Posted by carson4575 on November 20, 2008
Mark Hodges announced today that he will retire as head of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission at the end of the year. Hodges first took the position in 1996. He left several years later to serve in the same capacity for the Oregon Wheat Commission but returned to Oklahoma in 2001 after two years.
Mark says he wants to return to the family farm in the Panhandle. From the ODAFF, we will greatly miss working with Mark Hodges as he was always dedicated and devoted to Oklahoma agriculture and the Oklahoma wheat industry.
Mark Hodges, left and Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Terry Peach on a trade mission to Cuba that resulted in a $4 million wheat sale.
Visit the Oklahoma Wheat Commission website for more information.
Posted in Wheat Commission | 2 Comments »
Posted by carson4575 on November 20, 2008
Oklahoma has been fortunate that conditions have not favored an explosion in Southern Pine Beetle populations since the 1970s but the U.S. Forest Service believes this situation could change if state forestowners do not thin some of their pine plantations. ODAFF’s forestry services division is administering about $133,000 in cost-share funds to help qualified landowners in LeFlore, McCurtain and Pushmataha counties. Forestland owners in adjoinging counties may be eligible as well.
Oklahoma has more than 1.1 million acres of nearly pure commercial pine forest and the U.S. Forest Service says as much as 25 percent could be in danger if landowners don’t take action. At current prices that could be a potential loss of more than $200 million. For more of the story check out the ODAFF press release.
Posted in Forestry Services | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on November 20, 2008
December 10
9 – 3
Chickasha
Community Building, Grady County Fairgrounds
The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service invites you to attend the 2008 Oklahoma Cucurbit Production and Marketing Educational Meeting. The meeting will address various topics of importance to producers of watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and gourds – crops that are important traditions in Oklahoma and surrounding areas. It will provide information of value to extension educators, market garden growers, commercial producers, and agricultural suppliers.
This year’s meeting will emphasize crop production and management using plastic mulch and drip irrigation systems. Specific presentation topics will include cooking with cucurbits, fertilizer use, irrigation, insect control, disease prevention, weed control, and others.
The event will include a noon meal. Pre-registration is requested. Watch for further details at www.lane-ag.org,
Posted in Market Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on November 20, 2008
Here in the Oklahoma City area one of our alternative weekly newspapers, The Oklahoma Gazette and the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) is calling for Oklahomans to shun big box stores on November 22 and buy only from locally owned retailers, restaurants, mechanics and other businesses.
Here at ODAFF we have been promoting locally grown and processed foods and other items for over 30 years. In that spirtit we are encouraging everyone to choose Made in Oklahoma products for their gift giving and holiday celebrations. It supports Oklahoma agriculture and our local economies. To make your gift giving even easier, here is a link to this year’s MIO Gift Basket Directory for everyone on your gift list.
Here’s an article we prepared about the directory along with some comments from Secretary of Agriculture, Terry Peach. It’s even got some information about where to find Oklahoma grown Christmas Trees!
One more holiday gift giving idea to consider is the MIO Coalition cookbook just released, “Tastefully Oklahoma.” This is a compilation of award winning recipes from the MIO coalition recipe contest. To find out where to purchase this cookbook check out the MIO coalition website. We’ve also been informed that celebrity chef, Kurt Fleischfresser, will be autographing copies of the cookbook at Full Circle Bookstore at 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City on November 24 from 5 to 7 p.m. Kurt has served as one of the final judges in the recipe contest since its inception and also has traveled the world promoting Oklahoma products.
Posted in Market Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on November 19, 2008
Kenny Naylor prepares the ODAFF Geoprobe for demonstration.
A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to observe ODAFF’s newest piece of environmental technology at work. The Geoprobe is a $50,000 piece of equipment that can bore into the earth down to 60 feet and retrieve a complete soil profile showing not only what contaminants are down there, but also providing a soil model that helps our agency scientists find out how water and contaminants move through the soil in a specific area.
The device will be used primarily by our consumer protection and environmental management divisions who monitor concerns related to fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste concerns. After talking with inspectors who have been compelled to hand auger for samples in the past, this machine is a great advance. Kenny Naylor, fertilizer supervisor for ODAFF commented that in the past, on a good day, two inspectors might be able to take three relatively shallow soil samples in a day. With the Geoprobe they can now take that many (much deeper) samples in an hour.
For more information on the Geoprobe the full agency press release is located at www.oda.state.ok.us/forms/mktdev/geoprobe.pdf
Posted in Consumer Protection | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on November 19, 2008
Our good friend from the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Maura McDermott, forwarded a press release to me last night about a new marketing tool called the U.S. Food Market Size Estimator from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
It can help users estimate the demand for 204 food products in every county in the United States. This could be a major boon to anyone applying for one of our Oklahoma Agriculture Enhancement and Diversification loans or grants.
Jack Carson
Posted in Market Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on November 19, 2008
In today’s monthly Oklahoma Board of Agriculture meeting we received a report from Marketing Director and Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture, Rick Maloney, on yesterday’s international reception at the 2008 AQHA World Show being held here in Oklahoma City. City mayor, Mick Cornett said this year’s international audience is the largest ever and that the show will have a positive economic impact of about $32 million during its 17 day span.
The strength of the euro has affected both attendance and spending this year.
Jack Carson
Posted in Ag Events | Leave a Comment »
Posted by okagblog on November 18, 2008
Secretary Peach is on the road this week giving one member of the Attorney Generals’ office an informational tour of agriculture in northwestern Oklahoma. We’re looking forward to hearing how it went and how the AG’s legal staff liked what they saw.
Teaching non-agriculturists about today’s farming and ranching industries is perhaps one of the biggest jobs we pursue and we hope that everyone reading this is doing their part in telling folks about all the good things being done in agriculture.
Jack Carson
Posted in Ag Education | 1 Comment »
Posted by okagblog on November 18, 2008
What that means for ODAFF is that our International Marketing Coordinators have their hands full with our international visitors. We’ll be hosting our friends from other countries in town for the show for the 12th consecutive year! We usually have between 125-150 international visitors to the show. The economic impact from their attendance is a boon to the city, and now, more and more of them are buying property in the state, raising and training their horses here, and exhibiting in the show.
We’re all about increasing our economic base in rural areas and some of these folks can bring lots of money and jobs to these areas.
Posted in Ag Events | Leave a Comment »
Posted by okagblog on November 18, 2008
The MIO Food Bank promotion ended this month. Our participating MIO companies raised $18,000 for the Food 4 Kids program. This amount will feed 90 kids for the entire school year. The cost of feeding one child for 9 months is estimated at $200.
The way the program worked was that participating companies donated a percentage of in-kind donations to match purchases in participating retail outlets. This program has been held several years now and has helped feed lots of needy Oklahomans. The MIO website is www.madeinoklahoma.net.
Posted in Market Development | Leave a Comment »
