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Thursday is opening day for the 2014 edition of the Tulsa Farm Show. More than 350 exhibitors will be on display at the River Spirit Expo, one of the largest exhibit halls in the country featuring over 400,000 square feet of exhibit space.

The Tulsa Farm Show will feature demonstrations, competitions, test drives and numerous prize drawings. This year's show will feature many demonstrations on horsemanship, trick riding, livestock equipment and also a livestock handling skills competition. The annual event draws more than 30,000 farmers and ranchers to view the latest agricultural products, services and technology.


The Tulsa Farm Show takes place on the Tulsa State Fairgrounds. Admission and parking are free. Show hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday.


Several of our Radio Oklahoma Ag Network sponsors from throughout 2014 will be exhibiting at this week's event- here's a list of them with their booth numbers:


American Farmers & Ranchers Booth #543

Big Iron Booth # 333

Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma Booth #141

Go Bob Pipe and Steel Exhibiting in Lower Level

Mueller Buildings Booth #509

Oklahoma Beef, Inc Booth 510

Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Booth #659

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Booth #921

P&K Equipment Booth 1101

Pikes Fertilizer Booth 2526

Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Booth 998 (Register for our Ipad Air giveaway)

Stillwater Milling Booth 724

Winfield   Booth 532  

Click or tap here to jump over to the Interactive Map on the Tulsa Farm Show map.

Stop by and say howdy- I will be around our booth and the show today and Friday- Leslie Smith will be there on Saturday to say hello to one and all!

Tonsor Provides 2015 Cattle Outlook 

It's been quite a ride in 2014 for most of the beef cattle segments from cow-calf sector, to stockers as well as for feedlots, but what about 2015? Can the cattle industry duplicate those results for another year. Kansas State University Livestock and Meat Marketing Assistant Professor Dr. Glynn Tonsor said 2015 will be a good year overall for the beef cattle industry, but some segments will do better than others this next year. Dr. Tonsor anticipates the fundamental story for the cow-calf sector is very similar for 2015 as it was for 2014


"They are the ones producing the calf crop that is in limited supply, that is still going to be the case in 2015," Tonsor said. " We have an improving feed cost situation. I think you are going to have continued support for record level feeder cattle prices and there for cow-calf returns barring some kind of extreme surprise on the cost side."  


For the margin operators, like stockers Tonsor isn't as optimistic. He looks for historically high values of gain, thus improving the cost of gain situation which is attractive. He said this segment will also require a unprecedented amount of capital with record cattle prices. From a return on investment perspective, Tonsor looks for returns to be better than years in the past, but it may not be as good as 2014, so he encourages producers to watch their margins because of the amount of money tied up in cattle.  Tonsor was featured on the Beef Buzz feature. Click or tap here to listen to the full interview as he also talks about the year ahead for feeders.    

Farm Bureau member Stacey Forshee Wednesday called on Congress to help consumers understand the difference between real food safety concerns and marketing ploys by passing H.R. 4432, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. Forshee, who is also a Kansas Farm Bureau board member, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.


"As a hard-working American family who lives off the land and the products it provides, we would never allow a product we grew or raised to enter the food supply unless we knew it was safe," Forshee said. A farmer and cattle rancher with her husband in north central Kansas, Forshee has seen firsthand the marked benefits of biotechnology crops, including higher yields over fewer tillable acres, reduced pesticide use and improved soil conservation.


The Forshees are not alone in seeing these benefits. Since 1996, more than 17 million farmers have added in excess of 110 million tons of soybeans and 195 million tons of corn to the world's food supply. Farmers also avoided using 1.2 billion pounds of pesticide by choosing to grow genetically enhanced crops over conventional corn and soybeans.  Click here to read more about Forshee's testimony.  

2014 AFR State Speech Contest Winners Announced

American Farmers & Ranchers/Oklahoma Farmers Union (AFR/OFU) concluded its 70th annual AFR/OFU Fall Speech Contest series with the state competition in Stillwater, Dec. 6. More than 150 finalists from across Oklahoma showcased their public speaking skills for a chance to win at the state level.


This year, more than 500 youth statewide competed to advance to the state level. At each of five district contests, students grades 4-12 competed in five categories-American Farmers & Ranchers, Natural Resources, Student Organizations, Agribusiness and Agriscience.


"AFR/OFU provides Oklahoma youth many opportunities to develop into the leaders of tomorrow," said AFR/OFU President Terry Detrick. "It is an honor to support and encourage our state's young people as they gain confidence and skill through such activities as the AFR/OFU speech contest."


Click here to review a list of the 2014 AFR/OFU State Speech Contest winners.   

NRCS Accepting Applications for Animal Waste Treatment

Gary O'Neill, State Conservationist for Oklahoma USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced the opportunity for livestock producers to make application under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for treatment of resource concerns for confined animal feeding operations, including poultry. This is a statewide program for fiscal year 2015. Subject to availability, Oklahoma will set aside funding for financial assistance to apply conservation practices and management activities for the treatment of water and air quality resource concerns relative to animal waste management. O'Neill said, "Applicants will compete statewide for the EQIP confined animal resource concern funds. Successful applications will be selected from a statewide list of applications with high priority resource concerns as addressed in the application rating criteria." O'Neill added, "AFO/CAFO Animal Waste Management is only one of several initiatives that are available under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Other programs include: Irrigation, Lagoon Closure, Energy, National Water Quality Initiative, and the Organic Initiative." Applications for all of these programs will be due January 16, 2015 at the local NRCS offices.


The Farm Bill allowed the continued use of EQIP funds for the confined animal feeding operations (AFO/CAFO). The State Technical Committee requested a statewide application process to address the potential water quality impacts of these operations to the rivers and streams of the state. This program allows those operations to apply for EQIP financial assistance for animal waste storage, treatment, and utilization for edible beef, dairy, poultry, and swine operations that are maintaining or reducing the size of their operation with a lesser priority for expanding facilities. New facilities of any type are ineligible. All applications will be required to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive nutrient management plan (CNMP) during the EQIP contract period.   

NRCS will accept applications for participation in the statewide AFO/CAFO EQIP Program on a continuous basis, however, only applications received by January 16, 2015, will be ranked and considered during this initial selection period. Click here to read more about the application process.

Beef Checkoff Sponsoring New Kids LiveWell Program

The National Restaurant Association Tuesday announced that the Beef Checkoff Program is a new sponsor of the Association's award-winning Kids LiveWell program, a voluntary industry-wide initiative designed to help make the healthful choice the easy choice when dining out with children.  The Association applauded the checkoff for its commitment to promoting and developing nutritious kids' meals.


"The partnership between Kids LiveWell and the beef checkoff offers valuable opportunities to promote the important role that lean protein plays in building a healthful meal," said Joan McGlockton, vice president, Industry Affairs & Food Policy, National Restaurant Association (NRA). "The sponsorship will aid current participants and restaurants looking to join the program by identifying healthful, innovative recipes that highlight lean cuts of beef, helping to provide the industry's youngest patrons with the essential nutrients they need."


In conjunction with its sponsorship, the checkoff has identified a collection of kid-friendly recipes in its database of triple-tested, on-trend recipes that meet the Kids LiveWell criteria.  Click here to learn more about the Kids LiveWell program, including recipes and pairing suggestions.  

Second and Separate Beef Checkoff Update

We had some issues yesterday with the link to the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association letter with their comments submitted by their Executive VP Michael Kelsey- that has been fixed and you can read the one page letter submitted by the state cattle group on the second and separate Beef Checkoff idea being floated by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack by clicking here.  

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We talked yesterday morning with the President of the American Farmers and Ranchers, Terry Detrick, about their comments and he was not totally sure if they were going to file any comments with Uncle Sam or not regarding the Vilsack questions about the Second and Separate Beef Checkoff concept.  However, it appears that the cattle and wheat producer from north central Oklahoma decided to remind the Secretary where the largest state affiliate of the National Farmers Union stood on the idea- and Terry shot us a copy of their comments late in the evening (and yes Terry- I was asleep by that point).   

AFR told USDA in their comments that "AFR does not support the implementation of an additional Check-Off Program such as the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996.

 "AFR favors one Beef Check-Off program controlled by beef producers who have been nominated by qualified livestock production entities and appointed by the USDA Secretary of Agriculture similar to the current selection methods."

Their full comments can be read here.

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A spokesman for the NCBA indicated that a request from several groups had been made to USDA for an extension of time to submit comments- the deadline was last night at midnight Washington time- we had not heard if that was going to happen or not.  I was told if no extension was given- we would get NCBA's comments sent to us- so we will share those when we get them.

We were pointed to some "report language" in the Omnibus Appropriations Measure that will be considered by  the full House today- this language is considered to be "directive" to show Congressional intent but is not binding upon the Administration.  

That directive says "There is concern that the Secretary has started a process for establishing a second beef checkoff program under the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996. An overwhelming majority of cattle producers do not support paying assessments into two separate beef checkoff programs operating simultaneously. The Secretary is directed not to implement a second duplicative beef checkoff program."

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In regards to that language- plus language on COOL and GIPSA- you have the National Farmers Union and the US Cattlemen hopping mad- that story is told via a news release from the NFU that we have posted as a story on our website here.