Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News

Howdy Neighbors! 

The 2013 Oklahoma Pork Congress was a jam packed day of speakers and folks being honored by the Oklahoma Pork Council this past Friday in Midwest City.   

Among the speakers that were heard by producers on Friday morning was Chris Wall, lobbyist for the National Pork Producers Council. We talked with him about some of the hot button issues for agriculture after this presentation- and you can hear some of his comments in our Monday morning farm news as broadcast on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network to some 45 radio stations across the region. Click here to check that out.

We'll share some of our other conversations as the week wears on from the Pork Congress- but did want to turn our attention to the awards handed out on Friday by the OPC.   

At the top of the list were Dr. Phil Richardson, former state lawmaker and former Oklahoma Pork Council President, who was inducted into the Oklahoma Pork Council's Hall of Fame- and Bart McSpadden, longtime lobbyist for the Oklahoma Pork Council- who received the group's Distinguished Service Award.  

What these two men had in common when you dial back to the 1990s was their work in helping the Oklahoma pork industry survive a concerted effort to push commercial hog production out of Oklahoma- just a few years after it had arrived with the construction of the Seaboard Farms processing plant in Guymon. McSpadden correctly called it "Hog Wars" and the battle that really began in 1997 saw the expansion of the pork industry in the state halted.  Slightly less than a decade later- McSpadden saw the opportunity to turn the tide and reverse some of the losses the industry sustained in the late 1990s- McSpadden watched the atmosphere at the Capitol change. Brad Henry was elected governor in 2002 and the Republican Party took over the house in 2004. With those changes they - McSpadden and Roy Lee Lindsey, the Executive Director at okPORK - began putting together a plan to rebuild Oklahoma's pork industry.

"Ultimately, three of the five items in our plan were introduced as legislation in 2006," Roy Lee said, "and we introduced another in 2007. So, when we got to the time we thought we would start this project, we had already completed 80 percent of what our goals were when we set out. All of that progress was really due to Bart's leadership."  

We talked with Bart about the "Hog Wars" and how they compare to today's battle with HSUS over horse slaughter in the state legislature- you can hear that conversation by clicking here and jumping to our story on our webpage.

You can also click here  for more on Phil Richardson's induction into the Hall of Fame; our story on the 2013 Environmental Stewardship Award- given to B&B Swine is available by clicking here and the recognition given by OPC to Senator Ron Justice is detailed by clicking here.

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U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, praised the passage of his Amendment 29 to the Senate Continuing Resolution that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing its Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Rule against farmers. The amendment was adopted at the end of this past week by Unanimous Consent.

"The adoption of this amendment is the first step in my fight to exempt farmers and ranchers from being forced to comply with this onerous regulation that was originally designed for refineries, not farms," said Inhofe. "The fact that the Senate agreed to my amendment by Unanimous Consent is a referendum on the EPA's lack of outreach to farmers about this rule. My amendment will protect farmers from EPA enforcement for an additional four months, but ultimately my hope is to see them permanently exempted, which can be made possible with my bill S. 496. I will continue to work with my colleagues for support of this bill and bring it soon to the floor for a vote." 

Click here to read more- including reaction to this measure's inclusion into the CR by Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Mike Spradling.

The departure of Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, "leaves a gaping hole in the Obama administration's leadership on food and agriculture policy," Environmental Working Group's president Ken Cook said today.

In a statement released on Friday- Cook adds:
"In an agency that too often defaults to the preferences of industrial agriculture and big food companies, Kathleen has been the vital source of fresh ideas, action, and hope in the daunting work of fixing America's broken food system. That's been the story of her career. I first observed Kathleen's extraordinary leadership in 1989, when she was drafting legislation that eventually created national standards for organic food--the regulatory foundation for what has become the most exciting and successful segment in the food system."

Cook goes on to praise her time as the number two official at USDA during President Obama's first term- "As the number two official at the USDA since 2009, Kathleen continued her high-profile, high-impact leadership. The Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program that she established has helped to build local and regional food systems across the country."

Click here to read more from Ken Cook as he laments the loss of Merrigan as a part of the USDA team in our nation's capitol.  

As the recent drought developed and has persisted across the Southern Plains, one of the people studying it closely has been climatological hydrologist John Feldt. He is a former Hydrologist-in-Charge at the National Weather Service and is the founder and president of Blue Water Outlook, which provides information on water resources and water management.


Feldt spoke at the recent Texoma Cattlemen's Conference in Ardmore. He spoke with us about the factors that influenced the 2011-2012 drought's development and what he sees on the horizon.


"There are a number of climate factors that influence drought. A simple answer is a La Nina pattern of abnormally cold Pacific temperatures most likely contributed to it. I think having said that, though, what really still amazes me is how much of a flash drought this one has been. It came on with record high temperatures and record low precipitation. In my experience, droughts are usually more nuanced than that. They come on starting with either hot temperatures or low precipitation. It's not just right on you to such an extreme."

Click here to read more- and to have a chance to listen to his conversation with us- including his thoughts on rather or not 2011 was a separate drought from 2012-13 or not.  Check it out- this guy was another fascinating weather speaker from the Texoma Conference of last week- and in case you missed it- click here for our interview from last week with historical climatologist Evelyn Browning- Garriss- several of you responded to me that you really enjoyed listening to her ideas about weather from a long term perspective.

American Farmers & Ranchers/Oklahoma Farmers Union (AFR/OFU) is teaming up with the Oklahoma Youth Expo (OYE) again this year to host the 2013 AFR/OFU Agricultural Achievement Contest. This year's various contest events will be March 19-23, coinciding with many OYE activities. The final awards presentation will be March 26.


The annual contest recognizes the outstanding youth in Oklahoma who display exceptional showmanship skills and possess extensive knowledge of the livestock industry, including production, management, processing and end product utilization. Each year, AFR/OFU presents $5,000 in prizes to the organization's Youth Agricultural Achievement Award winners.

Registration for the 2013 AFR/OFU Agricultural Achievement Contest closes Monday, March 18, at 5 p.m. Participation in the AFR Agricultural Achievement Contest is limited to Oklahoma junior and senior high school students who exhibit an animal at this year's Oklahoma Youth Expo. For more information on the contest or other AFR youth events, contact AFR Youth & Education Coordinator Lin Fariss at (405)218-5561

Click here for more on this contest- and you can click here for our calendar listings for this week which provide a lot of details about the show schedule for the 2013 Oklahoma Youth Expo- with the showing of barrows and kid does to kick things off tomorrow morning.

Okeene Public Schools won several Fuel Up to Play 60 awards including a visit to their school last week by Baltimore Raven and NFL Super Bowl Champion Billy Bajema.

The Okeene Schools were the Oklahoma winner of Fuel Up to Play 60's Student Pledge Drive. Their Prize included last week's NFL Pep Rally featuring Bajema. First grader Jentry Biggs was presented with a customized NFL team jersey! The Student Pledge Drive encouraged students and Program Advisors to take the pledge to eat healthy and play for 60 minutes each day (and get their friends to do the same). Okeene had 210 students and teachers take the pledge, and their banner hangs in the school hallway as a reminder to the students. 

Click here for more of what the Okeene schools won as a result of their strong participation in Fuel Up to Play 60- a joint effort of the NFL and the Dairy industry- including Dairy Max.

Conservationists from across the nation will gather in Washington, D.C. on March 19th for the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Spring Legislative Fly-in. During the Fly-in, NACD members will meet with their Senators and Representatives to discuss the latest legislative issues impacting conservation, including the Farm Bill and 2014 appropriations.

"As we look at the long-term health of our land and our economy, making a strong investment in conservation simply makes sense," said NACD President Earl Garber. "We'll be driving home the point to our lawmakers that it makes more sense to care for our natural resource base today, than to be forced to pay the escalated costs for repair down the road. It's extremely important that we protect conservation funding, because-simply put-conservation works."  Click here for more on this Legislative push by NACD.

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The Oklahoma Senate Ag Committee will be meeting this afternoon at 3:30 PM and on their agenda is consideration of HB1999 (authored by Skye McNeil and already passed by the House) that would allow horse slaughter in the state, if enacted. The Senate version of this bill, S375, has already passed thru this Committee- and it seems likely the Committee will vote it out without much opposition. The Senate Ag Committee is chaired by Eddie Fields. Click here for our story from last Wednesday's News Conference on the subject. 

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Finally- let's give you this WheatWatch2013 Update: Sunday evening- our friend and State Wheat Specialist at OSU, Dr. Jeff Edwards, updated his blog when it comes to first hollow stem.  He wrote in an email note "Most wheat varieties are now at first hollow stem. As mentioned in previous posts, the drought has wheat development in Oklahoma a good one to two weeks behind normal. If you still have cattle on wheat pasture it is past time to remove them, as there will be a significant grain yield penalty for further grazing."

Click here for more details as supplied by Jeff Edwards on our developing 2013 wheat crop- we remind you our WheatWatch 2013 coverage is sponsored by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission- click here to jump to their website to learn more about how they are working hard for the Oklahoma Wheat Farmer!

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