During the third full week of May each year, conservation organizations, associations, farmers, ranchers, shepherds, and consumers share stories about how heritage breeds have impacted their lives, environments, and local economies. This global conversation raises awareness about endangered livestock and poultry breeds listed on the Livestock Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List and about rare breeds around the world. You can share photos and plans for special activities on social media. The Livestock Conservancy also has brochures to help you tell the story of livestock and poultry conservation.

For more information, visit the Livestock Conservancy website, or contact The Livestock Conservancy by email or phone (919-542-5704).

Farmers and ranchers may apply to enroll grasslands in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands signup through May 26.

The Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is part of the CRP program, a federally funded voluntary program that contracts with agricultural producers so that environmentally sensitive agricultural land is not farmed or ranched, but instead used for conservation benefits. FSA provides participants with rental payments and cost-share assistance. Contract duration is 10 or 15 years. Grassland CRP helps landowners and operators protect grassland, including rangeland, and pastureland, and certain other lands, while maintaining the areas as grazing lands.

The program emphasizes support for grazing operations, plant and animal biodiversity, and grassland and land containing shrubs and forbs under the greatest threat of conversion. Grassland CRP is reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill.

For more information on the CRP Grasslands program, see the USDA fact sheet.  The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition also has this post with more background on the program.

To enroll in the CRP Grasslands signup, producers and landowners should contact their local USDA Service Center by the May 26 deadline.

The Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association Annual Convention & Trade Show is a 3-day conference designed for the pecan industry in Oklahoma and surrounding areas.

For more information or to register, visit the event webpage, or contact the Oklahoma Pecan Growers Association by email or phone (580-279-0357).

The OSU Cattlewomen’s Boot Camp is a project that combines elements of two successful programs, Annie’s Project and the Oklahoma Livestock Boot Camps. Using previous agendas from the boot camps and the teaching model of Annie’s Project, the program intends to create an informative and engaging learning experience for female producers covering various methods on how to manage the production, financial, and market risks when operating a beef cow/calf operation.

This program will be a three-day workshop that will combine traditional educational programming with hands-on demonstration and activities and classroom exercises. Topics that will be covered include but are not limited to:

• Cattle Evaluation
• Calf Management
• Herd Nutrition
• Hay Evaluation
• Forage Production
• Marketing
• Production and Financial Records
• Farm Transitions
• General Management Practices
• Farm Business Planning
• Herd Health and Vaccinations
• Facility Management and Selection
• Reproduction Management
• Calving Management

Partners

This program will partner with the Southern Extension Risk Management Education, Oklahoma Cattlewomen’s Association, Oklahoma Women in Agriculture, and Oklahoma Women Veterans Program.

For more information or to register, visit the event webpage, or contact JJ Jones by email or phone (580-332-7011).

National Pollinator Week is June 19-25, 2023.

In 2006, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating a week in June as “National Pollinator Week.” According to Pollinator Partnership, this “marked a necessary step toward addressing the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.”

Pollinator Week has now grown into an international celebration, promoting the valuable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats, beetles, moths, wasps, and flies.

People across the planet have pledged to continue promoting pollinator health and well-being through their Pollinator Week events. These include virtual and in-person gatherings, webinars, planting sessions, garden and farm walks, and monument lightings.

Check the Pollinator Week website for events in your area. If there aren’t any near enough, you can add your own!

(Pollinator Week is managed by Pollinator Partnership, the largest non-profit organization in the world dedicated exclusively to the protection and promotion of pollinators and their ecosystems.)