Agricultural News
OCA's Michael Kelsey Covers the Three M's: McGirt, Marketing and Marijuana
Thu, 14 Oct 2021 19:42:39 CDT
Today, most Americans have an abundance of information at their fingertips, but that means keeping up with the news can be a never-ending job. Luckily for Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association members and the OCA's more than 22,400 Facebook followers, there is OCA Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey.
Each week, Kelsey goes live on Facebook, updating viewers on the various goings-on of the association. KC Sheperd, associate director for Radio Oklahoma Ag Network, convinced Kelsey to lend his anchor skills to her for RON readers and listeners.
"This week we talked about a recap on the beef tent, our Fall Gatherings are starting, obviously keeping up on issues - two petition initiatives for marijuana here in the state of Oklahoma have been announced - you know, those types of things," Kelsey said.
He said the goal of the weekly updates is to keep Oklahoma Cattlemen up to date on what is going on with some of the big issues. He also said the updates have been successful in reaching out to members and fostering dialogue within the OCA community.
Some ongoing issues Kelsey said he continues to cover are the "three M's." He is talking about the McGirt issue, cattle marketing issues and marijuana.
"What we really just need with McGirt is for either the (supreme) court or Congress to dictate what the standard or the rule of law is going to be," Kelsey said. "Just as a friendly reminder to everyone, because it seems like a lot of time has (passed) - which it has - McGirt upended who is in charge."
On the marketing side of things, Kelsey said from a national perspective the cattle market can always be better, but right now in Oklahoma, cattle markets seem to be rebounding.
"We are seeing some more activity, we are seeing higher total amounts of negotiated trade from the packers - not as much as we would like to see in some cases, but more than we have seen," Kelsey said. "That one is not as pressing in terms of our members as what we have seen in the past, but it is still there."
The final and most pressing M for Oklahoma cattle producers is the medical marijuana issue.
"At a Fall Gathering last night, it was the number-one issue that OCA members wanted to talk about," Kelsey said. "We are part of a task force with our other agriculture partners - and Secretary Blayne Arthur."
Kelsey said he is seeing positive momentum regarding the medical marijuana issue in rural Oklahoma, but there is still much work to do.
"This is all new," Kelsey said. "There is a framework for (producing) medical marijuana, but there (are) a lot of unknowns in terms of regulatory authority, regulatory rule - those types of things that we do need to be working on."
According to Kelsey, appropriate regulations need to be created in partnership with legal medical marijuana growers as the process continues.
Coming up, OCA members are set to host a cornhole tournament and put on a fall membership drive.
Hit the LISTEN BAR below to hear KC's conversation with OCA Executive VP Michael Kelsey, as they discuss the three M's and upcoming fall fun. Click here, to see what OCA hosted events are coming up and click here to see the nearest OCA Fall Gathering to you.
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