Lucas Urges Ag, Consumer Groups to Encourage Leadership to Bring 2012 Ag Bill to the Floor 

Following last week's passage of the 2012 farm bill out of the House Agriculture Committee, Chairman Frank Lucas has had a chance to digest the results of the vote and plan strategy to get the bill to the House floor.

The Chairman told us in an exclusive Monday morning conversation that following the debate that ran from Wednesday into the early hours Thursday, he was somewhat surprised with the final vote tally.

"I knew that Collin and I had agreed on a very balanced, responsible, reform-minded, fiscally-responsible bill. After 15 hours of markup, that was borne out. I'll have to admit in a big picture sense I did not expect a 35 to 11 vote. That's an overwhelming vote of both Republicans and Democrats in a very bipartisan way."

Lucas said the results were surprising because the base text of the bill survived the markup process essentially unchanged. The $35 billion dollars in proposed cuts all survived, including $14 billion dollars from the commodity title, $6 billion from the conservation title, and $16.5 billion from the nutrition title.

"It can't be said that my colleagues didn't have some good ideas-109 amendments were filed. Ninety-seven members asked to have their amendments considered. We adopted 44 of those amendments in a variety of areas. It was just a tremendous process." 

Lucas said the next hurdle is to bring the bill to the House floor.

"I am encouraging leadership in every capacity I can. I would hope that the ag community-both production and processing and even the consumer groups around the country-would begin to remind the elected leadership in the House that this is important." 

 Click here to read more or to listen to the full interview with Frank Lucas.  

Corn Ratings Continue to Tumble- So do Pasture and Range Ratings  

The corn market continues to sizzle- up over thirty cents a bushel on Monday with a few more cents of "up" in the overnight Tuesday morning trade to boot- and a lot of it continues to come from reports like the one issued on Monday afternoon by USDA- the weekly Crop Progress report.

Thirty-eight percent of the nation's corn was rated poor to very poor for the week ended July 15, according to USDA. That compares to 30% last week. Only 31% of the crop is rated good to excellent, compared to 40% last week.


John Sanow with DTN says that the sliding conditions are a strong case for reductions in USDA crop production estimates. "This supports the argument that USDA will need to lower total production significantly from the current level tied to losses in yield and harvested acreage," Sanow said. On a state by state basis- Kentucky checks in at 77% poor to very poor, Indiana at 71% poor to very poor and Missouri at 72% poor to very poor. Illinois also shows lots of stress in their corn crop- with a 56% poor to very poor rating.
 

In addition- Pasture and Range conditions slipped further into poor to very poor ratings- increasing by four percentage points from a week ago to 54% poor to very poor. The Show me state of Missouri has seen their pasture ratings collapse further in the last seven days by another five percentage points- now at 92% poor to very poor. Other states that show high percentages of awful pasture conditions- Indiana at 87%, New Mexico at 85%, Arkansas at 83%, Illinois at 83% and Arizona at 80% poor to very poor.


Both Texas and Oklahoma are in far better condition than in 2011- the three worst pasture and range states in mid July a year ago were Texas at 94% poor to very poor, New Mexico at 90% and Oklahoma at 78% poor to very poor. Missouri was having a normal year last year at this point in the growing season- with 41% of their pastures in good to excellent condition. 

Click here to read more and jump over to read all of the crop numbers- cotton and peanuts actually look okay to this point in the growing season- but of course the national media is fixated on the midwest and very dry, hot conditions in the eastern corn belt.  

Oklahoma, Kansas Crop Conditions Continue to Decline Due to Drought

Crop conditions continued to decline as the drought continued to worsen.  The USDA on Monday declared 56 counties eligible for disaster assistance. Spotty showers were received in a few areas with a 4.46" gullywasher at Minco.

All row crops were rated in fair to good condition, but continued to slip with the dry conditions. Grain sorghum and soybeans in the North Central District may still do well if rain is received this week.

Alfalfa fields and pasture conditions have declined slightly, with reports of cattle beginning to be sold in some areas for lack of forage. You can read the full Oklahoma crop condition report by clicking here.

Most of Kansas remains hot and dry with row crops continuing to decline. Almost half are listed as poor and very poor. Click here for the Kansas report.

In Texas, most areas received rain last week, with southern and coastal portions receiving 10 inches or more. Most row crops are listed in fair, good, or excellent condition.  You'll find the full Texas report here.

EPA Withdraws Proposal Requiring CAFOs to File Clean Water Act Reports

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency withdrew a proposed rule that would have required large livestock and poultry farmers to report information about their operations and undermined court decisions related to producer obligations under the Clean Water Act, a move applauded by the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. 

EPA's proposed Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) Reporting Rule sought to have CAFOs submit to the agency operational information so it could "more effectively carry out its CAFO permitting programs on a national level and ensure that CAFOs are implementing practices to protect water quality and human health." The information includes facility facts, such as contact information, location of a CAFO's production area, permit status, the number and type of animals confined and the number of acres available for land application of manure.

The proposed rule was prompted by a May 2010 settlement agreement EPA entered with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Waterkeeper Alliance - represented by current Humane Society of the United States attorney Hannah Conner, who this week filed 51 notices of intent to sue hog farmers for alleged environmental paperwork violations - and the Sierra Club as part of a lawsuit NPPC brought and ultimately won over EPA's 2008 CAFO rule. The 2008 rule required, among other things, that large livestock operations that propose to or that might discharge into waterways obtain Clean Water Act (CWA) permits. On NPPC's suit, a federal court ruled that the CWA requires permits only for operations actually discharging.

Click here to read the rest of the story and comments by the NPPC.

You can find the NCBA's reaction to the EPA action by clicking here.

2012 Drought Impact on 2013 Unclear at This Point, Peel Says

In the latest edition of the Cow-Calf Newsletter, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrel Peel says the deepening 2012 drought is already impacting cattle markets. He said the ripple effect will continue on into 2013 and beyond:

Widespread drought conditions so far in 2012 are clearly a large contributor to the current weakness in the cattle complex. There are numerous reports of early marketings of feeder cattle and cow liquidation which leaves no doubt that the drought is impacting cattle inventories and flows. However, the magnitude of these changes in cattle numbers is not clear yet so it is difficult to assess just how much impact might carry over into 2013. It is always difficult to determine drought impacts as they happen because one is never sure what would have happened in the absence of drought. Later, with the benefit of hindsight, the drought impacts may be more obvious. Adding to the difficulty this year is that most of the data is being compared to drought impacted numbers from last year so it is difficult to determine how conditions this year compare to a more normal average. There are two upcoming reports that may help clarify the situation although drought conditions will continue to change and drought assessment will be a dynamic process over the next months.   

The July Cattle on Feed report is expected to show decreased June placements compared to last year. This follows the May report where placements exceeded the expectations for large placements. The unexpected increase in May was attributed mostly to drought forced early placements. June placements are expected lower partly because of one less business day this year. The question of drought impacts will not be whether June placements are lower than last year but how much lower? A decrease of 4-5 percent is needed to account for one less day so a placement value down 4 percent or less is really equal to or greater than last year and clearly significantly larger than expected. In the absence of drought this year, a double digit decrease in June placements would be likely. The most likely case is a decrease in the range of 5-10 percent which would indicate smaller placements than last year but larger than would have occurred without the drought. It seems clear that more cattle are entering feedlots earlier than anticipated and it will impact feedlot marketings late in 2012 and into 2013. It is still not clear just how significant those changes will be. 

Click here to read more from Derrell Peel.

USDA Designates 56 Counties in Oklahoma as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

Francie Tolle, Oklahoma State Executive Director for the Farm Service Agency (FSA), announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 56 counties in Oklahoma as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by extreme drought.

Those counties are: Alfalfa, Atoka, Beaver, Beckham, Blaine, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Choctaw, Cimarron, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Creek, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Grant, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Hughes, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnston, Kay, Kingfisher, Kiowa, Latimer, LeFlore, Logan, Love, Major, Marshall, McClain, McCurtain, Noble, Nowata, Osage, Pawnee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pushmataha, Roger Mills, Stephens, Texas, Tillman, Washington, Washita, Woods, and Woodward.    

Farm operators in the 18 Oklahoma counties listed below also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous to the designated counties.

Those counties are: Adair, Cleveland, Delaware, Haskell, Lincoln, Mayes, McIntosh, Murray, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Ottawa, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Rogers, Seminole, Sequoyah, and Tulsa.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on July 12, 2012, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from FSA, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. 

You can find more information about this disaster declaration by clicking here. 

OSU Researcher Investigates Canola Cultivars for Oklahoma

Researchers in Oklahoma State University's Biobased Products and Energy Center (BioPEC) have received millions of dollars of funding to diversify America's energy resources as the demand for domestic options continues to increase.

One of those researchers is Chad Godsey, professor in the department of plant and soil sciences in the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at OSU. His Extension and research efforts, primarily focused on Oklahoma cropping systems with an emphasis in oilseed production practices, have garnered much national attention.

"My project coordinates the Winter Canola Performance Trials in Oklahoma," he said. "Basically, we solicit entries from private companies and other universities that have canola breeding programs to test their canola cultivars in Oklahoma."

This is all in an effort to provide producers with the latest information on commercially available canola cultivars so they can make an informed decision on cultivar choice. This testing will give producers an idea on yield potential and other traits. 

Click here to learn more on Chad Godsey's research program.

Food Conversations- Live and Virtual Involving Oklahomans

She has been invited to join USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and White House Director of Public Engagement Jon Carson in a conversation about local foods.  Kirby is one of six women leaders chosen to participate in the Google+ Hangout. 

include the Cimarron Valley Research Station.  Dana says they will look at peaches, grapes, and pecans while there and connect them to our lessons: Good Grapes, Just Peachy, and Pecan Fingerprints.

From there its over to the Morrison Event Center and meet some great partners - Oklahoma Soybean Board, Southwest Dairy Farmers, Farm to You, Made-In-Oklahoma, and Farm Bureau. Lesson connections there will include Ag in the Playing Fields, The Story of Milk, and Oklahoma Grown.

Further north, they stop at Head Country Manufacturing in Ponca City and then head to Blubaugh Angus Ranch to look at some genetics and a super bull! Several of our beef lessons will be featured including Beef is Good for You, Chew it Twice, and Genetics- a List of Traits.

This professional development opportunity is sponsored by Oklahoma Beef Council and a USDA/CREES grant.   GREAT Stuff- and yes folks, I am only pulling your leg about Dana being soft spoken and shy- she makes the Energizer Bunny look tired!

Dana tells us they have jam packed days planned for Wednesday and Thursday as well- click here to learn more about that.