Kayln McKibben of Wyandotte Selected as National Beef Ambassador for 2014-15 

A new set of National Beef Ambassadors was named this past weekend at the competition in Colorado. Kalyn McKibben of Wyandotte was one of five individuals that was selected for the National Beef Ambassador Team for the coming year. In June, I interviewed McKibben at the state beef ambassador competition in the media interview portion of the contest. At that time, Kayln told me about her family's background in ranching.


"We raise cows and calves, so I come from a commercial cow-calf operation and its a family operation," McKibben said. "It feels like it has been in my family for thousands of years, it feels like, but yes sir, every single day its my family and I. We go out there and we work the land together."


As part of the family, McKibben's responsibilities on her family's ranch have grown, where she has been involved in a wide variety of ranch activities from hauling hay, to buying cattle, to checking cows and feeding cattle in all weather conditions.   When it comes to telling beef's story, McKibben shared insight into the protein source.


"First of all we can be absolutely confident that all of the beef that we have in the United States is safe, wholesome and nutritious," McKibben said. "We have to look at beef's big ten, they call it beef's big ten, it's 10 vital nutrients that come in large amounts of that come from beef."

Click here to read or listen to our full feature with Kalyn McKibben of Wyandotte.   

Diverse Coalition Demands that EPA Stop the Moving Target Games and Pull WOTUS

It's a coalition filled with the major agricultural groups- American Farm Bureau, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Dairy Farmers of America, National Cotton Council, National Pork Producers Council- and more.  But the Coalition calling itself the Waters Advocacy Coalition also claims organizations like the US Chamber of Commerce, the PGA (yep- the pro golfers), the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the National Association of Realtors and on and on.  

This coalition has sent a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and the Secretary of the Army, John M. McHugh saying that the agencies have played fast and loose during the public comment period with the WOTUS proposed rule- and that it's time for the Obama Administration to pull the rule and effectively start over.  

The groups say there are several reasons why they want EPA and the Army Corps to ditch the rule- including:

1. The Agencies Continue To Issue New Materials Explaining the Proposed Rule Throughout the Comment Period, Creating a Moving Target for Public Comment. 

2. Without Public Notice or Opportunity for Comment, the Agencies Are Developing Policies on Key Components of the Proposed Rule, Such as Ordinary High Water Mark.

3. The Science Advisory Board Has Raised Concerns with Significant Components of the Proposed Rule, and EPA Has Not Released a Final Connectivity Report.

4. The Agencies Have Failed to Conduct Meaningful Outreach With States and Small Businesses.

We have a couple of links to point you to- first the American Farm Bureau released details of this letter yesterday afternoon- their release can be found here.

Farm Bill Informational Meetings are being planned across Oklahoma between now and the end of 2014- to help producers, lenders and those in Agri Business understand the safety net options that farmers have available to them and the decisions that need to be made before signing up to participate.


The meetings will include represenatives from the USDA Farm Service Agency, the USDA Risk Management Agency and Oklahoma State University's Cooperative Extension Service.


Click here for the PDF link below to be see the full list and the details that are available to date of the meetings scheduled. We will have additional updates as details of each meeting are finalized.   

Also- you can go to our calendar on Oklahoma Farm Report.Com and we will have each meeting listed there. 

Selk Recommends Sorting Cows for Winter Supplemental Feeding

Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter.


First calf heifers have historically been the toughest females on the ranch to get rebred. They are being asked to continue to grow, produce milk, repair the reproductive tract, and have enough stored body energy (fat) to return to heat cycles in a short time frame. Two-year old cows must fill all of these energy demands at a time when their mouth is going through the transition from baby teeth to adult teeth.


If these young cows are pastured with the larger, mature cows in the herd, they very likely will be pushed aside when the supplements are being fed in the bunk or on the ground. The result of these adverse conditions for young cows very often is a lack of feed intake and lowered body condition. Of course, lowered body condition in turn results in delayed return to heat cycles and a later calf crop or smaller calf crop the following year.


North Dakota State University data of commercial cow herds recorded over a 21 year period illustrated the differences in size and body condition of very young cows and the very mature (10 year old+) cows. The North Dakota data clearly show that the average 2 year old is about 20% smaller than her full grown herd mates. There is little wonder that the younger cows get pushed away from feed bunks, hay racks, or supplements fed on the ground. The results of the size differences and the need to continue to grow are manifest in the lower body condition scores noted in the very young cows. The very old cows are experiencing decline in dental soundness that make it difficult for them to maintain feed intake and therefore body condition. Over the 21 year data set from North Dakota, the 2-year old cows and the 11 year-old and older were significantly lower (0.3 or more units) in body condition score than middle-age cows.  Click here to read more about the benefits of sorting cows during the winter months.  

USDA Awards $52 Million in Grants to Grow Organic and Local Food Economies

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Monday the award of over $52 million in support of the growing organic industry and local and regional food systems through five U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant programs. The Secretary made the announcement during an event with Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe and local farmers at the Virginia State Fair.


"Local and regional food systems are one of the pillars of our efforts to revitalize rural economies," said Secretary Vilsack. "Consumers are increasingly demanding more local and organic options. Investing in local and regional food systems supports the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers, especially smaller operations, while strengthening economies in communities across the country. Today's announcements also improve access to fresh, healthy food for millions of Americans."


Most of the grants announced today were authorized through the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill), including the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) Farmers Market Promotion Program and Local Foods Promotion Program, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and Community Food Projects (CFP) grant program. Also announced today are grants from AMS's Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program (FSMIP). Together, these investments represent USDA's commitment to strengthening organic and local and regional food systems through projects that recruit and train farmers, expand economic opportunities, and increase access to healthy foods.

Click here to read more about USDA's local and regional food systems grant projects.

Monsanto Expands Funding for Insect Management Research

Two years ago, Monsanto launched the Corn Rootworm Knowledge Program, designed to reward the research and academic community for outstanding projects that addressed specific aspects of the pest and how best to manage it. Now, with $6 million in funding and 13 research projects currently underway, Monsanto is expanding the program to include projects on insect pests that can significantly impact all row crops across the U.S.   


Monsanto's new Insect Management Knowledge Program (IMKP), is set up similar to its predecessor, providing merit-based awards of up to $250,000 per award per year for up to three years for projects that will enhance the collective understanding of insect management. Monsanto has committed an additional $3 million over three years to support this public sector research on insect management.


The IMKP will be guided by an 11-person Advisory Committee that is co-chaired by Dr. Sherri Brown, vice president of science strategy for Monsanto, and Dr. Steven Pueppke, associate vice president of research and graduate studies for Michigan State University. The committee consists of academics and growers, and provides guidance on integrated pest management, as well as recommendations for areas of basic research on insect resistance and management that would be of interest to growers, the academic community and Monsanto.  Click here to learn more about researchers can submit proposals to receive grant funding.  

This N That- Scattered Rainfall with Hopes for More, Tulsa Fair Bound and Big Iron Wednesday

The best chances of rainfall are still ahead for most of Oklahoma- with rainfall totals early this morning very limited at best- The Lake Carl Blackwell Mesonet stations shows .67 inches of rain over the last 2 days while Boise City tops that by a little bit- at .73 inches of rain.  You can go here for the current real time Mesonet rainfall map  that goes back 48 hours and see these and a few others stations that have gotten some stray rainfall this go round.   

There are some rainshowers drifting north and east of Oklahoma City this morning towards Tulsa- chances of rain later today are around 30% in much of Western Oklahoma- more like 40% in OKC and on up to 50% or better in northeastern Oklahoma tonight, with eastern Oklahoma looking at sixty to seventy percent chances of thunderstorms during the day on Thursday.

Wheat and especially Canola farmers are hoping they get enough rain to plant in the next few days- Canola's window of planting is now counting down as Crop Insurance dictates that for full coverage to be in effect- you have to plant before October 10th.   

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Now that rainfall chances are on the rise- I am headed to the Tulsa State Fair to take in the grand champion drive for the Junior Market Animal Show tonight- and then the Premium sale of top animals that happens this year tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:00 PM.

This is a departure from previous years when the Sale has been midday on Fridays- back up and be ready to bid to support those 4-H and FFA members from across Oklahoma on Thursday evening instead of Friday!

We will be posting stuff on Twitter as well as on our BlueGreen page of our website later tonight- and catch you up tomorrow morning about who will be leading the Sale of Champions tomorrow afternoon the Tulsa State Fair.   

And- of course- we look forward to a great Ribeye Sandwich with the the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and I also need to try one of those Pork Chops with Bacon on a Sticker from the Oklahoma Pork Chop Shop- Yummy!

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It's Wednesday- and that means the Big Iron folks will be busy closing out this week's auction items- all 372 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 or tapping here. 

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