Dairy Farmers Capitalize on Trust to Connect with Consumers

One of the biggest jobs facing agricultural producers these days is trying to tell their stories to consumers. With only two percent of Americans involved in production agriculture, their voices have a tendency to get lost in all the commotion.

"To put that in perspective," says Susan Allen of Dairy MAX, "there are more people in prison than there are growing our food and, of course, that creates a challenge for us." She will be my guest on this weekend's "In the Field" segment on News 9 about 6:40 a.m. Saturday. 

Allen says that while many people can trace their roots back to relatives who made their living on farms and ranches generations ago, their knowledge of modern agricultural practices is limited and they truly want to know more about how their food is raised. The good news is, Allen says, people trust farmers.

"Famers rank really, really high in consumer trust. They want to know a farmer. In fact, farmers rank higher than clergy on the trust scale. So we take that opportunity and introduce people to farmers with things like our campaign 'Our land. Our cows. Our passion.'"

Allen says that campaign is a way of reaching out to the public and putting them in touch with what it's like to live and work on a dairy farm today.

"For the general public, we've created things like virtual dairy farm tours. We went to dairy farms right here in Oklahoma, one in Minco, the Macomas Dairy, and one in Okarche, M6 Dairy, the Meyer family and we created videos to let people see what the milking parlor looks like, to see how they interact with their cows."

Click here to listen to our interview or to read more of this story.

USDA Farm Service Agency Urges Farmers and Ranchers to Vote in County Committee Elections 

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia announced that the FSA County Committee Elections begin Dec. 20, with the mailing of ballots to eligible voters. The deadline to return the ballots to local FSA offices is Jan. 17, 2014.

Producers have been instructed to destroy the FSA County Committee Election ballots (FSA-669's) mailed on Nov. 4. The new ballots mailed to producers will have the word "corrected" printed on the outside of the mailing, the ballot itself, and the return envelope. Producers must complete and return the corrected FSA-669 to have their vote counted.

Eligible voters who do not receive a ballot in the coming week can obtain one from their local USDA Service Center. The last day for voters to submit corrected ballots in person to local USDA Service Centers is Jan. 17, 2014. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked no later than Jan. 17. Newly elected committee members and their alternates will take office Feb. 18, 2014.

Click here to read more of this story.
 

Record production, high quality and minor weather-related impacts are the top-line findings of the 2013/2014 Corn Harvest Quality Report, released last week by the U.S. Grains Council, of which the National Corn Growers Association is a founding member.

"After a record drought last year, the world has been watching intently the 2013 U.S. corn crop," said USGC President and CEO Tom Sleight. "Production has rebounded, and quality is high despite some weather challenges. It's good news all around."

Total U.S. corn production of 13,989 million bushels set a new all-time record, and the average yield of 160.4 bushels/acre is the second highest on record. Weather was again the challenge, as a cold and wet spring delayed planting across much of the Corn Belt. Some areas also experienced flash-drought conditions in mid-summer, although this was generally offset by cooler temperatures.

These weather adversities slightly reduced planted acreage and yield, while harvest quality remained very high. As compared to prior years, weather related impacts were modest and predictable. Aflatoxins were significantly lower than in the 2012 crop, with 99.4 percent of the samples testing below the FDA aflatoxin action level of 20 parts per billion.

You can read the rest of this story on our website by clicking here.  

Raffle Tickets, Sponsorships Available to Support Upcoming NASCOE Convention in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Association of County Office Employees (OKASCOE) which is the state affiliate of NASCOE (National Association of County Office Employees) will host the 2014 NASCOE National Convention in Oklahoma.

"OKASCOE is an employee organization that represents the county office employees of the Farm Service Agency here in Oklahoma," said Jay Goff, OKASCOE President.

The convention will be in Oklahoma City August 12 - 16, 2014.   

OKASCOE is utilizing a raffle of three different prizes to help raise money to host the convention: a Polaris 850 EFI Ranger Utility Vehicle OR an 850 Razor Sport Model; a $750 Bass Pro Shops gift certificate and $500 cash.   

"The total value of this raffle package is $13,000", according to Brian Hisey, Fundraising Chairman. "Our plans are to print and sell a maximum of 3,000 tickets so this is a unique opportunity to win some very nice prizes".

The drawing will be held Saturday, August 16, 2014 at noon. Tickets will sell for $20 each. 

Click here for more information.

Prescribed Burning Aids Producers in Land Management

Prescribed burning is an effective technique in land resource management, but it must be used in a safe and proper manner.

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation will host a two-day Prescribed Burning Workshop to discuss the benefits and proper use of prescribed burning for land management to landowners. This workshop, which is open to the public, will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 15, and Thursday, Jan. 16, at the Noble Foundation Oswalt Road Ranch, west of Marietta, Okla.

"Most landowners would love to be able to control any of Mother Nature's natural processes - especially rain," said Russell Stevens, wildlife and fisheries consultant. "One process that can be controlled is fire. That resource is powerful, especially when used correctly."

This workshop will help landowners and others who are interested learn the steps of how to successfully implement and control fire. It will focus on the prescribed burn written management plan, the most important aspect of a prescribed burn. 

You'll find the rest of this story and registration information by clicking here. 

Breeding Heifers on Wheat Pasture Compare Favorably with Dry Lot Performance

Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter:

Many areas of the Eastern two-thirds of Oklahoma have grown some wheat pasture for use as winter feed. Some producers may have questions about the utilization of wheat pasture for growing replacement heifers before, during, and after their first breeding season. Unsatisfactory breeding performance has occasionally been anecdotally reported when replacement heifers have been exposed to bulls or AI while grazing wheat forages. Therefore an Oklahoma State University study was conducted to compare reproductive performance of heifers grazing wheat pasture before, and during breeding, with heifers grazing wheat pasture until approximately 3 weeks before breeding.   

In each of two years, 40 spring born Angus and Angus crossbred heifers were placed on wheat pasture in December and randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups in mid March. Group one (Wheat Pasture; n=20) remained on wheat pasture (mean crude protein = 26.6 %) through estrus synchronization and fixed-time AI. Group two (Dry Lot; n=20) was placed in drylot and had free choice access to a corn-based growing ration (11.1% crude protein) through estrus synchronization and fixed time AI. The heifers were inseminated on about April 5 both years. Heifers were exposed to fertile bulls starting 10 days after fixed time AI for 45 more days. Fixed time AI conception was determined at 32 days after AI by ultrasonography.   

You can read the rest of this article by clicking here.  

Memorial Services Set for Dr. Raymond Sidwell  

The Mass of Christian Burial for Dr. Raymond Sidwell, age 66, of Goltry, will be at 11:00 AM Saturday, December 28, 2013, at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Enid, with Rev. Joseph M. Irwin officiating.  

Burial will be at 2:00 PM at St. Michael's Cemetery, Goltry, with arrangements by Anderson-Burris Funeral Home. A rosary will be held on Friday, December 27, at 7 PM at the funeral home in Enid. 

Dr. Sidwell died earlier this week on December 24th.  Dr. Mike Woods, Interim Vice President and Dean of Oklahoma State University's Division of Ag and Natural Resources wrote in an email "Wheat and canola research conducted under Ray's guidance at the Lahoma Station has been extremely important to researchers, extension educators, and growers!  Ray will be greatly missed by all those who knew him! Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

As Dr. Woods mentioned, Ray was the Senior Superintendent for one of the crown jewels of the OSU Ag Research facilities- the North Central Research Station just outside of Lahoma.  

Click here for the full obituary as posted on the Anderson-Burris website.