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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

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Baylor Bonham of Newcastle FFA Captures Grand Champion Steer Honors- Tops Sale of Champions Today at 4 pm

 
After seventeen thousand entries and thousands of animals that were actually paraded or led in front of a world class judge, there are 211 animals that remain and will be groomed one more time to be led into a sale ring at the 2016 Oklahoma Youth Expo. These animals will not be offered to buyers outright- but those who bid are offering their support to that young 4-H or FFA member as a reward for excellence.

These 211 animals will make up the Premium Sale of Champions that officially concludes the 2016 Oklahoma Youth Expo, often called the World's Largest Junior Livestock Show. The sale order has been set and can be reviewed by clicking here for the PDF file.  The show will be led off by the four Grand Champions that were selected on Thursday evening in the State Fair Arena by the judges who had worked in the market animal divisions of that species.

Those champions include:

Grand Champion Steer- Baylor Bonham, Crossbred Steer- Click here to read more about Floyd the Steer and hear our quick conversation with Baylor and Floyd.

The second animal to sell will be the Grand Champion Market Barrow, owned and shown by Karli Schwerdtfeger from the Stratford 4-H clubs- Karli won the 2016 Barrow Show with her Champion Hampshire.

The third animal to sell on Friday afternoon will be the Grand Champion Market Lamb- which this year is the 2016 Crossbred Champion and owned and shown by Makensie Goggin of the Bethel 4-H Club. The Lamb will be followed by the Grand Champion Market Goat, which was the Division II Market Wether Goat Champ that was shown by his owner, Megan Greathouse of the Fort Gibson FFA.

Our coverage throughout the OYE has been powered by ITC, Your Energy Superhighway.

More details about our pictures found on Flickr can be had in the This N That story further down!

 By the way- the Sale of Champions begins at 4:00 PM.

Eight FFA Members Named All State Scholarship Winners at OYE 

 

One of the most impressive elements of the Oklahoma Youth Expo is the emphasis on scholarships that are given to the young people who are involved in the Expo and showing one of the species that are a part of the experience.

In 2016, over $180,000 in academic educational scholarships to 72 students that come from all over the state of Oklahoma. 

The Academic All State Program honors the top eight Oklahoma Youth Expo scholarship applicants. The Academic All State Program is designed to model athletic all-state programs in which a select few are recognized for their outstanding achievement and dedication to success.  Each of the eight Academic All State members have been awarded a $5,000 educational scholarship.  The Academic All State members were chosen based upon an application and interview process.  The top four All State ranking
applicants receive a $5,000 Express Ranches Scholarship, sponsored by Robert Funk of Express Ranches.

They are:Levi Baker, Dibble FFA; Ridge Hughbanks, Alva FFA; Jordan Harbison Storey, Valliant FFA and Grant Wilbur, Cherokee FFA.

Another four scholarships are considered to be part of the All State Program- the Donors and the Honorees include:

Justin Whitefield Memorial Scholarship:
One, $5,000 scholarship is provided by the Oklahoma Youth Expo in memory of Mr. Justin Whitefield, former Executive Director of the Oklahoma Youth Expo. In 2016- it goes to Logan Holt, Shattuck FFA

Oklahoma State University Scholarship: Two $5,000 scholarships are provided by Oklahoma State University and The Oklahoma Youth Expo. In 2016- these scholarships go to Lauren Lacy, Edmond FFA and Braden Foley, Kingfisher FFA.

One $5,000 scholarship is provided by Southwestern Oklahoma State University- the winner in 2016 for this scholarship is Shelby Schulte, Lawton FFA.

Drought Expands Into the Oklahoma Panhandle- Now Eight Percent of State in Moderate Drought

 

Drought has invaded the Oklahoma Panhandle, according to the latest Drought Monitor. According to Gary McManus, State Climatologist, "That's right, we're now up to 8% of the state in moderate drought, and 34% in at least abnormally dry (D0) conditions. And the divide between the NW and SE is fairly stark."

The drought that is now in place includes the small area in Roger Mills and Ellis Counties that was in moderate drought last week and now includes most of Cimarron and Texas Counties and a piece of Beaver County.

To view the Drought Monitor Map released yesterday morning- click or tap here.

Latest OSU Food Demand Survey Shows Willingness to Pay for Steak and Chicken Breast Up in March

 
The latest Food Demand Survey has been released by the Ag Economics Department of Oklahoma State University. According to the lead on the project, OSU Ag Economist Dr. Jayson Lusk, the March Study offers the following highlights from the regular tracking portion of the study:
   
Willingness to pay for steak and chicken breast was up; willingness to pay for pork chops and ham was down
   
Consumers expectations for beef and pork price increases are markedly lower than was the case a year ago.

There was an increase in awareness and concern for animal welfare issues this month, particularly battery cages; E. coli was less visible in the news this month and less of a concern this month compared to last.

Click here to read more- including details of this month's Ad Hoc questions- and we have links on our webpage for this month's complete study and links to the archives of previous studies as well.


   

Topic of Antibiotic Resistance Takes Center Stage Online at D.C. Forum

 

The National Pork Board joined with Atlantic LIVE earlier this week to bring together experts to discuss the challenge of responsible antibiotic use in the 21st century. At the event, leading stakeholders - from farmers to physicians - shared what is being done to address concerns of antibiotic resistance, which the U.S. pork industry is doing by continuously improving on-farm practices.

"Antibiotics are a critical tool to treat and prevent disease in both humans and animals," said John Johnson, chief operating officer of the National Pork Board. "The U.S. pork industry is committed to ensuring responsible use of these medicines in animals to protect their efficacy for both humans and animals. Through a science-based approach, we must all work together to better understand and address the potential impact of antibiotic resistance."

The pork industry was able to showcase some of the positive things that animal agriculture is doing to handle antibiotics in a responsible way- click here to read more and to explore a video link we have in our story that will take you to several highlights of the presentation that was seen live in Washington as well as around the world via the internet.

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Wheat, Cattle, Cotton and Peanut Meetings Next Week in Oklahoma Worth Checking Out

 

We have multiple meetings to mention to you for this coming week that you may want to put onto your calendar-

On Monday, March 21st- Dr. Bob Hunger will be at the Geary Chamber of Commerce at 11:30 AM talking wheat fungicides and where we are on wheat diseases this spring- check with Kyle Worthington in the Canadian County Extension Office for details- his number is 405-262-0155 or email him by clicking here.

On Tuesday- there is another meeting that Kyle is involved with- a Cotton and Early Soybeans Production Meeting at the Canadian County Fairgrounds- it starts at 9 AM and runs through early afternoon- they ask you RSVP by end of business today- the 304-262-0155 works just fine for that. Speakers at this meeting on Tuesday will include Dr. Josh Lofton and Dr. Randy Boman among others.

On Thursday the 24th- the Oklahoma Peanut Expo is planned for this year in Altus. Dr. Ron Sholar is the executive Director of the Oklahoma Peanut Commission and he promises a really good informative day of presentations from a whole host of folks- Registration begins at 9 AM and the program starts just before 10 AM and goes through lunch into the afternoon. The Expo is happening at Western Oklahoma State College in Altus- click here for a complete rundown of the day.

For our cattle folks- the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association has several district meetings this coming week- On Monday in McAlester, on Tuesday in Purcell and on Thursday in Claremore- click on the city to find out details for each location.

This N That- Dairy Leaders Named, Lucas Town Halls and OYE Pictures

 

We work quite a bit with DAIRY MAX- the group that represents dairy producers in central and western Oklahoma- as well as in Texas, New Mexico and parts of southwestern Kansas.  But, the Midwest Dairy Association folks do promotional work on behalf of dairy producers in eastern Oklahoma- and at their recent meetings,  Alfred Million of Tahlequah was named Treasurer of the Ozarks Division of the checkoff group.

Nationally, Jerry Messer, a dairy farmer from Richardton, N.D. was reelected to serve as Chairman of the group for another year.

Midwest Dairy is funded by checkoff dollars from dairy farmers in a 10-state region, including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

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Congress has now escaped Washington for the next two weeks for the Easter Holiday- and Congressman Frank Lucas has three Town Hall Meetings planned in Fairview, Cherokee and Alva this coming week.

Click on the name of the city for details about each of these events.

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It will take us a into the weekend before we have all of the pictures from this year's Oklahoma Youth Expo up for you to view and enjoy. 

As we mentioned in the Thursday email, we appreciate the help that we had this year in snapping lots of photos from Macy Griswold, who is a Junior this year at OSU with a major in Ag Communications.


Click here for the FLICKR album for the 2016 OYE and we will offer a directory of what photos are where in the album once we have everything loaded.  You are welcome to download your favorites for personal use- please drop me an email if you need anything that you would like to publish.

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