Boosting Ag literacy - OKFB Foundation grants awarded

Sep 29, 2023

Agricultural literacy in Oklahoma is getting a boost, thanks to the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. The foundation has recently awarded ten $500 mini grants to organizations including 4-H clubs, FFA chapters, and schools to fund educational projects around agriculture.

Organizations interested in these grants apply, listing their educational projects and outlining their goals. The foundation reviews these applications and awards the grants in two cycles each year, in March and September.

The 2023 grant recipients are working on a variety of engaging projects. From preparing different sausage recipes at Red Oak FFA to a sheep learning lab by Holdenville 4-H, the initiatives are diverse. Oklahoma Union Public Schools STEM Class is working on a comprehensive salsa production unit, while Central High FFA is focusing on meat judging and processing through an incubator and chicken coop project.

Among the other awardees, Milburn FFA is working on incubators for egg production, Navajo FFA is establishing a tower garden grow center, and Silo FFA is creating an agricultural literacy library box. Strother FFA is constructing bee hotels, Logan County Robotics Club is simulating farm challenges using robotics, and Cimarron FFA is involved in greenhouse revitalization.

These mini grants represent the continuous efforts of the OKFB Foundation in promoting agricultural education and literacy.

Source : wisconsinagconnection

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.