At the 2024 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association’s Convention, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, caught up with Atmospheric Scientist Matt Makens with Makens Weather. Makens talked to Hays about the transition from El Niño to La Niña.

Makens explained that other than normal seasonal conditions such as winter’s chill and summer’s heat, El Niño and La Niña are the biggest global weather drivers. It is important to know which variety it is, how strong it is, and the duration of it.

Makens said that while meteorologists don’t yet have the strength or timeline of the approaching La Niña buttoned down, he sees three options for it.

Regardless, Oklahomans should expect dryer conditions in the second half of 2024. “Do we stay in this neutral pattern that we are seeing now with no El Niño or La Niña? Historically, that has had a drier impact on Oklahoma. If we get into a weak La Niña or even a strong one, that just enhances the drought for Oklahoma,” he explained.

National Livestock was founded in 1932 in Oklahoma City. National’s Marketing Division offers cattle for sale weekly at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City. The Finance Division lends money to ranchers across several states for cattle production. The Grazing Division works with producers to place cattle for grazing on wheat or grass pastures. 

National also owns and operates other livestock marketing subsidiaries including Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction in Ada, Oklahoma, OKC West Livestock Market in El Reno, Oklahoma, and the nation’s premier livestock video sale, Superior Livestock Auction. National offers customers many services custom made for today’s producer. To learn more, click here for the website or call the Oklahoma City office at 1-800-310-0220.

On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, state and local law enforcement authorities served a Search Warrant at a large marijuana growing operation in southern Oklahoma as part of an ongoing investigation into out-of-state black market marijuana trafficking. The Search Warrant was executed at 1420 Smokey Ridge Road in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN) Spokesman Mark Woodward says the investigation into this location began in November of 2023.

“During the investigation, OBN Agents identified people going to the farm and illegally purchasing more than 50 pounds of marijuana per visit. Additionally, we determined the operators of this marijuana farm were loading as much as 1,000 pounds of marijuana at a time into refrigerated semi-trucks that would transport the product to the black market in places such as New York City, Chicago, and parts of Florida. —OBN Spokesman Mark Woodward

Departments involved in the Search Warrant on Tuesday included OBN, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA), the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, and the Carter County Sheriff’s Office. Agents seized 106,062 marijuana plants, 1,120 pounds of processed marijuana, and made two arrests. Wen Bin Haung (DOB 1/19/1990) and Wen Zhang Huang (DOB 11/4/1986) were taken into custody where they face a variety of charges, including Aggravated Trafficking of Marijuana.

Cooperative strategies with state and local agencies have resulted in a dramatic reduction of criminal organizations operating illegal farms in Oklahoma. OBN Registrations for growers dropped from 9,400 in 2021, to 6,400 in 2022, and today that number is down to approximately 3,000.

Boosting Oklahoma’s Research and Health with OSU One Health Innovation Lab’s Local Focus

Farm Director KC Sheperd caught up with Oklahoma State University One Health Innovation Lab Director, Dr. Samuel Jeyasingh, to talk about the One Health Innovation Lab facility in The Innovation Foundation at OSU.

Jeyasingh explained that the lab spans the interconnectedness between animal health, human health, plant health and the environment also known as One Health. “We understand there is a lot of mutual connection between how animal health impacts our global food supply.”

“As an entity within The Innovation Foundation at OSU, our mission is to collaborate across our three applied research institutes, the University as well as strengthen and build on our biotech efforts across the state of Oklahoma,” Jeyasingh said.

In February 2024, wildfires in western Oklahoma, fueled by hot and dry conditions and high winds, destroyed at least 18 homes, 1,180 head of cattle, 75,000 bales of hay and 431 miles of fence.

“OSU Extension has seen some immediate resource gaps, knowledge gaps and training needed to better support our staff, ranchers and communities affected by this disaster,” said Amy Hagerman, OSU Extension specialist for agriculture and food policy. “We are assuring our OSU Extension educators have the training, tools and support they need for the recovery. We will make OSU Extension and Oklahoma communities more prepared for future wildfire disasters.”

Through a National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant, OSU Extension is developing a tool for measuring the full extent of damages from the February fire. Extension educators and specialists are creating damage categories through interviews with wildfire victims and comparing the categories to those in the existing Ag Damage Assessment and Economic Loss tool. Faculty have produced new OSU Extension fact sheets and videos for ranchers affected by the fires, especially native Spanish speakers or those who are new to ranching. Through surveys, Hagerman and her team will also assess the readiness of Extension offices and OSU Ag Research stations to coordinate damage mitigation from natural disasters.

Mexico is the number one market for U.S. corn growers by a wide margin, and over 90% of the corn that’s planted in the United States is biotech. Accordingly, Mexico’s decree threatens market access and adds a great deal of legal uncertainty for our corn growers. And ever since the decree was announced, organizations like the National Corn Growers Association, the Corn Refiners Association and the U.S. Grains Council have been leveraging every opportunity to push back. 

Recently, those efforts resulted in a trade dispute settlement hearing under the USMCA, which represents the best opportunity to reverse this destructive trade policy. So in this episode, we’re going to revisit the history of the ban, explore the arguments that were made in the dispute settlement hearing, and discuss what it all means for farmers. 

Our guests include: Andrew Brandt, the director of trade policy for the U.S. Grains Council Heidi Bringenberg, the U.S. Grains Council’s country director for Mexico Kristy Goodfellow, the vice president of trade and industry affairs for the Corn Refiners Association Nancy Martinez, the National Corn Growers Association’s director of public policy, trade and biotechnology.

FEMA announced that federal disaster assistance is available to the Chickasaw Nation to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms from March 14-15, 2024.

Public Assistance federal funding is available to the Tribal Nation on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for the Chickasaw Nation.

Maona N. Ngwira has been named the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the Tribal Nation and warranted by the results of further assessments.

Listen to KC Talk a Lifetime of Extension and Teaching And More with Dr. Kim Anderson

Our latest Ag Perspectives Podcast is up and features our own KC Sheperd in a conversation with Dr. Kim Anderson of OSU, who officially retires from the department of Ag Economics next week.

They talk about his life path that took him from eastern Oklahoma to Stillwater to Guam to Kentucky and then back to Stillwater.

They talk extension but more about his teaching his famed Ag Sales course that began two decades ago.

Take a listen by clicking on the blue button betlow.

You can subscribe by clicking here-or searching for the Perspectives Podcast from the Oklahoma Farm Report where ever you get your podcasts.