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Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Monday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) alleging the FWS engaged in "sue and settle" tactics when the agency agreed to settle a lawsuit with a national environmental group over the listing status of several animal species, including the Lesser Prairie Chicken.


"Increasingly, federal agencies are colluding with like-minded special interest groups by using 'sue and settle' tactics to reach 'friendly settlements' of lawsuits filed by the interest groups. These settlements, which often impose tougher regulations and shorter timelines than those imposed by Congress, are having a crippling effect on the U.S. economy. Furthermore, because these settlements are taking place without public input, attorneys general are unable to represent the respective interests of their states, businesses, and citizens," Attorney General Pruitt said.


Wild Earth Guardians sued the FWS in 2010 alleging the agency had not met deadlines in determining the listing status of 251 species, including the lesser prairie chicken. The FWS entered into a consent decree that mandated the agency decide the listing status of those 251 species by September 30, 2015. For the lesser prairie chicken, the FWS agreed to determine whether to grant the lesser prairie chicken threatened status under the Endangered Species Act by March 31, 2014. A "threatened" listing would restrict land use in the bird's five-state habitat that includes Oklahoma.

Read more on the legal action brought by AG Pruitt against the Obama Administration by clicking here.

OYE 2014- Victoria Chapman of Dickson FFA Shows Supreme Champion Beef Heifer 

Several hundred beef heifers paraded before Judges John Rayfield and Chan Phillips on Sunday and Monday at the 2014 Oklahoma Youth Expo. At the end of the day- there was one Supreme Champion as the best female bovine of all of the purebreds shown- and a Commercial Champion Beef Heifer selected- for the commercial division where 190 animals were seen by Dr. Rayfield.


In the Commercial Division, the Champion Commercial Heifer was shown by Gatlin Goodson of Shattuck 4-H, earning a $1,500 scholarship. Picking up a thousand dollar scholarship for her efforts, Baylee Beck of Yukon FFA had the reserve Champion Commercial Heifer.


There were sixteen different breeds that entered the show ring and competed at the 2014 OYE- and judged the best of them all- earning the Supreme Champion Heifer honors was Victoria Chapman of the Dickson FFA. Victoria had the Champion Hereford that competed with the other breeds. She earned a one thousand dollar sholarship for the Supreme Champion win- that on top of the $2000 scholarship she earned for having the Champion Hereford Heifer.


The Reserve Supreme Champion Heifer was shown by Edmond 4-Her Ryan Callahan, receiving a $500 schoalrship as his prize for having the second best purebred beef heifer. His Angus Heifer was the breed Champion- and he received a $2,000 scholarship for showing the best Angus heifer at the 2014 OYE. 

We are expecting to get the complete Purebred Heifer results first thing this morning- and we will be posting them in our Blue Green Gazette section of our website- click here to jump there and check them our when we get them online.  

We also posted an interview that we did with judge John Rayfield- he's featured as our Beef Buzz guest for today- click here for that story.

AND- we posted a ton of pictures on Monday on our Flickr Set for the 2014 OYE.  Click here for that photo album in cyberspace that already has almost 500 pictures!  

Our Multi-Media Platform of coverage about the 2014 Oklahoma Youth Expo is powered by Devon Energy as well as by the Title Sponsor of the 2014 OYE- McDonald's.  

Derrell Peel Explores the Important Role of Expectations in the Beef Industry

Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf newsletter:

Cattle and beef prices are at record levels in every industry sector, from cow-calf to retail beef prices. These record prices are obviously supported by a very unusual set of supply and demand circumstances. So far in 2014, markets- especially fed cattle and wholesale beef markets-have displayed unprecedented volatility as industry participants try to sort out these unusual market fundamentals in a very dynamic market environment. Both producers and consumers are reacting, not only to current record prices, but also to their evolving expectations for market conditions over the coming weeks, months and years.

Much attention is focused on the low cow herd inventory and the need to rebuild. After many years of liquidation, the result of a variety of factors impacting the beef industry, the current situation reminds us that it is the cow-calf sector that is primarily responsible for supply in the beef industry. Until cow-calf producers can and will expand the cow herd, the industry's ability to maintain beef production will be limited. 

Click here to read more of this story. 

Spot Choice Boxed Beef Sets New All-Time Highs

Ed Czerwein of the USDA's Amarillo office reports the daily spot choice boxed beef cutout ended the week last Friday at $240.44 after setting the new all-time record highs and was $4.42 higher than the previous Friday. Prices began to plateau out mid week, and actually slipped a little on Friday. There were only 561 loads sold for the week in the daily boxed beef cutout, which was eight percent of the total volume. Daily cutout volume continues to be subdued even more than normal.

The comprehensive or average choice cutout which includes all types of sales including formula exports and out-front, was $230.74 which was $4.21 higher. The total reported boxed beef volume was 6,718 loads, which was 334 loads higher than last week.   Exports were at 777 loads which was just a little better compared to the previous week.  

You can listen to Ed Czerwein's audio report or read more of this story by clicking here.

Spring-like temperatures and high winds last week advanced drought conditions across much of Oklahoma.  Weekend rains helped some areas, mainly in the southeast.  The majority of the state remained in moderate to severe drought.

As of Sunday, winter wheat was rated 71 percent fair to poor.  Eleven percent was rated very poor with one percent in excellent condition.  Jointing had reached 14 percent, 16 percentage points behind the previous year and the five-year average.

Sixty-four percent of the canola crop was listed in fair to poor shape with only ten percent in good condition and none rated as excellent.  Click here for the USDA's latest Oklahoma Crop Weather and Condition report.

In Texas, winter wheat suffered freeze damage in the Blacklands and 68-percent of the crop was listed in fair to poor condition with 19 percent in very poor condition.  Click here for the full Texas report.

Much of western Kansas continues under severe drought conditions.  Forty-six percent of the wheat crop is in fair condition, 32 is listed as good and 20 percent is rated poor or very poor.  You can read the full Kansas report by clicking here.

Oklahoma Youth Expo Welcomes New 2014 Platinum Sponsor in J&L Services

J&L Services joins the Oklahoma Youth Expo as its most recent platinum-level sponsor.

Mark Pruitt with J&L says his company works with farmers, ranchers and landowners every day and sponsoring the OYE, the world's largest junior livestock show, was a natural fit.

"These kids are a big part of our future and taking over the family's land and farms. And we really want to work hand-in hand with OYE because it benefits these kids... Our future is these kids and that's what we want to invest in."

J&L is a leading provider of cutting-edge technology and expertise in managing environmental by-products. Its ECO1 advanced land application system remotely automates the application of drilling waste constituents once thought to be unmanageable.

Pruitt says OYE pays dividends not just to the participants themselves, but the much wider community influenced by them.

You can listen to my interview with Mark Pruitt or read the rest of this story by clicking here.

 

Conservation Groups Partner to Provide Historic Landscape for No Man's Land Museum

The historical ecosystem of the Oklahoma Panhandle will be better reflected in the landscaping of the No Man's Land Museum at Goodwell thanks to a partnership between the Cimarron County Conservation District, the Texas County Conservation District, the Beaver County Conservation District, Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU), the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the No Man's Land Historical Society. According to Cimarron County Conservation District Chairman Hal Clark, this project is designed to help educate future generations on the unique characteristics of the Panhandle region's ecology.

"This region is like no other place on Earth," Clark said. "The grasslands of the Panhandle region once extended like a great ocean of vegetation as far as the eye could see. Whether it was referred to as 'el Llano Estacado,' the Great American Desert,' or 'No Man's land,' this area and its native plant system was unique. It's our hope that through this partnership, we can give visitors to this facility at least an idea of what kind of plants dominated the landscape prior to plow-up."

Through the planning and planting of native grasses and through additional technical assistance related to the area surrounding the museum at Goodwell, the three Oklahoma Panhandle Conservation Districts and NRCS are working in conjunction with the No Man's Land Historical Society and OPSU to provide a type of living history in the form of landscaping on the facility grounds. By incorporating native plant species into the area surrounding the museum, they hope to not only add to the aesthetic quality of the facility, but also provide a new teaching tool to help visitors better understand the ecosystem that is native to the region.

You'll find the rest of this story on our website.  Please click here to go there.