This year's slate of Oklahoma Quality Beef Network (OQBN) fall certified sales will include two new sites in western Oklahoma.

Cherokee Livestock and Elk City Livestock will serve as first-time hosts of OQBN Vac-45-certified sales on Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, respectively. OQBN will also return to Jordan Livestock in Caddo County on Nov. 5.

"We've never really been in western Oklahoma, and I think we'll gain a lot of new producers from the area participating in the OQBN program," said Gant Mourer, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension beef value enhancement specialist for OQBN.

In addition to new locations, the fall schedule has been expanded to 10 sales, three more than in 2012, in response to buyer feedback requesting more opportunities to purchase OQBN cattle.

Other locations and dates include OKC West (Nov. 6 and Dec. 4), McAlester Stockyards (Nov. 19), Blackwell Livestock (Nov. 23), Tulsa Stockyards (Dec. 2), Durant Livestock (Dec. 5) and Pawnee Livestock (Dec. 7).

Mourer said the goal is to move at least 5,000 OQBN Vac-45 and PRECON-certified cattle by the end of the year.

"It's early yet, but we've had a lot of interest in the sales," he said. "We've gotten some rain across the state, and corn and feed prices are falling, so all those things have put producers in a good position to participate, possibly. We hope they will."

OQBN, a joint project between OSU Cooperative Extension and the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, is dedicated to educating producers on best value-added management practices. As a result, buyers know they are getting healthy, high-quality cattle at OQBN-certified sales events.

"The important thing is we improve the health and nutrition of calves through our program," Mourer said. "With the drought last year, we saw 8% to 10% death loss in feedlot and grower yards in regular cattle, whereas with OQBN cattle, that death loss was about 1 percent."