R-Ada,has been selected as the Pro Tem Designee after Pro Tem Treat terms out of office in November of this year. 

Mark Henry Blanchard, a resident of Tupelo, Oklahoma, was arrested and charged with five counts of larceny of a domestic animal after stealing cattle and selling them at local livestock auctions for profit.

The arrest comes after an investigation led by Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger Cody Hyde and the Coal County Sheriff’s Office looking into a possible cattle theft in Coal County after the victim reported his cattle missing.

After running a sale history at the auction, Hyde discovered Blanchard, an employee of the victim, sold cattle each time the victim sold cattle. The checks written to Blanchard after the sale aligned with the missing livestock owned by the victim.

Over the course of the investigation, Blanchard was questioned about the suspicious activity.

On June 5, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released preliminary findings from a multi-year study investigating the spread of bacteria to leafy greens being grown in Yuma County, Arizona.

The study was undertaken after a 2018 E. coli outbreak that was linked to romaine lettuce from the Yuma, AZ, growing area. The investigation into that outbreak found samples of canal water that tested positive for the outbreak strain of E. coli. However, that strain of E. coli was not found at a nearby cattle feeding operation and the investigation ultimately found “no obvious route for contamination” from the feeding operation.

“Despite those 2018 investigative findings, we are concerned that some have erroneously interpreted the new FDA study as suggesting that the cattle industry is responsible for the outbreak, even though the scientific evidence does not support such a conclusion,” said NCBA CEO Colin Woodall. “In fact, FDA has expressly stated that the multi-year study did not identify the specific source and route of contamination that contributed to the 2018 outbreak.”

Five Rural Businesses Selected for 2024 AgCelerate Oklahoma Agricultural Innovation Cohort

Oklahoma Farm Bureau has selected five rural-Oklahoma businesses to be part of the 2024 AgCelerate Oklahoma cohort through the Oklahoma Grassroots Rural and Ag Business Accelerators program.

The accelerators program is a collaborative rural development initiative from OKFB along with national and state-level partners that develops Oklahoma-based innovators creating ideas, technologies and products creating economic opportunities in rural Oklahoma.

Members of the 2024 AgCelerate Oklahoma cohort include BioAdvantage Recycling Company of Shawnee, which removes and repurposes waste products from processed cattle; E2C Cattle Company of Wagoner, which has created a nutritional supplementation calculator for beef cattle; Advanced Avigation of Fairview, a company that installs drone sensors to detect invasive plant species; Burgess Aerospace Innovations of Stillwater, which has created an AI-powered aerial drone technology to provide real-time data to livestock owners; and Blackjack Legacy of Minco, which promotes and markets superior beef products.