The Oklahoma Farming and Ranching Foundation will sponsor one of the final Oklahoma Honor Flights, departing from Midwest City, Oklahoma later today.


Oklahoma Honor Flights has served Oklahoma World War II veterans for the past six years by transporting them to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials dedicated to honor their service and sacrifice. After offering 20 flights for the state's veterans, the program is nearing the end of its mission.


"Our purpose from the very beginning has been to address the WWII guys because, unless somebody acted on their behalf, they would never see the memorial," said Gary Banz, executive director of Oklahoma Honor Flights. "It was built six decades after their service and by the time it was built and dedicated in 2004, most of them were well into their retirement years and for the most part had no thoughts of traveling - especially just to go see their memorial."


In addition to the flight, the Foundation is sponsoring two Oklahoma WWII veterans, who returned home from their service and devoted their lives to production agriculture.


"These gentlemen have served our country well, through their military service and their lifelong dedication to producing food and fiber," said Jeramy Rich, president of the Oklahoma Farming and Ranching Foundation.


John Irick was born on a farm in Texas and moved to central Oklahoma at the age of five. He joined the Army and was drafted into service in April 1945, achieving the rank of P-4 Tech Sergeant and serving as a demolition specialist. Following his service, Irick attended Okmulgee Technical College to become an electrician. He began working in the oilfield in 1959, while raising cattle and operating a dairy on his farm in Paden, Oklahoma.


Gerald Turner, a lifetime resident of Pawnee, Oklahoma, has been involved in agriculture his entire life. During WWII, he volunteered to join the American forces. He served as a Sargent in the Army Air Corps, working as an aircraft mechanic, a B-17G crew chief and guarding German prisoners of war.  Turner returned home from his service and married his wife Ella Mae in 1954. They raised five children on the family farm where they still raise cattle and grow feed crops today.


Click here to read more about Irick and Turner or for more information about Oklahoma Honor Flights.

The 33nd annual School Land Trust lease auctions continue over the next three weeks.  Leases in Harper, Ellis, Woodward, Major, Dewey and Woods counties will be offered on this morning at 10:00 a.m. at the High Plains Vo-Tech in Woodward.


Auctions are planned for next week in Lawton, Burns Flat and Enid- and the 2015 series ends with an auction in Stillwater November second.


All leases are for a term of five years. Minimum bids are listed for each tract. Detailed lists are available from the Land Office at (405) 521-4000 or 1-888-35-LANDS. Your questions about the leasing process are answered on line by clicking here.

Click here to hear our earlier visit with  Harry Birdwell, Secretary of the Commissioners of the Land Office talk about the Land Auctions and how the CLO is working to conserve the land so that it will continue to earn revenue for education in the state for the next hundred years.

Cattle producers got a glimpse of the latest in tools and technology last week in Stillwater. Oklahoma State University and the American Angus Association hosted the Cattlemen's Boot Camp. One of the newest and most exciting tools producers have access to is called genomic technology. Dr.Tonya Amen, Genetic Service Director for Angus Genetics, Inc. said having genomic technology has changed the way and rate in which cattle can be changed.


This DNA or genetic evaluation tool allows cattlemen to characterize animals much earlier in life for traditional traits. Amen said it also helps characterize traits that are often difficult, expensive or even time consuming to measure. This can include traits such as, individual feed intake or carcass traits. Genetic testing has also become more affordable, making it more feasible for producers to utilize.


Genomic testing offers important data that can be incorporated into expected progeny differences (EPDs). Amen said these genomic-enhanced EPD's look and work just like a traditional EPD. In adding this new genetic component, she said that adds accuracy to those figures much earlier in the animal's life.

We had a great conversation with Tonya about how cattle producers can get their arms around all the new genetic tools available- and what is ahead.    Click or tap here to hear our complete Q&A with her from the Angus Boot Camp.

Lowell Catlett, an internationally renowned futurist known for his knowledge of technologies and upbeat presentations, will be the featured speaker at the Rural Economic Outlook Conference taking place October 30 on Oklahoma State University's Stillwater campus.


Honored as an adviser and teacher before his retirement from New Mexico State University, Catlett has been a consultant for the U.S. departments of agriculture, defense, interior and labor, as well as many Fortune 500 companies.


"This is an outstanding opportunity to hear and interact with Dr. Catlett, who is an exciting speaker with insights on trends in health care, agriculture, the environment, education and more," said Damona Doye, OSU Rainbolt Chair of Agricultural Finance with the university's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.


Early registration deadline for the 2015 Oklahoma State University Rural Economic Outlook Conference is Friday, October 23rd- early registration will save you twenty dollars for the day's activities.  Click here for more seminar information or how to register.

The Oklahoma Quality Beef Network (OQBN) is committed to increasing producers' access to value added marketing opportunities and improving the quality of cattle produced in Oklahoma by increasing communication between all segments of the beef industry. Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Value Enhancement Specialist Gant Mourer works with cattle producers trying to help them add value in their marketing strategies with their beef cattle herd. In speaking at the Cattlemen's Boot Camp last week in Stillwater, he shared how cattle producers got tangled up in this recent market collapse.


"That's what happens, we just throw them out there on any given day and that's the price that you take," Mourer said. "Course, we always see a seasonal price decrease dip this time of year, then it comes back up. So, yeah there's a lot of things we can do to not take that price, but help set the price on our auction markets."


As producers look to market their calves, there are many ways to capture more dollars per calf through value-added programs. With so many options, Mourer encourages producers to find a program that matches their herd management. Click or tap here to read or to hear more about OQBN.

The Oklahoma Farm Bureau continues the process of developing its policy positions for the coming year- as a group of farmers and ranchers from across the state have gathered for a couple of days of work on resolutions that have been submitted from the County Farm Bureaus. The Annual State Resolutions Committee meetings are a prelude to the delegate business session that is held each year at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau convention that is held in November. The proposals from the counties started being formulated back in late summer at the grass roots level.


According to John Collison, Vice President of Public Policy for the general farm organization, the ideas submitted by the Counties cover a wide range of subjects and help to shape state and national policy priorities for the coming year. Collison says top of mind as the members meet is considering strategies that will help Farm Bureau and other farm groups properly fund the upcoming vote on State Question 777 as the the farm community works to pass this Right to Farm Constitutional Amendment in November 2016.

We talked with Collison yesterday as the process was ramping up at the Skirvin Hotel in downtown OKC- click here to read more and to hear our visit with John.  The Committee will wrap up their work later today- and will reconvene at the annual convention of the OFB to lead the delegates through the consideration of the resolutions that the Committee has approved this week.

 

Bowing to pressure from activists- Subway has announced their intention to stop sourcing meat from animals that have ever received antibiotics.

Beginning in March 2016, Subway customers across the U.S. will be able to order meals made with chicken raised without antibiotics. Turkey raised without antibiotics will be introduced later in 2016, with a complete poultry transition expected within two to three years. The move toward pork and beef raised without antibiotics will be completed by 2025, Subway added.

The Food Babe is positively giddy with this announcement- claiming she was a major factor in forcing this decision because of 250,000 signatures on petitions that she planned to take to the Subway corporate offices that called for this action. Here's her blog claiming victory.

Oklahoma farmer Jessica Wilcox minced no words on Facebook yesterday in her disdain for this activist and her latest crusade as it relates to Subway- "This 'Food Broad' is about the dumbest human I've ever came across. Your chicken has been antibiotic free since the 1950's. Beef, pork, lamb, etc. is all tested for antibiotics BEFORE it makes it out of the processing plant."

Ryan Goodman is an ag advocate on Social Media- authoring a blog called Ag Proud.  He also takes issue with the Food Babe and the others who hate modern animal agriculture.  He offers an overview of the Subway issue and how they are refusing to dialogue on the issue- they just want the controversy to go away. 

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Rain is falling in the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles- and baby, it's headed for the body of the state.  News9 Weather Guy David Payne posted last night on Twitter a graphic showing we are pushing 100 days since central Oklahoma has received a rain of at least one inch. 

It appears that is about to end- in fact, there are now flash flood watches for western Oklahoma counties- with the National Weather Service saying widespread rain of one to three inches is likely- and heavier amounts may happen on a localized basis.

It's only showing rainfall in the Panhandle thus far- but here is the link to the two day rainfall totals map from the Oklahoma Mesonet- it updates in real time so as you check it later on Wednesday and into Thursday- you should be seeing rain pile up in much of western and central Oklahoma.  We can only hope.

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