American Farmers & Ranchers (AFR) Cooperative hosted National Farmers Union (NFU) President Rob Larew on a tour of Southeast Oklahoma July 24. The tour showcased the area’s agriculture and provided an opportunity for AFR leadership and Larew to discuss regional industry issues.
The group kicked off the day with a tour of Three Rivers Meat Company, a new locally-owned meat processing facility near Smithville. The facility is owned jointly by the Choctaw Nation and four individual investors. AFR Member Jason Herring is a co-owner; co-owner Brandon White led the tour. The 24,000-square-foot building houses a USDA-inspected processing facility, a value-added processing space, a small retail store and a restaurant. It currently employs 30 local workers. The facility can process cattle, hogs, lambs and goats, with a maximum capacity of 75 head of cattle per week.
While at Three Rivers, the group discussed the retail expansion of the Three Rivers Meat Company brand, the challenges faced by growing businesses in rural areas, and the rural food desert the company is working to dispel.
Next, the AFR group visited the Forest Heritage Center at Beavers Bend State Park. The Center’s museum includes an in-depth look at the logging industry in southeastern Oklahoma, including information on logging communities and the people who worked to make early logging companies economic powerhouses.
Following lunch, AFR Cooperative leadership discussed several current issues facing Southeast Oklahoma. Top of mind were changes to the state’s poultry industry, including over-concentration, the removal of laying houses, the loss of litter as a fertilizer, and challenges related to financing and compensation. The group also discussed changes to the region’s agriculture over the last few decades, recent inflation of land prices, and the competition for resources between agriculture and tourism.
Next on the agenda was a meeting with Jarred Campbell, a longtime AFR member, district manager of the Little River Conservation District and member of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Campbell reviewed some of the opportunities conservation districts provide to farmers and ranchers, including a recent popular cost-share program for such agriculture-related things as pond clean-outs, cross fencing, new wells, and more. During the visit, the group discussed issues current to water conservation, such as residential runoff stream pollution, rural septic clean-up, maintenance of watershed dams and tribal water concerns.
Following the water conservation discussion was a conversation with AFR Member Rick Harder, a retired timberlands manager for Weyerhaeuser. Harder explained forestry’s significant $5.5B contribution to the state’s economy, the differences in management systems between the Oklahoma Foresty Service and private entities like Weyerhaeuser, the 30-year tree crop rotation, and the prime location of Oklahoma’s lumber plants near metropolitan areas like Dallas and Houston. The group also discussed the lack of insurance in the timber industry, the low taxes timber companies pay on their land, climate-smart strategies, and the changes to the industry following the closing of open range for cattle and horses in southeastern Oklahoma.
Terry and Stephanie Miller, AFR Insurance agents from Antlers, hosted the last stop of the day’s tour. The AFR group saw the Miller homeplace near Finley and toured the Tucker Ranch with longtime AFR Member Todd Tucker as a guide. The Tucker Ranch produces highly-prized performance and show quarter horses. The ranch has held an annual production sale since 1985, selling about 40 young horses every year. With an intentional focus on conformation, Tucker Ranch has produced several world-ranked horses that sell to buyers from across the country.
AFR Cooperative is a membership services organization established in 1905 as Oklahoma Farmers Union. AFR provides educational, legislative and cooperative programs across the state and serves as a watchdog for Oklahoma’s family farmers and ranchers and rural communities. The organization is actively supportive of the state’s agricultural industry and rural population with membership consisting of farmers actively involved in production agriculture and non-farmers adding their voice in support of AFR principles.
