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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

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Oklahoma FFA Hunger Challenge Provides "Priceless Gift"- Providing Protein Meat Sticks for Backpacks for Kids Program  

 
Oklahoma FFA members donated 511 animals between May 1, 2015, and April 1, 2016, to benefit the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.

Members of 205 FFA chapters donated the animals or cash as part of the FFA Hunger Challenge presented by the 2015-16 Oklahoma FFA Association officer team. The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma made 764,702 protein sticks from the animals donated, an increase of 247,702 protein sticks compared with last year. Additionally, chapters donated $4,868.50, which was matched by the Oklahoma Beef Council for a total of $9,737.00. These funds will provide 48,686 meals for neighbors in need of food. Of the match by the Oklahoma Beef Council, OBC Chairman Tom Fanning of Buffalo Feeders called the decision to help both the FFA in their Hunger Challenge and to support the Foods Banks "an easy one" with their donation that will provide meals to thousands of Oklahoma residents.

On the second day of the 2016 Oklahoma FFA Convention this week, those 205 Chapters were honored by the Food Banks with a special recognition- and just ahead of that ceremony, we talked with Lisa Perry, the Director of Giving for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma about the challenge and what she called "the priceless gift provided by FFA students to hungry children across Oklahoma."

Click here for our complete story on the Hunger Challenge- and for a chance to hear our conversation with Lisa about the importance of this gift in the fight against hunger in the state of Oklahoma.

Simply put- Oklahoma FFA members are heroes as they model generosity for the rest of us. Period.

Landowners Continue Lesser Prairie-Chicken Conservation Efforts Amid Uncertainty on ESA Listing

Ethan Lane, executive director of the Public Lands Council and NCBA Federal Lands, says that despite the litigation battle over listing - and then delisting - the lesser prairie-chicken as a threatened species, farmers and ranchers have continued to make great strides in conservation efforts.


"Landowners and ranchers across the prairie chicken range have been working to conserve the species, and the numbers on the ground are reflecting that." Lane says. "We're seeing rebounding populations and health prairie chicken counts."


Reduced drought conditions across the LPC habitat have also helped increase the population. Lane says drought has been the primary factor affecting the LPC, but officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were not taking the severely dry conditions into account when originally attempting to list the bird as threatened.


"Unfortunately, with the Endangered Species Act, we see political considerations and outside influence start to press on these issues," he says. "We've spent a lot time focusing on reforming the Endangered Species Act and getting back to a place where the Fish and Wildlife Service can focus on recovery and delisting species rather than being stuck in the rut they are right now on just the listing process."

Lane gives a complete update on the lesser prairie-chicken debate during the latest edition of the Beef Buzz.

Oklahoma Efforts Vital to Three-Year Conservation Strategy for Lesser Prairie-Chicken

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Thursday the release of a three-year conservation strategy that will guide the voluntary restoration of 500,000 acres of habitat for the lesser prairie-chicken, an iconic grassland bird of the southern Great Plains. The bird has historically suffered from population declines, and this strategy is part of an ongoing science-based strategic effort by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to restore grassland and prairie ecosystems while enhancing grazing lands in five states. Historic lesser prairie-chicken habitat in Oklahoma extends from the central region through the panhandle.


"Across the country, we're seeing firsthand how farmers, ranchers and forest landowners are voluntarily stepping forward to aid wildlife species," said Gary O'Neill, NRCS state conservationist in Oklahoma. "By adopting conservation systems, agricultural producers in Oklahoma can restore top-notch lesser prairie-chicken habitat while also making working lands more productive and resilient to wildfire and climatic extremes."


Through the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative (LPCI), part of the agency's Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) partnership, LPCI has conserved more than 1 million acres of high-quality habitat in Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas since 2010.


By the end of 2018, this strategy will guide the restoration of another half-million acres by focusing on five key threats to the bird-degraded rangeland health, invasive redcedar trees and mesquite, cultivation of grazing lands and lack of fire in grassland habitats. In Oklahoma, NRCS will work with farmers and ranchers to address these threats by implementing prescribed grazing plans, removing invasive eastern redcedar and conducting prescribed burns. 

Kim Anderson Talks Crop Conditions and Gives Current Price Rundown 

OSU Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson says Oklahoma wheat production will be only slightly less than last year despite a 9 percent decrease in the number of acres planted.


"Our crop conditions are significantly better, and I think that is going to mostly offset that reduction in production," he says. 


According to Anderson, harvest-delivered wheat bid off the July KC contract will bring anywhere from $4 to $4.15 a bushel, based on a -$.65 to -$.80 basis.


Producers with 2015 wheat still in the bin can expect $3.80 to $4/bushel bid off the KC July contract price of $4.80.


Canola is a flat price of about $6.25/bushel.


He also told SUNUP Hostess Lyndall Stout recent rains mean summer crops should be off to a good start in Oklahoma. 


Click here for Anderson's rundown of those current crop prices. AND- we have the rundown of this weekend's SUNUP program as well in our writeup of Dr. Anderson's comments.

Op-Ed: Old Data and Misleading Tactics Still Used to Generate Anti-Farmer Headlines

Farm Policy Facts is a coalition of farmers and commodity groups created to educate members of Congress and Americans about the importance of agriculture and its contribution to a strong and vibrant United States. The organization recently release the following op-ed about farm subsidy mistruths.


Last week, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) sent out a report with this headline: "The Rich Get Richer: 50 Billionaires Got Federal Farm Subsidies." The piece was meant to draw attention to the "problem" of well-known billionaires and celebrities pocketing farm subsidies.


The only problem is, there isn't a problem.


Martin Vandepas, the lone person to comment on EWG's webpage about this report, innocently asked: "Is there any more recent data available? The chart doesn't show any crop subsidies after 2007. That was 9 years ago."


To date, Martin's question has gone unanswered by EWG.


That's because the inconvenient answer is "no." Billionaires haven't received farm payments in a really long time because lawmakers closed that loophole in the 2008 Farm Bill.

Click here to read more about EWG's efforts to thwart the farm safety net.

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Inhofe Secures Victories for Oklahoma Water Infrastructure

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, praised the committee passage of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016, which was reported out of the committee by a 19-1 vote, and announced provisions in the legislation that will directly benefit Oklahoma.


"In 2014, Congress passed the first WRDA authorization in seven years, providing much needed reforms and advancing critical Oklahoma water resources priorities. We are now working to get back on the regular schedule of passing a WRDA every two years," Inhofe said. "WRDA 2016 ensures that Oklahoma projects, including the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System and the Tulsa and West Tulsa Levee System, continue to receive support and prioritization. 

WRDA 2016 also includes a number of provisions that empower local sponsors of our water transportation system to keep our inland waterways and ports strong and functioning. By cutting red tape and empowering project sponsors to get things done using their own money, ports like the Port of Catoosa and the Port of Muskogee will be able to help maintain navigation infrastructure so locks don't shut down costing shippers millions of dollars in delays. 

In the water and wastewater infrastructure portion of the bill, we lend a helping hand to communities that need to update their infrastructure to meet standards under the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act but face affordability concerns. As Robert Moore of Marshall County Water Corporation recommended to my committee, we target grant assistance where it is needed the most, including small and disadvantaged communities and those needing assistance for lead service line replacements. We also empower local communities to meet EPA mandates on a schedule that is affordable by letting them address the greatest health threats first. 

Focusing on drought and water supply needs, like we face in Western Oklahoma, WRDA 2016 promotes new technologies to better address these issues. I am proud that WRDA 2016 received broad bipartisan support in the Senate EPW Committee, and just as we did with the FAST Act, I will be working hard to ensure this legislation is sent to the president's desk this year."

Saying Goodbye- Services for Phil Klutts are Saturday; Word from Montana of the Death of Senator Conrad Burns

 
In much of the 1990s- the public face of the Oklahoma Farmers Union was Phil Klutts, as he served as President of OFU from 1991 to 1999. Word has come that he passed from this life on Wednesday of this week.  Here is a statement from the American Farmers and Ranchers on Phil Klutts:

"It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of former OFU/AFR President, Phillip Klutts. Phil passed away Wednesday, April, 27, 2016 at his home in Okemah, OK at the age of 80. Phil was elected to the OFU Board of Directors in February 1986 and held that position through 1991, at which time he was elected as OFU President and CEO and served in that capacity until February 1999.

"There will be public visitation today, April, 29, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM at Parks Brothers Funeral Home, 301 N. 3 rd Street, Okemah, OK.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 30, 2016 at 10:00 AM at the First Baptist Church, 120 S 6th Street, Okemah, OK."

AFR President Terry Detrick offers a personal note on the life of Phil Klutts- "We have lost a true leader.  This is a loss to his family, community, state, nation and Farmers Union.  And, a loss to me personally as he was my mentor."

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Former Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, a former cattle auctioneer whose folksy demeanor and political acumen earned him three terms and the bitter disdain of his opponents, has died. He was 81.

Conrad was a character- BIGGER than Life and loved by many- hated by some and always speaking his mind.  I miss him and those who were like him that made such a big impression on specialized part of  the broadcast business that we call farm broadcasting.

Connie Burns- Rest in peace.

In the Field- We Talk Home Stretch for the Oklahoma Legislature with LeAnna McNally

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