When it comes to business, the difference between success and failure is often times boiled down to a company's ability to adapt to the environment around them. Since 1997, the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center at Oklahoma State University has been helping their client businesses do just that - to stay ahead of the curve and change with the times.

As the new year approaches, the FAPC staff has come up with a Top 10 List of popular food trends for 2018, that may inspire some businesses in the industry to find new ways to meet their customers' needs and lifestyles.

According to a release by FAPC, staying abreast of industry trends can potentially help businesses identify and take advantage of growth opportunities. Included in the list for 2018 are trends such as photo-friendly food, Middle Eastern cuisine and mushroom-infused coffee.

Take a moment to read through some of the hot topics foodies and industry leaders will be talking about this year. We'll start the count down at #10... Floral Flavors.

From floral-infused drinks and snacks, to adding whole flowers and petals to dishes, the floral trend is in full bloom. Items such as lavender lattes and pink hibiscus teas are predicted to gain popularity in 2018, according to FAPC.

The #TacoTuesday trend is far from over. Instead, the variety of tacos is increasing with breakfast and dessert tacos available to consumers. But, traditional tacos aren't going anywhere.

More restaurants are joining the all-day breakfast bandwagon. Consumers love to eat breakfast foods at any time of the day. This is sparking creativity and leading to the development of interesting breakfast ideas perfect for morning, noon and night.

Plant-based protein was popular in 2017, and the trend is predicted to gain more prominence in 2018. Expect more vegetable entrées as consumers continue to embrace a "flexitarian" lifestyle.

We'll stop there, but go ahead and click over to our website to see the complete list.

According to Randy Blach, president of CattleFax, the US beef industry is facing a sort of good news/bad news situation.

By the first of the year, Blach expects the US cow herd to have expanded by as much as 800,000 head. In addition to that, he says beef's competitors are growing in production, too, both pork and poultry. Suffice it to say - there will be plenty of protein in the market to be had.

That's the bad news. The good news is, beef - despite the increase in supply - has maintained a relatively strong position in the marketplace. Blach says the price of beef has corrected over time and believes that retailers are positioned to collect on decent margins selling beef. He predicts retailers will also feature beef products heavily throughout the balance of the year into 2018, which he says is a nice positive for the industry.

What's interesting about this scenario though, is the fact that Certified Angus Beef branded meat, has doubled over the last decade and the Choice-Select spread has dramatically improved as well. Still, the markets have retained their premiums for product that grades well. Blach says this signals consumers' demand for high-quality beef and indicates they are willing to pay more for it. But with a supply that continues to increase, where will it all go?

"We've got a lot of consumers that love the product here in the U.S. but we only have four percent of the world's population," Blach said. "And as more and more consumers around the world see their incomes rise, there's a huge opportunity for the U.S. beef industry to continue to export more quantities of this high-quality protein to consumers, whether it be in China or Hong Kong, or Japan or South Korea, the list goes on and on and on. So, I see wonderful opportunities to continue to expand that footprint globally."

Click here to read more or to watch a short video featuring Blach speaking about his predictions for the beef market and what effects they will have on the industry.

Oklahoma State University students, Allison Burenheide and Jessica Miller, were named among the winners of this year's College Aggies Online scholarship competition, hosted by the Animal Agriculture Alliance. Students from Eastern Oklahoma State University were also recognized in the competition's club division.

A release came yesterday announcing the winners of the contest, which prepares students to become lifelong advocates for agriculture.

Allison Burenheide of OSU, placed 2nd in the overall competition, and received $1,000 for her achievement. As one of the top three individual winners, she will also receive an expenses-paid trip to the Alliance's 2018 Stakeholders Summit set for May 3-4 in Arlington, Va.

Jessica Miller of OSU and the Ag Ambassadors team from Eastern Oklahoma University each qualified for a Completion Emblem.

The nine-week program is filled with assignments for individuals such as blog posts, infographics and photo contests while club members receive challenges ranging from hosting farm tours and school visits to guest speakers, food drives and many more. Each assignment and challenge helps the students to boost their confidence when communicating with their peers about agriculture issues.

Since CAO launched in 2009, nearly 6,000 students have participated. This year's program kicked off in early September with about 300 students competing in the individual division while 30 student organizations competed in the club division. The participants represented 43 states and 89 different universities.

For more information and to see a complete list of this year's winners, click or tap here.

In his article for this week's Cow/Calf Corner newsletter, Glenn Selk writes that "Success occurs when Opportunity meets with Preparation." Take this as a gentle reminder to start thinking now, about your next calving season coming up just a few months down the road. He insists that action taken now to check a few troublesome things off your to do list will significantly increase your chances for a successful, problem-free spring.

In his own to do list, Selk includes several items he says are key for any producer's preparation during December and the early winter months.

"Before calving season starts do a walk-through of pens, chutes, and calving stalls," he writes. "Make sure that all are clean, dry, strong, safe, and functioning correctly. Check the gates and the squeeze panels to make certain that they are ready for use. Do you have the extra barbed wire and steel posts, as well as grass seed and motor oil stored in the calving shed? Now would be a good time make certain that these items are placed in another facility or at least out of the way. This is a lot easier to do on a sunny afternoon than on a cold dark night when you need to have the calving area ready in a short time."

Selk also advises producers to consider any health problems they've run into in the past with their calves, such as scours. He says it is never too early to start talking to your vet for recommendations on how to stay ahead of the problem.

After nearly 14 years being barred from their markets, the US beef industry finally made headway this year and reached an agreement with the Chinese government to again grant American beef products access into their country. Year-to-date over the last several months, according to Dan Halstrom, the new CEO of the US Meat Export Federation, the volume of US beef into China is at about 1,100 tons. While some would like to see that number higher, Halstrom and the USMEF have preached from the beginning that this market would take some time to fully mature. And, they believe given enough time, this market will prove to be a very important one as it continues to grow. He spoke with our own Carson Horn recently about what USMEF is doing currently to help nurture new markets there in Asia.


"Everyone wishes it was more, but the good news is each month it's increasing," Halstrom said, adding that the early feedback from the markets has been very positive. "But, this is a good starting point. Everyone is excited about the high-quality US beef going into China. It will take time but I'd rather have slow, steady growth than no growth at all."


Earlier this year in September, the USMEF took it upon themselves to formally introduce China's meat industry leaders to our product. In a roadshow of sorts, visiting China's three largest urban markets, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou - the USMEF showcased all that American beef producers have to offer.


"We had over 300 people from the trade at each of those events," Halstrom reported. "This is just a way making it formal that we now have US beef in the marketplace and the reception has been fantastic. We couldn't be happier with that. So, yes, it's going to take time, but we've got to continue to penetrate and tell our story in those emerging regions."


Listen to Halstrom talk more about other emerging markets around the world and how USMEF is working with producers to market their product in these regions, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

 

There will be both a regular Yearling and Stocker sale online and via satellite from Superior Video Livestock this Thursday(tomorrow)- starting at 8 AM central time- as well as a Superior Select Female Auction that will feature some top quality replacement females- heifers and cows.

For the regular auction that starts at 8 AM- there will be 35,500 HEAD offered- including 5,150 yearling steers, 2,950 yearling heifers, 21,650 weaned calves and 5,000 bred stock.

The Select Female Sale will start immediately after the Superior Video Sale- with over 4,300 replacement females to be offered.

Click here for the details of 8;00 AM sale- and click here for more details on the Select Female Sale that will follow.

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Coming Saturday- it's the 36th Annual Oklahoma SELECT Bull Sale and Super Bull Competition.

The sale is set for 12 Noon at the Atoka Livestock Auction in Atoka, Oklahoma.

There will be 100 Breeding Age Bulls- Limousin and Lim-Flex to be offered.

Complete performance data available in catalog on all bulls. BW, WW, YW and EPDs for 13 economically important traits. All bulls are fertility tested and trich tested. Many bulls will have ultrasound carcass.

Click here for more information about the day's activities and links to the catalog and more.