Category: Ag News

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 07:30:54 CDT

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has proclaimed October 2-8, 2022, as National 4-H Week! You can read and download the Proclamation on National 4-H Week, 2022 – United States Department of Agriculture.

4-H engages, enables and empowers more than 6 million young people every day, and this year’s annual 4-H Week is celebrating access and equity for all young people with a theme of #Opportunity4All. NIFA is celebrating all week long with a variety of events and social media campaigns.

Schedule of Events
•    Sunday, October 2, 4-H Flag-raising at USDA Headquarters: The 4-H flag will be raised at the USDA Headquarters on Washington, D.C., and will fly all week long.

•    Tuesday, October 4, 2:00-3:00pm EST, 4-H History Webinar: In collaboration with USDA’s National Agricultural Library (NAL) Special Collections, NIFA will host a webinar on the history of 4-H. USDA’s NAL Special Collections selects, preserves, describes and provides access to items of enduring historical value related to the history of agriculture. This includes materials related to the history of USDA and some of its affiliated groups, such as 4-H. In this talk, Sara Lee, Lead Librarian for NAL Special Collections, will highlight some of the library’s major collections and selected materials related to the history of 4-H. Join the Webinar

•    Friday, October 7, 9:00am-2:00pm EST, 4-H Day at the USDA Farmers Market: NIFA staff members will be joined by 4-Hers from Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland for 4-H Day at the USDA Farmers Market. Located outside the USDA Headquarters on the corner of Independence Avenue and 12th Street SW, we will have interactive activities and 4-H information available while you shop with farmers market vendors. 4-H alums, wear green!

•    Friday, October 7, 2:00pm EST, Class of 2022 National 4-H Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony: In 2002, the National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals, National 4-H Council and 4-H National Headquarters partnered to create the National 4-H Hall of Fame to recognize 4-H volunteers, Extension professionals, staff employees, donors and others who made a significant impact on the 4-H program and/or 4-H members through the contribution of time, energy, financial resources, etc. at the local, state or national level. Approximately 15 laureates are inducted annually. NIFA is pleased to share that Dr. Carol Benesh has been selected as this year’s inductee on behalf of the organization. Before her retirement in 2016, Dr. Benesh served as our National Program Leader for 4-H. Her journey in 4-H spanned almost three decades as a county 4-H educator (Idaho and Washington state), state 4-H specialist (Idaho and Montana) and state 4-H program leader (Nevada). The Ceremony will be broadcasted live at 2:00pm EST from Kellogg Conference Hotel at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 16:43:56 CDT

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture are now putting the Daily Cash Grain Report into a PDF format – we are saving that PDF and archiving them for today’s specific report. To see today’s update, click on the PDF report link at the bottom of this story.

In addition to the PDF of the daily report, you can also listen to the Cash Grain Report by calling 405-621-5533. Push 2 for the grain report.

Click here:

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 15:07:36 CDT

Below is a statement from House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott following the confirmation of Vincent Garfield Logan to serve as a member of the Farm Credit Administration Board.

“Congrat…

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 14:57:05 CDT

Below is an op-ed by Kenneth Corn, USDA Rural Development – Oklahoma State Director

When people hear the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) they automatically get visions of farms, wheat, c…

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 13:47:23 CDT

There is a new blog post out at the Southern Plains Perspective, by Clay Pope. Read below!

Hot, dry, dust and smoke….all outside the back door.

The drought just keeps hanging on and on and on&…

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 10:46:59 CDT

Click here to listen to audio

KC Sheperd, Farm Director, is visiting with Bob Rodenberger, a partner with Stockman Oklahoma Livestock Marketing, as he talks about what he has seen in the cattle markets …

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 10:12:07 CDT

Algodon Club raised a total of $16,000 last week at their annual First Bale of Cotton and Scholarship Fundraiser. With the help of his BASF rep and his farm team, Wesley Vanderpool from Alamo, TX harvested this year’s first bale. Wesley’s cottonseed of choice was Stoneville’s ST4990 variety. This is the 9th consecutive year a BASF variety was featured for first bale in the U.S. In addition, each year the company purchases the bale to support the scholarship fund.

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:40:44 CDT

A 24-member team of feed grain and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) buyers and a Korean government official will be in the United States from Oct. 3-15 to better understand grain quality control and export systems in Washington, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. The team is the first of 21 groups with participants from 51 countries that will travel to the United States as a lead up to the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC) marquee event, Export Exchange.

Export Exchange is a biennial educational and trade forum for U.S. feed grains that will host more than 400 international buyers and end-users. This year’s edition will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Oct. 12-14.

“The Council is delighted to have the chance to hold Export Exchange again for the first time since 2018 and to welcome in a diverse range of accompanying trade teams,” said Ryan LeGrand, USGC president and CEO. “It’s a great opportunity for foreign buyers to create connections with U.S. producers that can last a lifetime and benefit all parties.”

This program will be crucial for stakeholders in the Korean feed industry who have been unable to travel and conduct in-person business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability to see the U.S. value chain from farms to ports is an immeasurable asset for buyers, building their trust in U.S. product and providing the building blocks for long-term partnerships.

“In a situation where the grain market is very unstable due to extreme drought concerns in the northern hemisphere and the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, the harvest situation and quality of U.S. corn are of the greatest concern to Korean buyers,” said Haksoo Kim, USGC director in South Korea. “This visit will serve as an opportunity to strengthen ties with U.S. producers and suppliers and expand purchases of corn and DDGS, as Korea is the fifth largest importer of U.S. corn and the third largest importer of DDGS.”

The Korean team will have its first hands-on experience on Oct. 4 when they visit a grain export terminal and a grain inspection service in Washington. The group will then travel to the heartland for a meeting with Nebraska Corn on Oct. 5 and have a tour of an ethanol plant, as well as discussions with key logistical supply chain partners, on Oct. 6.

The Oct. 7 itinerary will feature a morning meeting with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Julie Kenney at the state capitol, along with a farm tour and visit to the Iowa Corn Growers’ Association in the afternoon.

“Strengthening the relationships between international buyers and our state-level partners is one of the highlights of the trade teams that the Council sponsors,” LeGrand said. “Personally, knowing who you’re doing business with is a factor that cannot be underestimated, and trade teams help ensure that U.S. product is the first choice for importers in Korea and beyond.”

Participants will arrive in Illinois on Oct. 8 in preparation for visits to local grain elevators and business-to-business meetings on Oct. 10. The group is then set to arrive in Minneapolis on Oct. 11 in anticipation of a packed schedule for Export Exchange 2022, which will feature expert speakers on the key topics in the global agricultural marketplace, such as outlooks on international demand, policy challenges and opportunities and logistical export overviews. The event is also a major networking and business opportunity, where more than $400 million in grain sales were made in 2018.

“For Korean buyers who have had limited opportunities to meet and discuss deals with U.S. suppliers due to COVID-19, Export Exchange is expected to deliver great results for finding new suppliers and expanding purchase contracts with existing suppliers,” Kim said. “Business consultations between suppliers and buyers through this year’s Export Exchange will contribute to an expected 1.2 million tons of U.S. DDGS exports to Korea, a record amount.”

More information will be made available online at www.exportexchange.org or on social media using the hashtag #ExEx22. Those interested can sign up for a mailing list to automatically receive conference updates by emailing info@exportexchange.org.

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:37:44 CDT

All seven members of Oklahoma’s delegation in the 117th United States Congress were recently honored with the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2022 Friend of Farm Bureau award for their service …

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:25:15 CDT

Fire weather inputs will become a bit stronger than in previous days with elevated fire weather moving into the mix through the weekend and into early next week. Critically dry fuels are prevalent across the…