After reporting on the contentious battle over Country of Origin labeling for meat for years, it's suddenly over. (I may have withdraws!) On Friday, the House voted, the Senate voted and the President signed the Omnibus and COOL for beef and pork was history.

After those votes, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack released a statement confirming he got the memo- saying "Effective immediately, USDA is not enforcing the COOL requirements for muscle cut and ground beef and pork outlined in the January 2009 and May 2013 final rules."

"USDA will be amending the COOL regulations as expeditiously as possible to reflect the repeal of the beef and pork provisions. In addition, all imported and domestic meat will continue to be subject to rigorous inspections by USDA to ensure food safety."

The official reaction from Canada and Mexico was elation- a joint statement from the two nations included the following comments:

"We are very pleased that yesterday the U.S. Congress passed and U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law a bill that will repeal COOL for beef and pork, effective immediately.

"We look forward to the restoration of full access to the U.S. market for Canadian cattle and hogs and Mexican cattle, as this will benefit our farmers and our economies.

"This outcome is a result of close cooperation and collaboration between our two countries and our many allies within the U.S. Congress over the past several years. We remain committed to working with partners in all three countries to enhance our shared North American prosperity."

The Canadians did remain wary of those in Congress and those who wanted COOL to continue despite the WTO ruling- with their Minister of Trade Chrystia Freeland saying that she still intends to obtain formal approval next week from the WTO for retaliation, even though the tariffs won't be imposed.

Freeland said over the weekend "We think that it is prudent of us to take the legal process to its formal, technical conclusion."

Click here to read more on the Canadian-Mexican reaction to COOL repeal by the US.

Obviously, the Omnibus/Tax bill that was voted for by the House and Senate and then signed by President Obama on Friday was more than just the COOL Repeal- and goes well beyond just agriculture. And for agriculture, while it started with COOL- ag groups that reacted also were very pleased with Section 179 Depreciation language being made permanent in the bill.

We posted a multitude of groups and their reaction from the Friday votes- click on the name of the group to see their statement that was released:

Oklahoma Cattlemen

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers

American Farm Bureau

National Corn Growers Association

National Cattlemen's Beef Asssociation

National Pork Producers Council

National Farmers Union


Oklahoma's Senior Senator, Jim Inhofe, offered a long list of things that he saw as being very good coming out of the huge package- starting with the end of the export ban on crude oil.  He contends that will be great news for Oklahoma long term. He also praised the tax reform measures that will help small business and farmers and ranchers, the COOL repeal and a lot more.  Click here for Senator Inhofe's full list of things he liked that are a part of this bill that has been signed into law by President Obama.

For the first time in thirty one months, the number of cattle on feed on the first of December was less than the on feed number of a year ago.   According to Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities, the USDA December Cattle on Feed report released on Friday afternoon signaled some positive news for a cattle market hungry for anything that could help stop the recent price downturn.

As is often the case- the tell of this month's report can be read in the placements part of the report. USDA says "Placements in feedlots during November totaled 1.60 million head, 11 percent
below 2014. Placements are the lowest for November since the series began in 1996. Net placements were 1.53 million head."

Leffler, in talking with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network's Dave Lanning, zeroed in on the Placements. At 89% versus last November, the number of cattle placed in feedlots was well below what the pre report estimates were projecting at 95.9%. Leffler adds that both the on feed number and the marketings number were friendly as well.

Click here to read more and to be able to hear Tom's rundown of all of  the report's numbers- and we have a link to the full report in our webstory as well.

Congress just put the brakes on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's regulatory overreach.

On July 22, OSHA released an enforcement memorandum rescinding all prior policy documents, letters of interpretation, and memoranda related to the retail exemption to Process Safety Management, a set of procedural, operational and organizational design standards intended to prevent the release of highly hazardous chemicals at manufacturing facilities.
The memo, released without opportunity for public comment and outside of the formal rulemaking process, would force virtually all agricultural retailers that store and sell anhydrous ammonia to comply with PSM.

In recognition of OSHA's unlawful attempt to revoke the long-standing retailer exemption from the costly PSM standard, Congress included a rider to the appropriations bill passed this past week.

The bill, Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (H.R. 2029), prohibits OSHA from enforcing its July 22 memo for fiscal year 2016 until the Census Bureau establishes a new North American Industry Classification System code for Farm Supply Retailers. OSHA must also conduct a formal rulemaking process with public comment before any guidance change may be implemented.

Daren Coppock with the Ag Retailers Assoication calls this a huge win for ag retailers- as these regs, left unchecked, would cost retailers that you buy ag chemicals from millions of dollars in additional regulatory cost- with little to show for it.

Click here to read more of Coppock's thoughts on this part of the Omnibus that appears to be a positive for agriculture.

2015 is now in the record books as far as sales of stocker and feeder cattle are concerned, with virtually all livestock auction markets now wrapped up with their sales for this calendar year. When you look at the numbers, the start of 2015 reflected the record setting prices seen in the latter parts of 2014- and it was downhill from there.


Five to six hundred pound steer calves were priced from $2.70 to $3.10 at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in January 2015- in the final sale of the year this past week in Oklahoma City, that weight range was bringing $1.67 to $1.99, off 34% from the start of the year to the end of the year. While calf prices seemed to be trending down throughout the year, yearling prices were down nine to twelve dollars per hundred from January to the first of August- and at that point, yearlings were pushed over the price cliff and fell 69 to 79 dollars per hundredweight from early August to the end of December. Eight weight yearling steers followed that pattern as well, falling just four to seven dollars a hundred weight from January to August- then dropped fifty five to sixty five dollars a hundred from August to the end of December.

Oklahoma State University Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel says that cattle producers who have stocker cattle that were bought ahead of the drop off the cliff may see some price recovery in the new year- but it is unlikely that they will avoid losing money on those animals. The same, he says, is true in the feedlot cattle where yearlings were placed before hard fall in both yearling and feedlot prices in recent months.

Dr. Peel is featured on this subject in our latest Beef Buzz- and if you click here you can hear his comments as well as check the fall in prices seen for for several weight classes from the start to the end of 2015- basis the Oklahoma National Stockyards.

The National FFA Organization announced this past week that W. Dwight Armstrong, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the National FFA Organization and the National FFA Foundation, will retire effective June 30, 2016. Armstrong shared his plans with the National FFA Board of Directors and the National FFA Foundation Board of Trustees, saying the time was right to transition the leadership of FFA and for him to spend quality time with his family, friends, volunteer opportunities and personal pursuits.

Armstrong joined the National FFA Organization in 2009 as its chief operating officer and was later named chief executive officer. In 2014, he was also named chief executive officer for the National FFA Foundation and currently serves both organizations in a joint appointment.

National FFA Advisor and Chair of the National FFA Board of Directors Dr. Steve A. Brown voiced appreciation for Armstrong's service and commended him for his contributions to the organization. "Dr. Armstrong has provided outstanding executive leadership for FFA at a critical time in our development," said Brown. "In addition to being a close advisor and confidante, Dwight has been a steady, driving force in helping formulate our strategic direction and achieving program goals for FFA."

Read more about Dr. Armstrong and the FFA plans for succession in 2016 by clicking or tapping here.

Mooooove over, Christmas presents; the greatest gift for that special cattle producer might just be the newly revised Oklahoma State University Beef Cattle Manual.


"It's a comprehensive resource of the latest research-based information for beef cattle producers, Extension professionals, veterinarians and others in the industry, and is especially important for those participating in the OSU Master Cattleman Program," said Dave Lalman, OSU professor of beef cattle production systems. "The new edition contains a number of revisions and updated chapters."


Cost is $25 plus shipping upon request through local OSU Cooperative Extension county offices, or orders can be placed online- click here to read more about the revised manual and how you can order your very own copy today.