Romney Outlines Plans for Rural America on Campaign Trail, in New Whitepaper 

Presidential nominee Mitt Romney addressed rural issues in a campaign stop in Van Meter, Iowa, Tuesday. He spoke at the Koch family farm on themes that he unveiled in August including expanding trade, eliminating the inheritance tax, easing regulations, and making America energy independent by 2020. Romney used the occasion to release a whitepaper outlining his plan to reinvigorate rural America. 

"America's farmers and ranchers play an incredibly important role in our economic prosperity and must be supported," said Romney. "My Plan for a Stronger Middle Class includes policies that will help the agriculture sector thrive and deliver an economic recovery for rural America."

Romney criticized President Obama for pursuing harmful policies from "tax increases and onerous regulations, to a stalled trade agenda, to efforts to drive up the cost of energy, the President's agenda has consistently disregarded the concerns and needs of farmers, ranchers, and rural communities."

Romney said, "We already ask our farmers and ranchers to cope with natural disasters. They should not also have to battle a man-made disaster of taxes and regulations from Washington. Our economic recovery must also be a rural recovery, and my plan for a stronger middle class will ensure that our agricultural sector grows and thrives.

"The farm bill is an important case in point. This legislation provides important peace of mind for farmers and ranchers through programs that help manage market volatility and respond to natural disasters. Unfortunately, that peace of mind has been wiped away by a Congress stuck in gridlock and a President unwilling to show leadership on the issue." He said he will see that the farm bill stuck in Congress is passed in a timely fashion.

In his tax policies, Romney calls for cutting current tax rates by 20 percent, eliminating the estate tax, maintaining low capital gains tax rates, and implementing a tax-free savings plan for middle income Americans.  

Click here to read more and to access a link to Romney's full position paper.

 

RFA, Growth Energy Applaud Romney Ag Plan, Support of RFS 

On Tuesday, presidential candidate Mitt Romney unveiled a white paper on his positions and plans to support agriculture. Once again, Romney clearly announced his support of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Ethanol industry organizations praised Romney's position. 

Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), issued the following brief statement:

"We applaud Governor Romney's continuing support of domestic renewable fuels and his recognition of the importance of the RFS. Right here, right now the ethanol industry is working hard and to great effect to reduce America's reliance on imported oil, create hundreds of thousands of jobs all across rural America, and lower gas prices at the pump. We also appreciate Governor Romney's business acumen when it comes to the importance of certainty to investors in the next generation of biofuels." 

Jim Nussle, president and Chief Operating Officer of Growth Energy was also supportive of Romney's positions.

"I was very pleased to see that Governor Romney has made supporting rural America and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) a key component in his campaign. This plan signals to investors and producers that America's commitment to reducing our dependence on foreign oil and creating jobs that revitalize rural America remain a top priority for a candidate seeking the office of the Presidency."

Click here for more from Jim Nussle.

Record Levels of Mexican Cattle Imports Could Decline Soon

Significant numbers of Mexican cattle entered the U.S. in 2012. OSU Livestock Marketing Economist Derrell Peel has kept a close eye on the Mexican market and says the numbers may be large now, but he expects them to begin falling off rather quickly.

"Last year, feeder cattle imports from Mexico were up at about 1.4 million head which was the second-highest level ever. And these increased imports over the last two years have done quite a bit to supplement or offset, if you will, declining calf crops in the U.S. Even though feeder supplies are clearly tight at the current price levels we have, they would have been significantly tighter without these.

"So far in 2012, Mexican cattle imports are up about 33 percent. That's a year-to-date number from the latest trade data we have. And, if you project that out to the end of the year, it suggests we could get upward of 1.8 to 1.9 million head of cattle from Mexico which would be an all-time record and well above anything we've seen in the past.

"However, if you dig into that trade data a little bit you see there's a good chance this is probably not going to continue for very many more weeks. We may be at the end now or it may take a few more weeks, but almost all of the year-over-year increase of Mexican cattle imports this year is made up of two components."

Click here to read more or to listen to Derrell Peel's full interview on the latest Beef Buzz.  

Ridge Howell of Checotah FFA Recognized by White House as a "Champion of Change" 

The White House has recognized one Oklahoman and 11 other members of FFA and 4-H as Champions of Change. For over 100 years, youth and adults involved in 4-H have worked together to create sustainable change in their communities. Since 1928, FFA members have lived by the motto "Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve." The individuals being honored today carry on the tradition of service to communities and country that 4-H and FFA represent.   

Ridge Howell of Checotah is one of the individuals who have devoted their time and effort to their communities across the country and will have the opportunity to share their stories with Administration officials and 4-H and FFA members around the globe. The Champions of Change program was created to honor ordinary Americans doing great work in their communities. 

"The members of 4-H and FFA are shining examples of the positive change young Americans are bringing across the country, said Jon Carson, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement. 

Howell is a high school senior and a leader and advocate for youth community involvement. Ridge works hard to encourage other young people in Checotah to help their neighbors, and has helped advance a variety of local projects such as the Checotah Community Garden and a senior citizens lawn mowing program. Ridge's number one goal is to instill leadership, work ethic, and the importance of serving others into every student.

Click here for more, and to listen to Ridge Howell speaking about his service projects.  

Canola TV--Planting Window Closing on 2013 Canola Crop

Josh Bushong, the OSU Extension Canola Specialist for Oklahoma, says he has been incredibly busy as the canola planting window comes to a close. He says he has spent the last six weeks helping producers across the state get their canola planted as well as getting canola test plots sown.

Josh stopped for a few minutes on Tuesday afternoon in Oklahoma County to visit with us before planting the PCOM demo plots - and our visit is our latest episode of CanolaTV- a service of PCOM, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill.

"So far, we've got 12 Oklahoma Oilseed Commission demo plots all across Oklahoma, all the way from Miami, Oklahoma, all the way down to Altus, Oklahoma."

He says most of the plots are in western Oklahoma showcasing nine different Round-Up ready cultivars and various different treatments.

Planting has gone well, Bushong says, but he is encouraging producers to walk their fields and assess their stands as they emerge to determine if any reseeding is necessary. 

From the volume of calls he's been getting for assistance, Bushong says the number of canola acres this year have increased significantly here in 2012 versus 2011.

Click here to read more or to see the latest edition of Canola TV.

 

Winter Crop Planting Gains Momentum in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas

The latest USDA Crop Progress and Condition Report shows wheat in Oklahoma was 59 percent planted compared with 14 percent the previous week.  Twenty-nine percent of the wheat planted last week was reported emerged.  Seventy-three percent of canola was reported planted by the end of last week with 30 percent of last week's planting emerged.  (Click here for the full Oklahoma report,)

Kansas farmers seeded 25 percent of the state's wheat acreage last week, reaching 65 percent complete by Sunday.  That's ahead of 62 percent by this time last year and 61 percent for the five-year average. (Click here for the Kansas report.)

Fifty-five percent of the Texas wheat crop had been sown by last Sunday, with rainfall helping germination in some parts of the state while slowing seeding in other parts.  Cotton harvest began to pick up in west Texas. (Click here for the full report.)

Nationally, the latest USDA Crop Progress update shows that the US corn harvest is 69% complete- versus 29% a year ago and the five year average of 28%.  Soybean harvest is also moving quickly- now 58% done versus 42% a year ago.  Click here for the complete Crop progress overview- including harvest and condition charts on everything from cotton to peanuts to wheat- as well as the latest Pasture and Range conditions.

This N That- Homework Time in Advance of School Land Commission Auctions and Weather Patterns Changing 

Now is the time to pull up the full listing of all of the parcels of land that will be offered by the School Land Commission at auction over the next couple of weeks.  Next Monday- the auctions begin- In Beaver County on Monday, Boise City and Guymon on Tuesday and Woodward on Wednesday. Here are three links to check out-

Click here for our recent conversation with Harry Birdwell of the School Land Commission as we talk about the auctions this year and some of the conservation efforts the CLO is asking of successful bidders on some parcels.   

Click here for the auction schedule with time and place of each sale- and which counties will be offered in those locations.

Click here for the complete PDF document of every parcel to be sold- on a county by county basis. 

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Weather patterns are in flux as we approach this coming weekend- and according to Alan Crone with the News on 6 in Tulsa- we could see some storms act like its springtime.  Click here for the latest National Weather Service one to three day precipitation map(courtesy of the Mesonet) which shows best chances for decent rainfall amounts will be in the northern half of the state.  

Click here for Alan's full weather blog for this Wednesday AM- as he offers some good insights on what may be happening weather wise this weekend.