As we jump into August on Thursday- I might suggest that you have your calendar laid out- because there so many meetings planned over the next few weeks- and they literally start on August first.

Starting us off on August first are the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Area Meetings. (the pic here is from southwestern Oklahoma last August). Up first is District 7 in Enid at Crosspoint Church at 6 PM. Click here to see the month long schedule.

Also on the first is the 2024 Women in Conference in Edmond- you can still register for this event- click here for the details.

On Friday, August 2nd- the place to be is downtown OKC at the Colcord where the 2024 Oklahoma Pork Congress is happening- click here for the info of this annual gathering of the swine industry.

NEXT WEEK- among the happenings(click on the name for details):

The Texas A&M Beef Cattle Shortcourse- August 5-7 in College Station, Texas.

Congressman Frank Lucas District Town Hall Meetings August 5-7 in various locations.

Regional Canola Growers Meetings August 6-7 in Harper, Ks and Enid Oklahoma

Central Oklahoma Wheat Conference in El Reno- August 8, 2024

We will wait another day to highlight events coming later in August- but one that you may be wanting to get tickets for now is the 40th Annual OCA Ranch Rodeo coming August 16 and 17 at the Lazy E in Guthrie.

Midwest Farm Shows is proud to produce the two best Farm Shows in the State of Oklahoma annually- the Tulsa Farm Show each December and the Oklahoma City Farm Show each April.

The Tulsa Farm Show is Oklahoma’s premier agricultural and ranching event- and returns to the SageNet Center (Expo Square) December, 12-13-14, 2024. 

Now is the ideal time to contact the Midwest Farm Show Office at 507-437-7969 and book space at the 2024 Tulsa Farm Show.  To learn more about the Tulsa Farm Show, click here. 



At the recent Trust In Beef event, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, caught up with Senior Director of Sustainable Food Strategy at Tyson Foods Dr. Justin Ransom to talk about Tyson Foods’ efforts to create climate-smart beef.

Dr. Ransom said that the research isn’t new. For several years, they have been looking at ways to reduce emissions in the beef business.

“A lot of people think of Tyson Foods as being a poultry business, as it is the largest poultry company in the world, but beef makes up about 72 percent of our enterprise emissions,” he explained. “Most of those emissions come from the farm of origin. In order for us to be able to make an impact on reducing our emissions as a business and meet the expectations our customers have for us; we have to look at new ways to look farther back in the value chain.”

One strategy Tyson has adopted is the launch of Brazen Beef products. Animals chosen for the program are raised with emissions reduction practices in mind. Before being fully accepted into the program, the emissions of each animal are evaluated to ensure they meet the base emissions and program qualifications.

Mark Johnson Discusses Cover Crops

Mark Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist, offers herd health advice as part of the weekly series known as the “Cow Calf Corner,” published electronically by Dr. Peel, Mark Johnson, and Paul Beck. Today, Johnson talks about the strategic use of cover cropping.



The systematic and strategic use of cover cropping systems is vital for sustainable agricultural production as this practice can help alleviate soil stress as a result of intensively managed agricultural land. Cover crops offer multiple ecosystem benefits including: reducing soil erosion, conserving and enhancing soil quality by increasing soil organic matter, reducing fertilizer use, disrupting crop pests and disease cycles, increasing biodiversity, and weed suppression. Several studies have reported positive effects of cover cropping on soil microbial biomass and diversity, and total soil carbon and nitrogen. In addition, cover crops have been reported to enhance soil structure and water retention, reduce nitrogen leaching, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Most cover crop species make excellent cattle forage (for stocker and cow-calf operations alike) and thereby can reduce the expense of feeding hay. Cool season legumes can be used to improve wildlife habitat during winter and early spring when warm season feed resources are scarce. That being said, cover crop success depends on the selection of the best adapted cover crop varieties depending on the goal you plan to achieve. For example, winter wheat may yield the most pounds beef produced per acre whereas a mixture of clover, winter cow peas and radishes will do more to break through a hardpan soil and reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer.

Dry conditions and poor soil severely affect crop yields, leading to poor quality food and feed, which is the leading cause of malnutrition among children and women in Africa. Sorghum, a major food and forage crop, can grow in these harsh conditions, but sorghum’s nutritional value differs across varieties and the crop contains high levels of substances known as antinutrients that limit the body’s ability to absorb the nutrients. To address this challenge, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) awarded a $809,879 Seeding Solutions grant to the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) to develop sorghum varieties with increased nutritional value, uses for livestock and improved yield. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and NARO provided matching funds for a total $1.6 million investment.

“Food and nutrition insecurity continues to be a problem among multiple populations around the world. This research aims to create more nutritious crops that can thrive in harsh agricultural regions,” said FFAR Scientific Program Director Dr. Constance Gewa. “Researchers at NARO, in collaboration with partners at U.S.-based institutions, are not only improving smallholder farmers’ livelihoods but also taking steps towards improving nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Although sorghum grains contain essential nutrients like iron and zinc, the bioavailability of these nutrients is hindered by the high levels of anti-nutrients found in the grains. Raising the levels of iron and zinc nutrients while simultaneously lowering the levels of antinutrients would greatly increase the availability of nutritious foods in arid regions. Furthermore, stalks and leaves from sorghum varieties with no or low levels of hydrogen cyanide have the potential to serve as safe livestock forage thereby improving meat and milk quality suitable for human consumption.

One of the more interesting August run off races across Oklahoma is happening in central Oklahoma as a pair of GOP candidates hope to replace the current Senate Majority leader Greg Treat who is termed out here in 2024. It's considered a safe GOP seat and it will take either of these Oklahomans a while to become a player in the leadership of the state Senate- but one of them will become the GOP candidate to face Democrat Erin Brewer in November for the right to become one of the 48 State Senators in the upcoming legislative session come 2025. Our own KC Sheperd has had the chance to talk with both of them- you can hear her conversations in the story linked below:

Jenny Schmitt

An OSU Graduate, Jenny Schmitt and her husband, Brad, have a fifteen-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son. She has been a nurse for almost twenty years and has a passion and grit for caring for others. “Being a nurse is public service and being a legislator should also be public service,” she said.

“I had to overcome a lot of things in my life, and because of that, I have developed a passion for caring for others,“ Schmitt said. “When I think about what is going on in healthcare, schools, and around the world – I can’t complain unless I’m willing to stand up and fight for my community – these people that I have lived near, known, and spent time with for almost twenty years. Even with the divisiveness in politics, our state and its future need people who want to champion Oklahoma and our values. So why not me?”

Kelly Hines

Kelly Hines grew up in the southeast Oklahoma Mountains in the small town of Whitesboro. He dreamed of becoming a soldier from the time he was seven years old, but his father insisted that he needed to be an officer if he was going to pursue that path. He joined the Oklahoma National Guard when he was seventeen to pay for college. He graduated from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, during his six-year term with the Guard. He was offered a Commission as a Second Lieutenant Army Aviation and married his wife of thirty-two years. They have two grown children who also live in Oklahoma.

He was on active duty for twenty-eight years flying soldiers around the world in a helicopter. He served in Special Ops for a short time as well. He retired as a Colonel in 2019, and was offered a job back home in Oklahoma and was glad to return. He is currently Vice President of an aerospace company in Edmond.

Oklahoma has faced a hot summer with temperatures consistently exceeding 100°F. However, timely rainfall has positively influenced crop prospects, particularly for sorghum, which is maturing rapidly. This highlights the delicate balance between weather conditions and crop health.

See how this influences disease development in Oklahoma crops!

In Episode 312 of the Red Dirt Agronomy podcast, we had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Maíra Duffeck, an Extension row crop pathologist from Oklahoma State University.

Our conversation centered around the current crop conditions, disease pressures, and effective management strategies in Oklahoma agriculture, particularly for summer crops.