Dr. Mike Woods to Serve as Interim Dean of Division of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University 

In an effort to ensure there will be no lapse in leadership within the Division of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University this summer when Dr. Robert Whitson officially steps down from his post as the Dean and Vice President of DASNR, OSU Provost Dr.Robert Sternberg has announced that Dr. Mike Woods will serve as interim Vice President/Dean once Dr. Whitson's office is vacant.


In a Memorandum that has been circulated to OSU Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni, Dr. Sternberg offered the following statement:


"After thoughtful review of input provided from faculty, staff, the DASNR Faculty Council, and members of the DASNR leadership team, as well as meetings and/or phone conversations with friends external to the college, Dr. Mike Woods has been asked to serve as Interim Vice President and Dean of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Dr. Woods has accepted this assignment to be effective on or about August 1, and he will hold the position until a permanent VP/Dean takes office."  

Dr. Woods serves as the Department Head for the Ag Economics Department within the Division- and has been heavily involved through the years in rural development efforts within the state of Oklahoma.   

OSU's Brett Carver Tells Congress: There's No More to Cut from Ag Research 

Wheat farmers, researchers, millers and bakers are in Washington, D.C., Tuesday and Wednesday to deliver a simple message to Members of Congress: there is no more to cut from federal funding for agriculture research.

The 35 wheat industry visitors, including a dozen growers and 10 milling and baking representatives, are spreading that message as part of an annual fly-in focusing on wheat research, sponsored by the National Wheat Improvement Committee, a group of wheat scientists and stakeholders, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), the North American Millers' Association and the American Bakers Association. 

"We've come to Washington, D.C., many times over the years, but this visit is particularly urgent," said Dr. Brett Carver, a wheat breeder at Oklahoma State University and NWIC chair. "Research is a long-term process that needs long-term funding. We are seeing increased investments from private companies and farmers themselves, but federal agencies still play an irreplaceable role in ensuring we can develop the best possible varieties for farmers."

You can read more about how federal budget cuts will further hamper public ag research by clicking here. 

Wheat Research Partnerships and New Varieties On the Horizon--Brett Carver Looks to the Future

There are a lot of currents in the development of new wheat varieties on the horizon for producers. Some of those currents are more evident in the board rooms of corporations and university governing bodies and other currents are to be found more in the laboratories and test plots.

Dr. Brett Carver, chairman of the National Wheat Improvement Committee, has a front-row seat into both areas.

One of the areas of greatest movement appears to be in the relationship between public and private crop research. Carver says those relationships are in a constant state of flux and need to be evaluated and maintained. Land grant universities and private entities depend upon each other.

"We are in an environment where I like to consider it instead of more free and open, more free and responsible. It's more free and managed. In an IP world, that's just the way it goes. It's a more managed environment so I have to become more accountable in the germ plasm I use and the germ plasm I share. And I'm more accountable to those who write my check, basically. But I'm also more accountable to the farmers for them to be able to capitalize on new genetic gains.   

"This is one area that I'm a little bit nervous about, to be quite honest about it. Because our program whether it's Oklahoma State University or private programs, are going to have to keep this concept of germ plasm exchange front and center. When you start fractionating that germ plasm pool it becomes more difficult to manage."  

Dr. Carver has a lot more to say about public-private partnerships and a couple of exciting new wheat varieties ready for broader release.  Click here to read more and to hear the full audio interview. 

Ethanol Grassroots Fly-In Brings Big Turnout to Capitol Hill

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and more than 60 of its grassroots members are on Capitol Hill today and tomorrow for the group's "Biofuels Beltway March" annual fly-in.

The ethanol advocates will have 196 meetings with Members of Congress or their staffs in the course of two days, bringing ethanol information to lawmakers representing 47 states. The group's priorities include highlighting the effectiveness of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), emphasizing how ethanol helps lower prices at the pump, the safety and affordability of E15 ethanol blends, and other issues such as oil subsidies and the clean octane value of ethanol.

"With gasoline prices and energy issues taking center stage in the national discussion recently, I can't think of a better time our grassroots members to make the case for how ethanol is part of the solution to moderating pump prices and reducing our dependence on foreign oil," said Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of ACE.

Click here to read more about ACE's efforts to shore up support for the RFS with Congressional leaders.

Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Roberts Introduce Resolution Opposing Bonuses for MF Global Execs

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and Senator Pat Roberts, the Committee's Ranking Member, announced they have introduced a resolution opposing bonuses for MF Global executives. According to news reports, Louis Freeh, the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy of MF Global Holding Ltd, may submit a plan in the coming weeks asking a bankruptcy judge to pay bonuses to top MF Global executives-even though the company is now bankrupt and thousands of its customers' money is still missing. MF Global's bankruptcy last year, the eighth largest in U.S. history, resulted in a loss of as much as $1.6 billion for the firm's customers. Thousands of farmers, ranchers and small business owners are still owed tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"It's absolutely outrageous to suggest that bonuses should be paid to the same people who were in charge when the company went bankrupt and lost its customers' money," said Stabenow. "This was a terrible failure of leadership. The people in charge should be held accountable, not rewarded with bonuses."

"This is not your ordinary Chapter 11 bankruptcy," Roberts said. "The process to return customer funds to their rightful owners will take years. This unprecedented loss of segregated customer funds may well have occurred at the direction of MF Global officials. Any recovered funds should go to customers instead of winding up in the hands of those who mismanaged the funds in the first place." 

Read the full resolution introduced by Sens. Stabenow and Roberts by clicking here.

OSU's Brian Arnall Answers the Question, 'Is It Too Late For Nitrogen Application?'

Precision Nutrient Management Extension Specialist Brian Arnall has said many times in the past that the nitrogen cycle and Oklahoma's environment keeps him busy and employed. This year is no exception, he says. He says the calls from producers across the state are rolling in asking if it is too late to fertilize or not.

Arnall consulted OSU Soil Fertility Researcher Dr. Bill Raun and discussed the likelihood of success and fertilizer options. Here are jst some of the results of their conversation:

· The likelihood of increasing yield is better if N is applied prior to flag leaf.

· Some fields have been deficient so long maximum yield is no longer possible.

· N applications appled at or soon after flag leaf have a 33% chance of increasing grain yield.

· Foliar application of UAN will result in leaf burn if temperatures are greater than 65 degrees.  

· Avoid high rates of N with a fungicide; surfactants used with fungicides increase leaf burn.

You can read more about late season nitrogen applications by clicking here. 

Your Midweek Dose of Pink Slime News- Including Words of Wisdom from Trent Loos 

We have a couple of links to stories on Lean Fine Textured Beef that has been demonized by a celebrity Chef and ABC Network News in recent days- one comes from our friend and colleague in the farm trade media- Trent Loos.  Loos released his latest article that is due to be in the next High Plains Journal- but the mail is slow and Trent called on one and all to grab his "push back" on Pink Slime and get it out in any and all ways possible.  Trent says "People haven't really looked into the process but are quick to condemn it. The technique created by Beef Products Inc found a way to remove every last bit of beef from the bone of the critter and then add a dash of ammonium hydroxide to it to help maintain the proper pH and eliminate bacteria growth. Yesterday BPI announced the shut down of 70% of their production, leaving hundreds without jobs all because of media hysteria.

"The technique they developed actually recovered enough additional beef from the bone that it reduced the need for 1.5 million additional head of cattle each year. Forget about the carbon footprint that so many are usually stammering on about, what about just the concept of being better with our resources in order to feed more with less? "  You can read the full op-ed piece from Trent Loos by clicking here and jumping over to our website.  

We also have comments from Nancy Degner of the Iowa Beef Council on today's Beef Buzz- again talking about the fallout within the beef industry because of this hysteria over this process. You can read more on her thoughts- and listen to her as well on today's Beef Buzz by clicking here- bonus on this story on our web is a video from the AMI on the LFTB process.