Bob Funk, Rodd Moesel and David Howard Selected as DASNR Champions of 2014 

Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources will honor three Oklahomans with one of the organization's highest honors, the DASNR Champion award.

Robert A. "Bob" Funk of Yukon, Rodd Moesel of Oklahoma City and David Howard of Bristow have been selected as 2014 award recipients.

"Our three honorees have exceptional records of providing meaningful and lasting benefits to Oklahoma and the region as part of the state's production, processing and related agricultural industries, in addition to being outstanding leaders in their communities and supporters of OSU's land-grant mission," said Mike Woods, DASNR interim vice president, dean and director.

The honorees will be officially recognized during ceremonies later this spring, at a time yet to be announced.

Funk is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Express Services Inc., headquartered in Oklahoma City and the parent company of Express Personnel Services, a billion dollar company that operates more than 460 franchises in four countries, including offices in 45 American states.

Moesel is president and co-owner of American Plant Products and Services in Oklahoma City. In addition to serving the needs of countless commercial growers, his company has designed and built research greenhouses for university and federal facilities across the United States, and has constructed teaching greenhouses for more than 50 Oklahoma-based vocational agriculture programs.

Howard was born in England, raised in Northern Ireland and launched his business - Unitherm Food Systems - while attending North East London Polytechnic in 1985. In 1995, he moved his business to Ponca City, where it grew into a national success. In 2001, Howard relocated the business to Bristow. Today, Unitherm Food Systems boasts annual sales of more than $25 million and employs more than 40 fulltime residents of the Bristow area.

Click here to read more of this story.  

Bob Stallman of Farm Bureau Dismayed Over EPA Proposal to Regulate Every Wet Spot in America

Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau, released a statement on Tuesday evening after his organization had analyized the proposed definition of the "Waters of the US" by the Obama Administration:



"Last week, the American Farm Bureau Federation carefully reviewed EPA's March 25 release of the 'waters of the U.S.' proposed rule. The results of our review are dismaying.


"The EPA proposal poses a serious threat to farmers, ranchers and other landowners. Under EPA's proposed new rule, waters - even ditches - are regulated even if they are miles from the nearest 'navigable' waters. Indeed, so-called 'waters' are regulated even if they aren't wet most of the time. EPA says its new rule will reduce uncertainty, and that much seems to be true: there isn't much uncertainty if most every feature where water flows or stands after a rainfall is federally regulated.


"Under this proposed rule, farmers, ranchers and every other landowner across the countryside will face a tremendous new roadblock to ordinary land use activities. This is not just about the paperwork of getting a permit to farm, or even about having farming practices regulated. The fact is there is no legal right to a Clean Water Act permit - if farming or ranching activities need a permit, EPA or the Army Corps of Engineers can deny that permit. That's why Clean Water Act jurisdiction over farmlands amounts to nothing less than federal veto power over a farmer's ability to farm. "

Stallman concluded by saying "The American Farm Bureau Federation will dedicate itself to opposing this attempted end run around the limits set by Congress and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that Congress meant what it said: 'navigable waters' does not mean all waters. This proposed rule shows that EPA refuses to accept those limits."

To read the full AFBF statement on the proposed rule that is now open for comments until mid June- Click here 

And, you can click here for the original news release provided by EPA and the Army Corps on the proposed rule as we posted it on March 25th.

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Corn and Hog Producer Talks PEDv Impacts 

Scott Hays is a hog and corn producer from Missouri and he offers an interesting overview of what the swine disease PEDv will mean to corn producers across the country. His comments are courtesy of the Missouri Corn Growers Association:

"PEDv is by far the hottest topic at any pork producer event these days. Similar to the Transmissible Gastroenteritis (TGE) virus that plagued the swine industry each spring several decades ago, "TGE on steroids" is how some have described it. When a sow farm becomes infected, death rates of 100 percent can be expected for 3-5 weeks in all pre-weaned pigs. The virus destroys the small intestine of young pigs making them unable to absorb fluids and nutrients. Deaths will occur within hours of birth. Pigs 4-8 weeks of age can fight off the virus with little death loss and normally pigs older than 8 weeks will show signs of fever, scours and be off feed a couple of days before returning to normal. After all sows have been exposed and have built immunity, the farm will return to normal survivability rates.

"It's estimated by industry experts that 3 million of the 5.8 million sows in the United States have been exposed to PEDv. The total reduction for 2014 harvest numbers is estimated to be 12.5 million pigs, including the loss of Canadian pigs that would have been shipped to the U.S. to be fed out. Additionally, a 6 million head loss is expected in 2015. Mexico, our largest customer, is also facing production loss to the virus. 

You can read the rest of this story on our website by clicking here.
 

USMEF Focuses on Growing More Markets While Producers Grow More Beef

Trying to put meat from the U.S. on the world's tables-that's the mission statement of the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

"We're trying to add value to what we produce here in the United States," said Mark Jagels of USMEF. "Being a grain farmer and a cattleman, you know, I want to add value to the grain that I raise and add value to the cattle that I sell. Where we're currently exporting approximately 13 percent of the cattle that we raise to over 120 countries, it's vitally important that we're in those countries and making sure we have a presence to export U.S. red meat."

2013 saw record-high U.S. beef exports and trade added more than $240 value to the head of each animal sold. Jagels said that's a testament to a favorable reputation.

Click here to read more.  

Ensuring Consistent Body Condition of Mama Cows Proves Profitable, Selk Says

Neglecting the nutrition of mama cows after calving is a false economy, says Oklahoma State University Extension beef cow specialist Glenn Selk. In today's Beef Buzz, he says providing proper nutrition can make a tremendous difference in rebreeding rates, even though it may not always be convenient to do so.

"After a long, hard winter we're beginning to run short of hay supplies. In many cases the pastures that the cows have been grazing have been grazed down to where there's very little left. The quality of the warm season grasses that they are on, such as native or bermuda grass pastures, at this time of the year is extremely low. And the cows just can't get much energy or, certainly, protein out of those grasses."

He said ranchers may also be a little tired after feeding cattle all winter, but it pays to put out the extra effort to continue.

"This is a critical time from the standpoint of the physiology of these cows. We have to keep them in good body condition through the calving process and those 60 to 90 days between calving and the start of the breeding season."

You can click here to read more of this story or to listen to today's Beef Buzz featuring Glenn Selk.

Texas Sets Vote for Supplemental State Beef Checkoff Program in Early June 

At the request of Texas cattle industry associations, and in accordance with Texas law, the Texas Department of Agriculture will conduct a producer referendum that, if approved, would create a state beef checkoff program for beef promotion, marketing, research and consumer education. This proposed program, to be called the Texas Beef Checkoff, would be funded and managed by Texas beef producers.

Voting will take place June 2 through June 6, 2014, to approve a refundable maximum assessment of $1 per head of cattle to fund this program. If approved, the assessment will be collected at each point of ownership transfer in Texas.

Eligible producers can vote at any Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county office during each office's regular business hours. Eligible producers are strongly encouraged to vote in person.

Click here to read more.  

Here in Oklahoma, legislation is being considered this spring that would set the framework up for a potential vote here in Oklahoma that could establish a Checkoff levy above and beyond the current dollar a head beef checkoff that originated out of the Federal Act and Order that passed Congress in the mid 1980s. 

The reasoning behind the additional state level checkoff is to provide more dollars to do the promotion, education and research now being done by a shrinking dollar- which has far less buying power than it did in 1988 when the checkoff was first collected.  

Many cattlemen in larger cattle population states believe getting an increase in the national checkoff may be close to impossible, but see key cattle states putting into place a state levy as a way to increase dollars that would be controlled by the Federation of State Beef Councils.  

This N That- Big Iron, Eastern Oklahoma Cattle Summit, Plains Cotton

It's Wednesday morning and that can only mean it's time for another BigIron.com auction.  There are 439 agricultural, transportation and construction items up for bid today.  The first sale will close at 10 a.m. with others following close behind.  Click here for today's sale list.

If you'd like more information about buying and selling with Big Iron, just give District Manager Mike Wolfe a call at 580-320-2718 or contact him online at:  mike.wolfe@bigiron.com.

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Oklahoma cattle producers interested in taking advantage of the latest science-based information relative to cattle health management should register now to attend the April 4 Eastern Oklahoma Beef Cattle Summit in McAlester.

The 2014 summit will take place at McAlester's Southeast Expo Center, located at 4500 W. State Highway 270, off the Indian Nation Turnpike. The summit will begin at 8 a.m. and finish at approximately 4:00 p.m. Cost is $10 per participant. A rib eye sandwich lunch will be provided free-of-charge courtesy of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association. For more information including registration,  click here.

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Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., will host their 57th Annual Meeting on Friday, April 4, 2014 in the Banquet Hall of the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.

PCG's Annual Meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. with registration, and the program will start promptly at 9 a.m. The meeting is held in conjunction with the Texas Cotton Ginners' Association Annual Meeting and Trade Show, April 3-4, 2014, in Lubbock. 

Click here for more.