We Have a Farm Bill Extension Deal- But Will We Get a Vote???- Plus Looking Back at 2012- Farm Bill Stalled After July Passage by House Ag Committee

It has been widely reported by the general media that we have a deal among the House and Senate Ag Leadership that will avert going over the "Dairy Cliff."  That's what the general public is worried about in the farm bill debate- nothing else much matters in today's world of consumers being bombarded with stories of milk prices doubling because Congress could not get their work done.  

What we specifically have is a trio of bills that were submitted late Saturday night by House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas that would either give us a one year extension of the 2008 Farm Law, a one month extension of the same or a suspension of permanent farm law when it comes to dairy policy.  

The One Year Extension is the preferred choice of the four House and Senate Ag Leaders- it would extend pretty much the entire farm law by one more year- it would provide one more year of the old safety net- including Direct Payments- it would also include the Livestock Disaster Programs that ended in 2011 and were not available here in 2012- it would fund them for both 2012 and 2013.  AND- it would deal with the Dairy policy- and here's where some of the heartburn comes for Speaker John Boehner- as it includes the reforms that are in both the Senate and House 2012 Farm Bills that he has called worst than the policy on the books for 2008- which he doesn't like either.  

RIGHT NOW- as of early Monday morning- the Ag Leadership are united and ready to go- but the problem continues to be House Leadership.  In the latest email Sunday evening from Eric Cantor where he lists bills for the House to consider- there is NO MENTION of any of the farm bills dropped in the hopper by Mr. Lucas. Will  there be a House vote (which would likely be followed by a quick Senate vote) of the Farm Bill Extension?  

We have details of the statements from Frank Lucas, Collin Peterson and Debbie Stabenow as well as a link to the 78 page one year farm bill extension and more- click here for our final Top Ag Story of 2012.  AND- we will do a SPECIAL EMAIL update if we should get real movement and resolution of a Farm Bill extension later today- plus we will have details on our website, OklahomaFarmReport.Com.   

Now- let's reflect back on the last action on farm policy seen in the House:   

The last legislative activity that we saw taken on a five year farm bill that was being called the 2012 Farm Bill came in July. That was when the House Ag Committee, under the leadership of Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas, passed their version of farm policy by a 35 to 11 vote. A few days after that vote, we talked at length with the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Frank Lucas, about the passage of that bill and the hope of getting floor time to pass the measure in order to have the chance to conference a bill with the US Senate. That long expected conference never occurred, as there has never been a vote on the House Ag Committee bill since House Passage.

The bill is still languishing without a floor vote. Lucas has said that he had high hopes of bringing the bill to a vote before the end of the current Congressional session so lawmakers don't have to start the process all over again from scratch when the next Congress is seated.

You can catch our full audio interview with Frank Lucas from last July or read more of this story by clicking here.  

Looking Back on 2012- Drought Costs Oklahomans $400 Million This Calendar Year 

Data that was gathered by researchers at Oklahoma State University helped paint a picture of the financial cost that drought in 2012 has extracted from Oklahoma's farmers and ranchers- as well as the general economy. 

Oklahoma absorbed more than $400 million in losses in 2012 due to the drought, researchers said.

The estimated $426,125,520 in losses include crops and livestock, as well as two new measures, wildfire property losses and municipal costs. Combined with last year's $1.6 billion setback, the state has suffered more than $2 billion in drought-related agricultural losses since 2011.

"From the crops and livestock perspectives, there were much lower impacts this year that don't necessarily speak to the severity of the drought," said Dave Shideler, OSU Cooperative Extension economist for economic development. "Conditions were still very severe, and farmers and ranchers will need to continue to be careful about the ways they manage their land and herds."

Click here for more.

 

Looking Back at 2012-Drought and High Feed Prices Take Toll on Cattle Producers, Scott Dewald Says

Looking back, Scott Dewald, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, says 2012 was not kind to producers. He spoke with us recently and says the drought and skyrocketing grain prices delivered a one-two punch to the cattle industry in the Sooner state. Beef prices were up, but so were the prices of all the inputs. Livestock producers are trying to look forward to 2013 and make the best out of less than ideal situation.

Dewald says there's simply no getting around the fact that 2012 has "been a tough year, there's just no other way to put it. The drought has created a lot of problems out there for producers. They don't have enough surface water. It's just been a tough year. They've sold off a lot of cows. Our cow inventory is way down."

Liquidation of cow herds continued in 2012, but at a slower pace than 2011.  As the drought appears to be stretching into a third year, Dewald says the sell off continues "because less mouths to feed is really important right now."

There were a few bright spots in 2012 and the OCA will be keeping close tabs on a number of issues in 2013.  You can read more and listen to our interview by clicking here.

 

Looking Back on 2012- Jeff Edwards Walks Us Through a Decent 2012 Wheat Crop and a Worrisome 2013 Wheat Crop Start 

Our complete story and audio interview with Dr. Edwards details his thoughts about the 2012 crop- and his fears for the 2013 crop- to listen please click here.

 

Looking Back at 2012- Pork Producers Fight High Grain Prices as Well as HSUS

Looking back at 2012- we had the chance to sit down and discuss the past twelve months and how the the US and Oklahoma pork industry has fared with Roy Lee Lindsey, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Pork Council. Top of mind for pork producers has been the struggle much of the year with high feed grain costs. Lindsey says that most hogs were making money as 2012 began, but when drought showed up in the US corn belt this past spring and summer- grain prices skyrocketed- and that ended any hope of being profitable for the balance of the year.

2013 shows an opportunity to be better from a profit perspective, if it rains in the US corn belt and grain prices ease from 2012 levels. Long term- Lindsey believes that prospects are good for US pork production with strong pork exports continuing to lead the way. He points out that exports are especially important for Oklahoma with the Seaboard Plant in Guymon the leading export processing plant in the US to destinations like Japan and Korea.

We also talked about a variety of other issues with Roy Lee- including a discussion with him about the battle between animal agriculture and the HSUS.  Click here to read more as well as the chance to listen to our full conversation.  

Looking Back at 2012- Five Program Highlights for the Beef Checkoff

Leadership and Staff with the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion Board identified five major positives that have generated a lot of "bang for the buck" on behalf of cattle producers.  They included BOLD research, the Greystone Culinary Event, American Heart Association Beef Cuts, U.S. beef exports, and the 2011 National Beef Quality Audit.

High on the list for all ranchers had to be the emergence of Central and South America as top growth markets for U.S. beef.  Working against a global market where beef imports are generally down, the Central/South America region was up sharply for U.S. producers through the first nine months of 2012.  The region purchased 57.7 million pounds of U.S. beef valued at $99.2 million, an increase of 36 percent in volume and 73 percent in value over last year. The potential is there for continued growth. 

Looking Back on 2012- As Seen Through Our Photo Lens on Flickr

Covering events is one of the things that we are committed to at the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and OklahomaFarmReport.Com. Along the way we see a lot of great people and places and things.  And the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words is true so often.  

One of the ways that we cover the business of farming and ranching- as well as the lifestyle elements of our industry- is through pictures we take and place in sets on the social media site, FLICKR. In 2012, we have placed about 18 sets on our FLICKR page that come from events at the state, national and even international level. Several thousand photos can be seen that help tell the story of agriculture in a most distinctive way. 

Click here for our featured mini pictoral on our website of five of the top events we have picture sets on Flickr. In that story- we have five featured events including the Oklahoma Youth Expo, the Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame ceremonies, the OALP International trip to Scotland and Ireland,  the National FFA Convention and the 2012 Wheat Harvest that you will want to check out.   

And remember- we have the Flickr icon on the left hand side of this daily email- which allows you to go and take a look at our sets of photos from this year and previous years anytime you want on Flickr.