Last Call for Recruiting Intern Candidates

There is only one week left to apply for our summer internship! The Oklahoma Pork Council is still accepting applications for passionate, motivated, and professional college students studying agriculture or a related field to be considered for the organization’s 2025 summer intern.

In this position, the chosen candidate(s) will help plan and execute a variety of exciting Oklahoma Pork Council events to promote the pork industry and serve our producers. The intern will work with the Oklahoma Pork Council staff to gain valuable knowledge related to Oklahoma’s pork industry, learn the inner workings of an agricultural producer organization, and bolster professional skills including communications, event planning, time management, networking and more.

Any Oklahoma-based college student majoring in agriculture or a related field is eligible to apply. No formal communications training is required, but the internship will include writing assignments for the organization's publications (like this weekly newsletter) and additional communications work as needed. If you know of a qualified college student who might want to spend next summer on our team, click here to review the job listing on our website. We would love your help to recruit many interested candidates. Applications close on Friday, January 31, so the time to apply is now!

Thank You for Letting Us Serve You!

Recently named a "Great Company to Work For" in Oklahoma, the staff at Oklahoma Pork remain incredibly grateful for our board and members who enable us to work together on your behalf.

If you have talked to any member of the Oklahoma Pork Council staff, you have likely seen for yourself that we love our jobs serving Oklahoma's pork industry. Thanks to a passionate board of directors and incredible members across the state, we very honestly consider it a joy to tell our farmers' stories and champion your good work to help feed the world.

But with our "Dream Team" only having four full-time members, we often believe our great culture flies under the radar to those outside Oklahoma's agriculture community. For the second year in a row, that assumption has been corrected as the Oklahoma Pork Council has been named one of our state's "Great Companies to Work For" by Oklahoma Magazine. Only five organizations were chosen in the food-related industry, so we are proud to be recognized for our work and our culture!

Nominate Someone Excellent for Recognition

If you are reading this digital newsletter, there's a very strong chance you know an award-worthy pig farmer! Applications are now open for the 2024 Oklahoma Pork Council Excellence Awards.

This honor recognizes individuals across all areas of pork production for exceptional commitment or innovation within at least one of the Oklahoma Pork Council's four strategic intention areas: Foreign Animal Disease Preparedness, Workforce At All Levels, Image Enhancement, and Freedom to Operate. Each year, the winners of this award are pork producers who view their work as more than a job, bringing passion to their professions each day. Nominees do not have to be Oklahoma Pork Council members or work in any certain sector of production. Up to four producers will be chosen for this acknowledgement, and the winners will be celebrated later in 2025.

Nominations are due by Saturday, February 15, 2025. Click here to learn more and fill out the quick online application for a deserving member of your team or community.

Pork Highlighted at Legislative Training

With just a few weeks until Oklahoma's 60th legislative session begins at the State Capitol, staff from our state's two largest economic industries hosted a joint educational "boot camp" for incoming elected officials. Around 15 legislators attended the all-day "Ag and Oil" training to learn from a variety of agricultural and energy-related experts.

Oklahoma Pork board member Brett Ramsey did a phenomenal job sharing his pork story on an agricultural panel alongside cattle rancher Monte Tucker and poultry producer Brent Bolen on a panel moderated by Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur. Additionally, Oklahoma State University (OSU) professor Dr. Shannon Ferrell aced his role at the event with an impressive economic overview of our state's diverse agricultural portfolio.

Send Impressive College Students Our Way

Spread the word! The Oklahoma Pork Council is now accepting applications for passionate, motivated and professional college students studying agriculture or a related field to be considered for the organization’s 2025 summer intern.

In this position, the chosen candidate will help plan and execute a variety of exciting Oklahoma Pork Council events to promote the pork industry and serve our producers. The intern will work with the Oklahoma Pork Council staff to gain valuable knowledge related to Oklahoma’s pork industry, learn the inner workings of an agricultural producer organization, and bolster professional skills including communications, event planning, time management, networking and more.

Any Oklahoma-based college student majoring in agriculture or a related field is eligible to apply. No formal communications training is required, but the internship will include writing assignments for the organization's publications (like this weekly newsletter) and additional communications work as needed.

If you know of a qualified college student who might want to spend next summer on our team, click here to review the job listing on our website. We are looking forward to mentoring another fantastic student leader (or leaders if we hire two!) later this year, and we would love your help to recruit many interested candidates. Applications close on Friday, January 31, so the time to apply is now!

Reflecting on Hugely Successful Giving Campaign

Before we shift focus into 2025, it's important to celebrate the incredible generosity Oklahoma's pork community displayed during the 2024 holiday season now that the final numbers have been counted. Our board and staff want to extend deep thanks to each person who donated hams, pork products, time or funds during our recent Give-A-Ham Challenge.

Although we know not everyone publicly shares their Give-A-Ham involvement on social media, we can confirm more than 565 hams, 31,250 pounds of protein, $10,500 of financial gifts, and 550 volunteer hours were donated as part of Oklahoma's 2024 Give-A-Ham Challenge. Those totals mean thousands of Oklahomans enjoyed delicious pork meals in the past month because of our industry's heart for giving, and we have no doubt additional off-the-record donations took place in communities across Oklahoma.

Each year the challenge looks a little different, and for 2024 we were especially proud of the broad reach Give-A-Ham achieved impacting all areas of the state. Special free lunch events in Stillwater, Maysville, Wewoka, Seiling, and Hartshorne provided more than 3,000 free meals in pork-supporting communities. Additionally, large-scale donation projects within the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metros met critical needs in our state's population centers. Pairing all those events with the individual giving that occurred thanks to challenges being accepted by many of our members and supporters - we can say without question that the 2024 Give-A-Ham Challenge touched lives across Oklahoma.

Undoubtedly less important than the actual act of feeding people, but as the Oklahoma Pork Council we also recognize our role to publicly brag on our members who skip every opportunity to brag on themselves. So a secondary success of our annual giving campaign includes positive coverage across media types, including TV coverage, printed publications, social media shares, and more. Thanks to a tracking metric shared with Oklahoma Pork earlier this week, we know Give-A-Ham's TV segment reach included more than 360,000 viewership hits, and our social media reach exceeded one million impressions!

One fun way 2024's Give-A-Ham Challenge moved during the campaign's closing days included participation from rising Oklahoma country music star Wyatt Flores and dozens of Oklahoma FFA chapters across the state. Here's to a hugely successful giving season last year and even more generosity and industry pride as we begin 2025!

Oklahoma Pig Farmers Tap Country Stars to Give

SOURCE: Farm Journal's PORK

Country music artist Wyatt Flores, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma State University’s Ferguson College of Agriculture Dean Jayson Lusk are just a few of the celebrities that have accepted the challenge to Give-A-Ham this month by members of the Oklahoma Pork Council.

“Their participation has drawn attention, sparked excitement, and inspired others in their networks to step up. These leaders showcase how influential voices can amplify the campaign’s reach and impact,” says Joe Locke, Tyson Foods Director of Operations and 2024-2025 Oklahoma Pork Council president.

The Give-A-Ham effort aims to fight hunger by providing high-quality pork to families and individuals in need throughout the holiday season. The program serves two key purposes: addressing food insecurity and inspiring collective generosity.

“The #GiveAHam Challenge adds an exciting, interactive element by encouraging participants via social media to donate ham and challenge others to do the same. This ripple effect not only amplifies donations, but also brings communities together fostering a sense of shared purpose and engagement across Oklahoma and beyond,” Locke explains.

The Oklahoma Pork Council is playing a leading role on social media, bringing the Give-A-Ham challenge to life by inviting celebrities and leaders in the state to give back to their communities. Click here to keep reading from Farm Journal's PORK.

Give-A-Ham Challenge Snowballs Across State

For Oklahoma Pork, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas gets to be packed full of holiday cheer thanks to our generous farmers and our annual Give-A-Ham Challenge. As you have likely witnessed, each year the challenge looks a little different as we continue to better focus on feeding as many Oklahomans as possible while also promoting pork production among several important audiences.

While our special community feeds across the state and our partner giving days have taken center stage for 2024, we also want to commend the fantastic champions who have proudly stood with pig farmers while donating hams to deserving charities and families in every corner of Oklahoma. Thanks to each of our board and staff members working to strategically spread the challenge through their own networks, we know thousands of people will enjoy quality pork meals this Christmas who may not have otherwise been able to do so.

In addition to Governor Stitt, we have impressive government support through our incredible Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur and key policy partners like incoming Speaker of the House Kyle Hilbert. More government shout outs to come as other state and federal policymakers expect to be tapped during Give-A-Ham's homestretch the next week.

Throughout education, we appreciate fun Give-A-Ham involvement from Oklahoma State University (OSU) President Dr. Kayse Shrum, OSU College of Agriculture Dean Dr. Jayson Lusk, the OSU Food and Agricultural Products Center (FAPC), and other great friends in academia. Shout out to our stellar 2024 Pork Industry Group members who all jump-started the generosity at OSU, tapping leaders and student organizations across campus to give.

Countless other pork industry champions and friends of agriculture have accepted the challenge, and it's not too late for YOU to give, too! Visit the Oklahoma Pork Council Give-A-Ham page here to see more details, and to let us know how you plan to give back this holiday season. You can also keep up with the challenge via Oklahoma Pork's social media pages, and don't forget to tag us in your own acts of pork generosity!

Seaboard Gives Back in Seiling and OKC

With Christmas getting closer, Seaboard Foods worked with the Oklahoma Pork Council to hold two special community days for the 2024 Give-A-Ham Challenge across the state. Collectively, Seaboard's partnership with Oklahoma Pork this week included more than 300 free pork meals distributed in Seiling and an impressive 10,000 pounds of Prairie Fresh pork donated amongst five charitable organizations in Oklahoma City.

To start the fun, board member Roy Cansler led the latest Give-A-Ham free community lunch serving more than 300 pulled pork meals for his hometown in Seiling on Tuesday. Attendees got to grab their meals and spin the wheel for fun Seaboard prizes, in addition to snagging some fun Oklahoma Pork goodies to help stay warm this winter. With great volunteers from the High Plains Technology Center and the Seiling FFA Chapter, there was no shortage of helping hands to spread joy in downtown Seiling.

Then on Wednesday, a crew of Seaboard employees spent the day hand delivering more than 10,000 pounds of donated Prairie Fresh pork to a variety of service oriented organizations as a continuation of the company’s 2024 Give-A-Ham involvement. The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (which serves all Oklahoma counties where Seaboard Foods operates), the City Care Night Shelter, the Homeless Alliance, the City Rescue Mission, and the Grace Rescue Mission all welcomed generous protein donations with open arms as they discussed real challenges to feed Oklahomans in need during the holiday season.

This unique day of giving also provided an eye-opening look into the heart-warming work done by each organization. A special thanks to board members Roy Cansler and Dr. Donna Drebes for their leadership in this year's Give-A-Ham Challenge. Additionally, Oklahoma Pork commends Seaboard teammates Davida Gomez, Rantz Trayler, and Cinthia Gomez for spending their Wednesday hauling and unloading thousands of pounds of pork to some truly grateful recipients.

There is still a week left for all our members to take part in the Give-A-Ham Challenge in your own communities. Share your participation by posting a photo or video on social media using #GiveAHam and #OklahomaPork, or click here to let us know how you #GiveAHam this December. What a special way feed to people and promote our industry!

Blue & Gold Donates and Serves in Tulsa

As faithful leaders each "Giving Season" to make people smile while donating protein across our state, the crew at Blue & Gold Sausage Co. always understand the assignment. This year they took their Give-A-Ham generosity to a whole new level by donating more than 8,700 pounds of their delicious products to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and serving more than 500 folks a hot breakfast at the Iron Gate Day Shelter in Tulsa.

Thanks to our wonderful Community Food Bank friends CEO Jeff Marlow and Chef Jeremy Johnson, the tasty Blue & Gold sausage was paired with eggs, biscuits and butter all donated by great Oklahoma Pork partner Ben E. Keith Foods to create a hearty morning meal for every day shelter visitor. The Oklahoma Pork Council is so proud to serve members who continually prioritize giving back and serving our neighbors like Brett and his team! Check out his heartwarming recap and Give-A-Ham Challenge video made by Oklahoma Pork's Shay Stegmann above.

As we hit the halfway mark of the 2024 challenge this holiday season, we still have two special community feeds on the schedule and more fun member challenges to be announced. Join us in Seiling or Hartshorne next week around 11:30 am for a first come, first served until supplies last delicious pork lunch with special Oklahoma Pork giveaways.

• Tuesday, Dec. 17 – 300 Free Lunches in Seiling with Seaboard Foods

• Thursday, Dec. 19 – 300 Free Lunches in Hartshorne (Winner of our Social Media Poll)

Remember these festive events represent just one part of the Give-A-Ham excitement. Through our ongoing social media challenge and the action of invested industry leaders like you - we know there will be hundreds of donations made throughout Oklahoma this month.