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The Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma's Third District Congressman Frank Lucas, spent time on the long line from Washington Wednesday morning with Ed Richards of the Radio Oklahoma Network. Congressman Lucas offered his reaction to President Obama's State of the Union Address, as well as some of his ideas to move forward with the writing of the 2012 Farm Bill.

The Chairman would not offer a timeline on when we might see movement in the development of the 2012 bill- but instead told Richards that we will do what we can get done- and if we can't complete the process there is nothing wrong with an extension that would take us out another crop year.  In fact, that also seems like the preferred option at this point to the Chairman- assuming you could find the budget dollars to make that work.  

Worse case scenario for Congressman Lucas on pushing forward farm policy this year is to wait until a possible lame duck session to shove through a 2012 farm bill.  That would mean leaving his winter wheat farmer constituents out "on their own" as they plant the 2012 crop next September and October with no real idea of what a farm safety net might look like.  

Click here to hear the full conversation that Ed had with Chairman Lucas- several other topics were covered beyond the State of the Union and the farm bill work.

Healthy Soil Delivers Biological Horsepower for a No Till Farming Operation 

North Dakota farmer Gabe Brown was one of the most popular speakers at this year's No Till on the Plains in Salina, Ks. Brown told the story of his farm and the fact that now he is farming "in nature's image" using cover crops extensively, which has allowed him to eliminate commercial fertilizers and greatly reduce herbicides. His cover crops are not just a single variety or plant- but rather what he calls a cocktail of several types of plants- up to a nine way mix of plants which he contends rapidly improves the health of his soil.


Brown talked with us about his "mob grazing" concept of grazing large numbers of cattle for a very limited amount of time. He will take a large number of cattle and graze them for just a few hours before moving them to the next section. He contends his rate of gain can easily be two to three pounds daily.

Gabe Brown was one of the most fascinating of the many excellent speakers that No Till on the Plains had here in 2012- go to our website and take a listen to some of his ideas about how to farm for dollars- instead of for pennies.

Click here for our webstory which features our visit with Gabe Brown about his use of cover crops- and a lot more.  

Rising Farm Income Boosts Farmland Values and Bank Profits

Strong farm income propelled farmland values to record highs and strengthened loan portfolios at agricultural banks at the end of 2011, according to the Federal Reserve System's Agricultural Finance Databook.


Crop prices remained historically high but volatile through the fall harvest, underpinning robust farm income expectations in areas with favorable yields. Cropland values across the Corn Belt and northern Plains soared to all-time highs with many states posting annual value gains between 20 and 40 percent. Brisk bidding at farmland auctions kept prices high and enticed landowners to place their land holdings up for sale.


Agricultural bank profits improved as borrowers repaid farm debts. In the third quarter, the return on assets at agricultural banks rose further and remained stronger than their banking peers. The share of delinquent farm real estate loans fell, and delinquent non-real estate loan volumes hit their lowest level since 2009.   

Click here for more on what Jason Henderson and the KC Federal Reserve bank are thinking about agriculture here in the heartland of America. 

Hay in Oklahoma and Texas continues to be a scarce commodity- and prices of hay rolling in on semis from the north are extremely high. Dave Lalman, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Specialist, says there are some relatively simple ideas that ranchers can put into place that will help stretch each large square or round bale that you may open up to feed.


On today's Beef Buzz, Dr. Lalman says one of the best ways to stop wasting hay as you put it in front of your cattle is to purchase a feeder with a floor in it to hold your large round bales. Savings of hay can easily be twenty percent or more. Another way to stetch you limited hay supplies is to simply feed a little less each day and force the cattle to clean up what you put down for them each day.


The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click here for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.   

High Court Tosses California 'Downer' Law

In a unanimous decision issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a California law that bans the processing of all non-ambulatory animals, including hogs. The National Farmers Union and the National Pork Producers Council hailed the ruling.

The California Legislature approved the law in 2008 after a video was released by animal activists, showing non-ambulatory, or "downed," cows at a California beef packing plant being dragged and prodded to enter the processing line. The statute prohibited the buying, selling, or receiving of non-ambulatory animals, the processing, butchering or selling of meat or products from non-ambulatory animals for human consumption and the holding of non-ambulatory animals without taking immediate action to humanely euthanize them.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture already forbids the slaughter of "downed" cattle.

The National Meat Association (NMA) challenged the law, and a federal district court judge in California blocked it. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco in 2010 overturned the lower court ruling. NMA appealed the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) pre-empts the California law.    

Click here for more of the farm group reaction to this decision coming from the US Supreme Court as it relates to California trying to preempt federal law.

Collaboration Set to Revolutionize Feed Efficiency in Cattle

The challenges that are ahead for the US cattle industry- as well as for all of production agriculture- are enormous, as the need ahead is to feed more people with fewer resources. As a result, ways to measure efficiency when to comes to how much cattle are eating and drinking could help us may help produce more beef with fewer resources.

As a linchpin to more efficient cattle production, The Noble Foundation and GrowSafe Systems Ltd. have formed a collaboration to test and leverage GrowSafe's latest technology to better understand feed efficiency in pasture-fed beef cattle and develop tools for sustainably improving production of grazing livestock.

"More efficient cattle production is essential," said Billy Cook, Ph.D., director of the Noble Foundation's Agricultural Division. "Efficient livestock production maximizes natural resources, supports the producer's bottom line and keeps food costs manageable for the consumer."    

This is high tech stuff- and we understand that the Noble Foundation folks as well as GrowSafe will be in Nashville next week and we will have a chance to drill down further on this story.  In the meantime, click here for more from the news release from the Noble Foundation on this new partnership they have recently formed.

Obama's Regulations No Laughing Matter for America's Farmers and Ranchers- or as Dick Vitale says- "Are you kidding me???" 

The Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Frank Lucas, and his GOP partners on the House Ag Committee are not laughing over the "spilled milk" joke that the President of the United States used on Tuesday evening.  Instead, they say it sums what many who oppose President Obama on a variety of issues say- what the man says has no connection to his actions- or the actions of his Administration.

The House Ag Committee's Chairman issued the following statement this week after contemplating the words of the President during the 2012 State of the Union:

"In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, President Obama addressed criticisms of over-regulation by his administration. He claimed success for exempting dairy farmers from an Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) program mandate that would have regulated milk the same way as oil:

"We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $10,000 a year proving that they could contain a spill - because milk was somehow classified as an oil. With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk."

"The truth is that the Obama administration actually withdrew the Bush administration's proposal to exempt dairy farmers from oil spill regulations, and then delayed their decision on this exemption for nearly two years. "

Read the rest of the Lucas reaction as released by the House Ag Committee on Wednesday by clicking here.