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WINTER 2006

THE MAGAZINE OF THE OKLAHOMA FARM BUREAU

INSIDE:

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut The Future Of Agriculture Campaigning 101 Convention Roundup

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Oklahoma Country

Contents

6

Features 6 – Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut Pecans have been a mainstay for three generations of a Pontotoc County family.

BY MIKE NICHOLS

12 – The Future of Agriculture Meet Oklahoma’s Travis Jeff, the new national FFA president.

12

BY NICOLA FREEMAN

16 – Campaigning 101 OFB’s Campaign Management Seminar is surfacing agriculture-friendly candidates.

BY TRACI MORGAN

Columns

Departments

2 – Presidentially Speaking 4 – Country Gardening

18 – All Around Oklahoma 24 – Convention Roundup 36 – Country Kitchen 37 – Country Classifieds

16 Hidden number worth $50 ne member family’s Oklahoma Farm Bureau membership number is hidden somewhere in this issue of OKLAHOMA COUNTRY, and could earn that member family $50.

To claim the cash prize, the member family must finds its hidden membership number and contact Mike Nichols before the last day of the month Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 405-523-2300.

O

The OFB membership number hidden somewhere in OKLAHOMA COUNTRY must match the number of the face of your OFB membership card for you to claim the cash prize.

The membership number that appears on your magazine’s mailing label is not the hidden number, but must match the hidden number for you to claim the cash prize.

Cover Image Roland and Terry Pederson were OFB Family of the Year.

See story on Page 27.

Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006 • 1

Presidentially

Speaking

BY STEVE KOUPLEN President, Oklahoma Farm Bureau

A

s I sit down to write this, I let my mind wonder back over the past year and all that transpired. Who would have guessed that 2005 would have been a year of such volatility?

I cannot believe that we saw Mother Nature rear her ugly head in so many ways. After beginning the year so mildly with a record for the fewest tornadoes, we also saw extremely dry conditions as well.

We experienced raging wildfires all across our state and wondered when the rain would come. We witnessed record energy prices due to a historic number of hurricanes hitting our country and saw a major city underwater as well as others nearly destroyed.

We saw General Motors shut down its Oklahoma City assembly plant and experienced another huge trade deficit in our country.

Yet, we continue to have a strong economy as well as the benefit of having a renewed energy sector in our state. We have the concerted efforts of all in the agricultural community to see bio-fuels become a reality in Oklahoma.

With all of this and much more, I think we are ready to take our chances with 2006 and a new year.

Just as in 2005, it’s anyone’s guess as to what 2006 holds for us.

But one thing is for certain: changes will come and it is an election year.

So we look forward to the new year with the bright-eyed enthusiasm of a child and the cold-hard reality of an adult – knowing there will be a mixture of good and bad news, and hopeful that the good far outweighs the bad.

This will be our objective for our organization. Armed with our grassroots, member-developed policy book, we will move forward with the expectation of as much success in the coming year as we enjoyed in the past.

Our employees and staff will work hard to ensure that you – our members – will be at the top of our priority list and that the coming year will be one we can look back on with pride of service.

2 • Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006

Winter 2006 Volume 58 No. 1 Oklahoma Country (ISSN 1544-6476) Published four times per year in April, July, October and January by Oklahoma Farm Bureau, 2501 N. Stiles, Oklahoma City, OK 73105-3126, Telephone 405-523-2300.

Periodicals postage paid at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Additional Mailing Offices.

Postmaster: Send address corrections to: OKLAHOMA COUNTRY, P.O.B. 53332, Oklahoma City, OK 73152-3332.

EDITORIAL TEAM Sam Knipp Vice President Corporate Communications/ Public Relations Mike Nichols OKLAHOMA COUNTRY Editor and Senior Writer Nicola Freeman Coordinator of Media Relations Traci Morgan PERSPECTIVE and Online News Editor DIRECT YOUR ADVERTISING INQUIRIES TO: OKLAHOMA COUNTRY Attn: Mike Nichols 2501 N. Stiles Oklahoma City, OK 73105 405-523-2300, Ext. 2345 ADVERTISING POLICY All advertising is subject to publisher’s approval.

Advertisers assume all liability for content of their advertising. Publisher maintains right to cancel advertising. Publisher does not guarantee advertiser service or products, and assumes no liability for products or services advertised in OKLAHOMA COUNTRY. TO SUBSCRIBE OKLAHOMA COUNTRY subscription rate is $1 per year for members as part of the dues, $15 for non-members.

WEB SITE www.okfarmbureau.org OKLAHOMA FARM BUREAU DIRECTORS Steve Kouplen, President Bob Drake, Vice President Larry Boggs, Treasurer Donna VonTungeln, Secretary Ervin Mitchell, Director Merle Atkins, Director Charles Sloan, Director Roland Pederson, Director Billy Gibson, Director Mike Spradling, Director Matt Wilson, Executive Director

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Mutual funds are subject to market risk and possible loss of principal. This and other important information is contained in the prospectus, which can be obtained from a registered representative, and should be read carefully before you invest or send money.

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Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006 • 3

Country

Gardening

BY BILLY ROSS Station Manager Bonnie Plant Farm Howe, Oklahoma

While preparing for the future, take the time to look back.

I

fall garden. Bonnie Plant Farm has available t is easy when caught up in the hustle Correnta Spinach for gardeners. and bustle of our daily lives, even as Correnta Spinach has dark green leaves gardeners, to be focused on tomorrow and thrives in cool, moist weather. This and what needs to be done. As cold resilient, vegetable plant can tolerate hard weather is here, it is only natural to focus on frosts and temperatures as low as 20 degrees. that next season of plants. But taking a So this Spinach can be planted in most all moment now to reflect on the past growing zones in both season can be very early spring and important.

SPINACH SAUTÉ late summer. In Sit down and make a few 1 tablespoon olive oil the Midwest, notes concerning what you 2 tablespoons butter or margarine Spinach does grew and how each 1 clove garlic, minced especially well vegetable or herb did. Note 1 small onion, chopped during the the type of weather you had 1 grated carrot winter months. (was it a dry summer or 1 can of sliced mushrooms 1/4 cup white wine (optional) A key to great very wet). Make a few salt and pepper to taste tasting spinach sketches of what was 2 pounds washed, chopped spinach is the soil in planted where or take which it is pictures. Do this at the end Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add grown. Make of every growing season. olive oil and butter or margarine. sure that it is The notes you make can When the butter has melted, add garlic and onion. Sauté garlic and onion, rich and well become a valuable resource until onion is transparent. Keep pan fertilized; and help guide you as you from getting too hot and burning the otherwise your ready your garden for the butter. Add carrot and sauté until it is spinach could next year. We all assume we tender, but still crispy. Pour in wine be bitter. When will never forget, but time and bring to a boil, after the mixture the Spinach can erase some valuable has boiled for 2-3 minutes, add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Finally, matures, start information from our add spinach. Mix it in and take skillet picking outer gardening memory. A few off the heat. Don't cook the spinach leaves first. notes made now can keep long, try and keep some leaves with a Continual that memory fresh. little crispness. picking, but in small amounts, SPINACH – TASTES This is a great side dish with baked chicken or grilled steak. will encourage GREAT AND HEALTHY, TOO more leaves to Nothing could be finer than grow. the taste of a fresh spinach Spinach grown during the cooler months salad or sautéed spinach and garlic. Spinach will provide any gardener with a great has become a very popular vegetable and has vegetable to be enjoyed fresh long after many always been recognized as good for you as other vegetables are done for the year. well. It is also a vegetable that is perfect for a 4 • Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006

BEE BALM – A GREAT HERB AND BEAUTIFUL ADDITION TO ANY GARDEN Bee Balm is a perennial herb with a long history here in the United States. Native Americans used this herb for tea. Early American Revolutionaries, after the Boston Tea Party, switched from British tea to Bee Balm. Growing wild from Michigan to New York and south to Tennessee and Georgia, Bee Balm can be found along stream banks. It is an herb in the mint family. It has a citrus, sweet, hot and mint flavor. The leaves are great to use in salads or desserts, as well as teas.

It can grow from two to three feet tall and blooms bright crimson flowers from late June to September. It grows best in partial shade or full sun and in rich, moist soil. To get the largest blooms, the plant should not be allowed to flower the first year. After that first year, cut off flower heads after they bloom.

This will encourage a second blooming in the fall. When a hard frost comes, cut back the Bee Balm almost to the ground and mulch the plant well. In spring, remove the mulch so the plant will grow back.

Bee Balm flowers are wonderful placed on top of vanilla ice cream or chopped finely and added to your favorite pound cake recipe. The flowers can also be steeped in hot water for five to 10 minutes for tea. Strain chopped flowers before serving.

Important to note, with plants like Bee Balm that can be placed in vegetable gardens or flower beds – if you plan to use the leaves or flowers in food products, be careful using any insecticide. Be sure to read the label and make sure any product can be used on edible plants.

TM

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Your contributions will fund scholarships for Oklahoma County Fairs and 4-H & FFA Students Please advise your tax preparer that you wish to participate in this exciting program.

For more information, call: 918-744-1113, Ext. 2929; or 405-235-0404

Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006 • 5

6 • Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006

Sometimes You Feel Like A Pecans have been a mainstay for three generations of a Pontotoc County family.

By Mike Nichols

ou’ve got to be a little bit nutty to work in this business!

While that’s not the official company slogan, it is said with a chuckle by a member of the third generation drawn to the family pecan business.

Randy Bryant and his parents, Carrel and Louise, own and operate Bryant Pecan Company in Ada. Lisa, Randy’s sister, isn’t involved fulltime, but maintains and updates the company’s busy website where pecans, tempting candies and mouth-watering recipes are available at the click of a mouse.

“I’ve always enjoyed the pecan business on the place I have lived since I was one and a half years old,” says Carrel. “We’ve always had pecans.”

The Bryants operated the business from the farm, then expanded to a small building in Ada. Today, Bryant Pecan Company resides in an impressive, nearly 6,000 square foot new building in Ada on a site occupied by the old Evergreen Feed Mills before fire razed the complex.

“We’ve followed the same life as our family,” says Carrel.

“Granddad paid taxes with pecans. We,” says Randy, “try to pay for more!”

Carrel and Louise both retired from teaching jobs at Byng to devote full time to the pecan business. Louise taught second and third graders while Carrel was the school construction trades teacher. Randy even taught briefly on the college level before leaving for the pecan business.

“We’ve been in the pecan business all our lives,” says Louise. “Our parents picked pecans by hand. We inherited land from both sides, and got into commercial harvesting back in 1980 or 1981. We used to have people picking up pecans on the halves.”

Above, top to bottom: Pecan meats with a few shells are about to complete their journey through the equipment at Bryant Pecan Company. A sack waits at the end of this chute. It will be filled and sold at retail, or the owner of the pecans will be contacted and told his pecans are ready.

Carrel, Randy and Louise pose with a “super sack” filled with about 2,000 pounds of pecans bound for a sheller in Georgia.

The Bryant Pecan Company, located at 100 E. 9th in Ada, sits on a site that was occupied for many years by the Evergreen Feed Mills. The Bryants purchased the location after the feed mill burned and was not rebuilt. They contracted the exterior of the nearly 6,000 square foot facility and the concrete work, but completed the interior of the building themselves. Carrel put his years of construction trades teaching experience at Byng to good use in the exterior work and Randy, whose tile laying experience was confined to home projects, became an experienced craftsman by doing all the tile work.

Opposite: Randy bags a batch of local pecans a customer wanted sanitized and then cracked.

Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006 • 7

Carrel retired from teaching in 1984, and the Bryants went full time in the pecan harvesting, cracking and buying business.

The opening of the new facility was the exclamation point for the family business.

“We probably were too old to put in this building,” says Carrel. “We’re not spring chickens. But as long as our health allows us, we’ll stay in the business.”

“We used to crack pecans at home,” says Louise. “There was a big pecan business in Ada, and it went out of business about five years ago.

We went into business, and last year decided to build a new building.

This is a family business.”

A contractor was hired to erect the building and to complete the concrete work. Louise, Carrel and Randy did the entire interior.

“I had been out of it (construction) so long and so much had changed that we contracted the frame and concrete work,” said Carrel.

8 • Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006

“One of my ex-students plumbed the building and another consulted on the city codes.”

Randy, whose experience was confined to home-sized projects, laid all the tile in the new building.

They purchased two cracking machines and a shelling machine made by a Madill company, which is the largest pecan equipment manufacturer in the United States.

“They (the machines) are not cheap,” says Louise.

he Bryants harvest 6,000 of their own pecan trees on their farm in Pontotoc County and two others near Pauls Valley. They have harvest machines to pick their own crop and still run a thriving commercial harvesting business for others.

“But,” says Carrel, “we need to buy pecans to make stuff work. We’re

working a combination of buying, retailing and cracking pecans. We’re dependent on buying in some years to be our main income and some years on retailing. It depends on the crop out there.”

Left to right: These large bags of pecan wait in the warehouse for their date with the cracking machine.

This cracking machine, manufactured by a Madill company, augers papershell pecans into an airpowered chamber that cracks the shells. When in operation, the rat-a-tat-tat produced by the cracking machine sounds similar to the report of a Gatling gun.

Another cracking machine is used on native pecans. Its auger is sized to grab individual native pecans and take them into the air-powered cracking chamber. The Madill manufacturing firm is the largest pecan equipment producer in the United States.

Carrel waits for these two local sellers to place their sacks of hand-picked pecans on a digital scale.

Carrel, Randy and Louise have this rack loaded with 10-pound bags of cracked pecans ready to go on the shelves in the retail area of the family business.

ast year was a pecan boom – a bumper crop in the natural pecan belt, where Oklahoma is one of the larger, if not largest, native pecan producer.

“Last year we purchased about 600,000 pounds,” says Carrel. “We had lines out the door waiting to get paid. They brought them in in little red wagons, pillowcases, Wal-Mart sacks, backpacks and in lawn tractors.

We had six people working in the store last year and needed more, but we didn’t have the room.”

The price paid last year maxed out at $1.60 per pound.

“Last year prices were so good everybody got out and picked up pecans,” says Carrel.

Local merchants have told the Bryants their sales increase at Christmastime when there is a good pecan crop.

“The merchants tell us when it’s a good year for pecans, there’s more money spent for Christmas. Pecans put about $9 million in the local economy last year,” said Carrel.

Merchants certainly noticed a difference this year. This year’s crop is totally opposite. Production is almost nil compared to last year.

“This year, well be lucky to buy 10,000 pounds,” said Carrel. “Right now, people are picking up bad pecans.”

“Pecans tend to be an alternate bearing crop,” explains Louise. “They naturally are alternate bearing and you can’t totally eliminate that even with irrigation and good management.”

Despite the short crop in Oklahoma, prices for this year’s pecan crop have fallen to about 65 cents a pound. Arizona, New Mexico and Texas have bumper pecan crops this year.

“Shellers are just not buying much,” says Louise. “There’s not much market so far.”

With the slack buying and cracking business experienced this year, the business relied heavily on its retail sales.

Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006 • 9

An attractive display of gift baskets in the retail room tempts customers. The Bryants provide the pecans, but purchase the other goodies offered for sale. They handle a large assortment of pecan candies, which they purchase in bulk from a Chicago firm to repackage and sell. The Bryants elected not to prepare them own candies and confections due to the lack of time and a plethora of government regulations.

A customer enjoys a chat with Louise and Carrel inside the retail room of the Bryant family business.

Louise shepherds the retail end of the business. Sales peak prior to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cracked pecans for cooking and baking are big sellers prior to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sales of pecans, pecan candies, confections and gift baskets pick up when shoppers prepare for Christmas.

The Bryants purchase candy they sell in bulk from a Chicago company and then repackage it before it goes on the shelf. They do not prepare their own candy due to time constraints and a multitude of government regulations.

The business, located at 100 E. 9th in Ada, will close the current 10 • Oklahoma Country • Winter 2006

season about Feb. 1. Doors will be locked until late October, but Louise will come in once or twice a week to fill retail orders during the off months.

“I’m here six days a week and that gets old,” says Louise.

“I guess,” Carrel chimes in, “that’s one reason we don’t stay open year-round.”

When they’re not in the pecans, the Bryants maintain their 300-cow herd, grow hay and sometimes plant soybeans.

“He’s the head nut in the nut house,” jokes Randy, pointing to his dad. “You’ve got to be a little nutty to work in this business!”