Senate Gets About One Third of the Amendments Voted On as Farm Bill Action Hits Senate Floor- Harry Reid Warns Wednesday Will Be a LONG Day  

With a vote of 75 to 24 - the Senate has approved a farm bill amendment that sets a hard cap of 75-thousand dollars on marketing loan gains. The amendment was introduced by Iowa's Chuck Grassley - a long-time advocate of limits on farm program payments. Grassley says the reform will help to bring more defensibility for the farm program.

Tuesday saw the Senators work for a little over six hours on the 2012 Farm Bill- disposing of 27 Amendments to the Bill of the 73 that had been approved for floor consideration.  At the end of the day, Chairlady Debbie Stabenow added one more, which means that 47 amendments will need to be dealt with before a vote can occur on the Senate Ag Committee bill, as amended.   

There were two amendments and the debate that went along with them that stood out- one was on #2156, which would have restored some money back to the SNAP program(the former Food Stamp program) and taken money from Crop Insurance to pay for it. That amendment was offered by New York Senator Kristan Gillibrand, who passionately said it was needed to make sure enough food was available for children of families taking SNAP help. Opposing the measure was the Chairlady of the Committee Debbie Stabenow, who contended that this was about dealing with a few states that had figured out how to "game" the program and get money at levels not intended by Congress. Comments from both ladies are featured in our Wednesday morning farm news- click here for that. (The measure failed 33-66) 

The second amendment that we have audio on is the Jim DeMint proposal to make all checkoff programs voluntary- that's the focus of our Wednesday Beef Buzz- click here to check that out.

More on other amendments considered on Tuesday, as well as the full list of the Tuesday work and what's ahead on Wednesday can be had if you click on and check out our Top Ag Story on the morning on our website- OklahomaFarmReport.Com.

Follow us on Twitter as the day stretches out- we will Tweet on some of the high points of the afternoon and evening's debate that apparently lies ahead.  

Sonic Confirms Adopting HSUS Policy Regarding Elimination of Gestation Crates 

After consulting with the Humane Society of the United States, the company that operates the Sonic Drive-In chain has made changes to its pork supplier policy and is calling for the elimination of gestation crates from its supply chain.

A company spokesman confirmed that the company has changed it's policy to reflect the views of the HSUS. The policy is now posted on the company's website:

Sonic's original policy regarding pork had shown a desire to obtain increasing amounts from crate-free suppliers, but it indicated an understanding that a transition of all pork production to a crate-free environment would take some time.

The company's new policy says "Sonic is actively working to eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain, and intends to reach that goal no later than 2022, although is working toward 2017, the timeframe several large pork producers have set to be fully transitioned to group sow housing."

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

Oklahoma Pork Council Reacts to Sonic's Change In Animal Welfare Guidelines

In response to a change in policy by Sonic Corporation mirroring the wishes of the Humane Society of the United States regarding the use of gestation crates by pork producers, the Oklahoma Pork Council released the following statement:

Oklahoma's hog farmers are committed to producing safe, affordable and healthful foods for consumers, using industry practices that have been designed with input from veterinarians and other animal-care experts. Providing humane and compassionate care for their pigs at every stage of life is one of the ethical principles to which Oklahoma and U.S. hog farmers adhere.

With regard to Sonic's decision to give preference to pork suppliers who phase out individual sow housing, the Oklahoma Pork Council is concerned that similar actions taken by governments in countries like the United Kingdom - or other restaurant or grocery chains - have increased production costs and consumer prices. These actions have forced some hog farmers out of business or caused them to reduce operations, with no demonstrable health benefits to sows.   In this country, when hog farmers have gone out of business or scaled back operations in the past, it has led to consolidation.

You can read the full statement from the Oklahoma Pork Council by clicking here. 

Future Oklahoma Agricultural Leaders Tour Ireland to Gain International Insights

Eleven members of class nine of the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Encounter are touring Ireland. The purpose of their nine-day trip is to gain firsthand experience about agriculture in other countries. The OALE is operated by the Oklahoma Youth Expo, in cooperation with the the Division of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University.

The group has a full schedule while in Ireland (as well as this weekend in England) which includes a vast cross-section of Irish agricultural enterprises including organic farms, stud farms, gardens, and research centers.

Ashlyn Pfeiffer, one of the tour's participants from Alva, Oklahoma, said that satisfaction and happiness of Irish farmers is one of the most impressive and important lessons she has learned so far.

"We just got done talking with four farmers, and you could see that they loved it. They loved farming. And I think that's something that's really important. I think we need to continue to teach people more about why we do what we do, why we love agriculture so much. Here, they're not generations removed from the farm like we are in the United States. And I think that's something we need to work on, just passing on that love of farming." 

You can read more or hear our interview with some of the OALE participants by clicking here. 

Ag Secretary, Industry Leaders Support Mexico's Inclusion in TPP

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and leaders from the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association welcomed the announcement that President Obama has invited Mexico to join the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations.

Vilsack said "the TPP presents the most promising pathway to boosting trade across the Asia Pacific and to encouraging regional trade integration. You can read more of Vilsack's comments by clicking here.

Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation said, "As a major U.S. trading partner, Mexico will bolster the reach of the TPP negotiations for U.S. agriculture." Click here for more from Bob Stallman.

NCBA Vice President Bob McCan said, "TPP has the potential to be the beginning of a new era in global trade where tariff and non-tariff barriers are eliminated and standards are based on sound, objective science instead of political protectionism." Read more about the NCBA's position by clicking here.

Using "Oklahoma Gold" or "Oklahoma Super Gold" for Replacement Heifers

Fall-born replacement heifers have been (or soon will be) weaned and will be at a very critical growing period. Writing in the latest Cow/Calf Newsletter, Oklahoma State University Extension Animal Scientist Emeritus Glenn Selk says it is imperative that they reach the target weight of 60 to 65% of their mature weight by the start of the breeding season.

Warm season pastures such as native grass or Bermuda grass will be declining in forage quality in the hot dry days of August and September. Also these warm season grasses will be reaching plant maturity which accelerates the decline in protein content.

Cow calf producers with fall-born replacement heifers should plan now to provide adequate protein supplement to aid the young heifers in their ability to digest the late summer, mature grasses. Therefore, the young heifers must receive supplemental protein to continue to grow at the necessary pace of 1.3 to 1.5 pounds per head per day going into their first breeding season.

An economical solution would be to give these heifers 1.5 to 2 pounds of the protein supplement called Oklahoma Gold. This is an OSU-developed protein supplement scheme that consists of a high protein (38% - 45%) pellet that contains the label-recommended dosage of one of the ionophores. Ionophores are feed additives (monensin or lasalocid) that improve feed utilization, inhibit coccidiosis, and enhance the onset of puberty in growing heifers. 

Click here for more of Glenn Selk's recommendations on supplementing with Oklahoma Gold and Oklahoma Super Gold.

OSU Extension Offers Field Day on Drilling Mud Application to Fields

With increased oil and gas drilling, there is more drilling mud being applied to soils compared to recent years. The main contaminant in oil-based drilling mud is "total petroleum- based hydrocarbons," or TPH for short.

The goal of land application is to degrade the TPH as quickly as possible (bio-remediation). This research and demonstration aims to examine how different drilling mud amendments (lime, gypsum, caliche, manure) might improve TPH degradation and impact soil properties.

The Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service is offering a field day to educate the public about the application of oil-based drilling mud to fields. The two-hour event is scheduled for 10 a.m. June 22nd, nine miles north of Shattuck.

For more information on the drilling mud field day, please click here.