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The 2012 American Farm Bureau Convention has ended as the delegates finished their adoption of resolutions on Tuesday afternoon in Honolulu. Far and away, the greatest amount of time was spent working on the policy position of the organization for the Commodity Title of the 2012 Farm Bill.

In his post convention news conference, AFBF President Bob Stallman said that the delegates clearly were not looking back- but were focused on the future. He cited the clear rejection of including direct farm program payments in any farm policy recommendation by AFBF- as well as any sort of a piecemeal approach to a farm bill- in other words, a rejection of the argument that the one common program concept would not work on a national level.


What delegates did approve was the various elements that had been proposed as the SRRP plan- Systemic Risk Reduction Program. However, Mike Spradling, President of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, says OFB delegates proposed and had their amendment accepted that the acronym SRRP would be dropped- Spradling telling us that the OFB delegation was concerned that if you package all the pieces of this concept under one title- it could become more easily a target of opponents of any farm program package. The concepts approved by the delegates would offer a response to catastrophic type losses using insurance style coverage that is susbsidized by Uncle Sam- coverage would be available for all crops and would be delivered by private crop insurance companies.

Click here to read more of our post convention wrap up- and we have in our webstory a link to more details of the SRRP plan that is no longer called by that name- just the principles of the plan remain.  We also have an audio overview with comments from both Spradling and Stallman.   

Oklahoma Governor Fallin to President Obama- Approve Keystone XL NOW!  

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Tuesday asking him to immediately approve the development of TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline, a project which would transport oil from Canada to multiple points within the United States including the Gulf of Mexico. Under current law, the president has until February 21 to declare the pipeline "not in the national interest" or it is automatically approved. 

Governor Fallin tells POTUS that "The pipeline represents an enormous and undeniable opportunity for job-creation and economic stimulus at a time when the nation is sorely in need of both. The creation of the pipeline will also help to ensure our nation's future energy needs are met with resources from politically stable regions of the world right here in North America."

There could be lots of benefits for Oklahoma as part of the Keystone plan would be to build a pipeline from Cushing south to the Gulf of Mexico.  

Fallin contends that jobs would be created- dollars would be injected into the Oklahoma economy as the pipeline is built- and then there  would be ongoing benefits to the counties that are in the path of the pipeline- An increase of $667 million in property taxes to county and other local governments during the operating life of the pipeline.

Click here for more on this call by Mary Fallin for President Obama to get off the fence on Keystone- we have a copy of the letter for you to see in our webstory by going to our link. 

Cellulosic ethanol production delayed, but coming

Recent reporting, including in the New York Times, accurately points out the current shortfall in cellulosic biofuel production relative to the targets established by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

"In a very difficult financial and policy environment, the first wave of commercial advanced ethanol production facilities are under construction in a number of states across the country," said Advanced Ethanol Council Executive Director Brooke Coleman. "Diversifying America's fuel supply with increasing amounts of clean, domestically produced renewable fuel requires us to keep our eyes on the prize and not be distracted by the noise and misdirection coming from naysayers protecting the status quo."

Coleman continued, "It is important to remember why the RFS is needed. If the market operated based on free market principles, then we would not need blending requirements to force regulated parties to purchase renewable fuels. But instead, the market is controlled by one industry, and few players, who are increasingly reliant on OPEC to secure their product. In turn, we need forceful programs with the right incentives to introduce new fuels made by Americans. That's what the RFS is, and it's working."

Click here for more on the ethanol industry's contention that RFS will give the advanced biofuel the opportunity to become viable.

Message to Farmers and Ranchers- Engage Consumers on Their Terms

People are talking about food, and farmers and ranchers need to take the lead in the conversation, Melissa Kinch and Keith Yazmir, members of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance's communications team, told attendees at the American Farm Bureau Federation's 93rd Annual Meeting.

Opening a dialogue with consumers is an opportunity for farmers and ranchers to restore and build on the public's trust in how food is grown and raised.

"You can't build trust if you can't have a conversation," according to Kinch, senior vice president of Ketchum Communications.

Kinch and Yazmir outlined four steps that will help farmers and ranchers move out of combat mode and have a constructive conversation about what they do and why they do it. The four steps are engage, acknowledge, share and earn trust, or E.A.S.E.

Click here for more about these steps- as discussed this week in Hawaii at the AFBF meeting. 

Mike Miller Moving to NCBA From Cattlefax- Heading Up Global Marketing and Research

Mike Miller has been appointed senior vice president of Global Marketing and Research at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). Most recently Miller was chief operating officer of Cattle Fax.


In his new role Miller will be responsible for staff leadership of NCBA departments focused on developing and executing the plan of work funded with Beef Checkoff dollars. Those departments include Planning and Evaluation; Market Research; Research, Education and Innovation; Issues Management; Consumer Marketing; and Channel Marketing. Miller will take over his new responsibilities Jan. 30.


"I'm excited Mike will be joining the NCBA team," said NCBA CEO Forrest Roberts. "He brings a wealth of talent, experience and energy to the position. We know he will add tremendous vision and vigor to our work on behalf of beef producers through the Beef Checkoff-funded efforts we conduct."

Read more by clicking here for our story up on our website- OklahomaFarmReport.Com.

Terrorists Almost Claim Credit for Destroying 14 Semi Tractor Trucks at Harris Ranch in California 

Reports from California seem to indicate that animal rights activists destroyed a fleet of trucks at the Harris Ranch feedlot in central California.  According to a news story from KMPH, "New developments in the investigation of Sunday's Harris Ranch fire. The North American Animal Liberation Press Office sent out an email, and it has very specific details about the fire.

The email states, "Containers of accelerant were placed beneath a row of 14 trucks with 4 digital timers used to light 4 of the containers and kerosene soaked rope carrying the fire to the other 10."

It goes on to say, "We weren't sure how well this was going to work, so we waited until there was news reports before writing this."

The email says they were extremely pleased to see all 14 trucks were destroyed and melted to the ground." 

Click here for more on this story- we have a pair of videos- one from the TV station and the other from the group that had all the details of the attack and seemed very pleased about it.  

Last Chance for You to Vote for Miss Oklahoma- Betty Thompson

This weekend is the Miss America Pageant- and Miss Oklahoma, Betty Thompson, carries the hopes of the state on her petite shoulders.  She also carries the best wishes of the farm and ranch community- as Betty is one of us.  She grew up on a small dairy farm in the Davenport community- was involved in 4-H and FFA- and reigned as Miss OSU before claiming the crown of Miss Oklahoma last summer.  Click here for our webstory from last month showcasing the dynamic young lady who wears the Oklahoma crown. 

Her platform is all about milk- telling school children and anyone who will listen that  "milk does a body good."  

One aspect of the 2012 contest is the chance to go online and help Betty Thompson move automatically into the semi finals.   According to the Miss America website- they have "posted 53 exciting videos made by each of our 2012 contestants, showing off their style and personality and explaining why they should be chosen as the next Miss America!"

Click here for the page where all the videos are- scroll down to Miss Oklahoma and enjoy Betty's video and vote for her.  The candidate with the most votes gets a pass into the finals. 

Deadline to vote is tomorrow night- January 12.