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Agricultural industry groups find good news and bad news in President Obama's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2013.  The president revealed his $3.8-trillion proposal Monday.

The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) was quick to applaud the administration's proposal to fully fund two programs promoting U.S. exports. The NCFC said support for the USDA's Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program offer a tremendous return on investment. As programs administered on a cost-share basis, neither is capped under World Trade Organization rules.

You can read more about the NCFC's response by clicking here.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, on the other hand, blasted a provision in the president's proposed budget which drastically lowers the estate tax exemption and boosts its top rate. NCBA President J.D. Alexander says the proposal to cut the exemption from $5 million to $3.5 million and increase the tax from 35 percent to 45 percent threatens to tax agriculture out of business.

"President Obama has much to learn about the realities of small businesses and production agriculture. Most of these farm and ranch families are not wealthy. Instead, their value is tied up in the land they work and the equipment they use to provide a safe and affordable food supply for a growing population," Alexander said.

To read more about the NCCB's response to the president's budget, click here. 

NCC Executive Outlines STAX Proposal Rationale

 

Addressing the joint meeting of the National Crop Insurance Services and American Association of Crop Insurers, National Cotton Council President/CEO Mark Lange laid out the circumstances that brought the U.S. cotton industry to endorse a sweeping change in cotton policy.

Speaking to their convention in Scottsdale, Arizona, Monday, Lange said the Stacked Income Protection Plan, or STAX, allowed U.S. cotton to meet budget constraints, provide meaningful risk management and address the commodity's unique policy challenge -- the World Trade Organization (WTO) Brazil case.

"The policy developed by the National Cotton Council can be operated with a 30 percent reduction in the CBO baseline for upland cotton," Lange stated. "The STAX program is an extension of current area-wide revenue based crop insurance products and allows reasonably priced coverage for losses that are not currently available. The National Cotton Council has consulted with representatives of the crop insurance industry and USDA's Risk Management Agency in the development of the program."

He emphasized that crop insurance products are extremely flexible and give producers the opportunity to match the risk tools and coverage to their financial situation.

You can read more about STAX by clicking here.

USW Celebrates Golden Anniversary in Philippines

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) celebrated 50 years of partnership with Filipino flour millers, bakers and noodle manufacturers at a reception and dinner in Manila, Philippines, February 9. USW representatives, U.S. wheat farmers and U.S. diplomatic and agricultural officials joined about 150 guests at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel to honor their customers in this developing island nation of 94 million people.

"Few markets have shown such consistent loyalty to U.S. wheat," said USW Assistant Regional Director for South Asia Joe Sowers, who served as master of ceremonies. "It is that loyalty that keeps the Philippines a top priority for USW and the wheat farmers we represent."

Today, the Philippines is the second largest importer of soft white and hard red spring wheat in the world. The 12 Filipino flour milling companies have recently imported an average total of 1.7 million metric tons of U.S. wheat per year. The Philippines imports more wheat than any other U.S. agricultural product, with a value of more than $500 million in three of the past four years.  

You can read more about USW in the Philippines by clicking here.

Deadline Looms for Ag Hall of Fame Nominations

 

The deadline for making nominations for the Governor's Outstanding Achievement Award in Agriculture is rapidly approaching.  Nominations will be accepted only until the close of business this Friday.

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry (ODAFF) created the award in 1998 to honor leaders in the agriculture industry who have exemplary personal values and agricultural achievements in Oklahoma. The award winner will be inducted into the Oklahoma Agriculture Hall of Fame located at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry.

Previous recipients of the award exhibited high standards of conduct, leadership, innovation, and accomplishment in agriculture. These individuals were from different parts of Oklahoma and many times were not widely known outside of their specific agricultural groups or commodities. However, each Hall of Fame inductee has served as a community leader in addition to being an agricultural producer who made a significant impact on the lives of others.

Selfless service, iron determination, a love of farming and willingness to take necessary business risks are traits that unite the past honorees.

To read more about the award or to make a nomination, click here.

OFB Leadership Conference to Focus On Legislative Issues

State legislative leaders will address Oklahoma Farm Bureau county presidents Feb. 20-21, during the annual OFB Leadership Conference at the Marriott Hotel, 3233 Northwest Expressway, in Oklahoma City.
        
"This is a great opportunity for our county leaders to meet with their legislators and discuss issues important to rural Oklahoma," said OFB President Mike Spradling.
        
The first day will feature a series of discussions on Oklahoma water laws, estate planning and employment laws. Also, Farm Bureau's coveted Meritorious Service Awards will be presented during the evening's conference banquet.
        
Day two will kick off with a legislative panel featuring State Representatives Leslie Osborn and Wade Rousselot and State Senators Sean Burrage and Clark Jolley. The lawmakers will discuss the topic of eliminating the state income tax.

For more details and a full conference agenda, click here.

Commodity Classic Shatters Attendance Records

With more than two weeks before the 2012 Commodity Classic kicks off in Nashville, Tenn., the show has broken all registration records. Last year, total attendance set a record of 4,826 show participants. This year, registrations for the 17th annual event have already surpassed the 5,000 mark with two more weeks left until onsite registration opens.

"We are thrilled that more and more growers and industry professionals recognize the value of attending Commodity Classic," said Commodity Classic co-chair Martin Barbre. "Agriculture is both an exciting and challenging way of life. Because Commodity Classic addresses farming from a grower's perspective, attendees find they can take information they've gathered from the show and put what's practical for their operations into the field."

More farm families, first-time attendees and agribusiness representatives will be at Commodity Classic than ever before. To celebrate the record breaking attendance, Commodity Classic's 5,000th registrant, Kirk Zinkievich from Medina, N.Y., received a complimentary registration. "I'm amazed how big the show has become," said Zinkievich. "It just shows you the importance of agriculture today."

You can find out more about the Commodity Classic and how to register by clicking here.

This and That- Gallagher, Iba, Dixie National and the OALP 

The Sons of Duster have shown up- and the OSU Wheat Improvement Team have declared them worthy of being named.  Two new varieties of Hard Red Winter wheat have been unveiled by Dr. Brett Carver- wheat breeder deluxe at Oklahoma State University.  The two new new varieties sound like a building OSU Cowboy fans hold in high regard- Gallagher and Iba.  

In the extremely tough 2011 growing season- Iba bested Daddy Duster while Gallagher matched the parent in average yield at eight sites across the state. Of the two, Iba was also checked for forage- and blew away several other notable graze and grain varieties- producing over 3,100 pounds of forage. Click here for more details about these two new varieties that have come out of the parentage of Duster and from the breeding program of Dr. Carver.

Our congrats to the OSU Livestock Judging Team, which blew away the competition at the Dixie National Show a week ago down in Jackson, Mississippi. Dr. Mark Johnson, who coaches the squad for the Animal Science Department, says all 17 members of the team are Juniors and ANSI majors- and he tells us that their second competition of the year was a dominating performance. Five of the overall individuals were OSU students- and the three top individuals in giving reasons were OSU Cowboys. Highlighting the Cowboy lineup was Jake Warntjes, High Individual Overall and 2nd High Individual in Reasons. He was followed by  Jamie Bloomberg- 4th High Individual Overall and 3rd High Individual in Reasons. Morgan Meisenheimer was the High Individual in Reasons.

Finally- a quick reminder that we will be traveling with Class XV of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program as we eventually end up in Edinburgh, Scotland early Thursday morning. The ten day international study program includes lots of stops on cattle, sheep and horse farms- plus Universities, the European Headquarters for Alltech and a lot more. We will have daily coverage via this email and on our website as well- starting soon after we get our boots on the ground.