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The six divisional Speech champions from this past Friday at the Oklahoma FFA Interscholastics were at the 88th State Convention of the Oklahoma FFA yesterday afternoon- and when the dust had settled, the winner in the Animal Science Division was the overall state public speaking champion.  Sophomore Jaryn Frey of Kingfisher grabbed top honors with her speech highlighting advancements in Genomic EPDs.

She will now represent Oklahoma at the National Prepared Public Speech Contest at the 2014 National FFA Convention in Louisville in October.

Her Ag Ed teacher, Lori Burns, will be busy on those speech contest days in Louisville as she also will have the Oklahoma representative in the National Extemporaneous from her Chapter- Gatlin Squires won that competition last Friday night in Stillwater.

After helping with the judging of the Speech finals, we were able to track down the National Western Region Vice President of the FFA, Jason Wetzler, as he was polishing up his thoughts on what we would be sharing in a banquet to honorary FFA degree award recipients. Wetzler is from Oregon- but was a student at Oklahoma State University this past fall when he ran a second time for a national office (didn't make it the first time) and heard his name called to be one of the six national officers here in 2013-2014.   

Click here to read his story- and to listen to our audio conversation that we had with the personable Cowboy who will return to Stillwater next January after serving his year as a national officer.

We appreciate the Oklahoma Ford Dealers across the state who are sponsoring our coverage of the 2014 Oklahoma FFA Convention- and it's great to be associated with the Platinum sponsor of the convention itself- Ford is "Best in Oklahoma." Click here to check out the Oklahoma Ford dealers website.

Enid Canola Plant Moves Forward with Close of Real Estate Deal 

PICO Northstar Oklahoma LLC closed on the purchase last Tuesday morning of 400-acres of land for a new canola processing plant in Garfield County, Oklahoma.

When the canola plant is fully operational, it will support 60 full-time jobs and crush 760,000 tons of canola annually.

"In addition to the plant's payroll, the bigger impact is the opportunity the refinery will present for regional Oklahoma farmers," said Brent Kisling, executive director of the Enid Regional Development Alliance. "Winter canola, a crop that is well-suited to the climate here and serves as a first-rate rotation crop, is a game-changer for Oklahoma agriculture."

Click here to read more of this story.

As you read the story- notice that no date has been set to begin construction- Northstar appears to be cautious in that start date- wanting to see the trend this fall in Canola acres- will they continue to grow as Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas farmers battle drought?

USDA Announces Additional Support for Small and Midsized Farmers and Ranchers

Yesterday, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced additional support and resources for America's small and midsized farmers and ranchers. Today's announcement includes $7 million in university research awards in support of small and midsized producers; $8.8 million in technical assistance for small, socially-disadvantaged producers and Rural Cooperative Centers; and a marketing certification program for small and very small grass-fed beef producers. This is the second major USDA package this year in support of small and midsized producers. The first package included efforts to increase access to capital, provide better risk management tools, expand marketing opportunities, and offer food safety training and educational resources specific to America's small and midsize producers. Today's announcement builds on these efforts.

"Small and midsized producers are a vital part of America's agricultural future, and we are dedicated to ensuring their success," said Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The programs and opportunities announced today are part of our ongoing commitment to ensure that smaller farmers and ranchers get access to the resources they need to thrive. USDA is continually reviewing our resources, programs and policies to make sure we are working for producers of all sizes."

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

 

Monsanto Makes Environmental Commitments, Partnership to Advance Sustainable Agriculture

It's an unavoidable dilemma: fresh water and productive soil are vital to sustain life and to grow the food we need. As the global population skyrockets during the next three decades, so will the demand for food, fresh water and healthy soil. This reality creates an urgent challenge for everyone involved in growing food: produce more while using resources more efficiently.

"Agriculture is at the intersection of many major challenges today - whether it's growing population and food demand, water availability, soil health or climate change," said Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive officer at Monsanto. "Addressing these challenges directly is what all of us at Monsanto are focused on every day - working together with farmers and partners around the world to deliver a safe, affordable and nutritious food supply that sustains our planet."

As part of its broad commitment to sustainability, yesterday Monsanto announced two important companywide commitments to help address critical challenges in the areas of water and nutrient efficiency.

You can read the specifics of these water and nutrient initiatives by clicking here.

 

Day One of Wheat Quality Council Winter Wheat Tour- Lowest Estimates Since 2001

The Executive Director of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association, Tim Bartram, is traveling on the 2014 Wheat Quality Council's Winter Wheat Crop Tour this week- and after day one, he shared these thoughts with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network about what was being seen in north central Kansas, southern counties in Nebraska and on into northwestern Kansas. "The first day avg was 34.7 bushels per acre over 271 stops made by all tour participants. This is down from 43.8 bushels per acre last year and is the lowest by 6 bushels in last 8 years. The tour covered from Manhattan to Colby.


"The primary limiting factor was lack of moisture. This lack of moisture was shown by several symptoms including plant height, number of tillers, stand, head size, and blowing dust. The best wheat was north of I-70 into southern Nebraska, with the yields decreasing as you go west. Extension personnel from Kansas State University reported that the crop had deteriorated over the past week and the weather forecast was not favorable for the crop to improve. While we had light rain today it was not enough or in the right areas to help the crop much. Producers from south of Colby reported that we would see worse conditions as we move south. Other reports predicted that we would not see much improvement as we move into Wichita area late tomorrow."

Click here to read more from the tour- and we remind you that we will be covering the Oklahoma crop reports later today from the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association annual meeting.

Pork Checkoff Updates Its Transport Quality Assurance® Program

Since 2001, the pork industry's Transport Quality Assurance program (TQA) has promoted responsible practices when handling and transporting pigs. In that time, TQA has undergone five revisions - always striving to offer the most current, science-based information on humane handling, biosecurity and proper transportation of swine.

The mission of the TQA program remains unchanged: to continuously build a culture of protecting and promoting animal well-being through training and certification of animal handlers and transport personnel. In that process, TQA uses the most current industry-proven techniques in an effort to build consumer confidence and understanding of the high-quality pork products delivered to market every day.   

"Consumers are hungry for information on how their pork is raised - from the farm to the table," said Sherrie Webb, animal welfare director at The National Pork Board. "That need for information is about more than what happens on the farm and extends to how that animal is safely and humanely transported from farm to market. That's why keeping current on transportation trends is so critical."

Read the rest of this article on our website by clicking here.

Big Iron Weekly Sale Day 

It's Wednesday and the current items in Big Iron's weekly sale begin closing at 10 a.m.  There are 443 farm, construction and transportation items up for bid in today's sale.

Click here to go to the Big Iron website where you will find a complete description and numerous photographs of each item up for sale.  If you'd like some assistance with buying or selling the Big Iron way, just give District Manager Mike Wolfe a call at 580-320-2718 or catch him via email by clicking here.