History buffs and animal lovers alike have a unique opportunity this weekend as Hunter’s Home in Tahlequah hosts its annual spring shearing event. Sue Treska, the site Director for Hunter’s Home, shared details about the upcoming event, explaining, “We have spring on the farm. We will be shearing our sheep, weather permitting. We’ve got a flock of 21 of them now, and they all need some haircuts, so we’re gonna be cutting some hair this weekend.”

Treska also provided insight into the significance of Hunter’s Home. “Hunter’s Home is the last remaining antebellum plantation home in the state. We are also the only full-time living history site in the state, and we do 1850s agriculture,” she stated. This immersive experience allows visitors to step back in time, exploring heritage vegetable gardens and encountering heritage breed animals like sheep, ducks, chickens, and turkeys. The house, itself, boasts an impressive collection of about 90% of the original furnishings. Treska noted ongoing developments, including plans for a new visitor center and building repairs, signifying growth for the historic site. 

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. 

Dakota Moss with Livestock Risk Services is also a part of the National Livestock Family. 

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.

John H. Pfeiffer Jr., a fourth-generation Oklahoma farmer and rancher, has been awarded the 2025 recipient of Governor Stitt’s Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture Award and is the 28th inductee into the Oklahoma Agriculture Hall of Fame. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with Pfeiffer to hear his story, which was featured in Tuesday’s BeefBuzz. Today, they are discussing the time Pfeiffer spent serving on the American Angus Association’s Board of Directors.

The Pfeiffer’s Angus herd can be traced back to the first Registered Angus bull that John’s great-grandfather bought in 1907, just years after trading $25 and a shotgun for a parcel of Oklahoma land the day after the land run.

Pfeiffer served on the Certified Angus Beef board for five years during his tenure with the American Angus Association. “One year as president, and that was the year that we went over a billion pounds in sales,” he recalled. “That was kind of neat to be president and reach the billion pounds in sales. I knew from the year before we were getting close, and I ran the numbers before the June meeting, and thought, ‘Darn. We are going to be about ten million short.’ So, when we did hit the billion, I was really excited.”

Meet Hunter Brashears of the Sentinel FFA, Your 2025 Southwest Area Star in Agribusiness

This week, our coverage of the 2025 Oklahoma FFA Star Award Finalists continues with Agribusiness competitor Hunter Brashears of the Sentinel FFA chapter representing the Southwest Area.

Breashears’s Star SAE project began when he hauled some hay for a gentleman in the community, and then grew to a full-scale hay-hauling business for small square bales. “Over the years, I decided to go into fall and autumn décor, then somewhere in between there, I had the bright idea to start a little hair sheep operation,” he shared. “It was great because I didn’t really have to do much because I had someone do a lot for me.”

Brashears described himself as a fourth-generation hay hauler, but the first to make a real business out of it. He relies on Facebook to market his services, but gets the most exposure out of word of mouth.

Oklahoma’s four-month legislative session continues to fly by with only a few weeks remaining until the Oklahoma Constitution requires adjournment by the last Friday in May each year. The past two and a half weeks have been filled with each chamber carefully considering legislation that has already successfully passed from the other side to potentially go on to Governor Stitt for final approval or veto.

According to the Oklahoma Pork Council in their latest newsletter, “The busyness of the session brought great news for the Oklahoma Pork Council as one of its favorite bills of 2025 successfully passed from its House oversight committee, making it eligible for consideration by the full House of Representatives soon."

Senate Bill 1027 was passed through the Senate in March, with the author of the measure David Bullard of Durant. Senate Bill 1027 gives a broad cross-section of Oklahomans a voice in what qualifies for the ballot by establishing that no more than 10% of the total number of initiative petition signatures come from any one county with more than 400,000 residents. In addition, no more than 4% of signatures shall come from any one county with less than 400,000 residents.

The measure was amended by the House Oversight Committee and awaits further action.

Weekly, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Nutrition Specialist Paul Beck offers his expertise on the beef cattle industry. This is part of the weekly series known as the “Cow Calf Corner,” published electronically by Dr. Derrell Peel, Mark Johnson, and Beck. Today, Beck discusses the impacts of nutrition during finishing on beef quality.

The last few weeks, we have discussed factors that impact meat quality from prefinishing segments of beef production. Today, we will discuss the impact of nutrition during finishing in the feedlot on beef quality. Grain-finishing in confinement remains the predominant finishing system in North America due to land-use and management efficiency and consistency of beef supply. Grain finishing in confined feedyards requires less area to finish calves and it takes less time to get calves ready to harvest in feedyards than forage finishing systems common in other areas of the world.

Grain type and processing methods affect where and how starch is digested – altering available energy and impacting marbling. Wheat and barley have the fastest and most complete starch digestion in the rumen, processed corn and milo are somewhat slower in ruminal starch digestion, while whole unprocessed grains have the lowest starch digestion in the rumen. Processing increases grain digestion in the rumen which influences ruminal starch digestion, there are indications that shifting starch digestion in cattle from the rumen to the small intestine can increase marbling but also decreases performance and feed efficiency. For instance, rolled corn increases glucose availability in the small intestine, supporting intramuscular fat development, while steam-flaked corn increases ruminal fermentation and feed efficiency but is thought to reduce marbling.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins joined Senator John Hoeven, who serves as chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Congresswoman Julie Fedorchak, Governor Kelly Armstrong, and North Dakota Commissioner of Agriculture Doug Goehring for a visit to North Dakota. During the trip, Secretary Rollins got direct feedback from the state’s farmers as work proceeds on the next farm bill, learned firsthand about North Dakota’s leadership in precision agriculture technologies, and toured American Crystal Sugar.

“North Dakota is rich in agriculture. Wheat, potato, sugar beet, and cattle farmers in the state are driving innovation and continuing the long legacy of feeding, fueling, and clothing the world. It was great to see the next generation of agricultural leaders and the ingenuity of American agriculture at North Dakota State University. I look forward to continuing to work with leaders like Senator Hoeven, Congresswoman Fedorchak, and Governor Armstrong and hear from farmers in North Dakota as we put Farmers First at USDA,” said Secretary Rollins.

“North Dakota is an ag powerhouse today, and we’re making sure that, through innovation and good farm policy, our leadership in this vital sector continues to grow, ”said Senator Hoeven. “I appreciate Secretary Rollins for accepting my invitation to meet with our state’s farmers and ranchers right here in North Dakota and learn more about our region’s specific needs and priorities. Farming isn’t a monolith. If we want to keep our network of small family farms, we have to ensure the farm safety net actually works when it is needed most and in the wide variety of circumstances our producers face..”