On this Ag Perspectives Podcast- Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays talks with Colin Lotzof, who served as one of two in country guides for Class XX of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program. Colin was the agriclutural guide- who, as a third generation farmer, really understood the structure of agriculture unlike anyone few others in the country.

His training is in dairy science and he imigrated to Israel forty years ago from South Africa. He began showing off his dairy operation to visitors in 2000- and that led to people asking him to travel with their group and share his knowledge of ag with them. Along the way- he has established an ag management consultanting business as well.

We discussed the wide variety of production seen in Israel- and the unique communal structure called the Kibbutz which has been a major tool in bringing success to the country in ag production.

Israel is known for it's innovations in agriculture- and Colin explains how that has helped a land that has so few water resources stretch what they have to produce enough food to feed themselves- and in many commodities- allowed producers to export product as well.

They talk water, ag innovations and the future of farming in this small country on the Mediterrean Sea.

Listen to Ron and Colin talk about Israeli agriculture by clicking on the Listen Bar.

Learn more about Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program by clicking here.


   

Ron Hays talks Ag in Israel with Colin Lotzof

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On this Ag Perspectives Podcast, Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays is traveling with Class XX of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program in the nation of Israel. This is the capstone experience for the normally two year program that has extended into the Class's third year because of COVID, and each Class has gone to a different international location to study the Agriculture and culture of that destination.

Our conversation today is with one of two tour guides working with the trip to facilitate and educate along the way. Mark Kedem is South African by birth but migrated to Israel in the early 1980s- and worked to become a certified tour guide in Israel- working with English language groups that travel here.

Ron and Mark discuss the unique role in history that Israel has played on the world stage- including the intersectrion of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the ancient city of Jerusalem. They also talk about the political realities in this country that make it, as Mark describes, a very complicated part of the world.

And- they talk about the precious resource that drives a lot of what makes Isreal so unique- water.

LIsten to Ron and Mark as they discuss the travels across Israel of Class XX of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program by clicking on the listen bar.

Learn more about the program by clicking here.



   
   

Ron Hays talks with Isreali Tour Guide Mark Kedem Traveling with OALP

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Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays talked at the end of this week with one of the new members of the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank Lucas. While Lucas is "new" to the Committee here in 2023- in reality he returns after a four year absence as the most senior member of the Committee and is a former Chair of the Committee as he served as Chair from 2011- 2015 and was the driving force in getting the 2014 Farm Bill through Committee, across the House floor and through a Conference with Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow on the other side of the table.

Lucas says “I’m coming home to the Ag Committee. I’m proud in the 118th Congress that I’ll be returning to the House Agriculture Committee. Since being elected to Congress in 1994, I’ve been a Member of the Agriculture Committee, having had a hand in writing every Farm Bill since 1996 and serving as Chairman of the Committee from 2011 to 2015 crafting the landmark 2014 Farm Bill."

The 2014 bill was significant for production agriculture as the ARC and PLC programs were developed in that legislation- and was retained in 2018. It's likely that those programs will be a cornerstone of the federal farm safety net in the next farm bill- whether it is a 2023 bill or gets pushed into 2024.

Hays and the Congressman talked about the 2023 Farm Bill and the challenge to get it funded and how Lucas will be at the right hand of Chairman GT Thompson as his return to the Committee carries with it the assurance of retaining his senority on the Committee here in 2023 as one of the new members.

They also talk the ESA proposed listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the battle with EPA and the Army Corps over WOTUS. And- the Congressman explains his plan of work for the Committee that he Chairs in the new Congress- the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

Listen to Congressman Frank Lucas talk these topics with Hall of Fame Farm Broadcaster Ron Hays by clicking on the Listen Bar.



   

   

Ron Hays talks Ag Issues and More with Former House Ag Chair Frank Lucas

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In our latest Ag Perspectives Podcast, Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays talks regenerative agriculture and ranching with Jimmy Emmons. Jimmy is a long time resident of Leedey, OK. He is the third generation on the family farm in Dewey County. He and his wife Ginger have been farming and ranching together since 1980. They have a diverse 2000 acre cropping operation growing wheat, soybeans, sesame, sunflowers, irrigated dairy alfalfa hay, canola, grain sorghum and several cover crops for seed.

Jimmy has been monitoring soil health with soil testing since 2011 utilizing cover crops to enhance soil health. He is currently involved a multi-year water holding capacity study examining water use of cover crops. Jimmy is also trying companion crops and with his sorghum as a way to attract beneficial insects and decrease the need for additional synthetic nutrients.

Jimmy shares what he’s learned about soil health on his farm through workshops, field days and test plots. “I want my neighbors, my friends, other board members to be able to come and to learn a little bit about what we are doing. A lot of people think it’s just dirt — that all we have to do is put a little water and some nutrients on it,”

Jimmy and Ginger also have a 250 cow/calf herd and take in yearling cattle for custom grazing on the nearly 6000 acres of native range. Ginger is the primary cattle manager in the operation. The Emmons’ utilize an adaptive multi-paddock grazing system on their range and forages grown on crop ground. They use the system to keep the native grasses and soils healthy, maximize biological diversity and optimize animal health. Jimmy has developed an innovative portable watering system that allows them to move animals frequently and graze acres that don’t have permanent water.

Click on the Listen Bar to hear Ron and Jimmy's full conversation on soil health, rebuilding carbon matter in soil and more as we end 2022 and look into 2023..


   

Ron Hays talks Soil Health and Regenerative Ag and Ranching with Jimmy Emmons

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In our latest Ag Perspectives Podcast, Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays talks end of the year issues with the soon to be senior member of the Oklahoma Congressional delegation, Third District Congressman Frank Lucas

They talk about the Omnibus package which will fund the government until the end of the current fiscal year, the Congressman's efforts to express Congressional displeasure with the Endangered Species listing by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Lesser Prairie Chicken, his efforts to be a part of the House Ag Committee, the need for enabling legislation for NOAA and the National Weather Service, the tight timeline ahead to get the 2023 Farm Bill done and more.

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Ron Hays Talks Reviews 2022 and Looks Into 2023 with Frank Lucas

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Today's Ag Perspectives Podcast, Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays sat down and visited earlier this month with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs, Ethan Lane, about the midterm elections and what that means for the US Cattle Industry.

It has been an odd election cycle, Ethan said, and there will be quite a few changes for the Ag Committee as a result.

“First and foremost, that pressure on Leader McCarthy that we are hearing about this week- the debate amongst him and the freedom caucus and how much authority he is going to sort of give up in order to become a speaker to the freedom caucus- the biggest impact that might be felt from that could very well be farm bill negotiations next year,” Lane said. “When you talk about that kind of fiscal conservative tone that we are going to hear from this new group coming in, we know some of these members are coming to Washington have sort of stridently said, ‘I am not voting for a farm bill.’ We are going to see just how serious they are about that when their constituents start calling them and telling them they want them to vote for a farm bill.”

With inflation impacting everything in the country, the farm bill package is directly impacted, Lane said, which is why the farm bill may be close to a trillion dollars.

“Whether it is the cost of food, whether it is the cost of conservation programs, whether it is the cost of FMD vaccine bank implementation, you name it, if it is in the farm bill, it costs more than it did five years ago,” Lane said.

Hays and Lane talk about the players that will be involved in the 2023 Farm Bill- and also look at several other issues that Lane and his team are following out of the Washington office of the NCBA.

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Ron Hays talks issues that matter to US Cattlemen with Ethan Lane of NCBA

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