For the second year in a row, the US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, appeared in a casual setting on the Trade Show floor of the American Farm Bureau Convention- and took almost a full hour of questions- and interacted with farmers and ranchers from California to Oklahoma and Texas and  Vermont- and several more stops across the US.

The Oklahoma question came from former Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Mike Spradling- who asked the Secretary a question about a possible Pecan Checkoff- which the Secretary promised he would find out more details on- and get back to him on- quickly dispatching one of his staffers over to where Spradling was sitting to get contact information to follow up. AFBF President Bob Stallman, hosting the Town Hall, laughed and called that "good customer service."

Things got more serious on a couple of issues- a Texas Cotton farmer asked the Secretary for a status update on if USDA was going to respond in a positive way to the Cotton industry request that cottonseed be declared an oilseed- which would allow cotton producers to participate in the federal farm program safety net- after cotton fiber was excluded from the programs in the 2014 to appease Brazil after the South American country had won a WTO case saying our cotton subsidy program had harmed their farmers.

The Secretary offered a three or four minute answer- which boiled down to "probably not" unless Congress gets involved and tweaks the 2014 Farm Law to provide legal authority to the Secretary to do so. 

The Secretary also had a dialogue with the Montana rancher, showing genuine worry about what the Federal government might do to folks like himself- pointing to the problems in Oregon where ranchers did a controlled burn that got onto federal land and ended up in jail as a result. 

You can watch a replay of the Town Hall and you can also listen to the News Conference with Mr. Vilsack where he went into detail on these issues and more- click here and jump to our story online at OklahomaFarmReport.Com.

 

Pruitt also talked with us about the investigation into the group HSUS and Oklahoma's Right to Farm amendment- State Question 777. To read more- and to listen to our full interview with the AG, click or tap here.

Dr. Richard Thorpe is a physician and Texas cattle producer. He is very pleased with the outcome of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A year ago, he had concerns that there might not be a recommendation for lean meats in the dietary guidelines. He's very satisfied to see that lean meat was included in the new dietary guidelines.


"We really want to commend both Secretary Vilsack and Secretary Burwell for looking at the latest nutritional evidence," Thorpe said. "There was a lot of scientific research that was left out of that first draft, that was not available to the scientists on that committee and as a result of that beef was left out. But, they allowed the most recent and latest research to be placed in their consideration and with this it's been a total turnaround.   It has reaffirmed the role of lean beef in a healthy diet, so we're really excited."


The advisory committee wanted to include sustainability as one of the criteria for protein to receive consideration in the dietary guidelines. Thorpe said that's really not relevant and this wasn't the right platform to discuss sustainability. He said the committee was made of nutritional scientists that weren't equipped to address sustainability. NCBA and other groups laid down their cases and sustainability was removed for consideration.


In looking at the new dietary guidelines, one key phrase used is "healthy eating patterns". The recommendations include lean meat in those eating patterns.


Click here for the complete report entitled Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020.


I featured Thorpe on the Beef Buzz feature. Click or tap here to listen to today's Beef Buzz.

U.S. pork exports continued to gain momentum in November while beef exports also showed signs of a rebound, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).


November exports of U.S. pork were up 8 percent from a year ago to 181,678 metric tons (mt), the largest volume since May. Pork export value was $452.6 million, down 13 percent from a year ago but up slightly from October. As has been the case in recent months, pork muscle cut export volume was up significantly year-over-year (148,740 mt, up 19 percent) while variety meat exports declined 23 percent to 32,938 mt. (As USMEF has previously noted, year-over-year comparisons for pork variety meat may not be entirely accurate due to issues with 2014 data for Japan.*)


For the first 11 months of 2015, pork exports were down 3 percent from a year ago in volume to 1.94 million mt and 17 percent lower in value at $5.11 billion. January-November exports accounted for 24 percent of total production and 21 percent for muscle cuts only - down from 27 percent and 22 percent, respectively, in 2014. Export value per head slaughtered averaged $48.61, down 23 percent year-over-year.


November beef exports totaled 95,799 mt, down 1 percent from a year ago but the largest volume since June, while export value fell 17 percent to $519.7 million. For January through November, beef exports were down 11 percent from a year ago in both volume (973,028 mt) and value ($5.8 billion). January-November exports accounted for 13 percent of total production and 10 percent for muscle cuts only - each down one percentage point from a year ago. Export value per head of fed slaughter averaged $279.12, down 6 percent year-over-year.

To read more about beef and pork exports that have gained momentum, click or tap here.

A second suspect, Robbie Don Ellis, 24, of Claremore, Okla., was arrested on a felony warrant in Nevada, MO on Dec. 26, 2015 after stealing a baby calf from a Rogers County, Okla. rancher.


Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Ranger John Cummings led the investigation and TSCRA Special Ranger Bart Perrier assisted.


According to Cummings, the investigation began on Oct. 21, 2015 when a baby calf was consigned at the Vinita, Okla. livestock auction. The employees at the livestock auction said they became suspicious when a malnourished new-born calf was unloaded from inside the cab of a pickup driven by Ellis and the other suspect, Jenny Lynn Davis, 36, of Claremore, Okla.  Click or tap here to read more about the investigation.

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We are a little more than twenty four hours away from knowing who will be the next President of the American Farm Bureau. In talking to a variety of Farm Bureau members as well as members of the media- it really seems to boil down to a two man race for President- even though there are four candidates running. 

Most of the conversation I have heard centers on past Indiana State President Don Villwock and current Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall. Bob Stallman is retiring and that means no incumbent and a wide open race.

One farm broadcaster friend who covers Indiana agriculture says that the Indiana folks fell really good about where their candidate stands right now- and the Georgia folks also seem to be really upbeat as well. 

Once the President's race is decided- the delegates will wrap up the annual business session by selecting their Vice President- and Oklahoma's Tom Buchanan is making  a run as one of four candidates for that position as well. It is also a wide open race and I would think that Tom's success will rest partially on who becomes the next President of AFBF.  

Anything is possible- but it would be my guess that the delegates may prefer to have a Veep in a different geographical area of the country compared to their President. 

That could prove to very beneficial to our Oklahoma Farm Bureau President if the Georgia President becomes the next AFBF President- that could make it difficult for the Florida President to be successful in his push to be the next Vice President of the organization. 

From what I can tell- frontrunners for the number two job includes the Florida and Oklahoma Presidents.

The delegate session starts first thing Tuesday morning- all resolutions work will be done and then the delegates will move to the elections. 

We'll be here in Orlando- and will be tweeting and posting as things unfold.