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With the Iowa Caucus complete, the National Corn Growers Association continues its push to help keep farmers informed of candidate views and engaged in the presidential primary process as the race for the Republican nomination continues.

NCGA will continue to update the original Corn Caucus Project report card, offer expanded and updated information on the positions of the remaining Republican contestants and provide links to the caucus and primary schedule and a candidate tracker.

"With the 2012 Iowa Corn Caucuses behind us, I see the Corn Caucus project as a success. Corn farmers from across the state did their homework on the candidates, followed the campaigns, participated in local meetings, used the Corn Caucus report card and made sure agriculture issues were recognized and addressed by the candidates," said Iowa Corn Growers Association Senior Policy Advisor Amanda Taylor. "As we move toward the nomination, we look forward to continuing to engage the campaigns in issues important to America's corn farmers."

Click here to read more about the efforts by the corn growers' groups to spotlight the "ag relevant" views of interest that are held by the Presidential candidates here in 2012

Conservation Innovation Grant Pre Proposals Due Before the End of January 

Ron Hilliard, State Conservationist, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service announced earlier this week that the deadline for pre-proposals for the 2012 NRCS Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) are due on January 31, 2012.  He said that "this program supports large-scale demonstration projects that test and provide original approaches to conserving America's private lands."

*Procedures for refining the usefulness of the phosphorus index in reducing phosphorus losses.

*Suites of conservation practices that protect water quality.

*Renewable energy systems that reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase energy efficiency on farms.
  
*The impacts of cover crops, crop rotations, tillage, and other conservation practices on soil health.
  
*Conservation practices that increase the water-holding capacity of soils.
  
*Decision tools that help producers assess their operations and conservation needs in order to improve wildlife habitat.
  
*Assess the technology transfer potential of completed CIG projects.

Click here to learn moreabout the application process for these grants that will be awarded later here in 2012. 

Tyler Norvell Steps Into Executive Directorship of Youth Expo Just Weeks Ahead of 2012 Event 

With the start of the 2012 Oklahoma Youth Expo less than two months away- the world's largest junior livestock show is breaking in a new Executive Director. Just before Christmas, Tyler Norvell was named Executive Director of the Oklahoma Youth Expo by the Board of Directors.

Norvell joins the OYE after spending the past six years working in governmental affairs for Oklahoma Farm Bureau. In that role he was responsible for implementing agricultural policies in both Washington D.C. and at the state capitol for Oklahoma's largest agricultural grassroots organization.

"The junior livestock show program has always played a significant role in my life," Norvell said. "I grew up in this program, and to have the opportunity to give back is very exciting. I look forward to the opportunity of improving and growing the Oklahoma Youth Expo and continuing the vision Bob Funk, Jimmy Harrel, and Justin Whitefield had when they began this journey in 2001."

Click here for our webstory on Norvell joining the OYE- that includes our audio conversationthat we have had with Tyler as he makes the move from OFB to OYE.

Dairymax Continues Strong Support for School Breakfast Program

Dairymax has been a long standing leader in promoting childhood nutrition- and Susan Allen with the organization says that includes promoting Breakfast being served in schools. School Breakfast is important to kids- Allen says that only half of all kids in the country eat breakfast and the Dairy promotion group contends that breakfast is tied to increased test scores and better learning potential for those kids who receive breakfast on a consistent basis.

Allen says that dairy farmers are committed to spending resources in this area- as each breakfast served includes a dairy serving- helping build life long dairy consumers for the industry, while providing valuable nutrients to students who are being fed.


In our conversation with Allen- we also talked about the upcoming Miss America contest coming later in January, and Oklahoma's representative in the contest for 2012- Betty Thompson of Davenport. Miss Oklahoma grew up on a dairy farm and her platform as Miss Oklahoma has been the theme "Milk, it does a body good," taking that message to dozens of schools over the past several months.

Click here to listen to our conversation with Susan Allen- and be sure to be watching this Saturday morning to News9 KWTV for our In the Field segment with Susan as we talk about these subjects for the Saturday morning news audience.

OSU's Kim Anderson Talks Wheat Market Factors on SUNUP-  

The Commodity Funds are starting to inject some money back into agricultural futures- and that was one of the reasons for some strength in prices of our corn and wheat markets in the early days of 2012. Dr. Kim Anderson of OSU says that when you add worries about dry weather in South America, you have a couple of factors that could help prop up prices and keep them in a slightly higher trading range than we saw in the latter part of 2011- this despite the steep losses suffered on Thursday in the ag futures trade.

 Anderson talked about these factors, as well as current wheat crop conditions in the southern plains and the upcoming day of reports from USDA this coming Thursday, January 12 with Lyndall Stout on this weekend's SUNUP, as produced by the Oklahoma State University Division of Ag Communications. 

In particular, Anderson says that the fall seeded crop plantings report could really set the direction for the US Wheat market in the near term, as at least one major commodity house is predicting that USDA will show as much as 1.3 million acres more planted in Hard Red Winter wheat for this year than the crop that was growing at this time a year ago. Besides that report- you will also have USDA releasing on Thursday morning the final Crop Production numbers of 2011 and the regular monthly Supply Demand numbers domestically and on a global basis. 

We have your Friday opportunity to hear Kim's weekly comments by clicking here for our webstory that features the audio between Lyndall Stout and Kim Anderson- and while there- you can review the entire lineup for this weekend's SUNUP that will be seen on OETA stations across the state at 7:30 AM.   

U.S. FDA Wants to Ban Many Extra-label Uses of Cephalosporin Drugs in Cattle, Swine, Chickens, and Turkeys

The Food and Drug Administration is moving to ban many extra-label uses of cephalosporin drugs in cattle, swine, chickens, and turkeys, saying the drugs may cause failure of antibiotic treatment of life-threatening infections in humans. The industry says FDA has little evidence that a problem actually exists.

Tom Super with the National Chicken Council emailed us with a statement ""We share the concerns of others that FDA's rule on extralabel drug use will take medical decisions to treat animals out of the hands of veterinarians. We question any substantive link or scientific basis between veterinary use of cephalosporins and antibiotic resistance in humans."

In the government news release- the FDA seems to contend that there is evidence of animal drug use and antibiotic effectiveness in humans. Quoting the release- "FDA is taking this action to preserve the effectiveness of cephalosporin drugs for treating disease in humans. Prohibiting these uses is intended to reduce the risk of cephalosporin resistance in certain bacterial pathogens."

One voice urging evern stronger action is a US Congresswoman who has called for major restrictrictions of animal antibiotic use. "The order is a "modest first step," said Representative Louise Slaughter of New York, senior Democrat on the House Rules Committee. "We're really just looking at the tip of the iceberg," said Slaughter, a microbiologist who introduced legislation in 2009 to prevent the overuse of antibiotics including cephalosporins. "We don't have time for the FDA to ploddingly take half measures." Click here for the full news release from Slaughter on the FDA proposal.

Click here for our webstory on the FDA announcement- which includes more from the FDA proposal- and statements from both the National Chicken Council as well as the Animal Health Institute.

American Farm Bureau Convention Set to Hula in Honolulu 

It's the 93rd annual meeting of the American Farm Bureau- returning this year to our 50th state- Hawaii- and meeting in the middle of a Farm Bill debate that could see major changes in our farm policy before we conclude 2012. 

The American Farm Bureau website says that 10,000 will attend the 2012 meeting in Honolulu- with the usual number of Sunday and Monday sessions that will include crops and livestock outlook and more. 

Keynote speaker this year is humorist Dave Barry.  AFBF President Bob Stallman says that "We will be working through some very important policy issues during our time in Hawaii, so it will be nice to take a break from our business at hand and share a lighter moment with Dave Barry." Click here for the official Farm Bureau Convention Blog which offers more on Dave Barry and will be offering updates as the meeting unfolds.

Oklahoma's delegation will be led by OFB President Mike Spradling- our travel card was already overflowing for the early part of 2012- so we have passed on going and covering this year's delegate session on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.  It will be an interesting session- as Farm Bureau will likely go on record and promote a Crop Insurance based farm safety net to be included in the 2012 farm bill.  That will happen unless the southern states unite and insist that Direct Farm Program Payments be somehow mentioned in Farm Bureau policy- as many producers of crops like peanuts, rice and even cotton believe that by far the best safety net would include direct payments. Click here for our Morning Farm News from Monday January 2when we featured comments from Bob Stallman on this expected debate.

Our friend Sam Knipp is traveling with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau delegates- and will be helping us with coverage from the 2012 meeting- we will have updates several times next week for you here in the email as well as on our radio network and on the website.