At the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Leadership Conference, Oklahoma Farm Reporter Maci Carter had the chance to visit with the Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Blayne Arthur, about some of her biggest priorities at the federal level.
“I would say number one, certainly, is the farm bill,” Arthur said. “That has been on everyone’s mind for a long time now, and we are appreciative of the extension but hopeful to get some resolution to that this year.”
Within the farm bill, Arthur said she is paying close attention to matters that will be important for producers in Oklahoma, including agricultural research, animal health, conservation efforts, and more.
“It is a little bit of a stalemate at the federal level,” Arthur said. “I think we are very fortunate in Oklahoma that we have someone like Congressman Lucas who is absolutely the expert on the farm bill and those programs and how they benefit producers. We are hopeful that compromise will happen in D.C. It is important to all of our ag producers because, living in Oklahoma, the weather can be very challenging, so if it is on the livestock side of things or the crop production side of things, a lot of those safety net programs in the farm bill are incredibly important, and we hope we get to a good place with this farm bill.”
At the conference, Arthur discussed the chemical PFOS and conversations at the national level about the potential dangers of this chemical. Arthur said PFOS can be found in many things, from plastics to fabrics and more.
“There are lots of questions that need to be answered within the long-term impacts potentially of PFOS and how that impacts us both as producers and the landscape as well,” Arthur said.
Looking at the attitude of producers throughout Oklahoma, Arthur said there has been optimism relating to the recent moisture. Arthur said there has been discussion about making the Emergency Drought Commission more permanent.
“There are several different bills here at the legislature at the state level right now for that drought commission to do the work that needs to happen,” Arthur said. “That comes from an executive order from the Governor. Lots of discussion about if it needs to be a continuing commission because we know in Oklahoma there is probably going to be a drought in one part of the state or another at different times.”
Arthur also talked about calling on the EPA to fix the Dicamba dilemma for the 2024 growing season.
“From Oklahoma’s perspective, we did send a letter to EPA to use their ability and discernment of enforcing that to allow a product that is already out in retail and out in the supply chain to go out to producers so we can get through this growing season,” Arthur said.
