Big Three Field Day Underway at OSU 

More than 1,500 youth from across the country are in Stillwater this week for the Oklahoma State University Big Three Field Days. The event is getting started today and will continue through Thursday, July 17th. Oklahoma State University Extension Youth Livestock Specialist Rusty Gosz says over three days, youth from eight to 18 years old judge swine, cattle, sheep and goats.


"It's a tremendous event that not only allows us to host a judging contest and get to really see different classes and let kids workout and have their coaches work with them," Gosz said. "But we really get to open our doors, Oklahoma State University, and show off who we are and really let people see us and interact with us and it really turns into a recruiting event for us also."


This event is a great way to introduce youth to livestock judging with a relaxed learning environment without the pressure of giving oral reasons. Gosz says for the older youth this has become a fierce competition.


"The sweepstakes is hard to win," Gosz said. "To win the overall championship over the three days is tough deal and there are some tremendous scholarship monies and some really valuable honors that people will come from Georgia and Maryland to try and compete for and win, cause its also a big deal."

Click Here to read or to listen to Ron Hays interview Rusty Gosz about the Big Three Field Day.   

Wholesale boxed beef trade reached record levels last week. Levels have gotten above $2.50 a pound, even though values were down on Monday. Livestock Market Information Center Director Jim Robb says it looks like the market may start pulling back a bit. We catch up with Jim Robb on today's Beef Buzz.

"For the week the box beef cutout on the choice side was up slightly compared to the prior week and set and all-time record high as did the select cut out," Robb said.


That was a little bit concerning because the volume was not large. Robb says that was the lowest volume since the Christmas shortened week of late 2013.


"That's a very light volume level and one that probably does suggest that these prices are ready to tip a little bit lower on the wholesale beef front, as they already have on the feed cattle side," Robb said.


So far consumers have been largely willing to pay these record high prices. Robb says both the supply side and demand side have really come together to get us these prices and these prices that are dramatically above a year ago and dramatically above four to six weeks ago.

One market that seems to have some more upside is cow beef.  Click Here for today's Beef Buzz to listen to Robb's comments on the both the overall boxed beef trade as well as the cull cow market.

Federal Spending Bill Includes Important Provisions for Producers

The House Interior appropriations bill passed through committee today 29 to 19. The Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association strongly support the bill, which allocates how federal dollars are spent for the Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and related agencies during fiscal year 2015. The bill included language that would help provide relief from the regulatory burdens that continue to hamper the productivity and profitability of farmers and ranchers across the country.


From language that blocks the listing of the Sage Grouse, to requiring alternative allotments where ranchers are impacted by drought or wildfire without the need to complete extensive environmental analyses and many others, Dustin Van Liew, PLC and NCBA federal lands executive director, said the provisions are important to keeping livestock producers in business.


Included in the bill is a permanent extension of grazing rider, which will allow livestock grazing to continue while the renewal process is held up through the National Environmental Policy Act analysis backlog. Often requiring multiple environmental analyses and time for public comments to be submitted when no changes are being made on the ground, the NEPA process can disrupt ranching operations indefinitely with little, if any, environmental benefit. The bill also includes a provision to extend grazing permit terms to 20 years, as opposed to the current 10-year term.

Click Here to read more from the Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.  

Beef, Saturated Fats and Heart Health

A new research study, funded by the beef checkoff and the National Institutes of Health-supported Penn State General Clinical Research Center, published in the June 19, 2014 issue of Journal of Human Hypertension, shows that a heart-healthy diet that includes lean beef can reduce risk factors for heart disease.


Myth: Saturated fat is bad for you.


Conventional Wisdom: Many researchers have now begun to reevaluate the role of saturated fats in heart disease. A review of more than 70 clinical studies raised questions about current guidelines related to fat intake, which generally restrict the consumption of saturated fats and encourage consumption of polyunsaturated fats to prevent heart disease.4


Furthermore, many people may be surprised to know that beef contributes 10 percent or less of saturated fat and total fat to the American diet.2 And, about half the fatty acids found in beef are monounsaturated fatty acids3, the same kind found in olive oil and avocados. The recently published study in the Journal of Human Hypertension conducted at Penn State also shows that a dietary pattern rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy, that includes lean beef, even daily, can reduce risk factors for heart disease, including elevated cholesterol and blood pressure.

Click Here to read more about this nutritional research study.   

The Ohio Commute Ends August 15th- Robert Sommers Resigns as Career Tech Director 

Career Tech, home of Ag Education and the FFA in the state, will be looking for a new state Director come mid August.  Robert Sommers took the job back in April, 2013- but never really put roots down in Oklahoma- and now cites family issues as his reason to resign and return to the Buckeye state.

The Tulsa World cites a statement from his resignation to State Superintendent Janet Baressi and the Board of Career Tech that points to his decision to not stick around. "Sommers said the death of his mother last year means he would be unable to relocate to Oklahoma from Ohio, where he has lived and from which he has commuted for the past year.

"While my tenure has been personally rewarding and I've worked with some exceptional educators, my wife and I now face increasing personal responsibilities for our family elders in Ohio. These demands make it impossible to relocate to Oklahoma. Our inability to become permanent Oklahomans seriously compromises my ability to effectively complete the jobs I currently hold," he wrote."

Sommers, after being named as the State Director for Career Tech, was also named as the State Secretary of Education by Governor Fallin- that coming just a year ago last July.   

In conversations with educators and others about this decision made known to the Career Tech staff yesterday morning, there was some speculation that the primary election defeat of Baressi may have hastened his departure from the state.   

People have remarked to me that it's been odd that a man who has not one but two important leadership roles in our state choose not to ever move from his previous place of employment in Ohio.    

Dr. Sommers is shown here at the 2014 OYE during the Legislative and Celebrity Show the Youth Expo- In our conversations with Sommers since last spring, he always expressed interest in building on the success of Career Tech and especially Ag Education and the FFA.  With his family based decision to stay in Ohio- he leaves that "building on the success" job to someone else.  

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


Most all of Oklahoma received considerable rain from late May into early July. This resulted in much needed forage growth in all regions, including some of the worst drought areas. However, the heat of summer has arrived in July and forage growth has slowed abruptly. Rain now may do little to relieve continuing long term drought conditions and additional forage growth could be limited through the heat of summer. As a result, producers may face decisions about how to manage pastures and cattle to get through the summer. Many pastures, stressed from years of drought, require careful management to promote recovery and that may include limiting grazing this summer. Pastures need time to rebuild root systems and reproduce to reestablish pasture stands. Cow-calf producers have several management alternatives to reduce forage demand this summer.


Early weaning spring-born calves is an effective way to reduce the nutritional requirements of cows and thus forage demand. Early-weaned calves can either be sold now or retained in a backgrounding program. At this time, calves may be 150-200 pounds lighter than normal weaning weights. One alternative is to sell the calves now at significantly lighter weights than usual. This will result in lost revenue but, depending on the cost of feed for both calves and cows, may be the best option in some instances. Because of the steep premium for lightweight calves at the current time, the lost revenue is not as much as the weight might suggest. For example, using prices from last week in Oklahoma auctions, a 350 pound steer would bring about $195/head less than a 500 pound steer or a reduction of about 15 percent of the animal value even though the weight is down 30 percent.  

Click Here to read more from Derrell Peel. 

This N That - Deb VanOverbeke Honored, Big Iron Auction and Last Call for Bus Tour

In recent days, the American Meat Science Association has selected OSU Animal Science Professor Deborah VanOverbeke to receive the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Dr. VanOverbeke received her B.S. degree in Animal Science from the University of Nebraska in 1996. After completing her B.S. degree, she worked for the Nebraska Cattlemen where she coordinated the Beef Quality Assurance and Nebraska Corn-Fed Beef Program until 1998.

Fast forward to 2005 when she moved to Stillwater. That year, Deb joined Oklahoma State University as an Assistant Professor in Meat Science. In 2010, Deb was promoted to Associate Professor. Deb is responsible for teaching two undergraduate courses and two graduate courses each year- three of which were developed at OSU.  

Deb assists with numerous extension programs including the Beef Quality Assurance Program, Beef Quality Summit, Pork 101, the Meat Animal Evaluation Contest and various others.  

It's Wednesday- and that means the Big Iron folks will be busy closing out this week's auction items- all 397 of them- starting at 10 AM central time.    

Click Here for the complete rundown of what is being sold on this no reserve online sale this week.

If you'd like more information on buying and selling with Big Iron, call District Manager Mike Wolfe at 580-320-2718 and he can give you the full scoop.  You can also reach Mike via email by clicking here.  

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The Bus is filling up for the No Till on the Plains "Points South" tour happening in early August.  The tour will head out of Salina, Kansas August 5th and then roll into Oklahoma for multiple stops in our state.  

Call 888-330-5142 for details or click here to read more about the tour and use the link to sign up online.