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First Cattle on Feed Report of New Year Sets Negative Tone For Markets 

The latest cattle on feed report, released this past Friday afternoon, has a bearish feel to it with on feed and placements numbers coming in higher than trade expectations. That's according to Market Analyst Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities. The number of cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.6 million head on January first. The inventory was slightly below last January and 5.1 percent below the five year average.


It's interesting to note that heifers and heifer calves accounted for 3.41 million head, down seven percent from 2015. The January first heifers and heifer calves inventory was the lowest percent of total January inventory since the series began in 1996. That may be a precursor to what USDA tells us later this week in the US Cattle Inventory report when we learn how many beef cows we have added to the herd since the January first number of 29.7 million head.


Leffler said placements were the most negative figure out of the whole report. USDA reported placements in feedlots during December totaled 1.53 million head, one percent below 2014. That was 8.3 percent lower than the five year average.
Net placements were 1.45 million head. During December, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were down 14.8 percent at 375,000 head, 600-699 pounds were down 2.7 percent at 355,000 head, 700-799 pounds was up 6.9 percent at 355,000 head, and 800 pounds and greater were at 440,000 head, up ten percent from last year.


"This was the second smallest December placements of the past 20 years, it's also the second lowest placement number for 2015," Leffler said. "This also comes in as the third lowest placement of the past 34 straight months."


Our Leslie Smith interviewed Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities. Click or tap here to listen to the full interview as they discuss the Cattle on Feed report, the latest cold storage report and how this will impact the cattle markets- and we have links to the full reports from USDA as well.

Is There Opposition on State Question 777?  Yep, There is.

 

It is early in the year and there is not a lot of stir on the internet about State Question 777, The Right to Farm Constitutional Amendment that will be voted on in November by Oklahoma.  However, in looking around in cyberspace over the weekend, we did find three opinion pieces out there that signal what opponents are thinking and will be saying over and over in the weeks and months to come.

The Journal Record in Oklahoma City offered an opinion piece from organic farmer Whitney McClendon who owns of Provision Organic Farm.  If you were on the "no" side of the equation, you would be planning on using this attractive young lady in your TV ads as one of the faces against SQ777.In her opinion piece, McClendon says "I'm part owner of a local, organic farm. I don't want my government to place unnecessary rules and regulations on such things as a minimum number of crops or animals we must produce in order to exist, or how far we must be from the city, even if within proper zoning limits. And this bill in no way protects those concerns.

"Instead, this bill makes it nearly impossible to regulate the economic and health issues that profoundly affect local farms and every Oklahoman. These include market monopoly, air and water pollution, pesticide and other toxic chemical use, antibiotic use, food additives, animal abuse and noxious animal waste. I welcome government regulations or interventions on the issues listed above."

You can read her full commentary from the December 30th Journal Record by clicking here.

Oklahoma Agriculture Department Sponsors Farmers Market Conference on March 10

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) will host a Farmers Market Conference on March 10 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Cole Community Center, 4400 NW Expressway, in Oklahoma City.


ODAFF, the Oklahoma Nutrition Information and Education (ONIE) Project, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and OSU-OKC are partnering for this conference geared toward market managers, board members, growers, vendors and individuals or city officials wanting to start a farmers market in their town or community. Breakout sessions will include nutrition education at the farmers market, a health regulations panel, Supplemental Nutrition and Seniors Nutrition Programs at the market, growing season planning, starting a farmers market, recruiting vendors and marketing to the public.


Registration for the workshop begins at 8:30 a.m. The general session begins at 9 a.m. The daylong workshop is scheduled to end at 3 p.m. There is no charge for the conference and lunch will be provided. Registration is due by March 3 using the site www.onieproject.org/FarmersMarket. For more information, contact Meredith Scott at (405) 271-2091.

Oklahoma State Fire Fighters Association Gathering Rural Volunteers for Meeting Next Month

The Oklahoma State Fire Fighters Association will be gathering next month. The OSFA Volunteer Caucus will be held on Saturday, February 6th at the Wyndham Garden Inn in Oklahoma City. OSFA Executive Director Phil Ostrander said this allows volunteer firefighters the opportunity to have direct input into the organization and determine legislative priorities. The volunteer fire fighters will be divided into small work groups, before the entire volunteer fire segment of the OSFA prioritizes those needs. While OSFA represents most volunteer fire fighters in Oklahoma, Ostrander wants as many volunteer fire fighters at this caucus.


In the 2016 legislative session, budget cuts will be the top concern.   Ostrander said operational grants through the Department of Forestry that provide annual support to small fire departments will be targeted. Budget cuts to the forestry department will affect the operations at local fire departments.


"For a fire department that's surviving on bean suppers and pie auctions, it's massive," Ostrander said. "It makes a difference whether or not they can put fuel in their truck."


With budget cuts, a tax credit program for volunteer fire fighters will also take a hit. For fire fighters that completed a training program, they were eligible for a $200 or $400 tax credit. Ostrander has already seen several bills filed for the 2016 state legislative session that will put the tax credit on hold for two years or reduce the credits by 25 percent or more.

Our Leslie Smith caught up with Ostrander for a radio interview. Click or tap here to listen or for more information on the OSFA Volunteer Caucus.

Demand for Certified Angus Beef Growing Around the World

One of the opportunities to grow the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) program is continued expansion in the international marketplace. International demand represents 120 million pounds of Certified Angus Beef sales. A large portion of that is sold to Canada and Mexico. CAB President John Stika said they are also seeing increasing CAB sales into South America. This includes Columbia, Peru and Chile and in Central America, this includes Costa Rica and Panama. The Middle East is also a growing market for CAB. Asia remains to be a huge market for CAB as that market continues to recover economically and CAB is excited about its future in that region. In August 2015, CAB opened an office in Toyko.


In the United States, CAB continues to emphasize the need for the nation's Angus producers to keep telling their story to consumers. Stika said producers need to communicate a message about quality and to help consumers differentiate the value of CAB from other Angus programs. In promoting the best the Angus breed has to offer in the form of Certified Angus Beef, he said then all ships float higher. In response, cattlemen, ranchers and feeders have respond by producing more Angus-influenced cattle that meet the 10-science-based specifications. Stika said they plan to increase demand through more resources, more creativity, and through their Culinary Center in Ohio.


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

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RFA Issues One-Pager to Correct Anti-Ethanol Rhetoric on the Presidential Campaign Trail

In response to the anti-ethanol rhetoric that has been dominating the presidential campaign in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) sent a one-pager to media outlets to correct the misconceptions regarding ethanol in general and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in particular.


*First and foremost, there is no "corn ethanol subsidy." The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (also known as the "blender's tax credit") expired five years ago in 2011. Further it was gasoline blenders - not ethanol producers - who received a 45 cent per gallon tax credit for each gallon of ethanol blended. The Small Ethanol Producer Tax Credit also expired in 2011.


*The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is not a "subsidy." The RFS is not a tax incentive or subsidy in any way, shape, or form. The RFS has absolutely no impact on the federal budget or tax revenues. Rather, the RFS is a program that guarantees lower-carbon biofuels will have access to a fuel market that is overwhelmingly and unfairly dominated by petroleum.

Click or tap here to more about common misconceptions regarding ethanol.

Jim Inhofe's Committee Moving Regulatory Relief for Farmers Forward in Sportsman Bill

 

It's an issue that agriculture has been working on for the last several years. We are talking about a clarification that federal law does not require a redundant permit for already regulated pesticide applications. It appears that this clarification may move forward within the Sportsmen's Act of 2015- as approved this past week by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. (Chaired by Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe)

According to a report on the markup of the legislation in Feedstuffs,

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