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DASNR faculty and staff members experience the agricultural diversityOklahoma Recently about 50 cowboys visited alternative energy enterprises, commercial turf grass operations and viewed Oklahoma State University-developed wheat varieties in northwest Oklahoma. Those cowboys were faculty and staff members of OSU's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. The 2009 Agricultural Access Tour made many stops in the Big Orange Bus (BOB) to demonstrate the diversity of agriculture and natural resources in northwest Oklahoma. "This tour gives our faculty, extension educators and alumni the unique opportunity to see innovations in Oklahoma agricultural industries and to learn from our rural agribusinesses and producers," said Robert E. Whitson, DASNR dean and director and OSU vice president for agricultural programs. BOB made its first stop at Mountain Country Foods in Okeene, where agricultural products are put to good use in the making of dog biscuits. "They manufacture a range of products from organic and 'gourmet' type biscuits, to the everyday 'bone shaped' dog biscuits. They also are capable of producing about 40 different shapes of dog biscuits," said Jim Trapp, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service associate director. "And, last but not least they utilize the service of a company that has a 'dog taste panel' that actually evaluates dogs' preference for different formulas and the health impacts of these formulas." After a few healthy "treats" and a discussion with owner Matt Dixon, the cowboys rode on down the road to Roman Nose Golf Course in Watonga. The group learned about the different kinds of grasses on the course and experienced the surrounding natural beauty of the area with head groundskeeper, Ryan Brunner. A cookout style lunch hosted by Chisholm Trail Farm Credit preceded the tour of Flying W livestock equipment . Owner, Kyle Widney, gave an overview of his family business and the technology that goes into his merchandise. From there, it was on to United States Gypsum where Bill Weber took the group on a tour of the mines and the plant. "Gypsum is an old resource that has been produced in Oklahoma for nearly 100 years and we hear very little about it," Trapp said. "We don't think of Oklahoma as a mining state but gypsum is a mining industry. One reason we may not hear that much about gypsum is that the reclamation activities that we saw appeared to be pretty effective." The next stop was in Fairview at Plymouth Valley Cellars Winery where owner Dennis Fleming discussed his operation. Plymouth Valley Cellars Winery has a variety of wines and Fleming talked about the different flavors and what set his winery apart from others in the state. The group started the second day of the tour by visiting the Southern Plains Range Research Station in Woodward. Various projects were discussed and after a tour of the facilities, it was on to the Centennial Wind Farm near Woodward. "We hear a lot about wind power these days and it was awesome to actually go inside of one of the giant wind turbine," Trapp said. "Wind power is a new-found resource, or perhaps I should say newly rediscovered natural resource, since we have had wind mills for a long time, but not wind turbines. Northwestern Oklahoma is slated to be a national leader in wind power." After the wind farm, the group blew in to the Cultural Center in Woodward for lunch provided by Central National Bank of Alva. With full bellies, the tour continued to the North Central OSU Research Station in Lahoma, where Ray Sidwell and Brett Carver conducted a mini field day about the wheat variety trials at the station. The tour concluded with a visit to Pollard Farms near Enid as owner Barry Pollard gave a presentation on the cattle industry. New technology that allows from premier breeding and even genetic cloning were discussed. "All of the communities that we visited rolled out the red carpet for our Big Orange Bus," Whitson said. "Participants were treated to two days of the best our state has to offer."
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