Yesterday, Senators Angus King (I-ME), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Joe Donnelly (D-IN) introduced the "Cultivating Revitalization by Expanding American Trade and Exports (CREAATE) Act" which will increase the funding for the Foreign Market Development Program from $34.5 million to $69 million annually and the Market Access Program from $200 million to $400 million. On May 3, 2017, Congressmen Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced the companion bill, CREAATE Act (HR 2321), in the House.

Members of the grain community sounded off once this bill was submitted in the Senate, praising the legislators for their supportive action to bolster trade program funding.

"NAWG commends Senators King, Ernst, and Donnelly for working across party lines to introduce the CREAATE Act which will help American farmers create, expand, and maintain access to foreign markets," said NAWG CEO Chandler Goule in a statement, made yesterday.

"We applaud Sens. King, Ernst and Donnelly for introducing the CREAATE Act in the Senate, and we take the time to again thank Reps. Newhouse and Pingree for their version in the House. We hope that leadership in both chambers will commit to moving this important legislation forward as quickly as possible," said American Soybean Association Vice President John Heisdorffer, whom expressed his organization's strong support in a release following the bill's introduction to the Senate.

"Thank you to Senator King, Senator Ernst, Senator Donnelly, and Senator Collins for leading the effort to strengthen the MAP and FMD programs. These programs have already been successful, but with increased investment, they can help even more American farmers and ranchers compete around the world," said Wesley Spurlock, a Texas farmer and president of National Corn Growers Association. Click here to read his complete remarks on the matter.

In the September edition of OSU's Food Demand Survey (FooDS), the correlation between gluten-sensitivity and liberal political views - as former presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz once suggested - was assessed with this month's ad hoc portion of the survey.

Based on the answers provided by the respondents of the survey, it is safe to say that there is little evidence to suggest that becoming gluten-sensitive makes one lean to the political-left. But one can say, children of liberal parents are more likely to report a gluten-sensitivity than children of conservative parents.

Based on their own political beliefs, though, the results show that those associating gluten with poor health are much more likely to be liberal. However, one-third of the conservative identifying responders reported a gluten-sensitivity.

The survey, measured the hypothesis in a different way - essentially asking participants who they voted for in the 2016 presidential election, and whether or not they had a gluten-sensitivity.


Among those who voted, there are little differences in responses to the statement 'I believe I am sensitive to gluten in foods' among Clinton and Trump supporters. A total of 12.5% of Clinton supporters agreed, compared to Trump's 13.20%. The difference was more pronounced among those who did not vote. Non-voters who said they would have supported Trump over Clinton were more likely to report a gluten-sensitivity. Non-voting Clinton supporters agreed with the statement 15.21% of the time, compared to Trump's 24.72%. This demonstrates that associating an aversion to gluten as being a 'liberal cause' is not entirely accurate.

For more insights from this month's survey, click over to our website for a summary of the report and access to September's complete report from OSU's Agricultural Economics department.

The price of stocker calves has been comparatively a bit cheaper so far, this week. But overall, according to Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel, prices have held up pretty well here in the later stages of 2017.


"Whether you look in Kansas or Oklahoma, we're seeing these feeder cattle prices move a little bit higher," Peel said. "I think that's directly a function of the good forage conditions we've got now."


Typically, this time of year, Peel says the seasonal pattern is for calf prices to gradually decline from about August through to the seasonal low in October. However, there is still a lot of variation from one year to the next. Peel suggests in years of good, early forage conditions - prices may very well move a little higher during September, or at least hold steady, if demand is ahead of the fall run of calves. Peel believes that if the current forage condition and demand for stockers remains strong, the seasonal weakness of October may be limited. In the end, though, he predicts markets will eventually succumb to the pressures of a larger incoming calf crop.


"We know the fall run of calves will have a relatively larger supply," he said. "I suspect at the end, we'll see that prevail with some seasonally lower prices. But, that may not happen until we get into October as opposed to the next two to three weeks."


Listen to Dr. Derrell Peel's analysis of the current stocker market and his outlook for this fall, with me, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

The Oklahoma 4-H Foundation announced, Wednesday, a new scholarship opportunity for 4-H members, provided by the Soil Carbon Coalition. The award will be offered starting in 2018, with the intention of engaging young people in community wide efforts to improve the health and function of land and watersheds in Oklahoma, improve local economies, and create resilience in the face of extreme weather events.


The Soil Health Achievement Award will be coupled with a $1,200 scholarship. Funding for the award has been solidified for the next 5 years.

Students in 8th through 12th grade are eligible to apply for the scholarship. They must address multiple objectives in their application, including a meeting with a farmer who is improving soil health and sharing that experience with an audience; teaching others about functional soil ecosystems and the connections between soil health and public health; learning to recognize signs of changes in soil health through various hands-on tests; and engaging his or her community in a project to improve soil health.

To learn more about this scholarship opportunity, or the Soil Carbon Coalition, click or tap here.

The American Pecan Council met recently in Ardmore, Okla. at the Noble Research Institute. During that meeting, NRI's Pecan and Specialty Agriculture Systems Manager Dr. Charles Rohla, presented to the council members about projects on which the Institute and the Council could potentially collaborate. I was there and took the opportunity to speak with Rohla about his current work with pecans.

According to him, the Institute has been working with pecans, since it first acquired land with a pecan orchard, back in 1976. Currently, though, Rohla says several of the Institute's researchers, who primarily deal more with forages, are beginning to take a closer look at pecan related studies. In fact, these recent efforts actually yielded a significant breakthrough in plant pathology that could potentially help producers battle and control pecan's No. 1 disease threat, scrub.

Beyond that, however, more attention is being paid now to better understanding the plant and its growth systems.

Rohla attests that the pecan industry is growing and Noble sees an opportunity to conduct the needed research on pecans that land grant universities aren't currently able to commit their resources to. He says, improving the future of the pecan industry lies in producers' ability to master the pecan's growing systems to best manage their orchards.


"That's why we formed the Systems Group. We have to educate the landowners that if they take better care of their pecan trees, that there's a large potential for profits there," he concluded. "We need to develop those systems and show people how to do those correctly, to have the best outcome."

Click here to read more or listen to my complete conversation with Dr. Rohla, about the future of pecan research.

 

The planting of the 2018 wheat crop is underway in Oklahoma- and we talked briefly on Wednesday with Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mike Schulte, who says planting of wheat for grazing and for dual purpose is underway- and that while some parts of Oklahoma received rainfall this past weekend- those still needing rain are hoping for moisture that is being predicted for the end of this coming weekend and early next week. Those farmers may begin planting wheat as well as canola once those rains provide some topsoil moisture.

Schulte says acres planted to wheat this fall will likely be lower- given the shift to primarily cotton by many growers in the southwestern quarter of the state- and to soybeans, corn and sorghum in north central Oklahoma.

We stopped by and visited with Mike at the Oklahoma Wheat Commission headquarters in northwest Oklahoma City yesterday- and you can hear his wheat planting comments by clicking or tapping here.

I also have a reminder from State Wheat Specialist David Marburger about Fall Armyworms- you can see his warning to growers at that same link.