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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featured Story:

Derrell Peel Calls 2015 Cattle Market "Agonizing and Frustrating" For Nearly Everyone Involved  

 

Mondays, Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, offers his economic analysis of the beef cattle industry. This analysis is a part of the weekly series known as the "Cow Calf Corner" published electronically by Dr. Peel and Dr. Glenn Selk. Today, Dr. Peel looks at where the cattle market has landed as we approach the final trading days of 2015- and what may happen to the market in 2016:



"The contrast between the beginning and end of 2015 is stark. It has been a year of transition as the markets turned the corner from a long run of up-trending prices to the reality that growing cattle inventories and increasing beef production imply lower prices in the future. The idea that things will change is not a surprise but how that change will happen is most always impossible to predict. Cattle and beef market fundamentals have not changed nearly as dramatically as the recent volatility and freefalling prices would suggest; but the process of changing market psychology from bullish to bearish is emotional, often overly-dramatic and usually painful.

"The second half of 2015 has been agonizing and frustrating for nearly everyone involved and the contrast between the annual averages and the end-of-year conditions are marked. Cattle prices at the end of the year are sharply lower, although 2015 will have the highest average annual prices ever. Beef production in 2015 will be down another 2-2.5 percent year over year, but production in the fourth quarter will be up an estimated 1.5-2.0 percent year over year. The annual comparisons of 2015 and 2016 will show sharp differences; with average cattle prices lower and beef production increasing year over year. However, most of the adjustments are already in place at the end of 2015 and current conditions provide the starting point for 2016."

Read all of Dr. peel's analysis on the ups and downs of the 2015 cattle market and what that means for 2016- click here to jump to the rest of his commentary.

 

Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe Applauds GAO Decision on EPA's Illegal Use of Social Media in WOTUS Push

 
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today released a statement after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published its legal decision that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated prohibitions on the use of taxpayer dollars for covert propaganda and unauthorized publicity as well as for indirect or grassroots lobbying against legislation concerning EPA's controversial Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule:


"GAO's finding confirms what I have long suspected, that EPA will go to extreme lengths and even violate the law to promote its activist environmental agenda. Courts have already raised questions about the legality of the Waters of the U.S. rule and have temporarily halted it from going into effect. EPA officials act as if the law does not apply to them, but this GAO opinion should serve as another reminder that EPA officials are not above the law.   GAO's determination that EPA violated the ban on covert propaganda and grassroots lobbying is especially troubling.   EPA's illegal attempts to manufacture public support for its Waters of the United States rule and sway Congressional opinion regarding legislation to address that rule have undermined the integrity of the rulemaking process and demonstrated how baseless this unprecedented expansion of EPA regulatory authority really is. This opinion from GAO also bolsters our oversight of EPA in other areas, as we continue to investigate and raise questions about the process EPA used to develop the Clean Power Plan and its coordination with environmental activists groups."

Read more about the GAO ruling by clicking here- we also have a link to the complete ruling within our webstory.

Farm Bureau and NCBA Weigh In on GAO Ruling Against EPA's Actions During WOTUS Public Comment Period

 

Both the American Farm Bureau and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association have been quick to praise the findings of the non partisan GAO regarding the EPA's handling of Social Media to shape comments given to the agency during the Public Comment Period for the Waters of the US Rule.

Farm Bureau's Bob Stallman says "It's clear from this report that EPA orchestrated this matter in a biased fashion. Now it's up to Congress to clean up this mess by including a corrective measure in the omnibus bill now taking shape on Capitol Hill.

"Courts already have declared serious doubts about the legal authority for the rule. Now that it has become clear that the agency used illegal tactics to manufacture ill-informed support for the rule, Congress should act immediately to prohibit implementation of this rule, which is the product of an unlawful and misguided process."

Read all of Stallman's comments by clicking here.


Likewise- NCBA President Phillip Ellis says that  "the EPA's zealous advocacy of their rule in violation of federal law shows the extremes to which this administration will go to subvert public opinion in favor of their far-reaching environmental agenda."

Read all of the NCBA statement on this GAO ruling by clicking here.

$45,000 Raised Monday at the Oklahoma National Stockyards- Helping Marine Bill Broadie with His Steaks for Troops 

 
It has become a tradition of December. For the sixth year, the cattle buyers in Oklahoma City who buy thousands of cattle annually paused on the day of the last sale of the year and said thanks to those who are in our armed services and are the protectors of our freedom by "bidding" on a single calf in the sale ring.

This tradition happened again on Monday at the Oklahoma National Stockyards where 8,500 cattle went through the sale ring and were bid on- but a single calf weighing 690 pounds was sold- and resold multiple times for a grand total of just over $45,000- all to benefit the All American Beef Battalion.


Standing beside the auctioneer was the Chairman of the AABF, Bill Broadie of Ashland, Kansas. Broadie was in Vietnam in the late 1960s and came home unappreciated, as did so many soldiers that were in that war. He resolved that current members of our military should not have to feel like they were outcasts as he did when he returned from Vietnam fifty years ago. He and other like minded folks organized the All American Beef Battalion "to support our brave troops fighting the global war on terror."


We talked with Broadie after the fundraising was complete- and you can hear his comments and learn more about his Steaks for Troops efforts by clicking here.

New Insecticide Developed for Cattle Ear Tags, Aims to Break Insecticide Resistance With Flies

 

 

I talked with Brinkmeyer about Bayer's plans on rolling out this new fly control option in 2016 on the Beef Buzz. Click or tap here to listen to this Beef Buzz featuring his comments.

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New Argentine President Tells Farmers- No More Excuses- Start Producing and Selling

 

 

As promised, the new Argentine President Mauricio Macri eliminated export taxes on agricultural goods including beef, wheat and corn while cutting a tariff on soybeans by 5 percentage points- this on his first day in office.

President Macri told farmers as he took office "there are no more excuses to not produce more." Export tariffs were increased in the last decade in a bid to boost government revenue. The country estimates that farmers had been holding on $11.4 billion worth of corn, soybeans and wheat.

Argentine farmers have protested the taxes for several years. Export tariff on soybeans will now be 30 percent. The taxes on beef, wheat and corn were previously 15 percent, 23 percent, and 20 percent, respectively. Argentina has shipped $17.9 billion of grains and oilseeds abroad this year, the lowest for the period since 2009.

The taxes had been introduced in 2008 under the Peronist government of former president Cristina Kirchner. Protests over the steep rates paralyzed the agriculture sector that year and turned into a crisis for her government.

There are also reports that the new President is looking at a devaluation of the Argentine Peso to make both their farm products and industrial goods cheaper in the short run on the international marketplace- Macri needing the export dollars to help jumpstart the economy in the new year.

A good overview of these early actions by President Macri is available here.

ICYMI- Cheri Long Talks Ag in the Classroom with Ron Hays on In the Field 

 
In Case You Missed It- a few weeks ago, we talked with Cheri Long of the Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom program. Originally, this video was scheduled to air the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving- but due to the ice storm of that weekend, regular programming was preempted. As a result, the video conversation between yours truly and Long was aired on KWTV's News9 Saturday morning news report this past Saturday, December 12th.


You can watch this update on the Ag in the Classroom efforts in the state by clicking here.


We also have in our webstory with the video the earlier story we posted talking about Ag in the Classroom over this past year and what is ahead in 2016- and you will have a chance to hear our "off camera" conversation with Cheri as well. Just click on that link in the paragraph above.

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