“This was a challenging program and we’re excited to finally reach the point of delivering this $6.5 million in livestock assistance to our producers,” said State Secretary of Agriculture, Terry Peach. “Our employees have really worked hard on this program and deserve a great deal of credit for making it so successful. Even the employees who weren’t working directly on this project took on additional responsibilities since September when the LAGP was announced.”

Oklahoma State University County Extension offices and USDA Farm Service Agency offices also helped with the program.

“A great deal of credit is due our partners with OSU Extension and FSA,” Peach said. “Their offices were instrumental in helping distribute application forms and the Extension offices also made their facilities available to our teams as we visited each county to help producers with their applications.”

The final amount each animal unit will receive under the program is $3.86. The total number of animal units finished at 1,709,056.

The $6.5 million grant package was part of a $50 million program furnished by the USDA to about 20 states affected by the ongoing drought. Oklahoma was the only state to have all its counties qualify for the program.

The new Ford, four-wheel drive one-ton trucks were delivered to Forestry Services at the division's state fire center at Goldsby. The trucks represent about $5 million of the $16 million package the State Legislature appropriated for wildfire funding during the past session.

The fire departments that received the trucks represent more than 25 percent of the state's rural firefighting fleet.

State Agriculture Secretary Terry L. Peach said the departments were selected based on the condition of their vehicles, number of fire responses, number of residents served and location.

"Basically the decisions were based on need. The trucks went to the departments that needed them most," he said.

"We are extremely grateful to the Legislature and Governor Henry for the support they show-ed our agency and Oklahoma's rural firefighters.”

Piedmont Fire Chief Mike Southard said, "These trucks get beat to death, and one was just in such bad shape I did not know whether it was going to make it another year. We did not have the funds to replace it ourselves. This could not have come at a better time."

A Lexington firefighter said the trucks ODAFF is providing would cost about $26,000, an amount his fire department cannot afford. If extraordinary fire danger such as we had last year were to return, the new trucks will greatly enhance firefighters' ability to respond.

The 246 fire departments receiving the new trucks will improve the capability to assist others that engage in mutual aid with them.

For example, the Lexington department works with nine other departments as part of the Cleveland County Task Force.

State Forester John Burwell said many of the rural fire departments across the state are still finding problems with their equipment that developed during the long, exhausting fire season that lasted the entire winter and spring last year.

"The new trucks are a blessing for these departments," he said. "A lot of them are looking for replacements. Motors are going down. Expensive mechanical problems are turning up that still need corrected. Many had just about exhausted their resources.

"Practically everyone is having a problem with worn-out equipment, and the new trucks will make a huge difference in their ability to function when needed."

The state’s first ethanol plant, owned and operated as Spaceport Fuel, was dedicated last month at the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority in Burns Flat. The inauguration is a first in alternative fuels for Oklahoma.

At the dedication, Oklahoma Agriculture Secretary Terry L. Peach presented the owners, Jimmy and Rannie Dean, with the state’s first permit to produce alcohol for fuel.

“This is an exciting day for the entire state of Oklahoma,” Peach said. “Ethanol plants provide the possibility for our agriculture community to produce alternate crops, and we should see some small gains in prices. As we see an increase in prices, that puts profits back into the pockets of farmers and ranchers. This could slow down or stop the migration from our rural communities.”

The Spaceport Fuel facility is designed to convert grain sorghum and corn into up to 5,000 gallons per day of ethanol.

Spaceport Fuels produced its first batch of ethanol in November, and is expected to operate at full capacity by the end of January.

The Burns Flat project is especially beneficial to Oklahoma because it is locally owned, Peach said.

“All the revenues generated will stay right here in the community,” he said. “It should also have an impact within a 75-mile radius of Burns Flat by using local crops and creating distillers grain for the livestock industry in this area.”

Distillers grain is the part of the corn or milo not used in the ethanol making process. One-third of a bushel of the byproduct contains 100 percent of the protein and much of the other nutrients needed for livestock feed.

Rannie Dean owns the facility with his father, Jimmie Dean, who also owns Elk Elevator, a grain elevator company in Elk City.

The Burns flat facility is the first of four proposed ethanol plants to become operational in the state.

Two others are planned for Enid, and one has been proposed for Shattuck. Each of the three remaining plants is expected to produce 55 million gallons of ethanol per year, much more than the 1.8 million-gallon capacity at the Spaceport Fuel plant.

The smaller plant, however, cost less than $1 million to start up. This is significantly less than the more than $50 million price tag on the other three projects.

“Smaller plants are not the fad now,’ Dean said, “but they’re a lot more easily reached by the small farmer, and they have been successful.”

PERMIT NO. 1: Secretary of Agriculture Terry L. Peach, left, presents Alcohol Fuel Producer State Permit No. 1 to Jimmy and Rannie Dean, co-owners of Spaceport Fuel, LLC, in Burns Flat.

At the dedication, Oklahoma Agriculture Secretary Terry L. Peach presented the owners, Jimmy and Rannie Dean, with the state’s first permit to produce alcohol for fuel.

The promotion raised more than 62,000 pounds of food, which will provide over 48,000 meals for hungry Oklahomans across the state.

The Made in Oklahoma Coalition member companies donated food valued at a percentage of their October sales of Made in Oklahoma products to the Regional Food Bank in Oklahoma City and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.

“We are extremely proud to be a part of the Made in Oklahoma annual program helping our Oklahoma Food Banks feed those in need,” said Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach.

“Our agricultural and food processing industries have a reputation for generosity and helping the less fortunate. Programs such as this truly highlight the spirit our state is famous for.”

“We as Oklahoma food producers feel an obligation to share our products with those unable to purchase enough food for their basic needs,” said David Brooks, spokesperson for Made in Oklahoma.

“Approximately 500,000 Oklahomans are at risk of going hungry each day,” said Rodney W. Bivens, Executive Director of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

Cattle producers struggling with Oklahoma’s ongoing drought could get a check averaging nearly $500 per farm from the Livestock Assistance Grant Program.

The relief will come from a $50 million U.S. Department of Agriculture aid program launched in September that is being divided among 20 states that were hit hardest by drought this summer.

“The grants won’t bring farmers close to making up for losses incurred this year but the amount each receives will be a little more than anticipated,” said Secretary of Agriculture Terry L. Peach.

Farmers in Oklahoma who applied for the aid will get about $3.82 for each large grazing animal they listed on a grant application.

Secretary Peach was worried that livestock producers could get as little as 50 cents per animal if it were divided among every cattle producer in the state.

“Only a small portion applied for the grants,” he said. “The state’s $6.5 million share of the grant money is being divided among 13,895 farmers who applied for aid based on the number of animal units they had this spring.”

Large cows and bulls count as one unit, while smaller animals such as calves and sheep count as a fraction.

Applicants listed an average of 124 units per farm, and would receive about $476 in aid.

Most Oklahoma farmers have between one to 499 head of cattle and could get anywhere from a few dollars to nearly $2,000.

“That pales in comparison to the help that’s still needed out there,” said Scott Dewald, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association. “It’s not going to offset anybody’s loss but these dollars are going to help.”

Dewald said many farmers already have cut back herds to much smaller numbers so they can survive until conditions improve, but the drought has forced others out of the business.

December 2006