Nearly 100 Oklahoma Farm Bureau members gathered in Oklahoma City for the organization’s 2024 Leadership Conference held Tuesday, Feb. 13.
The annual event serves to bring Farm Bureau members together for a day of learning and fellowship with a number of speakers and guests throughout the conference.
The event kicked off with Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur giving an update on Oklahoma agriculture and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, of which Arthur is the president.
Arthur recounted some of NASDA’s top priorities for the coming year, including the farm bill, agricultural research, animal disease preparedness, conservation efforts and more.
She also expressed the need for programs like OKFB’s Young Farmers and Ranchers, noting the average age of agricultural producers is 57.
Arthur shared with Farm Bureau members the growth of Oklahoma’s agritourism industry and encouraged members to think about tourism opportunities on their operations to diversify income, create space for family members to return to the farm, and educate fellow Oklahomans about the agriculture industry.
Farm Bureau members also heard from Tres Savage, the editor-in-chief at NonDoc Media, a journalism project that started in Savage’s garage in 2015. Savage described NonDoc as a community journalism platform that aims to support under-covered issues around the state of Oklahoma.
Savage noted the decline in traditional journalism and the effect of shuttered main-street newspapers in communities across Oklahoma and the United States. NonDoc aims to bridge the gap between local and national news organizations, allowing local newspapers to run content in their print issues free of charge to provide another source of content for dwindling newspaper staff.
He also walked members through best practices as news consumers in an age of increased click-bait news and artificial intelligence technology, noting reliable news articles and sources generally list author names, include information from a variety of sources, display funding sources, and make their contact information readily available.
Savage also moderated a panel of political consultants to give Leadership Conference attendees a glimpse into the 2024 election season. Panelists included Evan Handy of the South Creek Group, Matt Parker of Campaign Advocacy Management Professionals, and Brigette Zorn, a political and marketing strategist who headed Joy Hofmeister’s gubernatorial campaign in 2022.
The panelists discussed top issues for the 2024 elections, polling patterns across Oklahoma voters, upcoming state Senate races and more.
American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Danny Munch gave Farm Bureau members an update on foreign ownership of agricultural land across the U.S. and Oklahoma. Munch noted the recent uptick of state-submitted policy proposals as AFBF received 11 proposals from nine states concerning foreign land ownership in 2022.
Munch walked OKFB members through the current process in place to track foreign land ownership through the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, which is coordinated through the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Munch explained AFIDA’s limitations and inefficiencies, as it is a paper form and only requires the primary investor’s country be listed.
Munch revealed that as of 2021, only 3.1% of agricultural land in the U.S. – about 40 million acres – is foreign-owned, and nearly half is used as forestland and timberland. According to Munch, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany hold 50% of the foreign-owned land in the U.S.
Munch said Oklahoma is ranked fifth nationally in foreign-owned land with about 4.2% of agricultural land in the hands of international investors. The statewide breakdown is similar to the national statistics with Canada, Italy and Germany topping the list of countries owning land in Oklahoma.
This year’s speaker lineup concluded with an advocacy training session with HJ Reed of Loyal and True Strategies. Reed discussed best practices for visiting with legislators and advocating for the agricultural and rural issues that matter most to Farm Bureau members.
The evening concluded with an awards banquet to honor the recipients of the 2023 OKFB Champion award, which is given to state lawmakers who serve as exemplary advocates for Oklahoma agriculture, going above and beyond for the state’s farmers and ranchers during the 2023 legislative session.
Champion award recipients were Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall, Atoka; Rep. John Pfeiffer, Orlando; Rep. Dell Kerbs, Shawnee; Rep. David Hardin, Stilwell; Rep. Anthony Moore, Clinton; Sen. Brent Howard, Altus; Sen. Lonnie Paxton, Tuttle; Sen. Darcy Jech, Kingfisher; Sen. Chris Kidd, Waurika; and Sen. Chuck Hall, Perry.
