Oklahoma Youth Expo 2015 Up and Going 

The Oklahoma Youth Expo is getting underway at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City. This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the livestock show of cattle, hogs, lambs and goats. OYE Executive Director Tyler Norvell said the show continues to grow to impressive levels.


"It continues grow every year, it just overwhelms me that we continue to grow," Norvell said. "This year we have 16,375 entries."


To have that kind of support is amazing, but if the event continues to grow Norvell isn't sure where he would put the livestock. He said that's a great problem to have. The impact of OYE on the state is enormous. In having record entries, that bodes well for the district livestock shows and local shows as well. Norvell said the stronger OYE is, the stronger the district shows are, the stronger the county shows are and it trickles down. 


As visitors come out to watch this year's show, they will find logistics more challenging this year with the construction taking place at the State Fair Grounds. Norvell said the reconstruction with any of the animal barns is finished, but parking could be an issue.   He said visitors can park south of all of the barns or further east of the construction area.


Youth exhibitors are bringing in their tack, animals and are getting set up. The first show begins on Friday, March 13, 2015 at 8 a.m with the purebred breeding gilt show and Saturday, March 14 is the commercial gilt show. The breeding cattle shows begin on Sunday, March 15.   For a full list of OYE events, click here. 

Tyler will also be joining me for our weekly In the Field report on KWTV News9 in the Oklahoma City market on Saturday morning at 6:40 AM.

Our thanks to ITC Great Plains for their support of our coverage of the 2015 OYE- click here for their website to learn more about the fact that they are the Energy Superhighway when it comes to High Voltage Transmission lines.

To read more about special activities going on with this year's expo or to listen to my full interview, by clicking here. 

American Farm Bureau Files Brief in Egg Law Case

A California law that regulates agricultural production in other states is unconstitutional for multiple reasons, and a lower court ruling that barred other states from bringing suit against California on behalf of their citizens should be reversed, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.


In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (State of Missouri, et al. v. Harris, et al.), AFBF urged the court to find that six states have standing to challenge California's egg law.


A federal district court in California dismissed a lawsuit brought by officials from Missouri, Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska and Oklahoma on behalf of their citizens in October of 2014, months before a new California law imposed hen cage size restrictions on any shell eggs sold in the state, including those produced out-of-state. California's legislature enacted the law to protect California egg producers from a competitive disadvantage resulting from the 2008 Proposition 2 ballot initiative that imposed cage size restrictions on California egg producers. 

 

To read more from American Farm Bureau, click here.  

Reps. Womack, Costa Announce Congressional Chicken Caucus for 114th Congress

Congressman Steve Womack (R-Ark.) and Congressman Jim Costa (D-Calif.) Tuesday announced the formation of a new, bipartisan Congressional Chicken Caucus in the House of Representatives.


The caucus will serve as a formal group of members whose mission is to educate members of Congress and others about the history, contributions and issues of importance to U.S. chicken producers, pertaining to food safety, international trade, labor, animal welfare, immigration and environmental issues, among others.   


"The chicken industry is vital to the economy of the Third District of Arkansas, which is why I am proud to co-chair the Congressional Chicken Caucus, alongside Representative Costa, with whom I share a longstanding bipartisan relationship," said Rep. Womack. "We look forward to growing the caucus' membership, working together to educate members, and advancing the issues that are important to the U.S. chicken industry."
 

To read more about the Chicken Caucus, click here.  

Texoma Cattlemen's Conference Addresses Industry Issues

All phases of the cattle industry are experiencing record high markets. Many cow-calf producers are reaping unprecedented prosperity. Producers will continue to face challenges and opportunities but at a new and higher level.


To help beef producers successfully manage their livestock operations during these record markets, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation will host its fourth annual Texoma Cattlemen's Conference: Prosperity, Volatility and Sustainability, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, March 21, at the Ardmore Convention Center. During the conference, regional and national industry leaders will closely examine some of the major interests and issues facing the industry: beef sustainability, ag credit, risk management and the cattle outlook.


"Cattlemen are perhaps operating with greater exposure to associated risks," said Hugh Aljoe, consultation program manager. "But higher risks usually mean there is potential for greater rewards. So where are the opportunities? What are the risks producers need to manage? How do producers do that successfully? We'll answer those questions and more at this year's Texoma Cattlemen's Conference."


To read more about the Texoma Cattlemen's Conference, including a list of speakers and topics, click here.   

Boehringer Ingelheim Offers BQA Certification Free to Producers

For the third year in a row, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica is helping pay the expense for producers to become certified in Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) through April 15, 2015. Boehringer Ingelheim Director of Cattle Professional Services Dr. Craig Jones said they are trying to offer a platform for producers to become trained and educated on Beef Quality Assurance and the value that will provide them.


In the two previous sign up periods, Jones said the program has been successful. He said through their website, producers can log on and become BQA certified or recertified. Boehringer Ingelheim is covering the certification cost which runs from $25 - $50 per beef or dairy producer.


BQA offers a set of best management practices for producers to produce quality healthy cattle and in turn safe, nutritious beef. Jones said this program bring value to the entire beef industry as the program educates producers on management of feed stuffs, proper administration of vaccines, proper handling of vaccines, record keeping, nutrition, etc. He said overall it will help people produce a better product. 
  

To read or to listen to my Beef Buzz feature about this incentive available to beef and dairy producers by clicking here.  

Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains- Click here to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.

USDA Celebrates Women's History Month by Profiling Oklahoma State Alum Minnie Lou Bradley

In celebration of Women's History Month, USDA is highlighting a different leading woman in agriculture each week. Last week, they kicked off the series with Agriculture Marketing Service Administrator Anne Alonzo. This week, they caught up with cattlewoman Minnie Lou Bradley.


"Minnie Lou Bradley, now a sprightly 83, always had a passion for agriculture. Growing up in southwestern Oklahoma, Minnie was the first woman to major in animal husbandry from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater in 1949. In 1955, Minnie Lou Bradley moved to the Texas Panhandle to found Bradley 3 Ranch with her husband Billy. For decades, Minnie's vision has catapulted Bradley 3 Ranch into a leader and award-winning ranch for land management and genetic beef breeding. Minnie herself has lassoed a herd of accolades, including being the first female President of the American Angus Association, an inductee into the Saddle and Sirloin Portrait Gallery and has received recognition as one of the nation's top 50 U.S. Beef Industry Leaders by BEEF magazine.


"Minnie still lives and works on her ranch every day. She took a moment to reflect on how she got to where she is, recognize one of her own heroines in animal husbandry, and offer some sound advice to the next generation of women in agriculture. "  

To read the full interview as Bradley shares details about her personal life and what advice she has for women in agriculture, by clicking or tapping here.   

Video Bashing Modern Production Ag Gone Viral- #NewMacDonald is Awful 

On Twitter last night, I saw tons of tweets with the hashtag #NewMacDonald- and as I took a closer look- I was sickened at how low some haters of conventionally raised food will go to try to say what they believe is right and how anything else is evil.  

What I am talking about is a video using elementary age kids in a staged school play.  They are singing the song Old MacDonald Had a Farm- and have toy hobby horse size cows come across the stage with what looks like medical doctors chasing them with syringes- then they show some corn with guys in hazmat suits coming out and spraying and spraying and spraying some more pesticides- the smoke gets so bad everything falls apart- they show shots of parents looking worried and then the kids reappear- all is good- they roll out green grass- plant free range chickens in the pasture and cows running and playing and some crops with the sign no spray and the kids are singing about no GMOs.   

I linked to it on my Twitter feed- you can go there or you can email me if you really want to see it- it has gone viral and it is very disturbing how school age kids are being manipulated by adults to be a part of this trash- I would call it the equivalent of porn.

One gentleman from Indiana sums up my thoughts on this junk very well- Jim Smith says "I just read through some of the #NewMacDonald tweets, the fear mongering and outright hatred for the American farmer is scary."  Smith adds that "I find it ironic that #NewMacDonald bashes Big Ag but gives a pass to the multi billion dollar Big Organic."    

The website that posted this piece of trash is OnlyOrganic.Org and they clearly are all about marketing their ideas and having only their choices for consumers to be able to buy.

I was told in a couple of conversations online last night that many farmers who were out there challenging the lady who was the ringleader on this- BookieBoo is her handle- that many organic farmers had shared their disgust with this video and this lady's charges against agriculture. 

Simply put- this is why farmers and ranchers have got to learn to tell their story- and then be willing to tell it- and tell it again.