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Fighting within the US Beef Cattle Industry escalated dramatically on Thursday afternoon with word that the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM)has partnered with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to evaluate and plan a lawsuit the group will file Friday. The suit will name as defendants USDA, the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, the Cattlemen's Beef Board (CBB) and the Beef Operating Committee, according to Fred Stokes, OCM president.

The suit will seek an injunction to stop the CBB from contracting with NCBA to carry out check off programs. OCM will allege USDA failed in its oversight role over the cattlemen-financed and directed program. The suit will allege NCBA "abuses" of check off funds- citing audits from a couple of years ago that showed some expenses that NCBA claimed were checkoff related were disallowed under further scrutiny. Those funds were refunded to the Checkoff, new procedures and more frequent checks were put in place- and that story appeared to become old news.

However, the Organization for Competitive Markets has hung onto ideas that NCBA illegally used that money- and they believe that those abuses continue. In a news conference Thursday afternoon in Kansas City, Stokes said his group had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request some time back. They had turned the resulting information over to the legal team at HSUS. In March of 2012, at a meeting in Omaha, HSUS and their attorneys persuaded OCM that a lawsuit based on the FOIA information and that previous audit of NCBA contracts with CBB could be pursued.  

While NCBA is not expected to be one of the entities sued- they are the focus of the lawsuit- as OCM wants them removed from any handling of checkoff monies as a contractor. NCBA- the National Cattlemen's Beef Association- was quick to blast the intentions of this populist group- their President JD Alexander calling the partnership "disgusting." Alexander adds that "it is paramount for cattlemen and cattlewomen to know that OCM is working with an extremist animal rights group to disable a program dedicated to building demand for beef."   

Click here for our story with more details from the Kansas City announcement as well as the NCBA reaction.  

Perhaps the one statement that will enrage those who believe that HSUS is an organization that no livestock group should align themselves with- Fred Stokes said "I personally, and OCM, and every cowboy in America owe a debt of gratitude to HSUS. This is historic. We are not going to have this opportunity again."  

FCA Board Considers Impact of Drought on Farmers and Farm Credit System 

The FCA Board received a report from staff in the Office of Examination and the Office of Regulatory Policy on the impact of the drought on farmers and ranchers and, by extension, on the Farm Credit System.

To measure the initial impact of the drought, FCA staff surveyed System associations with high concentrations of corn and soybean producers. The associations reported that a majority of its customers have federal crop insurance contracts. This protection mitigates much of the impact of the drought on grain producers and on their ability to repay their loans. The drought will also affect producers who rely on grain products, such as dairy, livestock, poultry, and ethanol producers. Although some borrowers may face significant challenges as a result of this year's drought, FCA does not believe the drought will affect the System's overall safety and soundness or its ability to serve farmers and ranchers.

Associations reported they are taking steps to work with borrowers affected by the drought. In addition, they are stepping up communication with their borrowers, including holding meetings to make sure they have the information they need. Some associations are contacting customers directly to make sure they know the steps involved in filing crop insurance claims.

Click here to read more on the effects of the drought on farm credit.

Canola TV--Making 2013 Canola Plans-Oklahoma Grower Jeff Scott

For Oklahoma canola growers, 2012 was a very good year. Producer Jeff Scott, who farms near the Kansas border in central Oklahoma, said his experience was no different despite a couple of twists tossed his way by Mother Nature.

Timely rains did finally come after Scott and his neighbors had dusted in their crop, but they had to contend with severe weather including a tornado right before harvest time

"I had a neighbor's barn land on top of my field and various other pieces of equipment from around his farm blew down across us. Mother Nature pushed canola for us. Unfortunately, it was all in one direction. So we got to cut some half-sections in one direction and dead-head back and make another cut. So, it was challenging, but the yield was still there. There were very good yields coming off those fields so it was worth the hassle."

The summer has, once again, turned off hot and dry, much like last year. Rather that make any changes, though, Scott said he's going to follow his original plan.

"I'm going to stick with my rotation. I'm in it for the long haul. This crop is resilient. It's been able to handle the droughts, the late freezes, wet weather, dry weather, everything we've thrown at it. I keep trying to come up with an excuse to maybe cut back on acreage, I can't find one."

You can read more from Jeff Scott and see his Canola TV segment by clicking here.

Canadian HRW Wheat Imports into Panhandle Feedlots Catches Analysts by Surprise

The latest supply and demand numbers from the USDA are out, but, even before the numbers came out, many analysts doubted they would be accurate. OSU Grain Marketing Specialist Dr. Kim Anderson says in this week's preview to SUNUP that the consensus was that the USDA would underestimate production.

"I think it's going to be Monday or Tuesday as the market comes in and truly evaluates what the report said on corn and how it compares to their survey. And then prices will probably settle out after that."

Anderson said that on the wheat side of the board this week, there was a big surprise.

"I think the big news on wheat is the 1.6 million bushels of hard red winter wheat that was bought from Canada that was shipped down into the Texas-Oklahoma Panhandle area for livestock feed."

You can catch more of Kim Anderson's analysis and the full lineup for this week's SUNUP by clicking here.

NCGA Sets Record Straight on House Letter Urging EPA to Waive RFS

Last week 154 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter that included inaccuracies to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging a waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard. Today, National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer sent a letter to every member of the House of Representatives setting the record straight.

"Unfortunately, the letter sent to EPA Administrator Jackson did not provide accurate information about the amount of corn used to produce ethanol or livestock feed," Niemeyer stated in the letter. "Furthermore, it lacks a comprehensive description of the "burden of proof" required under the RFS waiver provisions. The letter relies on long discredited claims that opponents of the RFS have continued to reference in their on-going efforts to repeal the RFS."

Niemeyer also pointed out research has shown that increased worldwide demand and the rising cost of oil and other inputs have had far greater effect on the price of corn than the ethanol volume requirements of the RFS. In addition, he added NCGA believes that it is premature for EPA to waive the RFS provisions at this point in time. This year's corn crop has yet to be harvested so it is too early to determine how much corn will be available this year.

Garry Niemeyer has more to say on our website where you also find a link to the full letter to Congress by clicking here.

Three Management Strategies For Stretching Hay Supplies to the Max

The hot, dry weather has reduced warm season hay production to almost nil in many parts of the state. With many pastures going white, cattle producers are having to break into what hay they do have far earlier than expected. OSU Extension Beef Cattle Specialist Dr. Glenn Selk says there are a number of simple, inexpensive strategies producers can employ to stretch what hay supplies they do have to the max.

"When I think about ways to be more efficient, three different things come to my mind. One of the first ones is what I call limited access to the hay. There's been research that's been done in the upper Midwest. They looked at situations where they allowed cows to have access to the big, round bales for a limited number of hours. And they looked at different time lengths. Bottom line that they found the most efficient one was about six hours per day access to the hay."

Selk said producers put the hay in rings inside an enclosed area where they can let the cows in for about six hours and then drive them back out. He said the performance of the cattle, though not quite as good as when they had 24-hour access, was still quite acceptable. 

Click here for more strategies for stretching hay from Glenn Selk.

Drought Gets Deeper as We Wait for USDA Crop Production Numbers

USDA will release their first field based Crop Production Estimates for the 2012 spring planted crops this morning at 7:30 AM central time- we will have details of those numbers on our website- OklahomaFarmReport.Com by a little after 8 AM- which will include some commentary and early thoughts from Tom Leffler.  Be watching to see how low USDA might go in this first true look at those spring crops- could have HUGE impact on some very nervous markets.  

Meanwhile, yesterday- the latest Drought Monitor is out- and things got worse in Oklahoma in a hurry- Spurred by rapidly the rapidly intensifying flash drought and its impacts, including the extreme fire danger realized in the state over the last week, the U.S. Drought Monitor has now designated virtually all of Oklahoma in extreme-to-exceptional drought. Nearly 97 percent of the state is now depicted by the Drought Monitor in those worst two drought intensities, the highest such coverage for the state since the Drought Monitor effort began in 2000. 

Click here to see the Oklahoma map- as well as the National map that were released on Thursday- you will notice our neighbors in Arkansas have a lot of their state right now in "exceptional" drought.