Posted by carson4575 on May 28, 2009
l to r: Terry Peach, Justin Whitmore, OSU-OKC market manager Cheryl Camp, and Larry Hocking of Berry Creek Farm in Blanchard
Secretary of Agriculture, Terry Peach, was on hand for today’s grand opening of the OSU-OKC Farmers Market at the Chesapeake Energy campus in Oklahoma City. Located at the Glenbrook East parking lot on NW 63rd west of Western Ave., the market’s hours will be from 3 to 7 pm each Thursday.
Justin Whitmore, ODAFF Farmers Market Coordinator, said producers selling at this market will offer in-season produce and fruits as well as a variety of meat and poultry products. During our visit today producers were unloading everything from grass-fed beef to flowers and other ornamentals.
“I believe this is going to be an awesome market for both the growers and the consumers who shop here,” Peach said today. “We really appreciate Chesapeake Energy for their willingness to help host this market and provide this location.”
Posted in Farmers Market, Market Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on May 28, 2009
Photo provided by U.N.
Drovers Magazine online has a story today about the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations new website devoted to livestock welfare. This is an interesting concept and will no doubt be widely used…especially by producers, governement officials, educators, etc. in developing countries.
Greg Henderson, Drovers editor, has some interesting commentary about the story, the concept of the website and some insight into why information on this site may be viewed as “tainted” by the livestock industry. Click here for the complete Drovers story and a link to the U.N. press release.
Posted in Animal Industry | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on May 27, 2009
COWBOY QUICHE
An Adapted Recipe by Kitchen Kimberley
1 refrigerated pie crust (see tip!)
1 lb. JC Potter Mild Country Sausage
½ C diced red bell pepper
1 shallot, minced
1 C loosely packed spinach leaves, torn
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 C evaporated milk
1/3 C mayonnaise
2 T all-purpose flour
1 C shredded monterey jack cheese
½ to 1 C shredded Hiland Hot Pepper Jack cheese, according to taste
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Shape piecrust to fit into a quiche dish; set aside. In a large non-stick skillet, cook and crumble sausage with diced bell pepper and shallots. When sausage is cooked and vegetables are tender, add spinach, stirring until wilted; remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, blend all remaining ingredients well. Transfer sausage mixture to crust-lined quiche dish. Pour egg mixture evenly over sausage. Bake, uncovered for 35 minutes. Enjoy!
Tip: Try the new Pillsbury pie crust (look for the red box!) that you can simply unroll, shape, and fill. It is very easy to use! Happy cooking!
Jack’s Comments: The photo of this week’s recipe isn’t quite up to professional food photography standards because we didn’t have one provided. I actually prepared this week’s recipe at home over the Memorial Day weekend so I could provide a picture along with the recipe.
This isn’t your normal quiche, it’s a hearty meat pie with just enough “quiche-ness” to make an elegant meal. Paired with a Redbud Ridge winery reisling, it was fabulous. My only substitution from Kitchen Kimberly’s recipe was to use the J.C. Potter “Lite” sausage. Also, although she didn’t call for it, I drained the sausage, pepper and shallot mixture very well before adding it.
–Jack Carson
Posted in MIO Recipe | 2 Comments »
Posted by carson4575 on May 26, 2009
Oklahoma’s Agricultural Statistics Service released this week’s Crop and Weather Summary this afternoon. No real changes for wheat: 34% was rated very poor, 29% rated poor, 28% fair and just 9% was rated good. No portion of the state reported wheat in excellent condition.
Alfalfa cutting advanced 31% from a week earlier but is still 31% behind the five-year average. For the entire report, click here. You will have to click on the “May 26″ report to view the file.
Jack Carson
Posted in Commodity Prices | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on May 26, 2009
Amy Peel
Newly elected Oklahoma State FFA President, Amy Peel, has joined ODAFF as a summer intern and today is her first day on the job. Her FFA duties will take a portion of her time this summer but when she’s not committed elsewhere she will be working closely with Secretary Peach.
“We’re going to keep Amy busy working on the upcoming Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture convention here in Oklahoma City next month,” Peach said. “This is the second summer we’ve had the State FFA President join us for an internship and we’re really excited to have her join us.”
Amy is a sophomore at Oklahoma State University studying agricultural education. She says she wants to be a vocational agriculture instructor like her uncle in Wetumka.
“This summer I am looking forward to learning about everything the department of agriculture does,” she said. “This is a great opportunity and I’m really excited about being here.”
Amy’s family raise beef cattle, her mother is a fourth grade teacher and her father is a manager for OG&E. Here is a link to Amy’s profile.
Posted in FFA & 4H | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on May 22, 2009
Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Terry Peach, received permission for state sesame growers to apply a restricted use herbicide, Dual Magnum®, as a pre-emergent. The chemical is an important tool for weed control but must be applied before the sesame plants emerge.
“Sesame production is increasing in Oklahoma with about 50,000 acres expected to be planted this year,” he said. “Our growers have asked for this herbicide and we were pleased we were successful in receiving this exemption.”
Growers have only 15 days to apply and may begin using the chemical immediately. It is not effective against weeds that have already emerged.
Posted in Consumer Protection, Section 18 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on May 22, 2009
For More Information Contact: Wilbert C. Hundl, Jr. (405) 522-6190
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will release results of the 2007 Census of Agriculture summarized by watershed on May 29 at 2:00 p.m. CDT. This will mark the first time that census data will be available at the watershed level.
Data in the 2007 Census of Agriculture Watersheds publication will be available by the 6-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC), or watershed, as defined by the U.S. Geological Survey. Additionally, this publication will include watershed data from the 2002 Census of Agriculture to demonstrate the changes in land use, production practices and livestock distribution in the past five years.
For more information about the Census of Agriculture or to access the watershed publication once it is released, click here.
Posted in Ag Statistics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on May 22, 2009
The first load of wheat was cut and delivered to a grain cooperative in Eldorado yesterday. The Daily Oklahoman’s Debbie Blossom has a story in today’s paper about the quality and outlook for yields from this year’s harvest.
Here is the full story.
Posted in Wheat | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on May 22, 2009
In today’s Tulsa World the Associated Press reports on the move of Valero into the corn belt. The story reports that the company has bought ethanol plants for as little as 30 cents on the dollar recently.
Click here for the full story.
Jack Carson
Posted in Market Development | Leave a Comment »
Posted by carson4575 on May 20, 2009
Oklahoma’s top veterinarian traveled to Austin Texas for today’s public forum and listening session on the National Animal Identification System that has been voluntary for about the past four years. Ron Hays, Oklahoma Farm Report and Radion Oklahoma Network, has posted the story and a radio interview on his site here.
Jack Carson
Posted in Animal Industry | Leave a Comment »
