Not only does a blue and gold corduroy jacket represent leadership and hard work, it acknowledges a commitment to care for the land and animals that feed us. The okPORK team spent May 1 and 2 among these great Oklahoma FFA students proudly parading their “Blue and Gold”.

okPORK is pleased to welcome Makala Navarro to our team for the summer of 2019. Makala is a senior majoring in Agriculture Communications and will graduate in December of 2019. We sat down with Makala for a Q&A so you could get to know her. You’ll be seeing her at okPORK events throughout the summer so be sure to say hi!

In October of 2019, okPORK and the department of Animal and Food Science at Oklahoma State University will team up to offer the first Pork Industry Group special problems course. This eight-week course will feature all the different careers related to pork production in Oklahoma.  It will also feature a tour of a sow farm and a tour of the Seaboard Pork Processing Plant in Guymon, Okla.

The Oklahoma Youth Expo is by far the world’s largest junior livestock show. And okPORK is privileged to be a part of it year after year.

There were over 5,000 swine projects exhibited this year. Looking at hundreds of great hogs is always a good day but seeing the smiles of the kids driving those projects made it a spectacular week! Those kids are why okPORK invests more than $18,000 in OYE. Those dollars are split between scholarships, prize sponsorships, feeding the swine committee and judges daily and premium sale purchases.

On December 10th the Oklahoma Pork Council donated $10,000 to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to help them process pork sticks for the Food for Kids Backpack Program. This brings the total okPORK has donated to the Food Bank to more than $142,000 over the last decade.

There are many yearly events that are simply staples in the okPORK world. It’s easy to see that the annual Bacon & Bourbon dinner has become one of those events.

The venue, VAST, offers the tallest, most breathtaking views of the Oklahoma City metro area. Chef Kevin Lee’s prowess for preparing pork shines each year. And the crowd keeps growing. 

On another chilly and rainy October day, pork producers from all over the state of Oklahoma gathered together, stocking caps and all, at the John Conrad Golf Course in Midwest City, Okla., for a day of golf.

Just like past years, the purpose of having the yearly tournament in the middle of the state was to attract producers from all over Oklahoma to come mingle, eat pork and of course play golf.

Sights, smells and sounds surround the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds for two weeks, every September. This year you could hear things like - “Get your corndogs here,” “Come taste the turkey legs,” and “HAWGZILLA!”

After a couple years hiatus, okPORK’s Swine and Stein dinner came back with a roar. Sean Cummings Irish Restaurant was the perfect venue for the group that gathered on August 12.

Chef Chris Bickel prepared four amazing courses featuring pork and the evening’s theme was Mexican. The first course featured puffed chicharrons with a salsa trio featuring guacamole, salsa fresca and salsa verde. These puffed and fried pork skins were far better than convenience store pork rinds and each salsa option was full of flavor.