Presented by

 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

Featured Story:

President Obama Vetoes WOTUS Disapproval- Says Rule Safeguards Public Health

"I am returning herewith without my approval S.J. Res. 22, a resolution that would nullify a rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army to clarify the jurisdictional boundaries of the Clean Water Act. The rule, which is a product of extensive public involvement and years of work, is critical to our efforts to protect the Nation's waters and keep them clean; is responsive to calls for rulemaking from the Congress, industry, and community stakeholders; and is consistent with decisions of the United States Supreme Court.

"We must protect the waters that are vital for the health of our communities and the success of our businesses, agriculture, and energy development. As I have noted before, too many of our waters have been left vulnerable. Pollution from upstream sources ends up in the rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters near which most Americans live and on which they depend for their drinking water, recreation, and economic development.

"Clarifying the scope of the Clean Water Act helps to protect these resources and safeguard public health. Because this resolution seeks to block the progress represented by this ruleand deny businesses and communities the regulatory certainty and clarity needed to invest in projects that rely on clean water, I cannot support it. I am therefore vetoing this resolution."

There has been talk about a veto override attempt by the Republican controlled Congress- but it not likely such a vote will be successful.

Wheat Yield Contest Highlights Sustainable Practices

­­­­The National Wheat Yield Contest will be conducted for the first time in 20 years, and winners will be announced nationally at the 2017 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas. The contest consists of two primary competition categories: winter and spring wheat. All state wheat organization grower-members are encouraged to participate.


"We are excited about the benefits this competition will bring to our nation's wheat growers individually and to our country's wheat industry collectively," commented National Wheat Foundation (NWF) Chairman Dusty Tallman. "We anticipate many of our growers will participate, and we look forward to seeing the positive results this has on the wheat industry, especially when it comes to improving crop management practices on the farm."


"BASF is pleased to partner with the National Wheat Foundation on the Wheat Yield Contest," said Luke Lathan, product manager for wheat, BASF Corporation. "Lessons from this yield contest can help all wheat farmers with information about new innovations for production acres and sustainable farming practices."

For more information, including how to enter the 2015-16 National Wheat Yield Contest, click or tap here.

Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts Accepting Applications for Mike Thralls Scholarship

The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD) is taking applications for two scholarships to honor the late Mike Thralls. In his memory, OACD will be awarding two $500 scholarships beginning in February 2016. Thralls was a graduate of Oklahoma State University who went on to serve as the Oklahoma Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and Executive Director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. OACD said Thralls was an unwavering steward of the land who loved Oklahoma and was committed to preserving natural resources.


Applicants must be a current high school senior in Oklahoma that will be pursuing a degree in agriculture or natural resources at OSU or applicants can be currently enrolled at OSU in the College of Agriculture or Natural Resources and be a graduate of an Oklahoma high school.


In the spirit of Thralls, applicants that are involved in 4-H, FFA, farming and/or ranching and have expressed an interest in conservation are encouraged to apply. Applicants should exhibit outstanding character, professionalism and a commitment to serve their community.


Applicants should submit a 500 word essay on a conservation subject of their choice along with their full name, address, telephone number, email address and a copy of their most recent high school or college transcripts to OACD no later than February 1, 2016.   Click here for more details about the Mike Thralls Memorial Scholarships.

Beef Price Shift Stimulates Ads, Demand

Not long ago, the news was sharply higher beef prices in a still-recovering economy. Industry insiders wondered how consumers would respond. Amid the talk of fewer retail features and penny-conscious shoppers, people still turned to beef.


"Sometimes we all get more worried about those price points than maybe the consumer does," said Randy Blach, CattleFax senior market analyst.


He put it in perspective during the Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand annual conference last fall, noting that the average consumer has to work 12 to 15 minutes to pay for a pound of Choice beef today. That's down from more than 30 minutes in the 1970s and '80s.


Blach said that helps explain why high-quality beef demand continued to rise, even during the steep increase in prices.  Click or tap here to read more about retail and cattle prices.

Cattlemen's Beef Board Chairman Jimmy Maxey Offers Beef Checkoff 101

The Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show is a week away in San Diego, California. One of the groups meeting at that Cattle Industry Convention is the Cattlemen's Beef Board. They will be led by California cattle producer Jimmy Maxey, who serves as Chairman. We asked Jimmy to give us a Beef checkoff 101.


"The dollar gets collected, mostly by state beef councils," Maxey said. "Fifty cents stays there and 50 cents comes to the national programs, then we try to invest that wisely in various forms of research and promotion, industry information and consumer information."


The beef checkoff is reaching consumers today through digital advertising campaigns. With the checkoff assessment at $1 per head, the same as when the checkoff was established in 1985, Maxey said it's been important to find ways to stretch those financial resources. Digital marketing has allowed the checkoff to target beef consumers.


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

Want to Have the Latest Energy News Delivered to Your Inbox Daily?

OCA Getting in Front of Producers to Talk About State Beef Checkoff and State Question 777

Petitions are being distributed throughout Oklahoma for cattle producers to vote on a secondary beef checkoff. The signature drive has reached the halfway point in gathering the 5,000 signatures. Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association (OCA) Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey said they have seen overwhelming acceptance when they have had the opportunity to put it in front of producers, but that has been a challenge. Ag producers are busy, so he said they are developing strategies to meet cattle producers where they are. OCA is looking at communicating with producers at places like feed stores and veterinary offices.


Beef producers still have an opportunity to sign the petition. The petition is available through the OCA website, plus it was published in the "Cowman" publication the last two months. Beef producers are encouraged to sign the petition and mail it to the OCA office. OCA wants to collect 5,000 signatures in the near future in order to have the referendum later on this year. At that point, Oklahoma cattle producers will get the opportunity to vote on the referendum.


OCA is also a part of the coalition promoting State Question 777. This is known as the "Right to Farm" Constitutional Amendment that will be voted on by Oklahomans in November 2016. Kelsey said the constitutional amendment is vitally important to Oklahoma agriculture and consumers as well. In traveling the state, he has seen overwhelming acceptance from citizens, especially in the rural areas.   He said all of the state's agricultural organizations are working together and standing united.


Opposition to the "Right to Farm" has started to emerge with the formation of the Oklahoma Stewardship Council. Kelsey said this is really an out-of-state group that is coming in and trying to influence. He thinks that bolsters the "Vote Yes" campaign, because he thinks citizens want Oklahoma farmers and ranchers to be producing their food and citizens don't want to see out-of-state entities influence food choices in the grocery store.


The state's agricultural producers need to continue to share the message and financially support the "Vote Yes" campaign. That's going to be a challenge because of the economy in general, plus lower cattle prices have also hurt the state's agricultural sector. Even with the tough economic times, Kelsey thinks the state's agricultural producers will get behind the effort, because of what this constitutional amendment will mean to the future of agriculture in Oklahoma. Whether people donate $20 or $1,000, he said financial support for State Question 777 is very important.

      
Kelsey and I talked about both of these issues this past week-  click or tap here to listen to our conversation.

This N That - Red River Crops Conference, Big Iron Wednesday and Central Oklahoma Cattle Conference 

 

The 2016 Red River Crops Conference gets underway this morning at the Southwest Technology Center in Altus- and it's not too late to go and take in some great presentations from both OSU Extension folks as well as Texas AgriLife Extension experts.

Today's program looks at winter crop and summer crops other than Cotton. The Thursday program focuses on Cotton.  One of the Thursday speakers is Dr. Jody Campiche, who traveled the state of Oklahoma for a couple of years as an extension ag economist- preaching to producers about the value of signing up for ACRE a few years ago- and then just before she left for the National Cotton Council- she was busy explaining the differences in the 2014 Farm Law between ARC and PLC. 

Details of the two day program are available here.  

************
It's Wednesday- and that means the Big Iron folks will be busy closing out this week's auction items - all 509 items consigned.  Bidding will start at 10 AM central time.                

One speaker that you will find presenting both this afternoon in Altus at the Red River Crops Conference as well as on Friday morning at the Central Oklahoma Cattle Conference in Stillwater is Dr. Derrell Peel.

Dr. Peel is a part of the Friday lineup for cattle producers gathering at the Payne County Expo Center in Stillwater for the one day event- he's talking 2016 cattle market outlook at both locations.

Details of that Conference can be seen by clicking here.

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment,  American Farmers & Ranchers, Stillwater Milling Company, Oklahoma AgCredit,  the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, Pioneer Cellular, Farm Assure and  KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis- at NO Charge!

We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.   

 Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com  

God Bless! You can reach us at the following:  

Oklahoma Farm Bureau is Proud to be the Presenting Sponsor of the Ron Hays Daily Farm and Ranch News Email