Road to Rural Prosperity

Because of COVID 19, the 2020 Oklahoma State FFA Convention was not held in downtown Oklahoma City this spring- and it was early June until the Oklahoma FFA was able to name their 2020 Stars in the four traditional categories. In today's Road to Rural Prosperity- we introduce you to two of them- the 2020 Star in Agriscience, Jentry Squires of Kingfisher and the 2020 Star in Ag Placement, Landri Ch...

Today the Road to Rural Prosperity heads down the road where we find KC Sheperd talking with Deborah Clark, a rancher from North Texas, who tells her “On average, we’re producing between a 100 and 120 pounds of beef per acre. Our neighbors’, and the county average is somewhere between 40 and 50. That’s a telling number.” Deborah explains the way that she and her husband Emry Birdwell operate their...

The Road takes us to Weatherford, Oklahoma as Host Ron Hays talks with State Representative Harold Wright about his 12 years in the Oklahoma State House- including the last four as Speaker Pro Tempore. He offers his take on the 2020 Legislative Session and how challenging it was to write a budget in the middle of the Pandemic. Ron and Harold also talk their shared passion- radio- and the lifetime...

Jack Staats has proudly proclaimed "Here by the Owl" at State FFA Conventions since 2008- and did so at the Chapter Level for over thirty years before that- Jack is retiring from his role as State FFA Advisor and the Program Manager of Ag Education in Oklahoma. His teaching career started in 1973 and he has seen Oklahoma FFA rise in popularity and in importance across Oklahoma- reminding us that O...

US Senator James Lankford talks with Host Ron Hays about challenges in two of the key industries found in Rural Oklahoma- Agriculture and Oil and Natural Gas. Lankford described the help coming out of the CARES act and the PPP- and what might be ahead in a few weeks from the US Senate- dismissing the HEROES Act as a partisan wish list from the Democrats in the House. Today's Podcast is powered by...

Steve Thompson of Oklahoma Farm Bureau Talks about the new fiscal year State of Oklahoma Budget and other policy issues worked on as the State Legislature effectively ended their legislative year by mid May. Thompson said numerous agricultural policy issues were discussed by lawmakers. Among the issues were food safety laws connected with farmers selling direct to consumers through farmer’s market...

The Executive Director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Brent Kisling, joins Host Ron Hays as he continues to push for every Oklahoma resident to be counted in the 2020 Census. He admits COVID 19 has slowed the process down- but soon door to door enumerators will be heading out- Brent says a lot is at stake when it comes to improving the well being of our state- every person missed costs th...

Host Ron Hays traveled to Stillwater to talk with Dr. Bailey Norwood , The Barry Pollard, MD / P&K Equipment Professor of Agribusiness at Oklahoma State University. Bailey joined the OSU faculty in 2003 and currently teaches three classes in the Ag Econ Department. Ron and Bailey go in depth into two of them- including a relatively new class he is teaching on Supply Chain Management in Agribusines...

If you eat, you will want to listen to this conversation hosted by Ron Hays with the Executive Director of okPORK, Roy Lee Lindsey and the Executive Vice President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen, Michael Kelsey. Roy Lee and Michael talk about the challenge of keeping the flow of beef and pork going from the farm or ranch to the consumer's plate during this COVID-19 event- and how that has changed drama...

Guest Host Tim West talks with the Executive Director of Oklahoma's Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, Julie Bisbee. TSET was established after the historic settlement between "Big Tobacco" and 46 states. Voters in 2000 approved the creation of the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, making Oklahoma the first state to protect its Master Settlement Agreement payments in a constitutional t...

Today's Episode features a conversation with Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank Lucas, who has represented the northwestern half of Oklahoma in Washington since 1994. He talks with host Ron Hays about a number of issues surrounding the COVID-19 crisis, including the CARES Act, helping the agriculture industry survive and recover, the battle to get funding out into rural America- including t...

Today's Episode has Ron Hays at the headquarters of the Oklahoma Youth Expo- having a behind the scenes conversation with the President of the OYE, Tyler Norvell and Exec VP Kass Newell. The three discuss the unfolding of events at the 2020 OYE that saw thousands of head of livestock show as the coronavirus pandemic expanded into Oklahoma- and when a case was found in Oklahoma County on March 15th...

Special Guest Host AJ Griffin returns to have a conversation with Janet Pulliam, the Senior Manager for Hospital Systems for the American Cancer Society. Aj and Janet talk about the challenges ahead for rural healthcare in the state of Oklahoma, especially in light of the unfolding COVID-19 Pandemic. Today's Episode is sponsored in part by the Oklahoma Rural Water Association

Host Ron Hays sits down with the Executive Vice President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, Michael Kelsey, as they talk about the largest segment of the Oklahoma agriculture- beef cattle and the multistate journey that Michael has taken to get from Rush Springs to the OCA Headquarters in Stockyards City. They talk about how cattlemen are dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, low cattle prices,...

Today's podcast episode features Host Ron Hays talking with Jerry Renshaw, Superintendent of the first ever Ag Mechanics Contest at the Oklahoma Youth Expo, as well as with students Tracy Criner of Porter, Kody Munoz of Elgin and Wyatt Kappus of Union City. These young men talk about their projects- how they planned and built them and how the skills they have gained will help them in life. Renshaw...

Oklahoma State Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur brought together resources from the Oklahoma Department of Ag, the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, the OSU Wheat Improvement Team and Offices of the Governor and Lt. Governor to establish the first ever Governor's Wheat Challenge- with two varieties of wheat developed by Dr. Brett Carver and the OSU Wheat Improvement Team being grown in small plots...

In our newest episode, Host Ron Hays sits down with Ag Educator Travis Bradshaw- talking about his career path that has recently taken him to Elgin just north of Lawton after many years in north central Oklahoma in the small community of Burlington. Bradshaw explains what led him into the teaching profession- how Ag Education has changed and how the students he has taught have inspired him over an...

Kent Bacus with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association sat down and talked with host Ron Hays at the recent Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio- they talk about the recent trade agreements with EU, Japan, Mexico, Canada and China- and how they collectively make 2020 and beyond an exciting time to be in the cattle business. Today's podcast is being powered by the Oklahoma Rural Water Assoc...

Guest Host AJ Griffin and Oklahoma State Senator Kim David of Porter talk about the current state of healthcare- especially rural healthcare in the Oklahoma- and consider ways to work towards better outcomes for citizens that live outside of the two major metros in the state. They also review the proposal from Governor Kevin Stitt on how to fix some of the current shortcomings of the healthcare sy...

As the 2020 Oklahoma Legislative Session begins, the Speaker of the House in the Oklahoma Legislature, Charles McCall of House District 22, sat down with Host Ron Hays and talked about his eight years in the Legislature, his concerns with a State Question that may be considered by voters this fall that could radically change the Redistricting Process in the state, his Priorities for 2020 in the St...

In today's conversation, Host Ron Hays talks with Matt Waits, the President of the Ag Solutions Division for Proagrica. Matt is based in Stillwater and worked with his Dad, David Waits, as he founded SST Software back in the 1990s. SST was a pioneer in Precision Ag and today, Proagrica continues down that road as a major player in the Precision Ag space. Today's Road to Rural Prosperity is sponsor...

The name for the Ag School on the campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater is changing- with the approval of the Regents, it will be the OSU Ferguson College of Ag. Host Ron Hays explores with Dean Dr. Tom Coon how the Ferguson Family, the OSU Administration and OSU Foundation put this deal together- and how the $50 Million will be used to advance the Land Grant mission at Oklahoma State...

Guest Host AJ Griffin is on the Road to Rural Prosperity with the CEO of the Grand Lake Mental Health Center based in Vinita, Oklahoma- Grand Lake provides mental health services in 13 counties in northeast and northcentral Oklahoma- Danley has been instrumental in delivering innovative mental health services as Grand Lake serves as a model with agencies all across rural America. Today's Road Podc...

Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays sits down with Matt Pinnell and talks about his journey to become the 17th Lt. Governor of Oklahoma- and his efforts as a part of Governor Kevin Stitt's Cabinet to promote small business and tourism in the state- he offers an update on the efforts to build a brand for Oklahoma- and he and Ron talk Agritourism as well. Today's Episode is powered by P...

In our final episode for 2019, Host Ron Hays talks with State lawmaker John Pfeiffer of Orlando, who represents District 38- one of the more rural districts in Oklahoma- as Pfeiffer describes it- parts of 5 counties from northern Logan county up I-35 to the Kansas State Line- with a total of 10 stoplights and more cows than people. Today's Road Podcast is powered by BancFirst, Loyal to Oklahoma an...