The consolidation of packing plants in the beef industry will be the topic of discussion in El Reno when the newly-formed Oklahoma Rural and Small-Town Table of Common Interests, in partnership with National Farmers Union (NFU) and American Farmers & Ranchers/Oklahoma Farmers Union Cooperative (AFR/OFU Cooperative) hosts its first issues forum.

The event is scheduled from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Redlands Community College.

According to the group’s chairman, Clay Pope, this event will be a chance to highlight a major issue af fecting the economic health of one of rural Oklahoma’s largest economic drivers, the beef industry.

“For years the beef industry has wrestled with the issues of packer concentration, price discover and fair markets,” Pope said. “Now with the pandemic shining a light on the vulnerability of the industry to processing bottlenecks, we feel that it’s important to further educate Oklahomans on this critical issue.”

Speakers at the event will include NFU President Rob Larew, AFR/OFU Cooperative President Scott Blubaugh and Corbitt Wall, beef market analyst.

The group will also be addressed by former Oklahoma Governor David Walters on rural issues.

All presentations will be made both live and virtually to help alleviate COVID-19 concerns.

“With pandemic restrictions on the number of folks who can attend the event in person, we will be livestreaming this event on the internet,” Pope said. “We can only have 40 people in attendance at the school, so we are allowing seating on a first come, first served basis.”

Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP by Nov. 1 by calling Pope at 405-699-2087 or sending him an e-mail at claygpope@gmail.com.

There is no charge for the meeting.

Those wishing to view the event on line can follow the event at https://youtube.com/channel/UCHsBXmtjL10iAAXgXLAAUpA .

The meeting will be recorded and available for future viewing as well.

Registration will begin at 6 p.m. at the Redlands Community College Conference Center located at 1300 S. Country Club Road.

For more information contact Pope at the phone number or email listed previously.