As cold weather pushed into central Oklahoma over the weekend- the fifth Cattlemen's Congress kicked off at the OKC Fairgrounds. Texas Longhorns (Trophy class shown above), British Whites, Charolais, Miniature Herefords, Gelbvieh & Balancers all were being judged on Sunday. The first of 18 sales planned by the various breeds happened on Sunday as well- the third American Speckle Park Association Sale.

Lots more of the breeds crank up as we get into the work week- both the shows and sales pick up in week one- click here for the agenda of all going on at the OKC Fairgrounds and other venues in the metro.

Congress is becoming more and more an international event as the show that draws cattle producers from over forty states also has nineteen-year-old Mikayla Saunders is attending the Cattlemen’s Congress in Oklahoma City as a guest of the British White Cattle Park Association. Saunders is from Kundle Kundle, New South Wales, Australia. We talked with her about her journey from down under to Oklahoma. (Mikayla is seen above holding a British White heifer back in the barns)

Saunders’s trip to Oklahoma began with an ad on Facebook posted by Shallow Creek Farms of Lexington, Oklahoma, requesting help for the British White Show at Cattlemen’s Congress. Saunders communicated her interest in helping, and within hours, owners Tracy and Vicky Van Horn excitedly accepted her request to come to the U.S. and help them with their cattle. The American British White Park Association and the British White Cattle Association of Australia sponsored her.

Oklahoma Farm Bureau works to improve the lives of all Oklahomans by supporting our state’s agriculture community. As Oklahoma’s largest general farm organization led by Oklahoma farmers and ranchers, OKFB takes grassroots values and advocates for agriculture at the state Capitol and in Washington, D.C., to ensure our way of life continues for generations to come.

Farm Bureau hosts leadership events, supports our state’s agricultural youth and connects consumers with agriculture in order to build a brighter future for our state. Become an OKFB member today online at okfarmbureau.org/join. Together, we are rural Oklahoma.

This week, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) congratulated Speaker Mike Johnson (LA) for his successful reelection campaign as Speaker of the House for the 119th Congress:

“Congratulations to Speaker Johnson on successfully navigating a narrow margin and being elected as Speaker of the House by his peers once again. Speaker Johnson has always been a strong supporter of U.S. cattle producers, and we look forward to continuing to work with him in the new Congress,” said NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “There is a lot of work that needs to get done this year, including extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passing a long-term Farm Bill, and providing regulatory relief to producers that have been squeezed by government overreach over the past four years. We are confident Speaker Johnson is the leader to get these policy priorities across the finish line.”

It's interesting to note that the American Farm Bureau did not comment on Johnson’s reelection. However, when the Speaker was first elected President Zippy Duvall said, “Speaker Johnson has a strong history of supporting America’s farmers and ranchers, which has earned him the ‘Friend of Farm Bureau’ award multiple times.”

Congresswoman Stephanie Bice released the following statement after voting in support of Speaker Johnson last week:

“The American people have given us a mandate to get our country back on track, and implementing President Trump’s America First agenda must start on day one. I was proud to once again support my friend, Mike Johnson, as Speaker of the House. We must unite behind the Speaker and turn our attention to the issues that matter: securing the border, delivering relief to American families, and reducing spending.”

Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) released the following statement:

“With a consequential Congress before us, I am proud to congratulate my friend and colleague, Speaker Mike Johnson, on being reelected to serve as the Speaker of the House for the 119th Congress,” said Congressman Cole. “The Speaker is a principled Louisianian and Republican. His leadership has provided a steady hand dedicated to bringing voices together to advance responsible governance and conservative principles. Speaker Johnson is a hardworking man of faith who understands the opportunity before us, and he is ready to support this chamber in advancing President Trump’s agenda. The American people have given us a clear mandate, and I have full faith in Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to help us deliver it. It is time to get to work.”

Meet Erin Dorsey: A Key Architect Behind Cattlemen’s Congress

With Cattlemen’s Congress just getting undeway the Director of International Programs & Director of Operations, Erin Dorsey, has been hard at work putting it all together. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with her to talk about how she has helped grow the event beyond the borders of the United States.

Dorsey previously worked for the National Western Stock Show and has been with the Cattlemen’s Congress from the beginning. This, combined with other experience working closely with many breed associations, gives her a clear understanding of the beef show cattle business.

As the COVID pandemic moves into the past, more and more international beef cattle enthusiasts are making their way to the Cattlemen’s Congress. “I work throughout the year on international stuff by providing outbound and inbound experiences for international guests. In the last two or three years, we have really seen an influx of visitors who actually have cattle here and/or are coming to purchase genetics from our breeders,” Dorsey says cattle producers have visited from Mexico, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Uruguay, Peru, and others. “We have had up to twenty-two different countries represented at Cattlemen’s Congress.”

Through the inbound and outbound experiences, Dorsey arranges tours for domestic producers to travel to shows and ranches in other countries and brings international producers into the United States to view U.S. genetics and see how things are done here.

Tyler Hogrefe, Senior Technical Product Manager at John Deere, and Oklahoma Farm Report’s Maci Carter discussed John Deere’s See & Spray Technology and what it can do for farmers.

Sprayers are equipped with cameras and processors so that the sprayer can identify weeds from crops while traveling up to fifteen miles per hour across the field. Once a weed is identified, it actuates a nozzle on the boom to spray only the weed.

“There has been a lot of momentum with See & Spray over the past few years,” Hogrefe said. “We have seen more than a million acres of utilization in the last year alone, with a fifty-nine percent average savings across those acres.”

External studies conducted by Iowa State University noted 76% savings – $15 per acre – from using See & Spray equipment. Beck’s Hybrids conducted their own study and noted $24 per acre savings and a more than 4 bushel per acre yield enhancement.

In this episode of the Red Dirt Agronomy Podcast, Dr. Mark Trotter, a precision livestock management researcher and professor from Central Queensland University, emphasizes the importance of collecting precise data on individual animals to improve management practices in livestock, which can lead to better outcomes in terms of health and productivity.

Queensland is known as the beef capital of Australia. The climate is similar to the Stillwater area in the heat and humidity but lacks winter’s freezes and spring’s tornados. While the area does include some feedlots, it is almost exclusively comprised of cow-calf producers and grass-finished beef animals.

Dr. Trotter admitted that when it was new and exciting, new technological advances were often created, and then people had to look for problems for them to solve. Recently, however, it has been making a big difference in the issues beef cattle producers face. 

For example, Dr. Trotter described reproductive efficiency issues in Northern Australia. There, producers often lose 20% of their calf crop between pregnancy testing and weaning. Some of the reasons for those issues are nutritional challenges on the large ranges, specifically phosphorous deficiency.

The offending cold front roared into Oklahoma early Sunday morning- some snow and ice came with it in northern parts of the state- while in central Oklahoma- flurries were seen during the day on Sunday.

This morning- teens and single digits are common in much of the state- and the wind chills are in many locations- below zero. You will notice that in north central and northeast Oklahoma- about a dozen Mesonet stations are not able to measure wind speeds- so there's no wind chill readings from them- almost all of those locations would be showing below zero wind chills if that ability to measure wind speed was operational.

Boise City takes top prize for lowest wind chill this morning at minus 8 while Blackwell, Beaver and Breckinridge all are reporting minus 7 as of 5 AM this morning.

There are a host of below zero wind chill readings from the Express Ranch(Yukon) Mesonet site west along I-40 to the Texas line. (The graphic above is linked to the Mesonet graphic online to allow you to check real time wind chills.)

We will stay cold much of this week- and there could be a snow event on Thursday- but our weather is much milder than what many farmers and ranchers are dealing with just north of us in Kansas and points north- and then east into Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky- lots of reports of a foot to almost two feet of snow- plus a line of ice adding to the misery this first full week of the new year.

For today- the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has declared a reduction of non essential state government services in Beaver, Harper and Woodward counties- this due to the inclement weather.