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OSU Wheat Breeding Program Advances Innovation: Dr. Brett Carver on Genetics, Facilities, and Growth

Public wheat breeding has transformed dramatically over the last three decades, moving from simple open-market distribution to specialized licensing models, modern infrastructure planning, and tailored grain characteristics.

Farm Director KC Sheperd recently sat down with Oklahoma State University wheat breeding specialist Dr. Brett Carver to discuss the evolution of OSU’s breeding program, upcoming facility upgrades, and the next wave of varieties headed to growers.

Reflecting on the biggest operational change throughout his tenure, Carver pointed directly to how university-developed genetics are brought to market. Prior to the late 1990s, varieties were developed with public funds and released without commercial protections.

Addressing agricultural producers from across the state at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s 85th Annual Meeting on Friday afternoon, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur delivered a candid yet optimistic assessment of the state’s agricultural landscape, reflecting on nearly eight years of leadership, navigating severe drought, and rallying support for the next generation of farmers and ranchers.

Arthur opened by thanking her team at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry (ODAFF), emphasizing the deep alignment between agency staff and Farm Bureau membership.

“Many of them are members of Farm Bureau, and they have served the state well for many, many years,” Arthur said, calling the past eight years a dynamic period marked by unexpected challenges and long-awaited breakthroughs.

As grassroots delegates wrapped up the policy resolution sessions at the 2026 Oklahoma Farm Bureau (OKFB) Annual Meeting in downtown Oklahoma City, the message from the countryside was clear: Oklahoma agriculture welcomes economic development, but only with ironclad safeguards for natural resources, rural communities, and accountability.

Speaking with Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays of the Oklahoma Farm Report, OKFB President Stacy Simunek highlighted the membership’s proactive approach to emerging industrial developments—including proposed data centers and an aluminum smelter planned near Inola—alongside landmark progress on statewide water policy.

“In between the smelter, the data centers, and new industry coming out, I think we should be worried and concerned anytime we’ve got new industry coming into the area that we don’t know,” Simunek said. “We want to make sure that they’re running properly by the rules and regulations that are out there.

Sen. Casey Murdock on Why Data Centers Could Offer An Economic Lifeline for Rural Oklahoma

Facing economic decline, persistent drought, and rural school funding shortfalls across his northwest Oklahoma district, State Senator Casey Murdock believes the solution might just come in the form of data centers.

In a recent conversation with Farm Director KC Sheperd, Murdock framed the rapid expansion of data centers not merely as a tech industry trend, but as an economic lifeline for rural towns and a critical frontier for national security.

The issue took center stage after Murdock moved forward with an interim study in the Oklahoma Senate. According to Murdock, the initial speaker lineup proposed by a colleague felt overly tilted against the industry. 

Senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays spoke with Dr. Mark Johnson, American Angus Association board member from Orlando, Oklahoma, about the association’s upcoming annual convention, the success of its Angus Link program, and the growing demand for high-quality beef.

With the annual meeting returning to Louisville, Kentucky, alongside the North American International Livestock Expo, Johnson says the association has several programs and opportunities to share with its membership. He has served on the American Angus Association board for two years, says the annual convention is an important opportunity for Angus breeders and members to come together, share information and discuss the direction of the industry. 

One program Johnson highlighted is Angus Link, which he described as a game changer for the cattle business. Angus Link allows producers to receive a genetic merit scorecard on a group of feeder calves without submitting DNA samples on those individual animals. “You have got a program there where you can get a genetic merit scorecard on a set of feeder calves to sell that does not require any DNA submission on those calves,” Johnson said.

Agriculture education in Oklahoma classrooms is helping young students understand where their food, fiber and fuel come from, and 2026 Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year Jennifer Meyer is making those lessons a regular part of her first-grade classroom.

Mrs. Meyer teaches first grade at Grove Elementary in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She recently completed her sixth year at Grove and has been teaching for a total of 16 years, including nine years at Strother.

Through hands-on activities, classroom projects and food tastings, Mrs. Meyer works to introduce her students to agriculture and help them understand the role it plays in their everyday lives.

On Nov. 5, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials met with USDA and delivered a letter to urge the agency to authorize a voluntary national emergency vaccination framework for dairy cattle, as part of an integrated disease control strategy, in response to ongoing Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreaks.

“The dairy industry must have effective tools to combat HPAI,” NASDA CEO Ted McKinney said.

“Current surveillance strategies like the National Milk Testing Strategy and premovement testing have been critical in early detection, but an integrated disease control strategy must go beyond biosecurity and movement controls and include veterinary countermeasures. That’s why we are asking USDA to approve vaccines as an additional tool to help prevent and reduce the spread of HPAI in livestock.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s reelection surprised financial markets following a closely contested presidential election against Flávio Bolsonaro. The reaction was immediate. Brazilian stocks fell sharply, and the country’s currency, the real, declined more than eight percent against the U.S. dollar.

For U.S. farmers, those developments matter because Brazil is one of the United States’ largest competitors in global agricultural markets, particularly for soybeans.

Lula’s reelection could affect that competition through two different channels: a weaker Brazilian currency (real) that makes Brazilian exports more competitive in the short run, and environmental policies that could influence how rapidly Brazilian agriculture expands over the longer run.

Checking the Markets...

It was absolutely sickening to watch the live cattle complex fall lower and lower, day in and day out, throughout this past week's trade. The contracts plundered lower, continuing to erode position from the marketplace for no apparent reason. December live cattle closed $0.35 lower at $214.05, February live cattle closed $0.42 lower at $217.20 and April live cattle closed $0.57 lower at $219.85. 

Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice down $0.77 ($360.79) and select up $1.24 ($353.56) with a movement of 116 loads.

And in keeping in alignment with the live cattle complex, the feeder contracts also fell lower through Friday's end -- with no support arising to help give traders some support to stand on. November feeders closed $2.72 lower at $322.32, January feeders closed $1.95 lower at $318.37 and March feeders closed $2.07 lower at $313.85. 

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