Road to Rural Prosperity

Because of COVID 19, the 2020 Oklahoma State FFA Convention was not held in downtown Oklahoma City this spring- and it was early June until the Oklahoma FFA was able to name their 2020 Stars in the four traditional categories. In today's Road to Rural Prosperity- we introduce you to two of them- the 2020 Star in Agriscience, Jentry Squires of Kingfisher and the 2020 Star in Ag Placement, Landri Chaplin of Weatherford. KC Sheperd zoomed with them to give you a chance to learn about their award winning programs- and their love for the Blue and Gold. A future Podcast will feature our other two stars. Today's Podcast is powered by OPRSC- the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center.

Today the Road to Rural Prosperity heads down the road where we find KC Sheperd talking with Deborah Clark, a rancher from North Texas, who tells her “On average, we’re producing between a 100 and 120 pounds of beef per acre. Our neighbors’, and the county average is somewhere between 40 and 50. That’s a telling number.”

Deborah explains the way that she and her husband Emry Birdwell operate their 14,000 acre ranch- they will move their herd multiple times a day to allow them to eat the very best grass and to allow that grass to not be overgrazed.

Deborah and Emry have been featured in a documentary series called the Carbon Cowboys.

Today's Road to Rural Prosperity is powered by PSO- the Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

The Road takes us to Weatherford, Oklahoma as Host Ron Hays talks with State Representative Harold Wright about his 12 years in the Oklahoma State House- including the last four as Speaker Pro Tempore.

He offers his take on the 2020 Legislative Session and how challenging it was to write a budget in the middle of the Pandemic. Ron and Harold also talk their shared passion- radio- and the lifetime that Wright has spent in the business.

And- Harold offers great insights into rural Oklahoma and what's ahead for parts of the state outside of Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Today's conversation is powered by the Oklahoma Rural Water Association- Celebrating 50 years of Service in 2020.

Jack Staats has proudly proclaimed "Here by the Owl" at State FFA Conventions since 2008- and did so at the Chapter Level for over thirty years before that- Jack is retiring from his role as State FFA Advisor and the Program Manager of Ag Education in Oklahoma. His teaching career started in 1973 and he has seen Oklahoma FFA rise in popularity and in importance across Oklahoma- reminding us that Oklahoma FFA has the most members of any state based on the per capita state population. He and Ron talk about his life in Ag Education and caring about the FFA members he has been around. Today's Podcast is sponsored by BancFirst- Loyal to Oklahoma and You.

US Senator James Lankford talks with Host Ron Hays about challenges in two of the key industries found in Rural Oklahoma- Agriculture and Oil and Natural Gas.

Lankford described the help coming out of the CARES act and the PPP- and what might be ahead in a few weeks from the US Senate- dismissing the HEROES Act as a partisan wish list from the Democrats in the House.

Today's Podcast is powered by the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma.

Steve Thompson of Oklahoma Farm Bureau Talks about the new fiscal year State of Oklahoma Budget and other policy issues worked on as the State Legislature effectively ended their legislative year by mid May.

Thompson said numerous agricultural policy issues were discussed by lawmakers. Among the issues were food safety laws connected with farmers selling direct to consumers through farmer’s markets, changes in hemp regulations, and an updated definition of what constitutes meat. The largest concern is where we will be at this time next year, budget wise, Thompson said, as the reserve fund is running low.

Today's episode is sponsored in part by OPSRC, the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center.

The Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Brent Kisling, joins Host Ron Hays as he continues to push for every Oklahoma resident to be counted in the 2020 Census. He admits COVID 19 has slowed the process down- but soon door to door enumerators will be heading out-

Brent says a lot is at stake when it comes to improving the well being of our state- every person missed costs the state and local communities thousands in lost federal dollars over the coming decade- and his personal goal is to have a final count of 4.1 million or more Oklahomans.

He adds that Rural Oklahoma will prosper with a full and complete count.

Today's Road to Rural Prosperity is powered by PSO, Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

Host Ron Hays traveled to Stillwater to talk with Dr. Bailey Norwood , The Barry Pollard, MD / P&K Equipment Professor of Agribusiness at Oklahoma State University. Bailey joined the OSU faculty in 2003 and currently teaches three classes in the Ag Econ Department. Ron and Bailey go in depth into two of them- including a relatively new class he is teaching on Supply Chain Management in Agribusiness- Supply Chain is a hot topic in these days of market disruption because of COVID-19- he explains the concept of Supply Chain to Ron- then they talk about his very popular and ever changing Ag Literacy Course- Farm to Fork. There's a free version of it coming in a few weeks- and Bailey explains how to get on board. Today's Podcast is sponsored by the Oklahoma Rural Water Association, Celebrating Fifty Years in 2020.

If you eat, you will want to listen to this conversation hosted by Ron Hays with the Executive Director of okPORK, Roy Lee Lindsey and the Executive Vice President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen, Michael Kelsey. Roy Lee and Michael talk about the challenge of keeping the flow of beef and pork going from the farm or ranch to the consumer's plate during this COVID-19 event- and how that has changed dramatically in a matter of weeks as we all live a new normal.

This Episode is powered by BancFirst- Loyal to Oklahoma and to You.

Guest Host Tim West talks with the Executive Director of Oklahoma's Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, Julie Bisbee. TSET was established after the historic settlement between "Big Tobacco" and 46 states. Voters in 2000 approved the creation of the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, making Oklahoma the first state to protect its Master Settlement Agreement payments in a constitutional trust.

Today's Road to Rural Prosperity is powered by the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma.