The long awaited confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump's USDA Secretary nominee, former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, began yesterday in Washington. After roughly two hours of answering the questions of members of the Senate Ag Committee, Perdue received praise from members of both the Senate and the House regarding his experience and passion for the agricultural industry.

While most believe Perdue's hearing will go without issue, his actual confirmation is not expected to happen immediately. Most officials are typically made to wait at least a week after the conclusion of their hearing before ever being confirmed.

The committee did not schedule a business meeting in which Perdue's confirmation would be discussed yet, but it has been indicated that one would be penciled in the books as soon as possible.

In the meantime, committee members will have the opportunity to mull over the Cabinet hopeful's answers and thoughts on several topics pertaining to the ag industry such as trade, economic conditions in farm country, overregulation by federal government, the Trump budget which asks for major cuts in USDA spending, dairy policy and more.

For more on Purdue's confirmation hearing, plus an audio look at the discussions that took place yesterday, click here.

Several ag groups expressed their support for USDA Secretary nominee Sonny Perdue after giving his first testimony before the Senate Ag Committee as his confirmation hearing got underway yesterday.

Citing Perdue's extensive knowledge and understanding of the agricultural industry as well as the President's vocal support for the Renewable Fuels Standard, the nominee has garnered particular attention from those organizations involved in ethanol.

Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy released a statement on behalf of the industry expressing her confidence in the President's choice for Perdue to lead the USDA. Click here to read her statement regarding the former governor as he begins his confirmation process.

In addition, the National Corn Growers Association also released a statement, reiterating the support they've shown Perdue since his nomination by then President-elect Trump. NCGA urged Congress to confirm Perdue without delay.

"NCGA stands ready to work with Governor Perdue and the rest of the Trump Administration to support strong trade policy, continue investing in renewable fuels, protecting risk management programs, and preparing for the next farm bill. We urge the Senate to confirm him as soon as possible."

Click here to read the full statement released by NCGA.

Mike Schulte of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission joined me in studio this week to give us an update on Oklahoma's wheat crop condition so far. According to him, farmers across the state and the entire Great Plains region for that matter could certainly use some rain. While as of right now, the wheat seems to be in fairly good condition, Schulte says without some moisture soon, that could change.

"If we could get some moisture, no doubt, in the next four or five days, I think it could really, really help us. And I think since it is a resilient plant, the potential still would be favorable for a decent crop," Schulte said. "If we don't get the moisture and we end up in a drought situation, like we did in 2014, we could have not a good year for Oklahoma and other regions of the Great Plains."

You can listen to Schulte and I talk more in depth about the condition of the wheat crop here in Oklahoma this weekend as he joins me on our In the Field segment on KWTV News 9 Saturday at 6:40 a.m. In the meantime, you can listen in on our off-camera conversation by clicking here.

 
We saw Jeremy Rich earlier this week- and he hinted then that there was a major announcement coming from a company that would be a big deal for wildfire relief- Jeremy is the President of the Foundation connected with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau- the Oklahoma Farming and Ranching Foundation- and they are one of four state Foundations getting $50,000 apiece from Monsanto to help with wildfire relief.

I would call that major.

Click or tap here to read more about the Monsanto gift.  Oklahoma Secretary of Ag Jim Reese has been actively working with all the ag groups to coordinate funds being received to help ranchers hit hard by the wildfires that have burned well over 300,000 acres in Oklahoma alone. He is on his way this morning to the Beaver County Wildfire Relief Informational meeting that starts at 10:00 AM- details on that meeting is available here.

Another company is stepping up to help- Ridley Inc. operating divisions, Hubbard Feeds, a leading provider of researched-based, animal nutrition products, and Ridley Block Operations, a recognized leader in the block supplement market, have teamed together to provide livestock feed relief to fire-stricken cattle producers and ranchers in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

To support these cattle producers and ranchers, Hubbard Feeds and Ridley Block Operations are donating Range Cubes, CRYSTALYX® products, dry feed calf pellets and milk replacer to producers in each of the four affected states. Also, they are working with transportation companies who are donating delivery of product from several of Ridley's U.S. manufacturing facilities.

Ridley Inc is owned by Alltech.

FINALLY- the management of the Northwest Oklahoma Fire Complex has been passed back from the Feds to the State of Oklahoma and the local fire departments in the area.

Local firefighters, with the support of Oklahoma Forestry Services, will continue fire suppression activities on the Northwest Oklahoma Complex Fires, as the Southern Region Incident Management Red Team transitioned command back to the local fire departments. The team was ordered by Oklahoma Forestry Services and arrived on March 9th to manage the large fire complex due to the scope of the incident. The fire complex, which consists of the Starbuck, 283, Selman and Beaver fires, is nearing 100% containment and is no longer in need of the team's services.

Click here to read more about this passing of the doused torch on these devastating fires.

It has been two weeks since Dr. Kim Anderson, Oklahoma State University grain market economist, appeared on SUNUP. Since that time, there has been a $0.45 drop in the price of wheat.

Anderson accounts for this drop in prices as the market, anticipating - not a big crop, but a good quality crop, has responded with a drop in prices, as little to no decline in supply is expected come harvest time.


Currently for Oklahoma, wheat prices fall between $3.20 and $3.50, mostly around $3.33 - $3.35.

He continues to advise producers to stick with the strategy of using all available technologies and management options to produce the highest quality crop possible to remain competitive in a global marketplace now adjusting to increased production in Russia and the Ukraine, lower foreign taxes and a high dollar.

Anderson will appear on SUNUP this weekend on OETA, but you can hear his complete analysis of wheat market dynamics that has taken place over the last two weeks right now, by clicking here.

In an attempt to make the use of EPDs a little easier on producers, the cattle industry has started offering something called "dollar indicators." Director of Breed Improvement and Chief Operating Officer for the American Hereford Association Shane Bedwell says the dollar indexes have been put together in such a way that they can prove to be very helpful to producers when selecting their herd bulls.


He told me, "there's no doubt," that dollar indexes, "are very underutilized in the industry." He says this particular index takes into account several traits such as birth, growth or milk, etc. and combines them into one simple index making it a great tool.


"More folks need to study those indexes and learn more about what goes into them where they can help make those bull selections or those female selections and what they're wanting to go forward with in their programs," Bedwell said, adding that the work remains ongoing still to continue improving the tools used to help make genetic selections.


"We have to keep working and building those economically relevant traits and tools to let our cattlemen progress and be profitable in this industry."


Listen to Bedwell describe the importance of EPDs and the benefits they provide with Ron Hays, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

Tom Zacharias, president of National Crop Insurance Services, was among the speakers invited to address this week's Farm Bill Summit in Washington, D.C. The well-attended event, organized by Agri-Pulse, included a diverse cross-section of agriculture stakeholders.


In his opening remarks, Zacharias stressed the role crop insurance plays in ensuring a strong and vibrant agricultural sector, which is critical to the well-being of our economy and society as a whole.


"The role of both state and federally regulated crop insurance is to help provide financial stability to the agricultural sector in combination with other farm-level risk management strategies such sound marketing and good financial planning, as well as other USDA programs designed to support American agriculture," Zacharias said.

Zacharias noted that crop insurance is the "cornerstone" of the farm safety net, and highlighted a few of the program's key components that have contributed to its success.

Click or tap here to continue reading this story for more details on Zacharias' remarks during the recent Farm Bill Summit in Washington DC.