US Sen. Jim Inhofe, senior member of the US Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, delivered remarks yesterday introducing Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt at the EPW hearing entitled: Hearing on Nomination of Attorney General Scott Pruitt to be Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Through the course of his career, Attorney General Pruitt has stood out as a champion of state and individual rights and has fought against federal overreach. He has earned a reputation as a defender of the rule of law and has worked to keep the role of the federal government in check," Inhofe stated. 


"As head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Attorney General Pruitt will ensure that the agency fulfills the role delegated to it by the laws passed by Congress - nothing more, nothing less. Oklahoma is an energy and agriculture state, but we're also a state that knows what it means to protect the environment while balancing competing interests."

Click here to read Sen. Inhofe's full remarks introducing EPA Administrator nominee, Scott Pruitt.

While several Democratic Senators attacked Pruitt over his relationship with the energy sector- expressing fears that he might scuttle the Renewable Fuel Standard- one ag group appears to be giving Scott Pruitt the benefit of the doubt- Roger Johnson of the National Farmers Union offered a statement on the RFS part of the conversation yesterday- saying "Mr. Pruitt's remarks today, coupled with President-elect Trump's campaign promises to support the RFS, indicate a clear commitment to ensuring the RFS will not be undermined by the incoming administration.


"The RFS has been a tremendous economic boon for our nation's family farmers and ranchers, and it has allowed our country to improve the environment and drastically reduce its dependence on foreign oil. These gains can be fully realized provided Mr. Pruitt's EPA maintains renewable volume obligations at the levels Congress wrote in the RFS statute."

In its continuing effort to "reconnect city with country," RFD-TV has organized the "Rural Tractor Brigade" which has been added to the 2017 Presidential Inaugural Parade, themed "We The People: Our American Journey." RFD-TV invited every tractor manufacturer to participate and those confirmed include Case IH, Challenger, John Deere, Kioti, Kubota, Mahindra, Massey-Ferguson, and New Holland who will showcase tractors used in modern agriculture production. The parade will be broadcast LIVE on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC on Friday, January 20th at 3 p.m. ET.


Members of the National FFA, the world's premiere youth organization, will carry the banner for the Rural Tractor Brigade and lead this contingent of colorful tractors that help make America's farmers and ranchers the most efficient food and fiber producers in the world. RFD-TV and RURAL RADIO Channel 147 on SiriuxXM will carry updates throughout the week on "Market Day Report" and "Rural Evening News," beginning on January 17. On Inauguration Day, RFD-TV and RURAL RADIO will have live updates beginning at 9 a.m. ET and continue through the course of the day, with complete highlights on the Rural Evening News at 11:30 p.m. ET. For more information on the Rural Tractor Brigade, including a chance to watch a short video about the Brigade, click here.

Several leaders of agriculture associations will be representing their members by driving a tractor in the parade, including the American Soybean Association's President and Illinois farmer Ron Moore. Moore and his wife Deb will join representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation, U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, National Pork Producers Council and the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.


"Participating in the parade and celebrating the inauguration is not only an honor, but a great way to emphasize the importance and presence of rural America," said Moore, who will also be on hand for President-elect Trump's swearing-in on Friday, as well as the inaugural ball honoring American agriculture later that evening. "ASA congratulates President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence, and we look forward to working closely with both. Over the next hundred days, we're going to look to make those connections and start those conversations that will lead to a better and deeper understanding of the issues that affect farmers throughout the country."

Click here to continue reading about Moore's participation in the Inaugural parade.

In what the National Pork Producers Council is calling yet another poke in the eye to agriculture, the Obama administration today will issue a regulation that adds animal welfare standards to the nation's organic food production law. The NPPC has promised it will work with the Trump administration and Congress to repeal this "midnight" regulation, among the many others the outgoing administration has decided to push through on its way out the door.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's amendment to the Organic Food Production Act of 1990 would strictly dictate how organic producers must raise livestock and poultry, including during transport and slaughter, and specify, without scientific justification, which common practices are allowed and prohibited in organic livestock and poultry production, thereby eliminating producers' discretion to make sound decisions about animal care. It also would establish unreasonable indoor and outdoor space requirements for animals. The regulation was cleared by the Office of Management and Budget Wednesday, the last step before becoming final.


"This parting gift from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is not welcomed," said NPPC President John Weber, a pork producer from Dysart, Iowa. "This unnecessary, unscientific midnight regulation won't win him any friends in the agriculture community he's apparently joining."

Weber points to this regulation as a prime example of exactly the type of executive overreach he plans to have rolled back with the help of Team Trump. It seems, too, Weber is not the only one upset over this rule. After the new regulation was announced, Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture Mike Conaway, also released a statement expressing his displeasure as well.

"I am disappointed to see yet another controversial rule pushed through during the final hours of the Obama administration," his statement reads. "I hope that the incoming Administration will immediately withdraw this rule, but stand ready with my colleagues on the Hill to roll back the regulation if necessary."

Learn more about Weber and the NPPC's position on the midnight rules being dumped on farmers by clicking here. To view Chairman Conaway's full statement, click here.

Almost a month into 2017 now, the industry is starting to get a sense of how cattle markets are going to perform here in the first quarter of the year. I caught up with market watcher Dr. Derrell Peel, to get his thoughts on what he sees happening in the markets thus far. He contends that it all depends on how you look at demand.


"Are we going to see lower retail prices for beef in 2017? Absolutely," Peel stated. "Because there's going to be more beef in the market and it will take lower prices to move that meat through the market."


Peel says that in and of itself is not an indication of weaker demand, but at the same time he says per capita consumption will be up in 2017 - also not an indicator for strong demand.


"It's the combination of the two that's really important here and what we've seen so far is that we've been able to move significant quantities of beef again," Peel explained, "especially in the 4th quarter of 2016."


And while retail prices are adjusting down in response to the increase in supplies, Peel asserts that considering the amount of pork and poultry on the market, domestic beef demand is holding very strong, currently.

You can listen in on my full conversation with Peel on yesterday's Beef Buzz, by clicking here.

Applications for participation in the Conservation Stewardship Program are due Feb. 3, 2017 to local NRCS field offices. CSP is the Nation's largest working lands conservation program and is designed to assist farmers and ranchers who are established in their land stewardship production systems.

According to Oklahoma State Conservationist Gary O'Neil, the 2017 version of the CSP features more flexibility with all the same technical service as before, allowing producers to make the program more customizable to their specific operations.


Participants in CSP select from a suite of conservation enhancements tailored to their agricultural operations, from dairies to prairies. Enhancements are management activities such as cover crops or riparian buffer strips that go above and beyond the minimum conservation practice standards specified in other NRCS programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

For more information about CSP and how to apply, click here.

Click or tap here to see and hear the comments from Kevin Hill on making your Vet- Client patient relationship pay dividends in 2017.