The FARM Theory Hosts Inaugural Event, 'Surviving Without Ag?' 

The FARM Theory will host "Surviving Without Ag?" on Feb. 28 and March 1. Oklahoma State University's new agriculture advocacy group will host its inaugural event to educate students, faculty and staff on the impact agriculture has on everyday life.

The event will take place, just north of the Classroom Building near library lawn and will focus on educating consumers about agricultural practices. Members of The FARM Theory and Oklahoma Collegiate Cattlemen and Cattlewomen's Association will grill samples of pork and chicken to distribute to people on campus. There will also be an exhibit of different items which contain animal by-products.

"It is our goal to be a voice for agriculture on Oklahoma State's campus," animal science and agricultural communications senior, Tasha Dove, said. "This event will highlight just how important agriculture products are to each one of us."

FARM stands for the "Future of America Relies on Me." The idea for the FARM Theory originated from an advocacy course OSU's animal science department offers each spring. 

In January, these students formed The FARM Theory and began planning "Surviving Without Ag?" as a kick-off event for their group.

The FARM Theory hopes to expand and have branches at other colleges and universities across the nation. The ultimate goal of this group is to educate consumers on agricultural practices and serve as a credible source of information.

Click here to read more.  

Distinguishing Differences Between Lesser and Greater Prairie-Chicken 

They are both medium-sized birds with dark brown to black feathers and feathered feet. The only difference to the untrained eye is one is lesser and one is greater.

Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist, Dwayne Elmore, provided some differences between the lesser and greater prairie-chicken.

"The male greater prairie-chickens (GPC) have prominent feathers called pinnae on their neck, a bright yellow eye comb and a gular air sack on the side of their neck that is orange to yellow in color during the breeding season," he said. "The male lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) is very similar, but their gular air sack is red."

Females of both species have less prominent eye combs, shorter pinnae feathers and have barring on the outer tail feathers as opposed to males, which have solid black outer tail feathers.

You can read more by clicking here.

From the Commodity Classic- Monsanto Looks for Farm Mom, James Wuerflein on Sorghum Checkoff and 

Monsanto's search for America's Farmers Mom of the Year is back for a fourth year to acknowledge the contributions of more than a million female farm operators in the United States.

The first national Farm Mom of the year a couple of years back was Carol Cowan from Watonga- and of course we believe here in Oklahoma that she set the gold standard that all future contenders for the title will have to measure up to- but I digress.

The company renewed its call for nominees at the Commodity Classic and says anyone can nominate their favorite farm mom by visiting AmericasFarmers.com before April 23 and submitting a brief essay explaining how she contributes to her family, farm, community and agriculture. The winner will receive a $10,000 prize.  Click here to read more.

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James Wuerflein has been right in the thick of things in the sorghum world for several years as a member of the Oklahoma Sorghum Commission.  He's a producer from Kremlin, Okla., and he was recently selected as a member of the United Sorghum Checkoff board of directors.  He participated in several meetings during the Commodity Classic and says the drought resistance of sorghum and some unique marketing opportunities are turning a lot of heads.  Click here for my interview with James.

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Later this morning- we will have a chance to hear US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack as he keynotes the General Session of the 2013 Commodity Classic- It could be an interesting message that he brings to these farmers from across the country as the country gets ready to find out what really has to be done to obey the law regarding sequestration. We will be tweeting and will have audio highlights on our web and on our APP soon after the former Iowa Governor says all he has to say.

Animal Disease Traceability Rule Moves Forward With March Implementation Date

Efforts to implement the comprehensive Animal Disease Traceability program is proceeding throughout the cattle industry in the United States according to Dr. Kathy Simmons, chief veterinary officer with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. She says the final rule has been issued from Washington and its implementation goes into effect in March.

"The final rule for Animal Disease Traceability, and that is the movement of animals interstate, was issued by USDA AFIS on January 9th. That rule will be implemented on March 11th. In the rule it states that livestock of the species listed in the rule-and cattle are certainly among those species-that are moved interstate must have official identification and must have accompanying documentation which would be an interstate certificate of veterinarian inspection or other movement document that is approved by the state or tribes.

"What we're hoping to do with this rule is have a system to trace back disease to the origin. This allows us in our disease investigations to deal with smaller numbers of animals. It allows us to have a more efficient trace back system which, in the end, saves dollars to the producer and to the government agencies that serve the producer."

Dr. Simmons joins me on the latest Beef Buzz.  Click here to listen or to read more.

 

One Calving Season versus Two Calving Seasons: Glenn Selk Looks at Sustainable Options

Writing in the latest edition of the Cow-Calf Newsletter, Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, offers some considerations on how best to rebuild a cow herd.

The beef industry has seen a "down-sizing" due to the drought affecting many cow herds. Much has been written and spoken about the need to "rebuild the cow herd." When the return of good moisture allows for adequate forage growth and pasture conditions to improve, ranchers may need to self-examine their operations and look at breeding season alternatives that provide greater sustainability moving forward.

Southern Plains producers have many alternatives for calving seasons. Spring and fall are the seasons of choice. Traditionally many herds have been bred to calve in February, March, and April. Some fall calving seasons have arisen from elongated spring seasons. Other fall calving herds were created by design to take advantage of improved cow condition at calving, improved market conditions when calves and cull cows are sold, and less weather (heat) stress on cows and bulls during the breeding season.

Deciding on the use of one calving season or two calving seasons is a big first decision when producers are choosing calving seasons. Two calving seasons fits best for herds with more than 80 cows. To take full advantage of the economies of scale, a ranch needs to produce at least 20 steer calves in the same season to realize the price advantage associated with increased lot size. Therefore having forty cows in each season as a minimum seems to make some sense.

Click here to read more from Glenn Selk.

 

Pork Board Nominees Sought by Oklahoma Pork Council

The election of pork producer delegate candidates for the 2014 National Pork Producers (Pork Act) Delegate Body will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 15, 2013 in conjunction with the Oklahoma Pork Congress and Annual Meeting which will be held at the Reed Conference Center in Midwest City. All Oklahoma pork producers are invited to attend.

Any producer age 18 or older who is a resident of Oklahoma and has paid all assessments due may be considered as a delegate candidate and/or participate in the election. All eligible producers are encouraged to bring with them a sales receipt proving that hogs were sold in their name and the checkoff was deducted.

If you are interested in being a candidate, please prepare a short (1/2 page) biography telling about yourself and send it to the Oklahoma Pork Council, ATTN: Election Committee, One North Hudson, Suite 900, Oklahoma City, OK 73102 to arrive by March 9, 2012. Nominations will also be accepted from the floor.

For more information, contact okPORK. Telephone: 888-SAY-PORK (729-7675) or 405-232-3781. 

For a full agenda on the upcoming Oklahoma Pork Congress, please click here.
 

This N That- Rain and Snow Give Drought a Hard Shove, Secretary Reese In the Field and Saying Farewell to a Good Friend 

Oklahoma saw dramatic improvement in the drought conditions as reported on Thursday, as the latest US Drought Monitor was released. The month began with 92 percent of the state depicted in at least extreme drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor, and 40 percent considered to be in exceptional drought. The Drought Monitor's intensity scale slides from moderate-severe-extreme-exceptional, with exceptional being the worst category.


The latest report released on Feb. 28  portrays remarkable improvement with only 12 percent of the state in exceptional drought. The amount in at least extreme drought dropped to 62 percent. The state had not seen a lower percentage of exceptional drought since the end of last July when the level was at five percent. Only the Panhandle and far southwestern Oklahoma remain in exceptional drought.

We have got both this week's Drought Monitor map and last week's for comparision on our website in a Friday morning story- click here to go and take a look.

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On Saturday morning, you can catch our conversation with the Secretary of Agriculture for the state of Oklahoma- Jim Reese.  We talk about recent rains and snow- and we zero in on a report that shows agriculture and bio sciences are significant wealth creators in our state. Click here for our earlier in the week audio interview that we had with Secretary Reese about these subjects.

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Yesterday was a sad day for us at the Radio Oklahoma Network as our colleague for the past six and half years- Ed Richards- headed north for the final time as our Associate Farm Director and Markets Reporter for our network.  Ed decided it was time to retire- and he has already put fishing on his to do list now that he has taken off the list the daily job of keeping you up to date on the latest markets and other agricultural news.

Ed's wit and his million dollar voice will be missed here at RON- and we wish him Godspeed in his journey from this day forward!

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