The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers state committee raised more than $11,000 for the OFB Legal Foundation during the annual YF&R Golf Classic, May 4.

The 10th annual event was held at Stillwater’s Lakeside Golf Course where more than 25 teams competed in a four-man scramble. Prizes were awarded to the top three teams including Wiggins Auctioneers, third place; Cleveland County Farm Bureau, second place and Alfalfa County Farm Bureau, first place.

The golf classic is the largest fundraiser organized for the OFB Legal Foundation and OFBLF Director Marla Peek said she appreciates the YF&R group’s efforts to support the foundation.

“The purpose of our foundation is to support the rights and freedoms of farmers and ranchers by promoting and protecting individual liberties, private property rights and free enterprise,” Peek said. “We’re grateful for this annual fundraiser that allows us to continue serving Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers.”

To learn more about the OFB Legal Foundation, please visit ofblegalfoundation.org.

A select committee of 55 Oklahoma Farm Bureau leaders has been chosen to study the future of agriculture and Farm Bureau as part of the American Farm Bureau Centennial Development Project.

Among the project’s priorities are the mission and structure of Farm Bureau, the demographics of Farm Bureau members, policy development, member benefits, communications, technology, political activities and leadership development.

“This is a strategic planning process for the county, state and American Farm Bureau,” said Mike Spradling, Oklahoma Farm Bureau President. “Meeting the challenges to establish a farm organization for the future requires visionary leadership at all levels. History illustrates that we’ve done this successfully throughout our evolution and we can do it again.”

One particular area Spradling wants to address is the aging demographics of farmers and ranchers.

“Within the next two decades, we are going to need 100,000 new farmers and ranchers across this country,” Spradling said. “We need these producers to be industry leaders, so we are looking at developing more ways to surface these producers and get them involved.”

Committee member Lawrence Sawatzky, Clinton, OK, believes there needs to be more education and information for the public to understand agricultural production.

“We spend so much time as farmers growing food that we forget we need to be doing other things to help the public understand what’s happening on the farm,” Sawatzky said.

The committee held their first meeting in Oklahoma City, May 9. Committee members were divided into smaller working groups for each of the nine OFB districts and will meet several more times in the next two years before completing the project in 2014. The centennial project will then be implemented on a five-year schedule leading to the 100th anniversary of American Farm Bureau in 2019.

Oklahoma agriculturalists are generally optimistic but concerned about the economy and burdensome government regulations. That’s the summary of an Oklahoma Farm Bureau survey answered at the recent Oklahoma FFA Convention and Southern Plains Farm Show.

An overwhelming 80 percent of those surveyed at the FFA convention said they were optimistic about the future of agriculture. That number jumped to 100 percent at the farm show.

“You have to be optimistic if you’re a farmer,” said Jimmy Kinder, a Walters, Okla., producer who completed the survey at the farm show. “You can’t farm from behind, you have to farm from the front!”

When asked to list the challenges facing agriculture today, the more popular answers included concerns about burdensome government regulations, increased production costs, uncertain weather conditions and the declining availability of land for agricultural production.

FFA students who took the survey said they would like to see more agriculture-related classes and more promotion of the “agriculture story.”

The results of the OFB survey are consistent with similar questionnaires taken in previous years at the same venues.

Southeastern Oklahoma residents will have an opportunity to learn about the pending Sardis Lake lawsuit at an educational town hall forum, May 17, in Atoka.

Hosted by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and AFR, the meeting is intended to provide general background information on the lawsuit. The event is not a political forum but instead an education forum organized to explain the lawsuit’s legal process and how the filing will impact citizens’ water rights. Also, representatives from the Attorney General’s office and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board will be available to answer questions.

The May 17, meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Atoka County Farm Bureau Office, 309 W. Liberty Rd., Atoka. For more information on the Sardis Lake forum, please contact Oklahoma Farm Bureau Director of Public Policy Kinsey Money at (405) 523-2539.

Farm families and those wanting to work on farms, received support April 26, when the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) withdrew rules that would have prevented many young people from working in agriculture.

“We are pleased the DOL heard our concerns and now they understand this proposal was unnecessary,” said Mike Spradling, Oklahoma Farm Bureau president. “After months of fighting the proposal, this is definitely a victory for farm families.”

Oklahoma Farm Bureau was a lead critic of the DOL proposal. The DOL received thousands of complaints from the agriculture industry after it announced plans last fall to propose strict, new child labor guidelines on the farm.

“Farm Bureau members have made it clear the DOL proposal was wrong and we’re glad the DOL listened to our concerns,” Spradling said.

The Sand Springs rancher said the proposal could have impacted agriculture’s future.

“If we are to prosper in the future, we need the younger generation to understand agriculture production and having these young people work on the farm fosters that appreciation needed for them to pursue an agricultural career,” Spradling said.