Reflecting upon this semester, we realize how truly blessed we are to have such an amazing staff behind this issue of the Cowboy Journal.
This year’s staff exhibited teamwork and dedication unlike anywhere we had seen. With determination and humility, the staff successfully produced an outstanding magazine. We are grateful to have been surrounded with such wonderful people and thank them for their tireless effort in producing this issue.
Within these pages, you will find interesting stories about a man striving to feed the world, veterinarians treating performance horses, students collaborating between different colleges, and much more.
We express our appreciation to Lori Allmon, Kelsey Conley and Holly Blakey
for taking time out of their busy schedules to proofread this issue. Also, thank you to Karen Brown, Todd Johnson, Gayle Hiner and Jake Gankofskie for your assistance during the process. Without each and every one of you, this magazine would not be what it is today.
Also, thank you to our assistant managing editors Dwayne Cartmell, Traci Naile and Angel Riggs for your dedication and assistance in keeping the quality of this publication at such a high standard. We are grateful for your devotion to our education during our time as your students.
Above all, we would like to thank our managing editor, Shelly Sitton, for continually challenging every one of us to be the best we can be in our professional lives as well as our personal lives. Your heart, dedi-
cation and passion to this magazine and staff have not gone unnoticed. You have pushed us and trained us to be the people and professionals we have become today. In the words of William Arthur Ward: “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” Thank you, Shelly, for inspiring us all.
To the staff, congratulations! We made it! It has been an honor to work with all of you, and we know each of you will accomplish great things. We wish you the best in your future careers.
We hope this issue will live up to the quality established by our predecessors, and we hope you enjoy it! Go Pokes!
The Fall 2013 Cowboy Journal staff bleeds orange: Dakota Chambers (left), Danielle Robinson, Jamie Baumgardner, Kailey Sullins, Jordan Cash, Blaire Boyer, Rhonda Roberts, Carrie Horsley, Ivy Hill, Morgan Neilson, Alannah Castro, Kendsy Vincent, Tyler Price, Samantha Stanbery and Mindy Andres. Photo by Jake Gankofskie.
rrmteo/
Editors
Rhonda Roberts
Samantha Stanbery
Graphic & Photo Coordinators
Mindy Andres
Tyler Price
Sponsorship Coordinators
Dakota Chambers
Danielle Robinson
Circulation Coordinator
Blaire Boyer
Managing Editor
Shelly Peper Sitton, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editors
Dwayne Cartmell, Ph.D.
Traci Naile, Ph.D.
Angel Riggs, Ph.D.
Staff
Jamie Baumgardner, Jordan Cash, Alannah Castro, Ivy Hill, Carrie Horsley, Morgan Neilson, Kailey
Sullins and Kendsy Vincent
On the Cover
On average, a canola seed is 40 percent oil. The remainder of the seed is used in livestock feed. Photo by Rhonda Roberts.
Volume 16 Number 1
Collaboration
CASNR, CEAT students embrace the opportunity to learn from each other.
The Wise Legend
OSU animal science distinguished alumnus leaves an impact on the meat industry.
A Focused View
Students learn to capture Oklahoma through the lens of a camera.
Conserving Canola
Researchers look into storage methods as canola production in Oklahoma increases.
Twisted Wonders
A Norman woman’s pretzels may be the next big snack item.
The Plot Thickens
From the Olympics to professional sports, OSU covers ground.
Nature’s Walls
CASNR students help take an elementary classroom outdoors.
Planting a Future
OSU professor strives to make a worldwide impact.
Wheat’s
Dual Purpose
Producers use wheat for both crop yields and cattle gain.
This Little Piggy
FAPC, Ralph’s Packing Co. join forces to send OSU pork to market.
The Beef Masters
OCES Master Cattleman Program teaches producers industry fundamentals.
Treating the Pros
OSU veterinarians help heal equine athletes.
Travel. Change. Repeat.
CASNR students leave an impact on the lives of Central Americans.
Deep Roots
A farm family cultivates strong connections with Oklahoma State University.
One Grand Summer
An OSU senior experiences the summer of a lifetime in Grand Teton National Park.
Small Fish. Orange Pond.
An environmental science freshman crosses the ocean to ‘dive in’ at OSU.
America’s Brightest Orange
CASNR celebrates Homecoming 2013 … Cowboy style.
CASNR, CEAT students embrace the opportunity to learn from each other.
tudying in two buildings on opposite sides of the Oklahoma State University campus, students in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the School of Architecture rarely crossed paths.
That independence changed in the fall 2012 semester when professors within the horticulture and landscape architecture department and the architecture program developed an integrated class to give students a chance to experience real-world, interdisciplinary collaboration.
This collaboration continued in the fall of 2013 when Nick Nelson, professor of landscape architecture, joined with professors of architecture Awilda Rodriguez and Jerry Stivers along with Randy Seitsinger, head of the School of Architecture, to extend this unique experience for students.
The class — LA 4515 Studio 5: Urban Design for landscape architecture students and ARCH 4116 Design Studio VI for architecture students — brings together students from both colleges. The students work to solve problems and create projects while learning from others in a different, but similar, discipline, Seitsinger said.
Nelson said the idea for the class began as an experiment to get students of similar disciplines “out of their comfort zone.” He said the class gives students the experience of interdisciplinary collaboration.
“Interdisciplinary collaboration is a realistic part of what we do professionally,” Nelson said. “We deal with other professionals on a daily basis.”
Nelson said being able to give students the experience of interdisciplinary interaction at an early stage in their careers is positive. He said students in the class also gain numerous social skills through negotiation and problem solving in their design groups.
“There is a high value in collaboration between the two similar disciplines,” Seitsinger said.
Interdisciplinary collaboration is a realistic part of what we do professionally.
The two programs previously tried to collaborate on various projects, Seitsinger said, but limited space in design studios and conflicting studio times made this challenging. After a new addition to the School of Architecture and rescheduling studio times, Seitsinger said he and Rodriguez approached Nelson about a joint project in 2012.
— Nick Nelson Landscape Architecture Professor
In the first part of the semester, students are placed in groups of three to four architecture students and one landscape architecture student to develop a design for a specific project. Students in the 2013 fall semester created designs for a hypothetical Eco-Village at OSU.
After this team project, students are reorganized into their respective disciplines to work on special projects, while still working in the same lab space as those from
Above: Randy Seitsinger (right) critiques the on-screen design of Curtis Freeman, architecture student. The studio is located on the third floor of the School of Architecture building. Left: Chris Haverkamp (center), architecture student, and Jay Williams (right), landscape architecture student, receive advice from Nick Nelson. Photos by Tyler Price.
the opposite program. Continuing to work in the same space provides opportunity for additional cross-disciplinary interaction, critiques and problem solving, said Jerry Stivers, professor of architecture and studio critic for the class.
Similar to the real world, the groups are chosen at random and not structured by the teachers or students, Stivers said.
Students do not miss curriculum taught prior to the creation of the class. The content of the new class has been taught in the respective areas, but the new class adds new social and collaboration aspects, Nelson said.
Preparing students for the “real world” is one of the greatest things the new class has done for the students, said Sean Miller, fourth-year architecture student.
“We will always be working with a group of people from different fields, so getting a head start can only be a benefit,” Miller said.
Miller said combining the classes allows students to be introduced to new ideas and thought patterns. Gaining vital skills in teamwork and working in groups was a rewarding learning experience, he said.
Lance Shaw, a fourth-year landscape architecture student, said the daily critiques of group progress and design were some of
Assistant professor of architecture Awilda Rodriguez
observes landscape architecture student James Hazzard’s design in the studio where students create their designs. Below: Pencils sit ready to bring students’ designs to life. Photos
Left:
(left)
by Tyler Price.
the differences between this class and previous classes taken in the horticulture and landscape architecture department.
“[The daily critique] has definitely been something that has kept me on my toes because you have to be ready to explain and sometimes defend your design during each studio,” Shaw said, “which actually helps to get a better understanding on what you are trying to accomplish.”
Students learn from other students within and outside of their disciplines and also from faculty outside of their fields.
“Getting feedback from the professors in architecture from their side of the design sometimes brings forth ideas that a landscape architect may not even think of,” Shaw said. “Hopefully, I can maintain that side of thinking once out in the real world.”
Miller said it took time to get used to working with landscape architecture students. He said his group’s landscape architect became a great asset to his team and working with Nelson was a great learning experience for the team.
Outside support for the class and its purpose has been evident, Seitsinger said. Oklahoma State University’s president, Burns Hargis, has visited the studio both semesters the class has been offered.
“OSU is very supportive of cross-disci-
plinary activities,” Seitsinger said. “[Hargis] was very enthusiastic about the collaborations and seemed very supportive of what we were doing.”
As an architecture firm owner, Stivers said he always identifies those students who have experience working with others. He said students with teamwork experience have an understanding of how to relate to people to get things done.
“When you see [students] have been involved in team projects, that’s a positive thing,” Stivers said.
Nelson said collaboration makes this class better than the classes taught prior to
the fall 2012 semester. He said being able to collaborate is especially important when working in a design environment.
“The cross-college collaboration is such an important thing,” Nelson said, “because that’s the reality of professional life.”
After two successful semesters, Seitsinger said he looks forward to continuing the class, improving the overall experience, and refining the interaction among the students of different majors. CJ
Laverne, Okla.
Education & Advocacy
Tyler Price
Landscape architecture student Anna Oosting (second from left) and architecture students Laura Fox (second from right) and Alan Krone (right) get their work critiqued by Jerry Stivers, architecture professor. Photo by Tyler Price.
OSU animal science distinguished alumnus leaves an impact on the meat industry.
Awake hours before the sun, Jimmy Wise arrived at the Tyson Foods Inc. packing plant in Dakota City, Neb., to complete the finishing touches on the International Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest for 2012.
Few knew that morning would mark the final time Wise, a long-time meat science enthusiast, would remind contestants at the national contest of the day’s schedule and to make sure they filled their Scantrons clearly, leaving no stray marks.
Before leaving his legacy in the meat industry, Wise earned his Bachelor of Science in meat science from Oklahoma State University in 1967.
“I thought I was going to be a pre-vet major,” Wise said. “Once I got to Oklahoma State, I realized I didn’t really want to be a vet and very quickly changed my major to animal science.”
During his time as an animal science student, he worked in the meat lab on campus, which triggered his interest in the meat science industry.
“Working in the lab and also the opportunity to be on the meat judging team were very instrumental in my career development,” Wise said.
Wise chose the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to complete his Master of Science and doctorate in meat science while working as a full-time instructor beginning
in 1970. During his 10 years at UNL, he coached several winning meats judging teams, capturing the International twice.
“His greatest impact on the meat industry has come through all he has given back to students through his work at [U.S. Department of Agriculture] and meat judging,” said Gretchen Mafi, OSU meat science professor and meat judging coach.
Wise joined the meat standardization branch as a meat marketing specialist of the Food Safety and Quality Service for the USDA in 1978. During his time with the USDA, he was primarily in charge of beef carcass standards, while also doing work related to lamb and pork carcass grading.
“He helped with many industry-influential projects — national beef quality
Above: The 1965 OSU Meat Judging Team captured top honors at the International Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest: Everett Martin (left), coach; Larry Stinchcomb; Jimmy Wise; Dale Shenold; Tom Brewster; Becky (Goodman) Kerr; Vernon Minson; Scott Sherrill; Ronnie Edwards; Melton Ezell, assistant coach; and Bill Pope, animal science department head. Photo courtesy of OSU animal science department. Right: Jimmy Wise places the official quality and yield grade on a carcass at OSU. He received the OSU Animal Science Outstanding Alumnus award in 2001 for his national leadership in the meat industry. Photo by Morgan Neilson.
audit, international audit instrument grading and many other research projects,” Mafi said. “He wrote a lot of the new changes to the grading standards.”
As one of the world’s leading authorities, Wise conducted instrumental research used to help establish the current U.S. beef grading standards, Mafi said.
“He played a major role in the way we grade carcasses,” Mafi said.
For 27 years, Wise led USDA research projects and changed industry practices.
When Wise began at the USDA, all beef carcasses across the nation were graded by a trained grader’s eye. As he finished his career there, the current camera systems were being approved.
by Mafi. Gredell joined the meat judging team in 2012 and captured top 10 individual honors twice.
“It was the impact of both Mafi and Wise during my time on the meat team that influenced me to pursue a master’s degree in meat science,” Gredell said.
Gredell is one of the thousands of students Wise has impacted, Mafi said, and Wise’s guidance will have a rippling effect on the industry for decades to come.
His love and passion for training young people has had a significant impact on the industry as a whole.
— Gretchen Mafi OSU Meat Science Professor
“One of the main reasons I hope to coach is to positively influence students the way Dr. Mafi and Dr. Jimmy Wise did,” said Nolan Hildebrand, OSU senior and 2012 meat judging team member.
Before retiring in 2005, he stayed involved in the judging program as a committee chairman and member. He also put the official placings on grading and specification rails at more than 115 contests.
After leaving USDA, he began his role as the meat judging program coordinator for the American Meat Science Association. This role allowed him the opportunity to impact many young professionals’ lives, Mafi said.
“His love and passion for training young people has had a significant impact on the industry as a whole,” Mafi said.
Wise scheduled each contest, organized the plant, selected the classes, managed and executed the contest, and tabulated scores.
Coordinating contests is about making sure all logistics are taken care of and good committee members are selected, Wise said. He said he did everything he could to ensure contestants had the opportunity to do their best.
Wise had a significant impact on the young professionals in the industry for the next nine years, Mafi said.
“Honestly, until they get to college and get involved in the meat judging program, many students have never considered the meat industry as a career,” Wise said.
OSU senior Devin Gredell had never stepped foot in a meat cooler until he took the meat science introduction class taught
“The experiences provided to me through the meat judging program taught me so much more than I ever anticipated,” Hildebrand said.
Although Wise will no longer select the classes for contests, time the reasons or have a pot of coffee brewing before the sun rises, his legacy will continue through a mentorship program in his name.
“The AMSA will use the earnings from the mentorship fund to support an activity,” said Wise, who now resides near Mounds, Okla. “My proceeds will definitely be used in some manner to support the judging program, which has been extremely instrumental in attracting a lot of very bright young people to the livestock and meat industry.”
These young people hope to leave a legacy much like Wise, Hildebrand said.
“I miss the interaction with my colleagues on the committee, the coaches and the students,” Wise said.
“It’s going to be interesting,” he added. “For about 48 years now, most of my weekends in the fall have been somehow related to a judging contest. It will be a little bit different to not attend the contests.” CJ
Jimmy Wise models the winning shirt, which was designed by the OSU Meat Science Association and won the People’s Choice award. Photo courtesy of the American Meat Science Association.
On a rainy summer night in Auburn, Ala., participants of the 66th Reciprocal Meats Conference hosted by the American Meat Science Association gathered for the student membership’s annual T-shirt auction. The storm outside could not match the flood of bids about to come in.
It quickly became one of the most memorable events to date, said KatieRose McCullough, OSU meat science graduate student and south region director, AMSA Student Board. Oklahoma State University entered a shirt with a silhouette of Jimmy Wise that read “Where the Legend Began.” Wise modeled the shirt, and the bids began. Soon, the shirt sold for $11,000. Donations to the purchase came from multiple friends of Wise.
The proceeds of the shirt were donated to the Jimmy Wise Mentor Recognition Endowment.
Meeker, Colo. Sales & Marketing
Morgan Neilson
Students learn to capture Oklahoma through the lens of a camera.
wenty-five students. Two weeks. One camera each.
Students learn photography best by doing, said Dwayne Cartmell, OSU agricultural communications professor.
“Students get it faster and understand key concepts better when you assist them during the field shoots,” Cartmell said.
Cartmell taught the first photo tour course in 2006, taking students on a photo tour around Oklahoma.
The idea for this course was modeled after a Texas Tech University course taught by Wyman Meinzer, official State Photographer of Texas, Cartmell said. Two OSU students took Meinzer’s course, and when they returned, they worked with Cartmell to bring a similar OSU course to life.
“That first year we tried to hit all four corners of the state,” Cartmell said. “The time spent traveling was exhausting, so we changed the structure of the class after the first year.”
The last three years the class has been based at the Quartz Mountain Resort’s bunkhouse in Lone Wolf, Okla.
Students attend photo shoots every morning and evening with the content focused on landscape, scenic, people, agriculture and rural America. Shoots include taking photos from the top of Mount Scott, capturing wheat harvest, performing artistic light painting, capturing various locations in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, and taking pictures in many rural communities in that part of Oklahoma.
Students get to spend time in a unique geographical area of Oklahoma, which is great for teaching photography, he said.
During the middle of the day, Cartmell and his teaching assistant, who varies from year to year, gather the students to critique pictures, discuss challenges, and prepare for upcoming shoots.
Critiquing photos helps students think differently and get the perspective of others on how to improve, Cartmell said, and these sessions help students by showcasing peer and instructor work, which can foster growth in how students compose photos.
“The photo tour places students in situations where they can take amazing
photos with the instructor right there beside them,” said Mitch Alcala, photography teaching assistant for three years.
Students also experience the state’s culture at well-known Oklahoma restaurants, such as Meirs, The Backdoor Steakhouse, Hamburger Inn and The Old Plantation.
Even though the photography is his favorite part of the tour, Alcala said the different places they go to for dinner, the people they meet in the small towns and the jokes during down time all make for a great environment.
“It’s much more than a class,” Alcala said. “It’s an experience.”
During the trip, students can take from 3,000 to 8,000 photos each, totaling more than 100,000 images each year.
The photo tour is offered to both graduate (AGCM 5233) and undergraduate (AGCM 4233) students as a three-credithour summer course in May.
For more information about the 2014 photo tour, you can send an email to Cartmell at dwayne.cartmell@okstate.edu. by Carrie
Horsley
Photo Tour students picturing on top of Mount Scott for a sunset shoot during the 2013 Photo Tour held May 12 through May 24. Photo by Carrie Horsley.
Katelyn McCoy
Ann Busby
Kari Wendt
Paige Wallace
Jordan Cash
Halston Courson
Carrie Horsley
Amanda Kacal
Blaire Testerman
Michelle Hamilton
Amanda Travis
Morgan Neilson
In 2014, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act, which established the Cooperative Extension Service, a state-by-state national network of educators who extend university-based research and knowledge to the people.
onae
Ten years ago, research showed canola would be a great rotation crop with wheat to help control weeds and insects in the field, said Carol Jones, a biosystems and agricultural engineering associate professor at Oklahoma State University and the principal investigator for a research project involving canola storage in Oklahoma. Researchers discovered rotating canola with wheat boosted the wheat yield by 10 percent the following year.
“Many producers have found that canola produces better year after year than wheat does,” Jones said.
Oklahoma is now second behind North Dakota in U.S. canola production.
“The resiliency of canola seems to work well for Oklahoma because Oklahoma is so unpredictable when it comes to weather,” said Kevin Moore, a research engineer and doctoral student in the department of biosystems and agricultural engineering.
Moore and Jones conduct research focused on using grain bags to store canola for longer periods of time without aeration.
In the first six to eight weeks after harvest, canola goes through a sweat period where it is susceptible to self-heating. The grain needs to be well aerated to prevent rancidity in the canola from the heat, Moore said.
Jones said producers in northern states
Nearly 400,000 acres of canola were planted in 2013 in Oklahoma.
Photo by Rhonda Roberts.
Researchers look into storage methods as canola production in Oklahoma increases.
and Canada harvest when temperatures are cool so canola is stored in grain bins at a cooler temperature. In Oklahoma, canola is harvested during hot weather so producers must blow air through the grain bin to keep it cool.
“We’re looking at ways [where] perhaps farmers will not have to install aeration,” Jones said. “With grain bags, there’s no aeration involved.”
WB Johnston Grain Co. in Enid, Okla., came to Jones with the idea of using grain bags after noticing a Kansas farmer had good luck with the bags, Jones said.
“We wanted to test that process to see why it was so successful for him and see if it’s something we can roll out for the rest of the state as a suggestion for storing canola,” Jones said.
The polyethylene grain bags look like thick, white plastic tubing, Jones said. The bags come in 8-foot and 10-foot diameters and can be any length.
“Basically, it’s a big cocoon of plastic that you put the grain in,” Moore said.
The grain bags limit the amount of oxygen reaching the grain. With less oxygen, degradation that may normally take place is prevented, which helps extend the storage life, Moore said.
Moore said with the grain bags, farmers can harvest their canola and store it in the same field, which will save in transportation. Areas where the grain bags would be located, however, need to be cleared of any
sticks or rocks that could pierce the bag, Moore said.
The grain bags can rip if deer, birds or other animals get into them, so producers must keep a close eye on the bags. Moore said if the grain bag rips, the hole can be patched with tape and damage to the grain is localized to that specific area.
“You can’t just put these bags out in a field and not keep an eye on them,” Moore said, “but we haven’t had any problems with the bag we’ve been using.”
Moore said their test grain bag is located in Carnegie, Okla., where they loaded it this past June. Moore and Jones checked the bag every two weeks for the first three months of storage and now will check the bag every four weeks until April, when the first year of the study will end, Moore said.
of this research, WB Johnston Grain Co. also provides different facilities for the study on canola storage.
Montie Walton, a grain operations manager for WB Johnston Grain Co., said the company also provides a concrete bin in Hunter, Okla., a steel bin with aeration in Fairview, Okla., and flat storage with aeration in Fairview, Okla.
The advantage to the farmers is it gives them some flexibility.
“We believe [canola] is something that’s going to be here, and so we’re interested in finding out all we can about it from a storage side and handling side,” Walton said. “Then, we can help our farm customers and help ourselves get it to the market place in a good condition.”
“One thing we’re monitoring is the free fatty acid in the canola,” Moore said.
Samples of canola are taken and sent to a crusher to extract the oil from the seed. The oil is tested to check the free fatty acid value, which is a chemical indicator of damage to the seed, Moore said.
Other indicators can be obvious, such as the smell of the canola or mold accumulation. Moore said the focus is on the grade of the canola going into storage versus when it comes out.
Although the grain bags are the focus
Walton said with the grain bags, they have not seen seed degradation and the temperatures have stayed constant. Walton said he believes it will be viable for farmers to put canola in these bags and bring it to the market place at their leisure as opposed to sitting in line at the local elevator.
“The advantage to the farmers is it gives them some flexibility,” Walton said.
Walton said the predominant downside is it takes more labor to get the canola in the bags. Special equipment is used to load the grain bags, but the producer has to be sure the ground is clean and the bag is not stretched too far, Walton said.
Gene Neuens, an oilseed field special-
ist from Producers Cooperative Oil Mill in Oklahoma City, said if farmers can store canola on the farm longer, they can wait for market prices to increase before selling.
Producers Cooperative Oil Mill is the only Oklahoma facility with a crusher. After harvest, the grain is crushed to extract the oil, refined, and then sold as canola oil.
not be a viable practice for the company because of space and the amount of storage PCOM would need.
“We probably took in about 1 million to 1.5 million bushels [of canola] last year,” Neuens said.
We probably took in about 1 million to 1.5 million bushels [of canola] last year.
— Gene Neuens Oilseed Field Specialist for PCOM
Neuens said PCOM began crushing canola in 2006, which had a huge effect on producers since canola previously had to be shipped out of state to be crushed.
“More people started planting canola afterward,” Neuens said.
Five years ago, Oklahoma had about 30,000 to 50,000 acres of canola planted, Neuens said. Today, nearly 400,000 acres are planted.
Neuens said PCOM looked into grain bags as a storage technique, but it would
Farmers in this part of the country are nervous about storing canola for very long, Moore said, because it can go rancid easily if not cared for properly.
“If we’re going to continue to develop our capacity to take this raw material and turn it into a higher value product, then we need to be able to store it,” he said.
Moore said it would be beneficial to keep inventory on hand throughout the year so companies like PCOM would not have to worry about shipping canola from other parts of the country to process it.
Moore said he and Jones would like to compile three years of data on this canola
storage research. The next big step in their research will be in April when they can look at trends in the canola from a production year period, Moore said.
Jones said they also want to look into putting grain bags inside grain bins. The static pressure on canola is twice what it is on wheat. Therefore, a grain bin designed for wheat can be filled only halfway with canola, so half the bin’s capacity is unused.
“If we can put a grain bag in it and it doesn’t rely on aeration, you could use the full capacity of the bin,” Jones said. “We’d like to test it next summer.”
Although Jones and Moore only have worked on this project since the spring, they have learned so much, Moore said.
“It’s been really fascinating learning about it,” Moore said. “I’ve been excited to be involved in this research.” CJ
Barela, Colo. Marketing & Sales
Rhonda Roberts
In June, canola was loaded into the test grain bag using special equipment. Researchers check it monthly to monitor quality changes. Photo courtesy of Kevin Moore.
with just a little twist …
Pam Russ, owner of Stonegate Gourmet, began making spicy pretzels for her son, Tyler, and his friends while they were in college.
“[The boys] loved them,” Russ said. “They and other friends began encouraging me to sell them.”
With that encouragement, Russ soon found herself starting a pretzel company.
In January 2010 at age 50, Russ developed Red Dirt Pretzel Co. to give “a fun nod to our Oklahoma roots,” she said. Russ originally produced and sold her spicy pretzels while working full time for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. As her business expanded, she added other flavors she thought would appeal to customers, she said.
Although anything western has a universal appeal, Russ said, as the company grew and gained customers across the country, Russ knew she needed another look for new packaging.
After renaming her company to Stonegate Gourmet in 2012, Russ added the Rewards packaging line in 2013.
“As much as we love Oklahoma, we wanted a name that evokes a universal sense of class and excellence without reflecting a particular region or product,” she said.
Now, both pretzel lines have six flavors: spicy, caramel, dill, garlic Parmesan, ranch and white cheddar.
“We have settled into six flavors cur-
Stonegate Gourmet makes 800 boxes of pretzels per day. Each box contains 102 pretzels.
Photo by Tyler Price.
rently,” Russ said, “as we think that provides a choice of flavors for our customers without being overwhelming.
“Before I officially started the company, I began investigating what was required to produce and package such a product,” Russ said.
Russ said an official with the Oklahoma State Department of Health suggested she contact Oklahoma State University to take one of the new entrepreneurial workshops taught by the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center.
FAPC offers different food programs, with the “Basic Training” workshop being most popular, said Andrea Graves, FAPC business planning and marketing specialist.
Through the Basic Training workshop, Russ met and worked with Tim Bowser, an extension specialist in processing and engineering at FAPC.
“I spent a day at the FAPC kitchen working with their staff to ‘scale up’ the recipe for the 12-pound batches we now make,” Russ said.
Bowser suggested Russ use a mixer to tumble the pretzels and spray on the flavor component. Bowser had been testing a unique cement mixer with a mixing bowl constructed of food-grade plastic.
“In FAPC’s pilot plant experiments, the cement mixer did a great job of gently tumbling the pretzels,” Bowser said.
The cement mixer with a motor cost roughly $350, compared to a food-industry standard stainless-steel mixer ranging from $7,000 to $10,000, Bowser said.
“It was incredible!” Russ said. “It
A Norman woman’s pretzels may be the next big snack item.
saved, literally, hundreds of hours of time and countless dollars.”
To this day, Russ uses a cement mixer similar to the one FAPC first tested when making her pretzels.
“With the help of FAPC employees finding the best deal or rates on equipment for clients, they are ultimately helping potential small business owners save money while producing a product,” Graves said.
FAPC also helps clients like Russ develop and market these products through various outlets, including new media, Graves said. The center can help anyone, as long as his or her business involves food or agricultural products, she said.
Russ sells her seasoned pretzels in 350 stores in 35 states. To continue to expand her business, Russ said she attends nationally and internationally known food shows
in Dallas, Atlanta and New York. She said the company also plans to attend the San Francisco Food Show.
“These markets will help us identify new customers and continue to expand our availability nationwide,” she said.
Stonegate Gourmet also has a fundraising program and, based on interest from international buyers, may expand the business globally, Russ said.
“The Basic Training class and FAPC have been instrumental to our success,” Russ said. “We absolutely could not have come this far this quickly without their assistance and support.” CJ
Owasso, Okla. Public Relations & Marketing
Jordan Cash
Pam Russ showcases her two lines of pretzels FAPC helped her to produce. Photo by Jordan Cash.
From the Olympics to professional sports, Oklahoma State University covers ground.
muilding a solid foundation for excellence is nothing new to Oklahoma State University.
The OSU departments of plant and soil sciences and horticulture and landscape architecture have sustained this standard through the development of grass breeds. The departments have gained a reputation for their excellence in breeding and evaluating at their research stations located in Stillwater, Okla.
“The OSU turf grass breeding program has been working on new generations of bermudagrass for more than 27 years,” said Dennis Martin, OSU professor and turf grass extension and research specialist.
“While the turf program dates back to the early 1950s, the bermudagrass breeding program began in 1986,” Martin said.
The progress of the turf grass research program improves through extensive research on a 15-acre grass plot research center, he said.
“The breeds grown at OSU’s research center are compared to the industry stan-
dard, and most are trashed,” Martin said. “Only the most elite types are kept.
“The grasses we release are at least great enough to get a shot at being on the professional stadium surfaces,” Martin added.
A breed of OSU bermudagrass was used for the baseball field at the 2006 Beijing Olympics. The program’s bermudagrass breeds also have been used on numerous NCAA, National Football League and Major League Baseball fields, Martin said.
by an OSU turf breeder. The breeder selects the most promising varieties based on performance for further testing, Martin said.
I was drawn to OSU because of the scientific and beneficial research being done.
After an additional three years of testing at OSU, the best lines are sent for three to five years of national testing for quality, tolerance and visual performance, Martin said.
Before the commercial release of the breeds, researchers test how well they tolerate and recover from traffic similar to that seen in football and baseball games.
“These venue managers typically have the resources to purchase and install any variety as they have the budget to obtain the best grass,” Martin said.
“They have extremely high performance expectations,” he said. “It is a vote of confidence to know OSU bermudagrasses are being chosen for such facilities.”
Before the varieties are considered for use at athletic facilities, they are developed
“A traffic simulator is used on the plots to duplicate the traffic of an NFL game,” Martin said.
Chrissie Segars, an OSU horticulture master’s student, uses the Cady Traffic Simulator at the OSU turf center.
Segars majored in agricultural education at Clemson University then received her first master’s degree in sports management at Louisiana State University.
Chrissie Segars, OSU horticulture master’s student, uses the traffic simulator across the turf grass plots. Photo by Kendsy Vincent.
— Chrissie Segars Horticulture Master’s Student
“I was drawn to OSU because of the scientific and beneficial research being done in the turf program,” Segars said.
Segars uses the Cady Traffic Simulator on the plots weekly from May through November to test the traffic tolerance of the grasses, she said. An original traffic simulator was developed at Michigan State University to imitate the number of cleat marks and force on the grass during a game. The design has since been refined by Segars to conduct her traffic tolerance research.
“Data is taken on four different blocks of bermudagrass plots,” Segars said. “I take pictures weekly to measure the amount of live green cover on the plots.”
Based on the findings of her research, she will be able to rank available bermudagrass varieties on their traffic tolerances at the test site. This data will aid in decisionmaking concerning further use of fertile breeding lines, Segars said.
“Our recent grasses, Latitude 36 and Northbridge, have been rated highest among other grasses around the U.S. in the 2007-2012 national trial,” Segars said. “Those ratings attest to the quality of the research team at OSU.
“These findings should prove useful in directing athletic field managers toward selecting a variety they can use to the fullest ability on their fields,” Segars said.
Ultimately, this may allow for more efficient use of resources by minimizing the amount of time and money required to maintain a high-quality facility, she said.
“NFL coaches and equipment managers spend a considerable amount of time gaining information about field conditions before games,” said Sean Considine, retired eight-year NFL player.
“Stable footing is critical in football,” Considine said. “Teams that have poor turf seem to have more injuries and costly mistakes and turnovers.
“Turf grass is easier on your body,” Considine said. “To ensure players are healthy and well prepared, they should play on fields that are of top quality.”
As a part of the OSU turf research program, Segars said having OSU’s bermudagrass chosen for use on an international scale is a big step.
“The fact OSU’s grasses have been used at the Olympics as well as at the NFL level shows the quality of the grasses produced at OSU,” Segars said. CJ
Dover, Okla. Marketing & Public Relations
Kendsy Vincent
Naba Amgain, OSU horticulture master’s student, collects soil test samples. Photo by Kendsy Vincent.
CASNR students help take an elementary classroom outdoors.
n a crisp, 50-degree Saturday morning, most college students use their time to sleep and catch up on rest they lost studying during the week.
Instead, 11 College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources students chose to put on their work boots and make their way to Sangre Ridge Elementary School in Stillwater, Okla.
Wasting no time, the students put on their gloves and started using their shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows and chain saws to begin cleaning the elementary school’s outdoor classroom, the school’s interactive learning tool.
These students, who major in biosystems agricultural engineering at Oklahoma State University, are members of American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers and Cowboy Waterworks, a newly recognized club on campus.
These students have chosen to focus not only on the clubs but also on helping their community, said Garey Fox, Cowboy Waterworks adviser.
The ASABE and Cowboy Waterworks students clean up trails, cut branches and do general upkeep.
Fox demonstrates to his students it is OK to stop, take a step back, and remember the importance of volunteering, said Lisa Brooks, an enrichment teacher at Sangre Ridge Elementary.
The Sangre Ridge Outdoor Classroom, established in 1995, contains a half-mile circular trail on 20 acres of land behind the
Ellen Lew, a Sangre Ridge fifth-grader, enjoys reading her book in the outdoor classroom. Photo by Carrie Horsley.
elementary school and Stillwater Middle School. Along the trail, spaces exist for teachers to give lessons and for students to sit and read. The classroom allows students to see a range of landscapes from woods to meadows to open waters.
The investment OSU students have in the community is something Brooks said she has never seen anywhere else.
While teaching at Sangre Ridge, Brooks takes her class outside to read. She can tell the students are more engaged when she reads “Tuck Everlasting” outside than when she reads the story to them while surrounded by white walls, she said.
“At first, it was difficult to get some of the teachers to see the importance of getting the students outside,” Brooks said. “Once they did, they soon realized how important it is for the students to be more engaged in their environment.”
Students also learn about their environment through the school’s Outdoor Day each spring. This event specifically uses the outdoor classroom, Brooks said.
Teachers register their classes for different stations throughout the day. These 20 to 30 stations consist of all types of exhibits, including bugs, animal footprints, exercise and water.
The stations usually coordinate with each grade’s curriculum, Brooks said.
The elementary students enjoy seeing college students because they are easier to relate to than their teachers, Brooks said.
they have learned as biosystems agricultural engineering students. In June 2014, the team will compete in Montreal.
They soon realized how important it is for the students to be more engaged in their environment.
— Lisa Brooks Sangre Ridge Elementary Teacher
The idea of college and higher education becomes more appealing to elementary students once they see the cool things the OSU students are learning, she added.
Cowboy Waterworks uses the Outdoor Day as a mock contest before their national competition, Fox said.
The national contest, called the Fountain Wars Design Contest, brings students from across the world to demonstrate skills
At the contest, the team has two hours to build its model, 30 minutes to adjust anything and 45 minutes to test the model to see if it works, said Shelyn Gehle, biosystems agricultural engineering senior. When they do not have time to get all of the parts together, they have to work with what they have, she said.
“As a team, we have to think on the spot,” Gehle said.
In 2013, the Cowboy Waterworks team developed a display to suspend a ball using water with Outdoor Day as the first trial run with an audience.
“The elementary kids were excited to see it,” Gehle said.
In a video recorded by Cowboy Waterworks, the elementary students were chant-
Enrichment teacher Lisa Brooks (facing class) takes her students to the outdoor classroom for a more engaging experience. Photo by Carrie Horsley.
ing, “Go, ball, go! Go, ball, go!” When the ball fell, the elementary students all gasped in disappointment.
Along with Cowboy Waterworks, multiple OSU departments help with the Outdoor Day, said Amanda Fox, head of the Sangre Ridge PTA Outdoor Classroom Committee. The volunteerism of ASABE and Cowboy Waterworks members to help clean up the outdoor classroom makes all of it possible, she said.
“If OSU stopped doing Outdoor Day, it would crumble,” Brooks said.
The biosystems agricultural engineering students usually go to the outdoor classroom twice a year to help clean up, but depending on the year, sometimes they come out more, she said.
“We wouldn’t be using the outdoor classroom if it wasn’t for these students,” Amanda Fox said. CJ
Carrie Horsley
Galva, Ill. Graphic Design & Marketing
Cowboy Waterworks and American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers members help clean the outdoor classroom in late September for the start of the new school year: Nicole Carter (left); Matt Rogers, ASABE president; Carson Depew; and Lizzie Hickman. Photo by Carrie Horsley.
Planting
Ashirtless man from El Salvador with a sack of treated corn secured around his waist walks the fields, planting the seeds by hand.
William “Bill” Raun, regents professor of soil fertility at Oklahoma State University, said the picture of the man from El Salvador, which both haunts and motivates him, is the reason for his success.
From ages 3 to 17, Raun lived in Colombia and parts of Mexico. During high school and college, he spent the summers working in Nebraska on a farm.
Raun said he always has held a passion for agriculture. He attended OSU where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agronomy. After graduating from OSU, Raun earned his doctorate in agronomy from the University of Nebraska.
In 1985, after graduating with his doctorate, Raun returned to Mexico and ac-
a future
OSU professor strives to make a worldwide impact.
cepted his first job. He worked with a team of agronomists for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, commonly known as CIMMYT, for six years.
Located just outside of Mexico City, CIMMYT started as a pilot program sponsored by the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1940s. The mission of this program is to raise Mexico’s farm productivity.
While working for CIMMYT, Raun lived in Mexico City for two years; then, he worked in Guatemala for four years, assisting in both the wheat and corn programs.
At CIMMYT, Raun worked alongside historic agriculturalists such as Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work in improving farming practices.
Raun said he loved the work he was able to do with CIMMYT, but after six years he accepted an assistant professorship
at Oklahoma State University. Raun said he was given some freedom and the opportunity to start work on projects for which he had a real passion.
Raun said he has a great passion for agriculture and strives to help others feed themselves. Giving people things is not enough, he said. They need to be taught better practices so they will be able to make their lives better, he added.
When Raun described the man from El Salvador, shirtless, walking the fields, and planting each field by hand, he was describing a normal procedure in many foreign countries.
The corn the farmer is planting is high-quality treated seed, comparable to seed available to U.S. farmers. The problem is the man touches the seed with his bare fingers, Raun said.
This contaminates and exposes the
A farmer plants seed by hand in El Salvador. Photo by Bill Raun.
man to poisonous substances, he said. The seed-coating insecticides are needed to control root-worm in corn production, Raun said. The farmer does not wear protective gloves, and the chemicals make the man sicker after every planting. However, he cannot stop planting the seed because that field is his livelihood, Raun said.
With tears in his eyes, Raun puts a hand to his head.
“There is a better way for things to be done, and it is my responsibility to help those who can’t help themselves,” he said.
Raun, one of the men behind the revolutionar y GreenSeeker technology, is being honored with the 2013 PrecisionAg Award of Excellence Legacy Award. One of the first to push the development and implementation of ground-based optical sensors, which led to the crop sensor GreenSeeker, Raun emphasized the importance of working with cross-disciplinary groups.
Raun has collaborated with a diverse group of professionals consisting of mechanical engineers, agronomists, electrical engineers and agricultural engineers. Raun serves as a project leader in nutrient management, supervising 10 graduate students
working in a variety of precision agriculture research projects annually.
Raun’s wife, Tanya, said her husband is dedicated to giving young people the power to accomplish great things.
“He finds brilliance in everyone,” she said.
He will find graduate students’ strengths and then make sure they work in an area that will help them grow, his wife said.
tices for those who do not have the technologies that we take for granted here. He really just wants to feed the world.”
It is my responsibility to help those who can’t help themselves.
— Bill Raun Regents Professor in Plant & Soil Sciences
“He will go out of his way to use and find connections all across the nation to make sure his students get the best experience available,” she said. “He loves his job, and his graduate students are like our kids.”
A woman filled with the same heart and passion as her husband, Tanya Raun contemplated the best way to describe the importance her husband puts on his job. She said Raun is up early, eager to continue his work in Ag Hall.
“Even when he is not at work, he is thinking and talking about work,” she said. “When he comes home, our conversations are about his work at the university or about how he can better agricultural prac-
Raun is dedicated to helping the farmer and agriculture become more productive. He said he currently is perfecting a hand planter that could help the agricultural industry, specifically in developing countries. The 56-yearold said he considers the hand planter the most important thing he has done in his career.
Besides the photo of the farmer on his computer, Raun has seven pictures in his office, which he calls his “wall of fame.”
The men on the wall include Norman Borlaug and OSU agricultural engineer Randy Taylor. Raun said these men are the reason he has been able to do the things he has done.
As a professor now primarily dedicated to research, Raun said at one point in his career he taught four classes in a semester. Teaching is the hardest job at a university, he said.
“If you are doing a good job teaching,
Bill Raun (front left) treats his graduate students like family: Raun, Natasha Macnack, Candi Candibyani, Sulochana Dhital, Peter Omara, Jacob Bushong (second row left), Eric Miller, Ethan Wyatt, Rajen Bajgain, Lawrence Aula, Jeremiah Mullock (back left) and Andre Cortinas. Photo by Kailey Sullins.
then you should be exhausted at the end of every lecture,” Raun said.
“It takes a lot of work to teach a class,” Raun said. “It takes a ton of excitement and energy to keep lectures entertaining in order to reach the students.
“Students deserve the excitement and energy it takes to run a good lecture,” he said. “If you are not willing to deliver the energy needed to reach the students, then you should not be teaching.”
Peter Omara, a graduate student from Uganda working with Raun’s team in developing the hand planter, said Raun’s enthusiasm has influenced him the most.
“I have never in my life met a hardworking person like him,” Omara said. “His commitment and energy in getting work done has made me look at any assignment only from a positive perspective.”
Responsible for testing and evaluating, Omara said he was proud to be a part of the
team working on the hand planter. Omara said Raun’s enthusiasm and caring attitude influenced his work.
“He is more than a father to his students,” Omara said. “He delegates tasks with no hand in control. He always wants his students to take leadership roles.”
OSU and Oklahoma provide an incredible working environment and great resource to work on the hand-planter project, Raun said.
“Oklahoma is a great state to work in,” Raun said. “Oklahomans are upbeat. Oklahomans are survivors. Oklahomans are workers. OSU has given me an opportunity to do what I want to do. What a gift.” CJ
Handy Help
After 12 years of development, Bill Raun, Randy Taylor and their Oklahoma State University graduate students have developed a hand planter they believe will help corn production in developing countries.
“We want the hand planter to be versatile, and we want it to be cheap,” Raun said. “We want the new planter to go a million cycles without failure. This will be equivalent to one hectare for 10 years.”
The hand planter is a unique mechanism to integrate previous tools with new technology. The specialized drum mechanism within the hand planter distributes the seeds from the shaft of the planter to the ground. The importance of this mechanism is the single-action technique, Raun said. The planter will allow only one seed to be planted at a time.
Taylor, a biosystems agricultural engineering professor and extension machinery specialist, contributed to the success of the planter, Raun said. Recently, AGCO has partnered with OSU to market the hand planter. This is a great opportunity because they have the ability to manufacture and market the product on a larger scale than OSU can, Raun said.
Benefits of the hand planter
• Increase yields by 25 percent
• Remove chemically treated seeds from producers’ hands
• Reliably singulate seeds in various soil textures, moisture and tillage systems
• Versatile and cheap
• Sturdy enough to last
• Easily manageable
Red Rock, Okla. Writing & Publication
Kailey Sullins
Rajen Bajgain (left), Chris Raun (Bill Raun’s son) and Peter Omara test the hand planter. Photo courtesy of Oklahoma State University Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.
Camper registration starts: March 1, 2014
Small Group Leader applications due: April 1, 2014 Session 1: June 29-July 2 • Session 2: July 2-5 Session 3: July 6-9 • Session 4: July 9-12
Oklahoma FFA Association • www.ok˜ a.org
hopeful for a good harvest next year.
s summer turns to autumn, Oklahoma wheat farmers work the soil, hopeful for a good harvest next year.
In the extreme drought conditions of 2012, wheat producers had a dry, cracked beginning to their planting, but as 2013’s planting began, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed the soil moisture at abnormally dry to moderate drought levels.
Conditions at the Oklahoma State University Wheat Pasture Research Unit near Marshall, Okla., were no exception.
Wheat pasture gives cattle and wheat producers an extraordinary opportunity in Oklahoma and the southern Great Plains area, said Gerald Horn, professor of animal science and director of the wheat pasture research unit.
Grazing cattle on wheat can be beneficial to Oklahoma and the surrounding areas because of the growing season of wheat, he said.
“Wheat pasture in the southern Great Plains is very unique in that regard,” Horn said. “If you are in Montana and weaning in the fall, there really isn’t any option for growing those cattle unless you put them
in backgrounding programs in drylot. In Oklahoma, we have the option of growing those cattle on wheat pasture.”
As OSU’s only wheat pasture facility, the Marshall wheat pasture research unit serves the southern Great Plains, if not the nation, Horn said.
we put on cattle and the grain that is harvested,” Horn said.
Approximately 40 to 60 percent of Oklahoma’s
The 600-acre unit opened in 1989 with development assistance through a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant. Its 400 acres of wheat are divided into 20 pastures for research.
5 million wheat acres are grazed at some point.
When wheat reaches the first hollow stem stage of maturity in late February to mid-March, producers remove the cattle to prevent yield damage from grazing, Horn said.
— Jeff Edwards OSU Small Grains
Horn said several departments in the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources cooperate in the unit’s research programs: plant and soil sciences, animal science, agricultural economics, and entomology and plant pathology.
The departments test wheat varieties and yields as well as the various stages in the growth process. Using wheat pasture for grazing makes it a dual-purpose crop, giving producers two different yields from one crop, Horn said.
“Income comes from both the weight
Extension Specialist
“If you move the cattle to just a third of the wheat for graze out, the wheat will produce enough forage in the spring and still add gain [to the cattle], but you will still be able to keep two-thirds for grain harvest,” Horn said.
Jeff Edwards, professor and small grains extension specialist in the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, works with the production management of growing wheat at the unit.
“Approximately 40 to 60 percent of Oklahoma’s 5 million wheat acres are grazed at some point,” Edwards said.
“The dual-purpose system allows producers to diversify their income stream and spread risk across multiple enterprises,” Edwards added.
Photos from left: Planting dual-purpose hard red winter wheat in Oklahoma occurs predominantly in September. Producers allow cattle to begin grazing wheat pasture in November for gain. Cattle will be rotated to a third of the pasture at first hollow stem. All cattle should be marketed in May before harvest. Producers will harvest the wheat in June. Photos by Todd Johnson.
The majority of calves in the United States are born in the spring and weaned in the fall, causing a demand for backgrounding facilities. In turn, wheat pasture serves as a resource for growing the calves to heavier weights before placing them in feedlots for finishing, Horn said.
“Wheat’s unique from a timing standpoint,” Horn said. “It’s unique in how it influences the market for fall weaned cattle across the U.S., it’s unique in the highquality forage, and it’s highly digestible.
“We have grazed calves as light as 300 pounds, and they gained around 2.25 pounds a day on straight wheat pasture without supplements.”
Because wheat offers an outlet for fallweaned cattle, it has a positive effect on the fall cattle markets for producers, said Derrell Peel, OSU Cooperative Extension beef marketing specialist.
“The availability of fall and winter grazing provides demand for those calves at a time of year when much of the country has no forage available for grazing,” Peel said. “Winter wheat grazing is not only im-
portant in the southern Plains as a regional production enterprise, but it does also have national impacts as calves from many regions migrate to the southern Plains for stocker production.”
Peel also said grazing is vital to distributing cattle throughout the year.
“Those calves that are bunched up due to spring calving need to be spread out for a more uniform distribution of cattle at slaughter throughout the year,” Peel said. “The stocker industry provides that value to the market.”
A variety of wheat used for pasture must grow rapidly, produce abundant tillers, and reproduce green leaf area quickly in the spring that was lost to winter grazing. OSU offers a handful of varieties as options, Edwards said.
“Duster is the most popular variety in Oklahoma, and its popularity probably stems from its ability to meet all three of these requirements,” Edwards said. “It is no coincidence that grazing varieties such
Producers use wheat for both crop yields and cattle gain.
as Endurance, Duster and Gallagher were identified as such at the wheat pasture research unit proving grounds.”
Using wheat pasture for weight gain also gives a positive effect to the accessibility of beef across the country, Peel said.
The Marshall wheat pasture research unit is also a key resource in Brett Carver’s wheat breeding program and allows new improved wheat varieties to be selected under grazing conditions, Horn said.
“If not for Marshall’s wheat research facility, most likely selection would happen on small, non-grazed plots,” he said.
Through the development of additional varieties, OSU’s wheat research team gives Oklahoma producers new options to raise the state’s No. 1 agricultural crop. CJ
Mindy Andres
Council Grove, Kan. Broadcasting & Video
klahoma State University has had a business partnership with Ralph’s Packing Co. since the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center opened in 1997.
The Perkins, Okla., company has purchased hogs from the OSU swine barn and meat products from FAPC for more than 20 years.
“This relationship with Ralph’s is one example of how FAPC fulfills its mission of working with the value-added agricultural industry,” said Chuck Willoughby, FAPC business and marketing relations manager. “It allows us to add value to Oklahoma.”
In the early years, Ralph’s Packing harvested and processed hundreds of OSU hogs while FAPC employees processed about 30 hogs per year to use for teaching, research and extension.
To recover a portion of the labor costs to harvest its hogs, FAPC sold the carcasses to Ralph’s. Then, Ralph’s closed its harvesting floor and focused on processed meats.
“For 54 years, the nature of [Ralph’s] had been harvesting animals,” said Gary Crane, owner of Ralph’s Packing. “More
meat processing plants have gotten specialized, and that’s what we did.”
When Kyle Flynn, FAPC meat pilot plant manager, heard Ralph’s Packing was closing its harvest floor, he said he became concerned about what OSU would do with its hogs and carcasses.
“We decided we could slaughter the hogs [at FAPC] and charge Ralph’s a minimal price,” Flynn said.
“The pigs wouldn’t have to travel as far as if we sold them to another company. They would be within the OSU system, and Crane could bring his truck and pick them up once a week.”
and have FAPC harvest them as it would to harvest the hogs at Ralph’s Packing, Crane said. By purchasing carcasses from FAPC, Ralph’s is able to provide pork and other meats to customers looking to purchase OSU products, he said.
“We’re here to help Oklahoma businesses grow, not to make money off of new business start-ups,” Willoughby said.
We’re here to help Oklahoma business grow, not to make money off of new business start-ups.
— Chuck Willoughby FAPC Business and Marketing Relations Manager
Flynn said he considered other options but decided this would benefit both OSU and Ralph’s Packing the best. Ralph’s would continue to provide pork products to its customers, and OSU would continue to have an end market for the swine farm and carcasses harvested at FAPC.
It costs Ralph’s Packing the same amount to purchase the swine from OSU
FAPC has developed more than 3,000 products for more than 1,000 companies, Flynn said. Companies have approached him to produce products on a larger scale, but they were turned down because it cannot interfere with the teaching, research and extension that FAPC does, he said.
“We don’t have the resources or the need to process and market products commercially,” Flynn said. “We don’t want to compete with food processing companies in the marketplace. Teaching, research and extension are more important than turning into a custom harvest floor.”
This Yorkshire barrow is housed at the OSU swine farm, which opened in 2004 and is located two miles north of the old swine barn. Photo by Danielle Robinson.
This little
To assist OSU with its programs, Ralph’s Packing donated a state-of-the-art automated hog scalder to FAPC.
“Our previous hog scalder was outdated and unreliable,” Flynn said. “We could not afford to purchase a new one. Gary was sensitive to that, so he donated a new one to us.”
The $27,900 computer-controlled machine allows FAPC to remove the hair from the carcass with safer and more efficient practices, Flynn said.
“The hog scalder is a more traditional way to skin the carcasses,” Crane said. “It appeals to certain customers. Donating the scalder was a way to continue receiving our hogs from OSU.”
Flynn said this partnership benefits Ralph’s Packing, FAPC, the OSU swine farm and OSU students. OSU’s livestock judging team practices judging the hogs before they are harvested. Once processed, the OSU’s meat judging team practices on the carcasses. The carcasses also play an integral part of animal science graduate student research projects.
FAPC employs eight to 15 undergrad-
FAPC, Ralph’s Packing Co. join forces to send OSU pork to market.
uate students during the school year and five students during the summer to harvest animals. While working at FAPC, students gain experience in meat processing.
“[Working at FAPC] allows students to become proficient and responsible,” Flynn said. “It teaches them a skill and how to work as a team.”
The hogs harvested at FAPC generate revenue for OSU and Ralph’s Packing; any research and teaching on the hogs and carcasses is an additional benefit to OSU, Flynn said.
One of the award-winning products Ralph’s Packing processes is sugar-cured bacon, which won grand champion at the 2013 American Cured Meat Championships held at the American Association of Meat Processors’ annual convention.
“All the bacon we use in contests comes from the OSU swine farm and is harvested at FAPC,” said Erica Hering, Ralph’s Packing marketing director.
Ralph’s Packing picks up the carcasses from FAPC every Tuesday and will continue to do so.
During holidays when OSU is closed,
Flynn ensures Ralph’s Packing has enough meat available for its customers through the holidays. When OSU closes down for multiple days or weeks, Ralph’s Packing will be closed only for a day or two so it can continue to serve customers.
Willoughby said working with Ralph’s Packing has been a pleasure.
“Our relationship with Ralph’s goes beyond providing assistance to a processor,” Willoughby said.
“Ralph’s is one of those companies you can point to as an example of success when working with entrepreneurs,” he added. “They exemplify that successfully running a business goes beyond skillful quality production or good salesmanship.
Ivy Hill
“Being forward thinking, having an entrepreneurial spirit and having a good relationship with your customers can be what sets your business apart from others,” Willoughby said. CJ Coyle, Okla. Public Relations
OCES Master Cattleman Program teaches producers industry fundamentals.
In 2004, two Oklahoma State University faculty members saw a need to provide useful information to Oklahoma’s cattle producers in a direct, hands-on manner. Nearly a decade later, the Master Cattleman Program continues to serve a role in Oklahoma’s beef industry.
“County extension educators and directors from around the state had heard about master cattleman programs in other states, and we decided it was time to implement [a program] in Oklahoma,” said Damona Doye, acting agricultural economics department head.
Doye and David Lalman, OSU animal science extension beef cattle specialist, evaluated programs in other states, including Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, to learn how to make a successful program.
“We took what we thought were good ideas from other states and implemented some of our own ideas,” Doye said.
The purpose of the Master Cattleman Program is to enhance the profitability of beef operations and provide timely information to producers on all aspects of beef operations, according to the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.
“The Master Cattleman Program is a county-based educational series designed
for people wanting to learn fundamentals of beef production,” Lalman said. “The program is open to anyone in Oklahoma, and each program varies from county to county.”
Master Cattleman Program graduate Harold Gillenwaters said the program is valuable in many aspects. He and his wife, Donna, are both graduates of the program.
“With the recent updates and innovations in the industry, it is important for cattle producers to be a part of the [Master Cattleman] Summit as well as the program,” said Gillenwaters, a 1964 OSU animal science alumnus.
“The industry, especially genetics and nutrition, has evolved so much since I was in school,” Gillenwaters said. “From an educational standpoint, the program has proved to be valuable.”
The program curriculum and functionality differ among counties. The Gillenwaterses traveled to four different county programs to learn the curriculum most important to them.
Anything we can do to help producers make informed decisions adds value to our economy.
— Damona Doye Acting Agricultural Economics Department Head
Since its start, the Master Cattleman Program has had nearly 1,000 participants. Doye and Lalman wanted to provide Master Cattleman participants more educational opportunities and organized the Master Cattleman Summit, held on OSU’s campus every other year.
The Gillenwaterses operate a 50head cow-calf operation near Chickasha, Okla., and market weaned calves to the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Integrity Beef Program.
While spending his career in the U.S. Air Force, Gillenwaters was absent from the cattle industry for nearly 40 years. He thought the program was a good way to re-enter the industry.
“We have tried to use the summit as a way to get Master Cattleman participants back together and try to offer educational opportunities they cannot get in their county programs,” Lalman said.
During the two-day summit, participants listen to industry speakers and participate in hands-on activities. The $30 registration fee helps cover costs of the event as well as the entertainment and prime rib dinner hosted by the OSU animal science graduate students.
“On the county level, we do a lot of classroom-type teaching,” Lalman said. “The summit gives participants an opportunity to get out and do some hands-on activities to teach them how to become better cattle producers.”
Gillenwaters said he appreciated the blend of classroom and hands-on activities offered at the summit.
Summit coordinators arranged for participants to travel to OSU’s North Range Research Center to be involved in electric fence setup demonstrations and herd-selection exercises using live cattle.
“The summit gives producers great updates on research topics and hot issues within the beef industry,” Gillenwaters said. “It is also great to get back on campus to be able to enjoy the ambiance, good food and entertainment.”
Doye said the Master Cattleman Summit engages people with different experi-
ences and provides them with the latest research and information.
“In Oklahoma, though we have a lot of part-time operators, beef is our most important agricultural enterprise,” Doye said. “Anything we can do to help producers make informed decisions adds value to our economy. We want to challenge their thinking and help them come up with ways to be more effective and efficient in what they do.”
Participants in the summit and the program are diverse in age, experience and operation size. Doye said they use the diversity to their advantage by learning from each other.
Terry Carpenter, a cattle producer from Arapaho, Okla., received his graduation certificate at the 2013 Master Cattleman Summit. Carpenter helps his mother run a 75-head operation.
“Not helping with day-to-day opera-
tions on the farm for years, I saw the program and summit as a good way to build a network and enhance my skills as a producer,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said building relationships with the OSU faculty, industry leaders and other cattlemen is sometimes a greater benefit than direct knowledge.
Gillenwaters said networking with people going through the summit and the program is valuable.
“We are able to bring in speakers people may never have the opportunity to hear elsewhere,” Doye said. “Doing this gives participants the opportunity to network with industry leaders as well as producers from around the state.”
In 2013, the summit had nine speakers covering topics such as genetic improvement for forage growth, forage risk management, grazing management, improving profitability, forage utilization, electric
Al Rutledge of Stillwater, Okla., a Master Cattleman Program graduate, runs a 100-head Angus and commercial cattle operation. Photo by Jamie Baumgardner.
fence technology and flexible enterprises for stable incomes.
“The speakers have a wealth of talent and experience while proving successful in whatever endeavor they are doing,” Gillenwaters said. “After the summit concluded, one speaker spent an hour in the parking lot showing people different techniques and practices.”
In the future, summit coordinators hope to increase participation and registra-
tion, especially among the Master Cattleman Program graduates.
“The summit is not just for people needing a refresher on industry topics or practices,” Gillenwaters said. “Highly experienced people are profiting from it.” CJ
Jamie Baumgardner
All cattle producers in Oklahoma can benefit from the Master Cattleman Program, said David Lalman, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service extension beef cattle specialist.
Available in all 77 Oklahoma counties, the program requires participants to pay a $75 base fee. These fees are used for instructional materials, a producer certificate, Master Cattleman farm gate sign and a logo-embellished padfolio.
Additional fees may be charged at the county level to cover costs of other materials supplied.
If you are interested in participating in the program, call your county extension educator at your local Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service office or visit www.agecon.okstate. edu/cattleman.
Carrier, Okla. Sales & Marketing
Mark Green, district conservationist for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, teaches Master Cattleman Summit participants about different techniques for fencing. Photo by Jamie Baumgardner.
OSU veterinarians help heal equine athletes.
n the growing field of equine sports medicine, a team of four Oklahoma State University veterinarians work to provide treatment to equine athletes from Oklahoma and surrounding states.
Housed at the Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, these sports medicine-certified veterinarians use their expertise to diagnose and treat problems in performance horses.
Because of the variety of work performance horses are asked to do, equine veterinarians see a wide assortment of sports
medicine issues. Each unique performance horse discipline can lend itself to different types of problems.
“[Performance horses] have very unique problems that are discipline-dependent problems, and that’s what makes it challenging,” said Dr. Todd Holbrook, associate professor and equine section chief.
Reining horses and cutting horses tend to have more hock and stifle issues, said Dr. Michael Schoonover, assistant professor of equine surgery, and racehorses tend toward more knee and ankle problems. Horses in
English disciplines are more prone to injuries of the sacroiliac, the joint that attaches the pelvis to the spine, he said.
The veterinarians use a variety of tools to diagnose lameness, respiratory diseases and poor performance. The team normally sees around 20 cases each week. Radiographs, ultrasounds and CT scans all can be used in diagnosing lameness.
Other lameness diagnostics include the use of a force plate and a lameness locator.
“The force plate accurately measures the percent of body weight a horse applies
A horse is worked on the treadmill at the OSU Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital by Brittany Fanning, OSU animal science alumna. Photo by Gary Lawson.
to a particular limb when it strikes the ground,” Schoonover said.
The lameness locator uses three externally mounted sensors to connect the horse to a computer wirelessly. When the horse moves, the sensors report the data to the computer, which generates a chart describing the lameness. The lameness locator also can be used to measure the difference in the amount of pressure a horse applies to a limb before and after a nerve block of an affected area, Schoonover said.
“We certainly don’t rely on the lameness locator exclusively,” Schoonover said. “Most of us have been doing subjective lameness evaluation for a long time and are confident in our assessment, but the lameness locator can be an adjunct. It also provides us an objective assessment for the patient’s medical record.”
For respiratory conditions, veterinarians use an endoscope to examine how a horse’s lungs are performing. In cases where respiration is affected during work, horses are put on the treadmill and are monitored for indications of respiratory condition.
“Horses are spectacular athletes due to their ability to increase their lung, heart and circulatory function up to 20-fold at peak exercise and when fully conditioned,” said Dr. Michael Davis, professor and Oxley Chair of Equine Sports Medicine.
“A normal, well-conditioned horse at rest may only be using 5 percent of its total capacity,” Davis said. “A disease process that robs the horse of the top 10 percent of that capacity will have a profound impact on the horse’s racing performance, but [it]
may be difficult to detect at rest because the horse can simply tap some of that massive resting reserve and appear perfectly fine.”
The high-speed treadmill allows OSU veterinarians to simulate the demands of actual performance. The treadmill creates a controlled environment for the horse to run on so the horse’s legs, lungs and heart are working as if the horse is in a natural performance setting, Davis said.
ask these equine specialists to build on what the animal’s regular veterinarian has done or to provide a second opinion. Once diagnosed, ever y issue has its own time frame before the equine athlete will be back to performing at 100 percent.
This rather unique situation allows us to do things that are very difficult, if not impossible.
— Michael Davis, DVM Professor and
Oxley
Chair in Equine Sports Medicine
“This rather unique situation allows us to do things that are very difficult, if not impossible, to do on a track-running horse, like hooking up instruments, taking blood samples, and making other measurements that can tell us exactly what is working properly and what might not be working properly under conditions very similar to the conditions that matter the most to an equine athlete: maximal exercise performance,” Davis said.
For cardiac causes of poor performance, veterinarians have many options in how they diagnose issues.
“The workup starts with listening to the horse’s heart and defining [rate and rhythm],” Holbrook said. “[From there we move on] to an exercise stress test where we can evaluate with an ultrasound the horse’s heart function. We can hook them up to a recorder and leave them hooked up for 24 to 48 hours and go through different exercise stress tests.”
Referrals to the OSU BVMTH often
THE OCTORI IN
To become board certified in equine sports medicine, veterinarians must apply with the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. If their application is approved, they take a two-part exam. The first half is a general exam and the second half is a species-specific exam focusing on either equine or canine. Upon passing the exam, they become diplomates within the college.
“This college or this specialty allows someone to get training in both specialties [medical and surgical] as it relates to the athlete,” said Dr. Michael Schoonover, an assistant professor of equine surgery at OSU.
Orthopedic issues usually require six months or less, Schoonover said. For soft-tissue injuries, healing can take roughly six to 12 months, he said.
Ancillary treatments can include lowlevel laser, extra corporal shock wave and light treatments, cold compression, and research therapies, Schoonover said.
“There’s a class of treatments that we refer to as regenerative therapies,” Schoonover said. “Regenerative therapies are used to stimulate or manipulate the body’s repair mechanisms to provide a better way of healing.
“The laser interacts with soft tissue on a cellular level to stimulate the healing processes,” Schoonover said. “The shock wave therapy we tend to use more to stimulate healing in tendons, ligaments and bones.”
OSU currently does not have a rehabilitation facility, but OSU veterinarians design rehabilitation programs for their patients to implement.
Rehabilitation can be more effective on acute cases, Schoonover said.
Owners can take their horses home and complete the program themselves or move their horses to a specialized rehabilitation facility, he said.
“Owners who are very involved with their horses are more likely the ones who will take the horse home and do the [rehabilitation] themselves,” Schoonover said.
Lisa Gallery, co-owner of Cowgirl Training Center in Cushing, Okla., brought her gelding Sogo Khemo to OSU for treatment in September 2012.
The horse became lame following a training session for the reined cow horse class at the 2012 Arabian Nationals. Gallery said she was unaware of the treatments offered through OSU BVMTH until Sogo was injured.
“He had moderate inflammation of his
stifle joint following a training session on cattle,” Gallery said.
Sogo received three intra-articular injections of interleukin receptor antagonist protein, a research therapy, before attending the Arabian Nationals. The injections were spaced two weeks apart and performed by OSU veterinarians.
“He came back from his injury even stronger and performing better than before,” Gallery said.
At the Arabian Nationals, Sogo won the reined cow horse class and earned Top 10 honors in working cow horse. Gallery credited OSU veterinarians for Sogo’s quick recovery.
“This could have easily been a careerending injury if not treated promptly and correctly,” Gallery said.
Sogo did not compete this season due to an unrelated serious ligament injury, but Gallery is looking forward to having him back in the show ring in 2014, she said.
The teaching hospital’s veterinarians have high hopes for equine sports medicine at OSU.
“The thing that sets us apart from private practices is our time dedicated to teaching and research,” Holbrook said. “Hopefully, our role in evaluating different products that can be applied to athletes to improve their function grows.”
They also see an important specialty in which recently graduated veterinarians can train, Schoonover said.
“By getting [equine sports medicine] certification, we can develop a residency training program here where we can take
someone with a passion for athletes who is a graduated veterinarian and has completed an internship,” Schoonover said.
“Maybe they don’t want to be a surgeon and maybe they don’t want to see sick horses, but they want to see a lot of athletes. We can offer that program to that type of individual,” Schoonover said.
For these OSU veterinarians, this is a way to pass on their passion and expertise in treating performance horses.
“I’ve always been interested in equine athletes because they’re such phenomenal athletes,” Holbrook said. CJ
Oregon City, Ore. Marketing & Sales
Alannah Castro
Veterinary technician Blake Higgins (left) assists Dr. Michael Schoonover (right) in attaching a wireless sensor to a horse’s head bumper. The sensor is one of three sensors located on the horse: one on the horse’s head bumper, one on the horse’s hip, and one on the horse’s right front leg. The sensors wirelessly connect to the lameness locator, which reads data on the horse’s movement and generates a chart on the horse’s lameness. Photo by Alannah Castro.
Travel.
Repeat. --lln .L
CASNR students leave an impact on the lives of Central Americans.
f the study-abroad programs offered by the Oklahoma State University College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, few are quite like the study-abroad trips Jeff Sallee leads each summer to Central America.
Sallee, an assistant professor and extension 4-H specialist, coordinates trips to Guatemala and Nicaragua, selecting the country he feels has the biggest need for education about subsistence farming and other agricultural-related topics. He said his trips offer an aspect not offered through most study-abroad experiences.
“We are more hands on with the work and teaching,” Sallee said.
Before students leave for their 10-day trip to Central America, they conduct research so when they arrive they can teach the local families about subsistence farming and provide them with information they need to better feed their children.
“We go to use our hands for the projects, not to just be a tourist,” said Corbin Dewitt, an agricultural education master’s student and graduate teaching assistant in 4-H youth development.
Dewitt traveled with Sallee to Nicaragua during the summer of 2012.
Sara Young, an undergraduate animal science senior, has been on two studyabroad trips with Sallee, both to Nicaragua and to Guatemala.
“It is more of a service-abroad trip,” Young said.
The plans for each study-abroad trip begin six to eight months before the groups leave for their Central America destination.
“We partner with non-governmental agencies that already have ties in the area to see what is needed,” Sallee said. “Our job is to bring researchbased information.”
Sallee has led the study-abroad trips to Central America since the summer of 2009. He said the planning starts with the non-governmental organizations giving him a list of the topics needing the most help. The students then conduct research and prepare to teach the subject they choose with minimal guidance.
“Teaching other people in a language you don’t know is difficult,” Young said.
Like Young, Dewitt said he also enjoyed the teaching aspect of the trip.
“We took our knowledge and made an impact,” Dewitt said. “We translated our knowledge in a way that when we left, it stayed.”
We translated our knowledge in a way that when we left, it stayed.
— Corbin Dewitt Master’s Student and Graduate Teaching Assistant
On past trips, students have taught soils and composting, gardening, bread making, and watering projects.
Dewitt said students must be knowledgeable about what they teach because the local families believe the students are completely accurate.
“They looked at us like we were experts,” Dewitt said. “What we said they thought was 100 percent right.”
In 2012, Young assisted in teaching poultry science in Nicaragua, and in 2013, she taught composting in Guatemala.
“I had never touched a chicken until the trip,” Young said. “Now, I think I want to get my master’s in poultry science.”
Young said teaching was the most educational, difficult and rewarding part of her trips in Central America.
Sallee said his favorite memory associated with the trip is the ability to see the projects as a whole.
“In 2009, we built a garden in an orphanage,” Sallee said. “In 2012, we were in the same place, and it had grown from a garden that no one knew anything about into a functional educational center.”
Sallee said people were able to take the vegetables they were growing back into their kitchens to feed their families.
Dewitt said his favorite memory came the day before the group left when they were showing the locals how to bake.
“As we were getting ready to leave the kitchen for the last time, a lady told our translator they wanted to pray for us,” Dewitt said. “We all held hands and got into a circle. We did not know what they were saying, but when we opened our eyes they were all crying.”
Young said one of her favorite memories of the trip was when she helped a lady in Guatemala.
“We got to help install a drip-irrigation system in her garden,” Young said. “She took us in as granddaughters for the week.”
While the students do the majority of
Clockwise from left: Michael Puckett (right of young girl), Emily Sallee, Nicole Puttman and Corbin Dewitt help families in a greenhouse. Sarah Lancaster teaches a local about seed planting. Jennifer Jensan (left) and Adam Cobb prepare for a day of work. Sara Young talks to a young boy in Nicaragua. Photos courtesy of Jeff Sallee.
the teaching, Young said they also learned a few things from the local citizens.
“While we were in Nicaragua, we were making hanging bags to fill with water and soil for lettuce,” Young said. “We were going to teach them how the system worked, and they ended up teaching us how to sew.”
While the main focus of the trip is to feed families by educating them about subsistence farming, the students also have some free time to explore the country.
Young and Dewitt both said they remember one night in particular.
“We rode horses for little to no money on the beach one night,” Dewitt said. “It was suppose to be for 30 minutes, but we had them for a little longer.”
Dewitt said when they noticed the local citizens had started looking for the horses, the group decided to race back to where the horses were supposed to be.
Sallee said his favorite part of work-
ing with the students is seeing them return with a greater appreciation for the opportunities and lifestyle they have.
“Because of the places we visit, students return with an appreciation for what they have,” Sallee said. “Some switch their major or add an international dimension to their degree because of the experience.”
Young is one of the students who changed her degree option after her experiences in Nicaragua and Guatemala.
“I changed my focus in animal science and added a minor in Spanish,” said Young, who once planned to be a veterinarian.
Dewitt did not change his major, but said he went on the study-abroad trip because of the trip’s extension component.
“What we did plays with the role of extension,” Dewitt said, “which is what I want to do.”
Sallee said he takes freshmen, Master of International Agriculture students and
every level in between, but they all respond the same.
“By the time they leave, the students are empowered by what they have taught,” Sallee said.
Young said as a result of the trip she grew both professionally and personally.
“Regardless of your background, the trip is a good experience to get you out of your comfort zone and change your life,” Young said.
Dewitt said after the trip he realized students have the ability to make a difference in the lives of others.
“Students can really make an impact,” Dewitt said. “We didn’t go to be tourists or sightseers. We went to make a difference, and we did.” CJ
Stratford, Okla. Marketing & Public Relations
Dakota Chambers
A young boy creates an OSU logo made of water bottles in Nicaragua. Photo courtesy of Jeff Sallee.
Does your WILL worli?
Do you have a current, valid will that accomplishes everything you want it to do?
We at the Oklahoma State University Foundation want you to have the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have a valid estate plan. We want you to have a will that works well for you. And, frankly, one that works for us by including a bequest to the OSU Foundation.
People often say, “I never thought about making a charitable gift through my will. It just never occurred to me.”
When you name the Oklahoma State University Foundation in your will or living trust, you make a crowning gift to an organization you have supported during your life. Your Last Will and Testament declares that you believe in OSU’s mission and you want a portion of your assets invested in this worthy cause.
If you plan to share your legacy with the OSU Foundation through a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan or other estate provision, we invite you to join the Heritage Society. When we know about your generosity, we can meet your wishes for its use. We want to express our appreciation and we will honor requests for anonymity.
As always, we urge you to consult with an estate-planning attorney or other qualified advisor regarding a will, living trust or whatever best suits your needs. Sound professional help will contribute to peace of mind for you and your family. For more information about opportunities to benefit the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, contact the DASNR Development Team at 405.385.5618 or visit OSUgiving.giftlegacy.com
A farm family cultivates strong connections with Oklahoma State University.
For an Oklahoma farmer and rancher, coming back to run the family operation seems like the dream of a lifetime. For Scott Dvorak, his dream was exactly that.
By operating Dvorak Farms, Scott has made his mark in the Oklahoma agricultural industry, and with the help of his family, the Dvorak name is well known at Oklahoma State University.
“It’s really incredible how much our family values the university and the people there,” said Carol Dvorak, Scott’s wife.
The Dvorak family has a long-standing tradition of attending OSU, including Scott and Carol’s three children and their spouses. Now, the couple’s grandchildren are part of the OSU Alumni Association Legacy Program.
“The connections we have built at OSU go beyond the campus and outside the buildings,” Carol said.
Growing up in Perry, Okla., both Carol and Scott attended OSU in the late 1970s. Although they graduated from the same high school, they did not begin dating until they were in Stillwater, Okla. Scott was an agronomy major, while Carol studied business.
“After graduating from OSU, we knew we wanted to be lifetime members of the alumni association and have been for at least 30 years,” Carol said.
Carol was the fifth of six children who all attended Oklahoma State, and her parents were both graduates. She said she knew OSU was the right decision.
“My high school business teacher got
me interested in studying business, and I knew from early on OSU would be my choice,” Carol said. “It was familiar, and I was used to the campus.”
Scott also had family members who attended OSU.
“My older brother attended school there in animal science, and we grew up knowing many of the faculty there, so it made sense to follow along,” Scott said. “It’s a good school, and the decision was easy for me.”
After beginning their family, Scott and Carol allowed their children to choose their own destinies and make personal decisions on where to attend college, Scott said.
“OSU became familiar to all of our family, and even though they had opportunities to go to other places, all of them decided on OSU,” Carol said.
Their older son, Joe, was a National Merit Scholar in high school and could have gone almost anywhere, but he kept with the family tradition of OSU. He graduated with a degree in biosystems and agricultural engineering with minors in agricultural economics, accounting and German in 2005. He earned his master’s degree at OSU in 2007. He went to Kansas State University to receive his doctorate and is now a faculty member at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. His wife, Tanya, originally from Texas, earned her doctorate in agricultural education from OSU in 2009. Joe and Tanya have two children,
Justin Dvorak plants wheat on his family’s farm near Perry, Okla. Photo by Blaire Boyer.
AnneMarie, 3, and Karsten, an infant, who are both part of the OSU legacy program.
The Dvoraks’ daughter, Allison, graduated with a journalism and marketing degree from OSU in 2007 and married Robert Stevens, an alumnus of the engineering college. They reside in Oklahoma City.
In 2011, the Dvoraks’ younger son, Justin, graduated in animal science and his wife, Jessica, completed her degree in accounting the same year. One year later, Jessica completed her master’s degree in accounting at OSU. Justin works with Scott and Carol on the farm in Perry and has a 3-month-old daughter, Ruth, who is an OSU legacy.
Having families like the Dvoraks attending OSU and being part of the CASNR family really shows how special the traditions and legacies we have are, said Mike Woods, interim vice president, dean and director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
Farming in Noble and Payne counties and having land adjacent to a portion of the university’s North Range Research Center, the family became familiar with OSU employees through the years, Carol said.
“We always have been part of the field days, and we have gotten to know many of the herdsmen, faculty and staff through that,” Carol said.
The Dvoraks’ connections to Oklahoma agriculture are nearly as strong as their ties to OSU. After graduation and through the first years of their marriage, Scott and Carol began establishing what is known today as Dvorak Farms.
Today, Scott and Carol, along with the daily help from their son Justin, farm more than 3,500 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat as well as manage 500 stocker cattle and 200 commercial cows.
“Even though the other children are not directly involved in the day-to-day operations, they are involved in some way,” Scott said. “Allison helps Carol with the books, and Joe gets a weekly update on what is going on.”
In addition to the work on the farm,
Scott has represented Oklahoma agriculture on the Oklahoma Farm Bureau board, served as a member of the OSU DASNR Dean’s Advisory Council and served as chairman of the Oklahoma Beef Council.
“Getting to be part of these organizations has allowed me to share my passion of agriculture with like-minded people and share ideas across the board,” Scott said. “I have gained more than I have given back.”
Recently, Scott accepted a position on the OSU Food and Agricultural Products Center advisory board.
His experience and involvement with various aspects of agriculture, along with farming and ranching himself, has given him the skills to be a leader in the Okla-
homa agricultural industry, said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director.
Coupled with experiences on and off the farm, the Dvoraks’ roots run deep with agriculture and OSU.
“With all of the opportunities I have had and the wonderful people I’ve been able to meet, none of it would have been possible without my foundation at Oklahoma State,” Scott said. “That university is a special place for my family and me and a part of who we are.” CJ
Tipton, Ind. Public Relations
Blaire Boyer
Scott and Carol Dvorak have been OSU Alumni Association lifetime members for at least 30 years. Photo by Blaire Boyer.
Jacy Alsup, Gravette, Ark.
Marty Jones, Ramona, Okla.
Katherine Keil, Little Rock, Ark.
Whitney Lisenbee, Jenks, Okla.
Ashton Mese, Kingfisher, Okla.
Morgan Neilson, Meeker, Colo.
Tyler Price, Laverne, Okla.
Rebecca Purvis, Houston
Karen Roberts, Douglas, Ga.
Samantha Smith, Amorita, Okla.
McKenzie Walta, Kingfisher, Okla.
Lauren Wells, Bonfield, Ill.
Katelyn Juenger (left) leads park visitors on a guided hike of Grand Teton National Park during her 2013 summer internship. Photo courtesy of Katelyn Juenger.
0
ummer
An OSU senior experiences the summer of a lifetime in Grand Teton National Park.
Asummer in Grand Teton National Park is a dream few experience.
However, Katelyn Juenger lived this dream through a summer internship as an interpretive ranger.
It began when she opened one of the dozens of emails Oklahoma State University undergraduate students receive daily, said Juenger, a natural resource ecology and management senior from Fort Worth. After working the previous summer for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, she said she was confident she had an interest in outdoor education.
When she learned the location of the internship, she was amazed, she added.
“When I applied for the position, I thought it was a long shot,” Juenger said. “I saw the position posting but thought, ‘There’s no way.’”
She applied for the internship during the winter break between semesters. She said she began to worry when she had not heard any news about the internship by spring break.
“I started bugging them with emails, and I was afraid they were going to think I’m super annoying,” she said with a laugh. Eventually, her persistence paid off when she received the opportunity to interview via the phone. She received a call during the final week of the spring semester and was offered the position.
“I was super nervous,” she said. “All my family is from Oklahoma and Texas, so picking up my stuff with two weeks notice and going to Wyoming was crazy.”
She said she was nervous about not knowing anyone in that area as well as meeting and fulfilling the expectations of her supervisors. However, she said she was excited to learn about a new ecoregion and to have the opportunity to experience the Grand Teton National Park for a summer.
“They sent me some books, and I read constantly on the wildlife and flowers, trying to prepare myself because I knew it was going to be a ton of information to memorize quickly,” she said. “I knew I was going to give it my all.”
“I encouraged her in her evaluation to jump into one of the lakes, and she did it,” Maki said. “I challenged her, and she was willing to experience the park. She definitely was excited about it.”
Juenger said the jump was not something she would have considered on her own, but she was glad to have been challenged to experience it.
She learned so much about the Grand Teton National Park and about herself.
—
Karen Hickman Natural Resource Ecology and Management Professor
Her mentor, Karen Hickman, a natural resource ecology and management professor, was not surprised Juenger received the position.
“I was one of her references,” Hickman said. “We knew it was out of her comfort zone, but she wanted to do it.”
Hickman said Juenger is a joy to be around, eager and hard working, so she was happy to be a reference. Her passion is evident through the growth she has experienced during her time as an OSU student, Hickman said.
“Katelyn was one of the most passionate and excited interns I’ve ever hired,” said Elizabeth Maki, Moose District interpreter at Grand Teton National Park. “She came with enthusiasm and a positive attitude.”
Her excitement, passion and energy made Juenger stand out, Maki said.
“The lakes are glacial lakes, so they’re pretty chilly,” Juenger said. “Even at the warmest part of the summer, I had to force myself to jump. Thankfully, there was an amazing view of the Tetons that kept me somewhat distracted from the stinging cold.”
Juenger said she felt like she could have hiked 10 miles after the exhilarating jump.
As an interpretive ranger, Juenger answered questions from park visitors in the visitors’ center, taught bear safety and historical programs, provided information on wildlife, and took visitors on guided hikes.
“The purpose of her job was to make connections between the park resources and the park visitors,” Maki said. “Her job was to bridge the gap between the park and the people visiting.”
The main objective was communication, Maki said. Interns are exposed to a professional career in interpretation and given valuable experience, Maki added.
“My favorite part was interacting with the public,” Juenger said. “You really had to
be patient because people got antsy being on vacation and wanting answers.”
One of Juenger’s favorite activities was guiding hikes, she said.
“I loved the guided hike because it gave you more time to make a better connection with people,” Juenger said. “I got to see them make connections with resources, and they shared their experiences with you.
“Also, the junior rangers were so eager and genuinely excited,” Juenger said. “They were funny. One of them asked if I saw werewolves in the park.”
As a ranger, she had patrol days where she hiked to a place of her choice in the park with the goal of interpreting for visitors. These experiences allowed her to interact with visitors and answer questions on the spot.
She said on one hike with a newlywed couple they discovered a bear cub, which was an amazing experience.
Juenger said the most stressful part of the job was answering questions during her daily desk shift in the visitors’ center.
“During the middle of summer, we had up to 3,000 visitors a day,” Juenger said. “You got a lot of the same questions. You had to be able to communicate with them without making them feel like you were talking at them.”
Hickman said Juenger was a different person when they met for the first time.
“When I first met [Katelyn] as a freshman, she was extremely shy and reserved,” Hickman said. “She became active in the [OSU] Range Club, but she held back.
Grand Teton National Park and about herself. She’s blossoming. She’s now a leader in the Range Club. She has stepped up and become a tremendous asset.”
Maki said she also noticed a change in Juenger during the course of her time at the national park.
The experience I gained this summer was invaluable to my future.
— Katelyn Juenger
Natural Resource Ecology and Management Senior
“Last year at a professional meeting, she saw OSU alumni who were juniors and seniors in the Range Club when she was a freshman, and they couldn’t believe the transformation in her confidence, drive, personality and ability,” Hickman said.
“That’s why it was so cool she went out of her comfort zone and applied for a naturalist position because naturalists talk to people,” Hickman added. “She was nervous about it, but she did it.
“She had a fabulous experience,” Hickman said. “She learned so much about the
“One of her biggest improvements was her confidence level,” Maki said. “She increased her confidence level by being in front of the public and teaching them about the park, which she knew nothing about when she first got here.
“It helped her grow as a person, not just professionally,” Maki added. “She became more sure of herself and believed in herself more than she did originally. She became aware of who she was.”
The opportunities this experience has opened for Juenger shows how beneficial it is for students to take part in an internship, Hickman said.
“She realizes the career options she has,” Hickman said. “It’s opened some doors. Those internships expose students to agency personnel who seem to want to
go out of their way to help students get a permanent job.”
Juenger said the most rewarding part of the internship was learning to help others make a connection between themselves and the park’s natural resources. The experience helped her learn to handle a great deal of information in a short amount of time, she added.
“The skills she learned here will benefit her, no matter what career path she goes with,” Maki said. “She was able to build the confidence to speak in public. She learned skills about how to be in front of people but also how to capture the audience.”
Juenger also gained an appreciation about the national parks’ role in protecting our natural resources, Maki added.
“The experience I gained this summer was invaluable to my future, especially if I do pursue a career in outdoor education,” Juenger said. “It was a life-changing experience, and it had a huge influence on me. Outdoor education definitely has a place in my heart.” CJ
Granby, Mo.
Livestock Merchandising
Samantha Stanbery
Katelyn Juenger teaches a young park visitor during her internship at Grand Teton National Park. Photo courtesy of Katelyn Juenger.
An environmental science freshman crosses the ocean to ‘dive in’ at OSU.
sitting in the Student Union at Oklahoma State University with people chattering in the background, one lone student leans back in his chair.
I walk up, slide into a seat, and introduce myself. His accent is thick, but he looks like any other OSU student.
Antonis Sepos is Greek, or Cyprian to be politically correct. He is an international student from Cyprus, a small island located on the east side of the Mediterranean Sea.
The 21-year-old said although Cyprus is an independent country, its people consider themselves Greek. They speak the same language, have the same culture, and use the same national anthem.
“We are a really close society and a little bit old-fashioned,” Antonis said.
Antonis, who is an OSU environmental science freshman, did not begin his college career in the United States.
A long road took him from his home in Cyprus to the United Kingdom and eventually to OSU.
His journey began at age 17 with 24
months of mandatory military service as soon as he graduated from high school.
Since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Turks have occupied the northern one-third of the country.
As a Cyprian soldier, Antonis spent most of his time on the watchtowers that surround the Turkish line. He led a five- to 10-man team in charge of two towers.
“Basically, I spent time on the watch towers because I didn’t get along with the lieutenants,” said Antonis, who was a corporal. “I really don’t like the army.”
During his 24 months of service, Antonis did not have a lot of free time, but he said he was on a free-marksman squad, which is equivalent to OSU’s shooting team. He said he competed and won shooting contests around the country against different army camps.
Antonis’ best friend of 10 years, Alex Christou, who is an OSU business management sophomore, also competed on the shooting team.
Alex said being in the army and then moving to England to start college brought Antonis out of his shell.
“If we start talking about it, he’ll re-
member the good times, appreciate them, and laugh about them,” Alex said.
After the service, Antonis said he had to decide where he wanted to study. Many Greeks go to England because it is cheaper and closer to Cyprus, he said. He chose the University of Southampton and selected a degree in computer science.
Antonis said the first year was a foundation year, meaning he needed remedial credits because he lacked the appropriate credits from high school.
By the end of his second year, Antonis said he had 57 credits toward his degree, but he was rethinking where he wanted to continue schooling because of England’s lifestyle and weather.
“There is no sun there, only clouds,” Antonis said. “I was used to 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Cyprus.”
At the same time, Alex was planning his transfer to OSU from Albany, N.Y. Antonis said his friend showed him pictures and told him stories of OSU.
“I was in New York and transferring,” Alex said. “He was over in England, and he was fed up with the whole scene, done with it, and wanted something new.”
Antonis Sepos studied two years in the United Kingdom before transferring to OSU. Photo by Danielle Robinson.
Alex said convincing Antonis was easy.
“I told him, ‘Dude, come to America with me,” he said. “I’m going to OSU. It’s a good school, my parents are alumni, and [the university has] good sports. It’ll be fun. It’s America.’”
That was all it took, Alex said. Already an American citizen, Antonis said he did not have to make any last minute calls for a visa.
“I automatically have three citizenships and three passports,” he said. “I have triple citizenship by birth. My mom is Greek American, and my dad is Cyprian.”
Antonis said he applied to OSU in February and the university accepted him at the end of July. He had two weeks to book tickets, find somewhere to stay, and decide on a major.
“I changed my major to environmental science so I had to start from the beginning,” Antonis said.
He said he thought he would be able to take agricultural classes his first semester.
“I was a little disappointed that I had to go over history and composition again,” Antonis said. “I just want to finish them and go into my major.”
Alex said his friend has impressed him with his work ethic.
“He got into it pretty quick,” Alex said.
“I think he really enjoys this major. He is actually into the agricultural science and environmental stuff.”
Transferring to OSU did not come without trials. Antonis said it was more of a culture shock to come to the U.S. compared to the U.K. He said he had trouble locating certain buildings and finding his way around campus in the first week.
“I didn’t think it was going to be this harsh, this overwhelming,” he said.
Antonis said he still struggles speaking English. He said English was the first language he heard because his mother always spoke it, but after stopping private lessons when he was young, he did not practice enough and only spoke Greek.
“My mom would talk to me in English, but I would answer in Greek,” he said.
Writing in English is not difficult, he said, but he needs practice speaking.
Alex said in Cyprus, they learn how to speak a certain way of English.
“It’s the British/American, Cyprian, Greek way of English,” Alex said. “So, it’s completely wrong.
“Everything you say, you think about in Greek, translate it to English, and spit it out,” he said.
Along with the language barrier, Antonis also must overcome a lack of finances.
At home, Cyprus is dealing with a severe financial crisis, he said. He said he has money for the first year as well as a loan but needs other outlets.
Antonis said his older brother, Solis, plans to move to the U.S. in a few months and plans to help him financially if he can.
“I’m planning on coming to Oklahoma for a master’s degree,” Solis said. “It is going to be a bit easier for the both of us to have each other close by.”
For Antonis, life in the U.S. is a big adventure, Solis said, but part of the adventure was adjusting to life at the start.
As of right now, Antonis said he is doing student work on a team collecting data for climate change.
“They give me a bunch of numbers, and I have to find the average and put them on spreadsheets,” he said.
Antonis said he has always worked outside of an office and he does not like working inside four walls.
“It’s too depressing,” Antonis said. He said in the future he wants to do something for the environment.
“I’m in love with the ocean,” Antonis said. “I want to work on environmental projects based on forest or ocean life. I enjoy doing field studies and research.”
He also has ambitions to see other states and travel, he said.
“I’m thinking Florida or California,” Antonis said. “Maybe after that, I will go to Latin America to Brazil and Argentina.”
Before he can begin a new voyage and travel the world, Antonis still has threeand-a-half years of college left, he said.
Antonis said he made the right choice coming to OSU and feels this is where he needs to be. The institution and opportunities to succeed are better than anywhere he has gone, he said.
“The people here are very friendly,” he said. “You don’t encounter this behavior very often in different countries.
“I definitely bleed black and orange,” Antonis said. “That is a pretty cool thing to say.” CJ
Danielle Robinson
Wichita, Kan.
Friends since age 11, Antonis Sepos (right) and Alex Christou served two years together in the Cyprian military. Photo by Danielle Robinson.
CASNR celebrates Homecoming 2013 … Cowboy style.
Clockwise from top left: The sign competition, including this sign by FarmHouse and Kappa Kappa Gamma, covers library lawn every year to showcase different student organizations from across campus. Photo by Kevin Meeks.
The College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources decorates the halls, windows and entrance of Agricultural Hall with orange and black. Photo by Jamie Baumgardner.
Spirit Rider Samantha Mitchell, an animal science junior, engages with the crowd during the 2013 Sea of Orange Homecoming Parade on Main Street. Photo by Samantha Stanbery.
As winners of the 2013 Homecoming Student Organization Sweepstakes Award, OSU Dairy Science Club members show off their homecoming parade float. Photo courtesy of Jessica Miller.
Marty Jones (front), agricultural education senior, became the sixth College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources student and Alpha Gamma Rho member be to named OSU Homecoming King. Jones is joined by former kings (clockwise from back left): Tyler Powell (2009), Austin Horn (2008), Wyatt Swinford (2010), Riley Pagett (2012) and Randy Gordon (2011). Photo by Lauren Pagett.
CASNR Alumni News
Winter/Spring 2014
The College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Alumni Board of Directors
Kyle Hughbanks President Alva, Okla.
James Ferrell Vice President Yukon, Okla.
Brian Vowell Secretary Stillwater, Okla.
Steve Damron Executive Secretary Stillwater, Okla.
Mechelle Hampton Tulsa, Okla.
Kent Gardner Oklahoma City
Glen Winters Altus, Okla.
Coleman Hickman Sapulpa, Okla.
Don Roberts Enid, Okla.
Tresa Runyan Ardmore, Okla.
John Cothren Stratford, Okla.
Ken Spady Hinton, Okla.
Dana Bessinger Watonga, Okla.
Letter from the President
Dear CASNR Alumni and Friends,
Join your fellow agricultural and natural resources alumni and friends at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center as we kick off the CASNR Alumni Reunion and Gala on May 3, 2014.
CASNR alumni are a strong and relational group who want to stay in contact with and honor each other. The Gala will provide an opportunity to meet, mingle, and reminisce with former classmates, colleagues, professors and friends. The reunion and gala will honor our Early Career Achievement Award winners, past board presidents and members, and the College of Agriculture Alumni charter members. This event will be the annual meeting of the alumni chapter.
Look for more details on your invitation in the mail in the Spring of 2014.
Save the date–May 3, 2014–for the OSU CASNR Alumni Reunion & Gala at the ConocoPhillips OSU Alumni Center.
Sincerely,
Kyle Hughbanks CASNR Alumni President
Kristen
American Farmers & Ranchers • BancFirst–Stillwater Bank of Western Oklahoma • Chisholm Trail Farm Credit Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma Farm Credit of Western Oklahoma • Grissoms, LLC Oklahoma Farm Bureau • P&K Equipment
Persimmon Creek Investments • Shattuck National Bank The ank of Kremlin • The ank N.A. • The tock Exchange Bank W.B. Johnston Grain Company
Hopeton State Bank Noble Foundation-Agricultural Division
college of agricultural sciences and natural resources
honoring
charter members, past board presidents & casnr alumni members announcing
early career achievement award winners enjoying entertainment, beverages and hors d’oeuvres
SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2014 • 6 TO 8 P.M.
Pat Long understands the value of a drop of water. His family has been farming in Oklahoma’s panhandle for generations. Today, Pat monitors and controls his irrigation systems with his smartphone, ensuring every drop of water is optimally utilized. Being a good steward of his family’s land is important to Pat and thousands of Oklahoma Farm Bureau members in every corner of our state.
Oklahoma State University
Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Leadership
