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 Farmers in Scotland face a heavy regulatory burden, according to John Picken, Vice President of the National Farmers Union of Scotland. Picken says the regulations are flowing mostly from Brussels, home of the European Union. Over 2,000 regulations flooded in from Brussels in just the last year alone, according to the farm group leader.


Picken talked with Class XV of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program on day two of their time in Scotland. Picken told OALP that his organization represents about 75% of the farmers in his country.


Before his presentation to the Class- we had the opportunity to talk with him about a variety of subjects- including the burden of regulation, subsidies, the carbon footprint of Scottish agriculture as well as farmers having to battle sister organizations of the HSUS on this side of the Atlantic. 

Click here to jump over to our conversation with John Picken from this past Friday.

For all of our coverage as it unfolds from Scotland and now Ireland- click here for our special section on our website dedicated to the OALP International Travel Experience.  

AND- for our picture gallery that we continue to add to- click here for our set of pictures of the OALP travels to Scotland and Ireland.

LightSquared Broadband Plans Blocked Due to GPS Intereference Concerns 

A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spokeswoman said this week that the agency would not allow LightSquared to proceed with plans to build a broadband network using technology that could interfere with existing GPS systems.

In a statement, the FCC said the federal agencies charged with coordinating spectrum use have "concluded that there is no practical way to mitigate potential interference at this time. Consequently, the Commission will not lift the prohibition on LightSquared."

LightSquared has applied for a spectrum use waiver from the FCC to allow it to deploy technology to dramatically expand broadband access, including in rural areas.

Extensive testing showed, however, that the technology would also cause significant, and evidently unmitigatable, interference with GPS systems, which are essential parts of the modern agricultural, construction and aviation industries. GPS systems are also used by millions of Americans in their cars, on their mobile phones and for other reasons.

To read more about the denial of LightSquared's plans and to access a link to the full FCC report, click here.

Fertilization as a Tool for Post-Drought Pasture Recovery

Plant fertility needs should be given special consideration in drought-damaged pastures says Daren D. Redfearn, of OSU's Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Since many of these pastures were grazed repeatedly, it is likely that root growth will be restricted to the top few inches of soil. It is important that these pastures have a strong root system to speed the recovery of drought-damaged pastures.

Since drought-damaged stands should be managed as a new stand, plant P needs should be the primary consideration. Standard P fertility recommendations are adequate for stands with slight to moderate damage, but stands with severe damage require additional P, even when soil test results indicate adequate available P levels.

Since bermudagrass pastures respond quickly to supplemental fertility, the addition of 50 lbs nitrogen (N) per acre will increase the recovery once the stolons have reached 6 to 10 inches in length. Nitrogen should only be applied if soil moisture is present. Once bermudagrass pastures begin to show signs of recovery, additional N can be applied to increase production if soil moisture is present. During drought or immediately following a drought, it is important that only enough N be applied for a 30-day production period based on the presence of adequate soil moisture. For example, this would be no more than 75 lbs N per acre per month.

You can read more about the fertilizer needs of drought-damaged pastures by clicking here.

E15 Finally Clears Last Regulatory Hurdle

Two major groups promoting the benefits and increased use of ethanol fuel blends have come out with statements regarding the EPA's recent decision to approve E15 health effects testing. Both the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and Growth Energy applauded the EPA for moving this ethanol-gasoline blend closer to being available to consumers.

The approval of health effects testing was a necessary step before the new fuel can be registered and readied for distribution.

ACE Executive Vice President Brian Jennings said if more E15 were already on the market, consumers might be saving 12 to 15 cents per gallon at the pump. With the EPA's approval, he said it's just a matter of time before E15 makes its way to the local gas station.

Growth Energy's CEO, Tom Buis, applauded the EPA's move to finally allow E15 to be brought to market. Growth Energy had a filed a petition with the EPA over three years ago seeking a waiver to get E15 on the market.

You can read more of Jennings' and Buis' comments or see a video statement from Buis by clicking here and here.

USMEF Head Phil Seng Expects Good Things to Come from US-China Agreement

When leaders of the world's largest agricultural products importer and the largest agricultural products exporter meet in constructive dialogue, only good outcomes are to be expected.

That's the assessment of U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Philip Seng after his participation in this week's U.S./China High-Level Agricultural Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa. It was part of a five-day U.S. tour by Chinese Vice President President Xi Jinping, who is positioned to be the next leader of China. 

"So often, meetings of this nature are conducted to resolve disputes," said Seng. "The tone of this meeting was forward-looking and underscores a spirit of cooperation. The atmosphere was favorable to the desired outcome of partnership and collaboration." 

Seng sees a lot of potential for especially US beef, once we get this huge market opened to our product.  You can read more of his comments, as well as jump over to their resource page on China, by clicking here.

New Case IH Farmall 100A Series Tractors Continue Farmall Legacy

The new Case IH Farmall® 100A Series tractors join the Farmall A, B and C utility tractors the Case IH utility tractor lineup. Available in four models, these tractors offer from 90 to 115 PTO horsepower.

The Case IH Farmall 100A Series tractors come standard with a three-point hitch that has a lift capacity of up to 7,200 lbs. A fixed-displacement pump hydraulic system offers a total hydraulic flow of 31 gpm.

These compact tractors pack a powerful punch with 4.5-liter engines running the Farmall 110A and 120A and a 6.7-liter engine powering the Farmall 125A and 140A.

Mechanical fuel injection triggers both of the turbocharged engines, which have two valves per cylinder and a dual-element air filter.

An 8x8 power shuttle transmission comes standard on the Case IH Farmall100A Series, making them ideal for loader work. An optional 8x8 synchronized mechanical reverse transmission, or a 16x8 power shuttle transmission with high-low clutch, also are available.

You can learn more about the new Case IH tractors by clicking here.

Bits and Pieces- AFR Holds Elections, We Learn About Tramlines and Sailing the Irish Sea

The 107th annual meeting of the American Farmers & Ranchers (including those previous conventions of the Oklahoma Farmers Union) wrapped up over the weekend- big crowd is our understanding with 1125 delegates registered for the event, which a couple of hundred more folks than that easily.  AFR had elections for Vice President and a couple of Board Members. John Porter was reelected as Vice President of the organization, while Joe Ed Kinder of Chattanooga retained his southwest district seat- and Harry Jordan of Ada won an at large seat.

One of the interesting things we saw while in Scotland rolling across the countryside were numerous winter wheat fields with tracks clearly seen on a regular basis across the fields. Class XV member Bryan Vincent who works with Crop Production services and lives in Tonkawa was very interested as he saw what he called "tramlines." They are placed in the fields to give a path for ag chemcial and fertilizer application without tearing up the crop and concentrating any soil compaction to just those pathways.  Click here for a quick conversation we had with Bryan about what we saw in those fields and the positives of using this concept in Oklahoma in no till fields as well as conventional till winter wheat and winter canola.

Sunday the 19th was a day of transition for the OALP members, as we traveled a couple of hours by bus south of Glasgow, Scotland to a ferry landing that took us across the Irish Sea (Atlantic) and landing us in Belfast. Most of us were expecting a fairly small vessel- but were pleasantly surprised with what was almost a small ocen cruseliner- the ferry had passengers like us- lots of cars and even semis loaded up for the about two hour trip from Scotland to Northern Ireland. We captured a few pictures from Day Four in Scotland/Day One in Ireland- and have included a few highlights in the FLICKR set of pics- click here to jump there.