The Oklahoma Department of Ag has confirmed that results of the referendum for the Oklahoma Beef Checkoff will be announced this morning at 10:30 AM.

In an advisory- ODAFF says "The auditor's report of the vote on the referendum pursuant to the Oklahoma Commodity Research Enhancement Act conducted by the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association will be announced by the Commissioner of Agriculture(Jim Reese) at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, November 9, at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Building."

 

The 2017 edition of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Convention and Trade Show is set to begin tomorrow at the Embassy Suites in Norman- I am looking forward to saying Howdy to many of you as we help kick off the opening General Session with a farm news and market update- I share the stage with Lt Governor Todd Lamb and with OSU Dean and Vice President for the Division of Ag, Dr. Tom Coon. 

Featured speaker on Saturday is American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall- and then the attention turns to the delegates that will work on policy positions for the coming year for the organization on Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon- those same delegates will decide who will be the President of Oklahoma Farm Bureau for the next two years. Incumbent Tom Buchanan is asking for two more years- I asked Tom if he wanted to provide us with a brief statement about why he wants to serve Farm Bureau as President for another two years- and here is his response:

"Oklahoma Farm Bureau is celebrating it's 75 anniversary a great milestone in itself. Oklahoma Farm Bureau can count many successes on behalf of Oklahoma Agriculture and rural Oklahoma over the past 75 years.

"I am very proud to be a member of Oklahoma Farm Bureau and greatly honored to have been given the opportunity to be the president as this milestone was reached by our organization.

"The challenges facing the members of Oklahoma Farm Bureau today are many, running from the erosion of private property rights, increased taxation, the changing demographics of Oklahoma, to the overburden some regulatory environment. I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with the members of Oklahoma Farm Bureau as we face and overcome these and other challenges."

Click here for Buchanan's complete statement provided to us via email.

Earlier- we have posted comments from the two challengers to Buchanan-Jimmy Wayne Kinder and Rodd Moesel.  Click on their names and you can see their complete statements as well.

Kinder speaks of wanting to give Farm Bureau members a choice as to who would help lead the organization and added "I know the frustrations of local boards and understand d the needs of county members. With your help, I would transition OKFB, into an organization that is more responsive to county leaders and their local efforts."

Moesel writes in his open letter to Farm Bureau leaders "Over the last few weeks we believe it has become clear that Oklahoma Farm Bureau would best be served by new leadership as we make plans to select our new executive director, rebuild our important field services team, fight the pending lawsuit and develop our vision and direction for the next 25 years as we head toward our centennial."  He adds that "I will work hand and hand with the state board to switch from a combative intimidation style to a cooperative style with other state agriculture groups."

 

The 2017 Cotton Harvest is underway, and OSU Extension Cotton Specialist Randy Boman says that the early harvested cotton has really looked great- especially some of the irrigated fields in the southwestern corner of the state- saying some of the fields have recorded four an acre here in 2017. Boman adds that while there is a good bit of variability in dryland fields- that the crop in Kiowa County- around Hobart- looks really good- perhaps the best he has ever seen in that county.

However, some cotton has gotten hurt by freezing temperatures the last weekend of October- and that is a concern.

Overall, Boman continues to see a crop that will easily top 900,000 bales in 2017, acknowledging that our next check of production comes up later this morning in the November Crop Production Report. (November first data to be released at 11 am today)

Boman told participants at the Oklahoma Ag Expo that it is clear to him that a lot of the excellent yields and reports of good quality condition is the direct result of the latest genetics and production systems available to growers today- compared to just a few years back.

Click or tap here to hear my visit with Dr. Boman after his presentation at the Ag Expo- we review the 2017 crop as well as the impact of modern technology on our ability to raise a bigger and better crop than ever before.

 

Producer sentiment toward the agricultural economy improved slightly in October, according to a monthly survey of 400 agricultural producers from across the United States.

The Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer landed at 135 in October, up three points from September. It represented the third-highest reading since data collection began two years ago.

The improvement was driven by the Index of Future Expectations, which increased from 130 in September to 137 in October. The Index of Future Expectations is one of the barometer's two sub-indices. The other, the Index of Current Conditions, weakened slightly.

Our story online digs deeper into the latest report from Purdue- and has a link to the complete report as well- click or tap here to check it out.

 

The Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Mike Conaway of Texas, held a news conference with the agricultural media on Wednesday afternoon- and he discussed NAFTA, Tax Reform efforts now being worked on in the House as well as his continued efforts to get a farm bill to the House Floor. The Chairman's current timeline is to get floor debate time for the 2018 Farm Bill in the January-February time frame.

You can listen to his comments- we have posted it in our Podcasts section of the website- click or tap here to check it out.

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