April 19, 2013

PERSPECTIVE OKLAHOMA FARM BUREAU

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April 19, 2013

OFB Leadership Team is engaged, empowered, strong after National Women’s Leadership Conference

The OFB Leadership Team joined more than 450 Farm Bureau women in Las Vegas for the 2013 National Women’s Leadership Conference, April 5-9. Team members attended workshops on promoting agriculture and developing leadership skills, while networking with women from across the country.

OFB members participate in Ag Day at the Capitol

Kay County Farm Bureau member Rep. Dale DeWitt praises Oklahomans for reducing harmful nutrients in the state’s water supply during the 2013 Agriculture Day at the Capitol, April 4. Also pictured are Osage County Farm Bureau member Sen. Eddie Fields and Comanche County Farm Bureau member Rep. Don Armes.

YF&R explores central Oklahoma LEFT – YF&R Leadership Conference participants tour Producers Cooperative Oil Mill in Oklahoma City. The group also toured the Express Clydesdales Ranch in Yukon and the Devon Tower in downtown Oklahoma City during the conference, April 5-7.

RIGHT – Inspirational speaker Kelly Barnes visits with YF&R members about building relationships and being active in their communities during the annual YF&R Leadership Conference. YF&R members spent three days learning about the agricultural industry in central Oklahoma.

OFB Leadership Team Chairman Kitty Beavers (right) congratulates the Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year Kimberly Pearson during the 2013 Agriculture Day at the Capitol, April 4. Pearson teaches science and chemistry in Gore and said being raised on a farm has shown her the importance of relaying agricultural lessons in the classroom.

Member Benefits • Fast Track Airport Parking near Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City offers 10% off parking and auto services to members. Please tell the attendant you plan to use your OFB membership discount before departing for the airport.

OFB highlights a benefit in each issue of Perspective as a reminder of the savings available to OFB members. Find a complete list of savings online at okfarmbureau.org.

OFB Calendar Farm City Festival April 23 • Oklahoma City Contact: Marcia Irvin, (405) 523-2405 OYLA Conference Applications Due May 1 • County FB Offices Contact: Holly Carroll, (405) 301-6610 YF&R Golf Tournament May 3 • Guthrie Contact: Holly Carroll, (405) 301-6610

By John Collison, OFB Vice President of Public Policy and Media Relations As we pass the halfway point of the 54th Oklahoma Legislative Session, we look back at the last few weeks with great success. We were able to get a big piece of legislation moved through the House and Senate and onto the Governor’s desk where she promptly signed HB 1999, which allows for the operation of a horse slaughter facility in our state. We now join 46 other states in the U.S. that allow this useful end to a horse’s life. Thank you for all the time and support you put forth in this important matter.

As we move forward, we still see important legislation that deals with rural roads, private property, agritourism, water and other issues. All of these bills will have some impact on your daily life, but there is one that sticks out and cannot be ignored. SB 965 will reorganize the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. As it stands now, the Governor appoints members from all over

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Online Monitor the latest Farm Bureau and agricultural news and information online at okfarmbureau.org.

Currently online: • Agricultural News – Oklahoma Farm Bureau features a new agriculturerelated story every day on its site. Read about both AFBF and state Farm Bureau news by visiting the homepage.

• Legislative Update – The Oklahoma State Legislature is in full swing. See the OFB homepage for a link to the public policy division’s latest legislative update and bill tracking site.

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the state, but sometimes these members get concentrated in certain areas. Northeast Oklahoma has four members, while southeast and northwest Oklahoma generally have zero representation. This bill will try to solve this issue by giving every region of the state a representative. We understand that sometimes change is scary, but we see this as a change for better representation and better statewide planning.

As I have stated before, water is and will be the biggest issue your Oklahoma Farm Bureau will face in the future. It is our most precious resource with the most demand for different uses put on it. As we go through this time of drought in Oklahoma, we must understand that this is not the first or the last time this will happen. History has told us the story of how rain and water work in Oklahoma. We need to use this information to plan for the future. While I understand many of us are looking at full ponds and rivers, many around our state and in the panhandle are not. While we have lakes running over capacity and dumping water, we have lakes that are still twenty feet or better below pool. We are by no means out of the woods yet.

OFB has put together an advisory committee comprised of five board members who will begin to look into what Oklahoma needs to do to ready itself for what lies ahead. This board will meet in an advisory capacity and will hopefully come to some conclusion on what the best practices should be for Oklahoma. Farmers and ranchers are some of the top water users in the state and must come up with solutions if we hope to keep this valuable resource viable. We will talk many more times about this issue and its impact upon our farms and ranches. We will also make sure as we become a more urban legislature, the members understand our needs and the needs of others. We stand ready to make sure your Oklahoma Farm Bureau is not only talking about this but also coming up with real solutions.

OFB offers new member benefit

OACD Hall of Fame

Alveta Taylor, Custer County FB board member, was inducted into the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts Hall of Fame during Conservation Day at the Capitol, April 1. Taylor is the director for the Deer Creek Conservation District and is a former vice president of OACD. EMERGENCY DROUGHT BRIEFING – Oklahoma State Assistant Climatologist Gary McManus speaks to legislators during the drought emergency briefing at the Capitol, April 9.

McManus discussed using a long-range outlook for weather and rainfall in the upcoming summer months.

OFB members are now eligible to receive a $100 discount on any all-steel storm shelter from Storm Safe Tornado Shelters, an Oklahoma company established in 1987.

Their original steel-in-ground models are designed to provide maximum storm protection in the convenience of ones’ garage, porch or patio. Unlike costly outdoor shelters requiring days of construction and planning to accommodate the landscape, the Original Storm Safe installs in only hours and is immediately out of the weather. Storm Safe Shelters have been tested and approved at the Texas Tech University Wind Science and Engineering Research Center.

“Weather is often unpredictable in Oklahoma, that is why we are excited to offer a discount on Storm Safe Shelters to assist in the protection of our members and their families,” said OFB President Mike Spradling, .

“We believe this new member benefit is timely as many Oklahomans are gearing up for storm season.”

Storm Safe Shelters will also be a sponsor of the OFB Young Farmers and Ranchers awards at the organization’s annual convention and meeting.

For more information regarding Storm Safe Shelters, please contact Chris Shaw by email at cshaw@stormsafeshelters.com, or visit their website at www.stormsafeshelters.com.

Counties receive updates from state legislators BELOW – Rep. Skye McNiel (left center) visits with OFB’s John Collison, OFB Director Phyllis Holcomb and Creek County FB member Tom Holcomb during the Creek County FB legislative dinner, April 11, in Bristow.

Members thanked McNiel for her hard work on the horse processing legislation.

BELOW – Alfalfa County FB members Richard Castle (left), and Keith Kisling and Major County FB member Dennis Flaming (right) discuss legislation issues with OFB’s John Collison during a legislative dinner hosted by Alfalfa, Major, Woods, Garfield and Grant County FB in Cherokee, March 28.

ABOVE – Sen. Charles Wyrick talks to members of Craig and Ottawa County FB about his views on the state’s budget during the counties’ annual legislative dinner, March 28, in Miami.

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Published by Oklahoma Farm Bureau Postmaster: address corrections to: Published bySend Oklahoma Farm Bureau

Perspective, P.O. B. 53332, OKC, OK 73152-3332 Postmaster: Send address corrections to: Perspective, P.O. B. 53332, OKC, OK 73152-3332

Staff Directory SPanach, taff D irectory Macey 523-2346

Oklahoma Farm Bureau 2501 N. Stiles Oklahoma City, OK 73105-3126

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Perspective/Online News Editor

Traci Morgan, Monica Wilke, 523-2346 523-2303 Perspective/Online News Editor Executive Director John Collison, 523-2539 Sam 523-2347 VP of Knipp, Public Policy and Media Relations Vice President of Communications/PR Chris Kidd, 523-2402 VP of Organization and Membership

Tyler Knipp, Norvell, 523-2402 Sam 523-2347 Vice President of Public Policy Senior Dir. of Corporate Communications Marla Peek, 523-2437 Marla Peek, 523-2437Affairs Director of Regulatory Director of Regulatory Affairs

OSU-CHS, OSU Medical Center leading Register now for efforts to create more rural physicians the YF&R Golf Classic they complete Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences and OSU Medical Center are taking a lead role in addressing Oklahoma’s increasing shortage of primary care physicians, particularly in rural areas of the state.

“Oklahoma ranks at the bottom of many national health indicators, partly due to the high ratio of population per primary care physicians in the state,” said Dr. Kayse Shrum, OSU-CHS provost and dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine. “Our mission is to provide primary care physicians for rural and underserved Oklahoma. Increasing access to physicians is critical to improving the health of all our state’s citizens.”

OSU-CHS has implemented a number of initiatives in the past few years to increase the number of students in the physician pipeline, including recruiting students from rural Oklahoma, developing early admissions programs, increasing class sizes, developing a rural medical track in the curriculum and increasing the number of rural residency programs for physicians to continue their training after graduation.

In 2012, the OSU-COM increased its class size to 115 to add more physicians to the pipeline. The medical school class size has grown by 30 percent since 2009. As the university increases the number of medical school graduates, a corresponding increase of in-state residency slots is necessary to keep graduating physicians in Oklahoma.

“More than 80 percent of the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine students who finish residency programs in Oklahoma establish their medical practices near the area where

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their training,” said Shrum. “Data shows that physicians typically stay within 100 miles of the community where they completed their residency program.”

A key factor in Dr. Kayse Shrum recruiting students is OSU Medical Center, the largest osteopathic teaching hospital in the nation. The primary teaching hospital for the OSU-COM, OSU Medical Center offers 11 residency programs and eight fellowship programs, training more than 150 osteopathic physicians each year.

“The residency programs help keep our faculty and students on the cutting edge of medical research and patient care,” said Shrum. “Our physicians and residents are challenged on a daily basis to take innovative approaches to medical issues that provide the best outcomes for the patients we serve.”

There are currently 154 residents and 185 third- and fourth-year medical students learning and working at OSU Medical Center.

The medical center handles 45,000 emergency room visits, 7,000 inpatient visits and 23,000 outpatient visits annually, more than double the patient volume in 2009.

OSU-CHS also maintains training programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Durant, Enid, McAlester, Muskogee, Tahlequah and Talihina in Oklahoma, as well as Joplin, Mo., and Pine Bluff, Ark.

The 11th annual YF&R Golf Classic is May 3, at the Cimarron National Golf Club in Guthrie. Check-in is at 10:30 a.m., followed by lunch at 11 a.m. Teams will tee off at noon.

All proceeds will benefit the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation, which protects private property rights and production agriculture.

To register, contact YF&R Coordinator Holly Carroll at (405) 301-6610 or holly.carroll@okfb.org. The registration deadline is Monday, April 29.

OYLA is set for June 24-27 Applications are being accepted for the 2013 Oklahoma Youth Leading Agriculture conference and must be submitted to a county Farm Bureau office by May 1.

The four-day, three-night youth conference is geared toward improving the leadership skills of the top youth in the state. Oklahoma high school seniors will have the opportunity to learn about new leadership techniques, teamwork skills, Oklahoma agriculture and industry demands, and college opportunities.

For more details and to apply, visit the YF&R page of OFB’s website.