With Donald Trump set to move into the White House on Friday- there is still no indication that he and his team are ready to announce who will head the US Department of Agriculture- overseeing over 90,000 employees and dozens of programs that millions of Americans. 

One of the latest articles written on the subject out on the Internet is on TheAtlantic website- as they say "More than two weeks ago, multiple news outlets reported that Trump was set to pick Sonny Perdue to lead the Agriculture Department, or USDA. Perdue, a former governor of Georgia, is well regarded in agriculture circles. A former veterinarian who grew up on a farm and owns agribusiness holdings, and the cousin of U.S. Senator David Perdue, Sonny Perdue is an immigration hawk who once led lawmakers in a prayer for rain during a drought.

Fresh from his departure from his USDA offices last Friday, former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced yesterday he will join the US Dairy Export Council as president and CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2017. USDEC is a non-profit, independent organization that seeks to enhance the global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients.

"Growing the global market for U.S. dairy products is essential to the future of the dairy industry and America's dairy farmers. I've spent my career in public service as a tireless advocate for farmers and American agriculture and can think of no better way to continue this service than by leading the U.S. Dairy Export Council," said Vilsack. "I look forward to partnering with the dynamic team at USDEC as well as agriculture, food industry and key stakeholders at home and abroad to advance the council's mission and strengthen trust in American dairy."


As president and CEO, Vilsack will provide strategic leadership and oversight of USDEC's global promotional and research activities, regulatory affairs and trade policy initiatives. This includes working with industry leaders to develop a long-term vision for building sales and consumer trust in U.S. dairy. Together with the USDEC board, he will create strategies to successfully achieve the shared vision. He will serve as the organization's primary spokesperson and ambassador to a host of global and domestic stakeholders.

Vilsack will succeed Tom Suber, who served as president of USDEC since its founding in 1995, and retired at the end of 2016. Under Suber's leadership, global U.S. dairy exports showed significant growth, rising from the equivalent of roughly 5 percent of U.S. milk production to a high of 15.5 percent.

To read more or to hear an interview with former USDA Secretary Vilsack about his new position with USDEC, click here.

At the recent American Farm Bureau Convention in Phoenix, I talked with Hannah Thompson-Weeman of the Animal Agriculture Alliance. Weeman talked with me about one strategy employed lately by animal rights activist groups, which is to take the rules, regulations and laws of one state and force them upon producers in neighboring states. Essentially, these groups have found a way to dictate their beliefs beyond their own borders. Even to those of us without a law degree can see there is something blatantly wrong about that, but yet groups behind this type of legislation, such as HSUS, seem to be getting away with it all. Not for long though, says Hannah, who insists the ag community will soon have its day in court to fight this injustice.


"This one in Massachusetts even included that in their piece of legislation that it applies to not only farmers and ranchers in Massachusetts, but any products sold in Massachusetts," said Thompson-Weeman referring to a recent ballot initiative in the Bay State that added restrictions to certain production practices.


She says that this measure burdens retailers as much as it does producers, who now must verify all their suppliers are in compliance with the new law. She asserts this action will be used as a major argument in challenging these laws spearheaded by activist groups who seek to dictate their own ideas on production across state lines to hinder the agricultural industry and advance their own agenda.


"They can have a big impact by doing that and they realize that," Thompson-Weeman said. "That's one grounds that's going to be used to challenge this."


Listen to me speak with Thompson-Weeman about strategies on both sides of the fight for animal agriculture, by clicking here.

In a letter sent yesterday, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, addressed the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works expressing strong support for the nomination of Scott Pruitt to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and called for his swift confirmation.

"As Oklahoma's Attorney General, Mr. Pruitt led the fight to bring common sense back to environmental regulation and he was an unrivaled defender of private property rights," NCBA's President, Tracy Brunner, said in the letter. "In fact, in 2015 the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association honored Mr. Pruitt with its Distinguished Service Award for his dedication to those principles."

Pruitt's confirmation as EPA administrator would be a big win for nearly 200,000 cattlemen represented by NCBA and its state affiliates. The organization has made no bones about it, that the repeal of the Waters of the US rule is its top priority. Supporters of President-elect Trump's nominee are hopeful, given his track record, that Pruitt will make quick work this rule considered by many a flagrant act of government overreach.

Click here to read NCBA's full statement and for your chance to read the letter addressing the senate committee.

A REMINDER- Scott Pruitt appears in front of the Senate EPW Committee for his confirmation hearing- details on the hearing are available here.

As part of their ongoing commitment to help production agriculture in Oklahoma and the Southern Plains region of the United States, several organizations involved in conservation including The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts and Redlands Community College, will be hosting the next Central Oklahoma Soil Health Seminar tomorrow.

This event will provide agriculture producers an opportunity to learn about some of the tools available to them both to improve the health of their soil and their financial bottom line.

Issues to be discussed at the event include USDA's Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) in research and farm-and ranch-level applications; Green seeker technology and its applications in a soil health system; Whole Farm Insurance as a tool for producers interested in soil health; the new changes to the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and a panel discussion of farmers and ranchers on technology adoption.

For more information about the meeting, or if you are interested in attending and would like to register, click here.

Precision Planting announced yesterday it will be launching

SmartFirmer, a seed firmer with unprecedented sensing capability that will allow farmers to not only map row by row organic matter, soil moisture, and furrow residue, but also to perform on-the-go control of planting population or hybrid based on organic matter measurement. Compatibility with Climate FieldView makes SmartFirmer data viewable on the industry-leading digital agriculture platform.


In any field, there are multiple yield environments that are determined by soil type, organic matter, topography, drainage, and dozens of other attributes. To better manage these yield environments, the SmartFirmer high definition organic matter map will be a key input for developing precise prescriptions for planting population, seed hybrid, and fertility applications. Alternatively, farmers could allow SmartFirmer to simply control seeding based on the real-time organic matter measurement and the corresponding population or hybrid selected by the farmer or their trusted advisor.


Soil moisture is a critical component for seed germination and uniform plant emergence, and ultimately crop yield. SmartFirmer will give farmers row-by-row visibility to soil moisture in the seed furrow, allowing farmers to choose the right planting depth as soil conditions change.

Click here and continue reading to learn more about Precision Planting's new SmartFirmer technology.