This past year, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture began asking for nominations for ladies involved in agriculture that they could recognize on a regular basis.

This story about Gaye Pfeiffer is the first in a series of stories on Significant Women in Oklahoma Agriculture. The project is a collaborative program between the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry and Oklahoma State University to recognize and honor the impact of countless women across all 77 counties of the state, from all aspects and areas of the agricultural industry. The honorees were nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of 14 industry professionals.

Our friend Bryan Painter writes this tribute to Gaye- and here are the first part of the salute to this Significant Woman in Oklahoma Agriculture:

The gray late-winter morning with its damp, cold air doesn't seem to bother Gaye Pfeiffer of Mulhall. She is focused on the topic of agriculture, and she punctuates each of her statements with a smile.

For more than five decades, Oklahoma agriculture has come to cherish that gesture as the smile of a producer, friend and outstanding advocate.

Recently salesmen from a large national foodservice distribution company visited the northern Logan County farming and ranching operation Gaye and husband John have built since their marriage in 1981.

"We showed them around, took them out to the cows, everything. They are always amazed that there's so much science involved," she said. "Before they get here, they think you just walk out in the pasture, you throw some hay out and you look at your cows. With a tour like this they see what you think about and what you care about. They see the connection and how the product is produced. Communication is so important."

Click or tap here to read the complete story on Gaye Pfeiffer.

By the way- congrats to Gaye and her family for this honor and spotlight.  She and John have been friends since those early days of their marriage when John was a classmate of ours in the first Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program class. They are good people!

 

The Leadership of the National Association of Wheat Growers has gathered in San Antonio this week for the 2017 Commodity Classic. Part of the reason for NAWG's volunteer leaders to gather is to be involved in meetings where the group essentially is developing a blueprint for their policy priorities for the upcoming Farm Bill.

Our associate,Carson Horn, was there to speak with NAWG's Chief Executive Officer Chandler Goule about what issues have cropped up attracting the group's attention in recent weeks leading up to the start of Farm Bill discussions.

"Between the election and the Farm Bill and some trade implications but also rolling back of regulations for farmers has kind of a hodge-podge of good and bad and what do we do and where do we go," Goule recounted, "so it's been a very exciting eight months."

Click or tap here to read more of what Chandler and Horn talked about- and to hear their conversation from San Antonio as well.

 

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the Public Lands Council hailed the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Ryan Zinke to be the next U.S. Secretary of the Interior on Wednesday..

"This is great news for America's ranchers and cattle producers," NCBA President Craig Uden said. "Ryan Zinke has an outstanding record advocating for Western communities and ranchers, and for the real inclusion of stakeholders' voices in the decisions that affect them. We look forward to working with Secretary Zinke to restore common sense and balance on issues like public lands management, conservation, and endangered species."

Also pleased with the confirmation vote was the American Farm Bureau- President Zippy Duvall weighs in:
"Secretary Zinke does not have an easy task before him, but we are confident he's up to the challenge. He's a proven leader committed to responsible land use and energy development. Agriculture is ready for an Interior Department that recognizes the importance of active land management and works with us, rather than pushes us out. From arbitrary grazing reductions to overpopulation of wild horses and burros to an outdated Endangered Species Act, farmers and ranchers have suffered for too long.

 
One of the most outspoken agricultural groups against the Waters of the US Rule that was advanced in 2015 by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. They cheered the Federal Court in Cincinnati that put a national stay in place against the rule last year as jurisdictional issues needed to be sorted out before any ruling on the merits could take place. As candidate Donald Trump campaigned this past fall- he pledged that WOTUS would be dismantled if he was elected President of the United States.


That happened- and his promise to move against the EPA rule was kept with the Executive Order President Trump signed on Tuesday, directing the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider WOTUS and to consider a more traditional viewpoint on what a navigable water really is.


With the signing of this Federal Executive Order, the cheering among cattle producers has begun. Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association says that "We are absolutely thrilled with the Executive Order that sets the stage for this rule to be rescinded or utterly revamped and changed."

Colin's reaction to the Executive Order of President Trump is featured today in this Beef Buzz- click or tap here to read more- and to listen to our Q&A with Woodall on the subject.

 
"Exciting" is the word that best describes Debra Deskin's second grade classroom at Orvis Risner Elementary in Edmond, Oklahoma. Students, parents and colleagues all say that Deskin brings a special blend of fun, excitement and inclusiveness to her lesson planning.


Deskin's creativity has earned her a special honor as the 2017 Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom (AITC) Teacher of the Year. In her 13 years of teaching experience, she has used many lessons from the award-winning AITC curriculum to help her students develop ag literacy. She believes so strongly in the importance of knowing where food and clothing come from that she has presented sessions at two national AITC conferences and has been a presenter four times at the state AITC conference. She has also been an Oklahoma AITC Teacher of the Year finalist three times.

For more on the teaching efforts of Deskin and on the Ag in the Classroom Program, click here.

 

Jon Entine has written a new article for the web publication GeneticLiteracyProject about how the New York Times continues to come up short in their coveage of food and farming.

Entine points to the longstanding love that the newspaper has had for Michael Pollan- a blogger who makes no bones about wanting to bash modern production agriculture every chance he can get.  Entine contends he has gotten a free pass for a long time at the New York Times- Pollan apparently agrees- based on this quote from a video from 2013-

The media has really been on our side for the most part. I know this from writing for the New York Times.... [W]hen I wrote about food I never had to give equal time to the other side. I could say whatever I thought and offer my own conclusions. Say you should buy grass fed beef and organic is better, and these editors in New York didn't realize there is anyone who disagrees with that point of view. So, I felt like I got a free ride for a long time.

There is something called the Food Dialogues presented in various places to talk about how food is produced and greater transparency. ... So, I think they have kind of spooked the newspapers into realizing they need to give equal time on this issue and it is an issue with two sides.

Food Dialogues are the creation of the US Farmer Rancher Alliance- and have served as a balance to those that want to criticize modern farming and ranching non stop.

Read more about the anti farmer/rancher bias that Jon Entine says is found in the New York TImes- click or tap here for more.

 
One of the top seedstock operations in the United States, Express Ranches based in Yukon, will be holding their 23rd annual Spring Bull Sale tomorrow- starting at 10 AM. They will be selling 555 Angus Bulls and 40 Hereford Bulls at the ranch on the north side of Yukon.

In the sale book, Express CEO Jarold Callahan writes "At Express, we utilize the science and technology that is available while keeping in mind common sense, environment and practicality cannot be overlooked."

Express has an incredible amount of data available on each bull being sold- many of the genomically enhanced EPD traits are well above Angus Breed Averages in the bulls that will be sold on Friday.

You can view the bulls at the ranch starting at noon today- sale time is 10:00 AM on Friday morning.

More details can be had on the Express Ranch Website available here- links for the sale book, videos and complete data all are right there on the front page of the site.

A few days back- we got out to the ranch and sat down and talked about the seedstock business with Jarold Callahan- click here to jump over to that interview and hear his thoughts about where the business is today- how to judge the EPD data and where the business is headed down the road.