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The smiling face of eighth grader Gatlin Goodson said it all. The FFA member from Shattuck FFA was a part of history on Friday afternoon as his Champion Chianina steer brought a record $101,000 at the Sale of Champions of the 100th anniversary Oklahoma Youth Expo. Perhaps even more impressive, the Grand Champions of the four species collectively brought $204,000 for their young owners- which provided a quick start towards the expected one million dollars that was invested into the owners of the top market animals that were shown at the 2015 OYE. (Click on the name of each of the young people owning grand champions for a full rundown of the sale of the top animals in that species.)

As has been the case in recent years- it was a collection of buyers that purchased the Grand Champion Steer of the 2015 show- the buyers of the steer from Gatlin Goodson included Bank of Western Oklahoma, J&L Services, LNC, the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, Express Ranches and the family of Eddie Sims.

The Grand Champion Market Barrow also brought a record of $50,500 with the family of Tom Gilliam stepping up to pay the most that any single individual has ever paid for a single animal in the history of the show. The Grand Champion Barrow was the Champion Hampshire of the show- owned and shown by Garrison Straka of Canadian County 4-H.

The Grand Champion Market Lamb was purchased by a trio of buyers for a total of $25,000- the buying group included Touchstone Energy, CSKT Trailers- formerly known as Central States Trailers and Bobcat. The sister of the Garrison Straka followed her brother into the sale ring and saw her animal hit the $25,000 mark- Lydia Straka of Canadian County 4-H was the smiling owner of the best market lamb in the 2015 show, which came out of the Hampshire breed show.

It was also a record day for the Grand Champion Wether Goat- as another trio of buyers stepped up to buy the Goat shown by Kami Oller of the Garber FFA. The record price of $27,500 was paid by Pfeiffer Farms, the Diamond Hats and McDonald's of Oklahoma.   

Our photo set on FLICKR now has over 1,700 photos from all ten days of the show- click here to check them out.

We do say thanks to our sponsor for our special coverage of the 2015 OYE- ITC, Your Energy Superhighway.  Click here for their website to learn more about this company that is working to expand their footprint in Oklahoma.

United States Cattle on Feed Down 1 Percent

No surprises were found in the latest cattle on feed numbers. That's according to Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities, as the report came in close to pre-report estimates. 


The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 10.7 million head of cattle on feed as of March 1, 2015. That was down one percent from a year ago.   Leffler said this is the second largest March on feed number of the past 16 years and third largest monthly on feed number for the past 11 months. Texas was down one percent, while Nebraska and Kansas was up one percent versus a year ago.


February placements totaled 1.52 million, down eight percent for 2014. Leffler said this was the third smallest February placement number of the past 20 years and third smallest monthly placement number of the past 62 consecutive months. He said Texas was down 30 percent on placements in February, Nebraska was down nine percent and Kansas was up six percent versus a year ago.  


 Radio Oklahoma Network's Leslie Smith got reaction from Leffler after the report came out on Friday.  Leffler addresses how this report will weigh on the market or what trader's will be watching this week.   To read more or listen to the full interview, click here.  

It's Water Week on the OSU Campus in Stillwater

Oklahoma State University is hosting OSU Water Week this week- March 23-27 on its Stillwater campus, highlighting the importance of conservation practices and science-based knowledge in helping to protect the availability and quality of Oklahoma's and the world's water resources.  

A seminar series focusing on water and sustainable development will be featured tomorrow- Tuesday, March 24. Recipients of the 2014 DASNR Water Grants program will provide insights and updates on their recently completed projects from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in 374 Agricultural Hall, located on the corner of Farm Road and Monroe Street. There is no cost to attend.


Presenters include Hailin Zhang and Jason Warren, both of the department of plant and soil sciences, and Justin Moss of the department of horticulture and landscape architecture. Their sessions will focus on developing an interactive online water quality interpretation program, management strategies for subsurface drip irrigation and responsible outdoor water use, respectively. 

Learn more about the Water Week festivities at OSU by clicking here.  

Peel Analyzes Supply and Demand of Cattle Market

The first quarter of 2015 is almost behind us and it appears cattle prices have stabilized quite a bit lately after some wild swings in late 2014. Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel said beef demand has been limited this winter.


"That's causing some of the squeeze in the market right now," Peel said. "Boxed beef prices have been pretty stable over the last month or so. As have fed cattle prices, at the same time feeder cattle prices some increased a little bit." 


Right now there are competing forces. Peel said tight beef supplies continue to support cattle prices, but there is also increasing supplies of pork and poultry that are weighing on the market. He said that makes it hard for boxed beef wholesale and retail values to continue to move up, as they need to relative to the supply situation on the beef side.  To read more or to listen to this Beef Buzz feature, click here.  

USDA Awards $200 Million for Skills Training to Help SNAP Recipients Get Good Jobs

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, joined by Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Friday announced the recipients of $200 million in competitive awards to fund and evaluate pilot projects in 10 states to help Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) participants find jobs and work toward self-sufficiency. Projects in California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington were chosen.


"Helping people find and keep good jobs is the right way to transition recipients off of SNAP assistance and ultimately reduce program costs. These pilots will give USDA and our state partners the opportunity to explore innovative, cost-effective ways to help SNAP recipients find and keep gainful employment in order to build a stronger future for their families," Secretary Vilsack said during a visit to Gwinnett Technical College. "This initiative is a reflection of USDA's full commitment to ensuring that SNAP recipients who are able to work can put food on the table while they get the skills they need to compete for jobs in a global economy. Helping people find good jobs is a far better strategy for reducing food assistance spending than across the board cuts."


 Authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill, the grants announced fund pilot projects focusing on target populations identified by the legislation, including individuals with low skills, able-bodied adults without dependents and SNAP recipients working in very low-wage or part-time jobs. The selected pilots represent a wide array of balanced approaches-including skills training, work-based learning, support services such as transportation and child care, and other job-driven strategies-and reflect the wide geographic diversity of the SNAP population. The grants will fund projects for three years.  Click here for more information.
 

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.

Hallie Barnes of Porter FFA Tops AFR-OFU Ag Achievement Contest at Oklahoma Youth Expo

American Farmers & Ranchers/Oklahoma Farmers Union (AFR/OFU) has announced the top eleven finalists in the 2015 AFR/OFU Agricultural Achievement Contest. This year's contest was held at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City March 16-19, with an awards presentation March 19.


The annual contest recognizes outstanding youth in Oklahoma who display exceptional showmanship skills and possess extensive knowledge of the livestock industry, including production, management, processing and end product utilization. Each year, AFR/OFU presents $5,000 in prizes to the organization's Agricultural Achievement Award winners.


The 2015 AFR/OFU Youth Agricultural Achievement Award winners were Hallie Barnes, Porter FFA, first place; Jaryn Frey, Kingfisher FFA, second place; Wyatt Catron, Stilwell FFA, third place; Brayden Foley, Kingfisher FFA, fourth place; Jill Mencke, Hennessey FFA, fifth place; Jason Murray, Kingfisher FFA, sixth place; Vivienne Hassenbeck, Elgin FFA, seventh place; Brynn Danker, Wellson FFA, eighth place; Regina Leuty, McAlester FFA, ninth place; Brittny Richards, Oktaha FFA, tenth place; and Sheldon Price, Laverne FFA, eleventh place.
 

Click here to read more about the 2015 AFR/OFU Ag Achievement Contest.   

People Notes- Dallas Tonsager, Jody Campiche and Richard Gebhart

Dallas Tonsager of South Dakota was elected this past Friday as Chairman of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation Board of Directors. He succeeds Kenneth A. Spearman, who served as Chairman of the FCSIC Board of Directors from November 2009 until earlier this week when he was designated Board Chairman and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration (FCA).


"I am honored to serve as Chairman of the Insurance Corporation because I recognize and value the role it plays in maintaining investor confidence," Tonsager said. "This confidence is crucial for the Farm Credit System (FCS) to have a dependable source of funds to lend to agriculture and rural America." 

Click here for more on this new position for Tonsager.

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We had heard a few weeks back that Dr. Jody Campiche was headed out the door at Oklahoma State University- and now that is official.  Dr. Campiche, who has been the key player in farm policy analysis in recent years for the OSU Ag Economics Department is headed to Memphis to replace Dr. Gary Adams as the Chief Economist of the National Cotton Council.  Adams will actually be her new boss, as he has assumed the duties of CEO of the Cotton Council.

Jody helped do the number crunching when farmers were first looking at the ACRE program in the previous farm bill- urging wheat farmers in our state of the unique financial windfall that was the low hanging fruit to be taken if you signed up for ACRE at that time.  Millions of dollars were gained by producers with that recommendation.

Since then- she was a key resource for the House Ag Committee as then Chairman Frank Lucas worked on and finally passed the 2014 Farm Law.  And during the sign up process this past fall and early this year- she has been tireless in getting out into the country and explaining to producers the options they have in the PLC/ARC decision for the 2014 Farm Bill signup.  

She has been invaluable to especially the crop producers of our state and region- and we wish her the best as she heads to the NCC.

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As many of you may know- our friend and cattle industry leader Richard Gebhart of Tulsa has been in a real battle healthwise for the last several weeks.  He's improved but then had some setbacks and remains hospitalized as we write this.  

Not a lot of details to give you at his point- but simply a request that you might say a prayer for a complete and quick recovery for Richard.