Class XV Graduates- Time to Apply for Class XVI of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program is Now- We Talk with Edmund Bonjour of OALP

On Saturday, Class XV of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program met for the last time as a class- and graduated from the two year program in ceremonies on campus in Stillwater at Oklahoma State University. As the Chairman of the OALP Advisory Board, I was honored to be able to call them up to the podium and help present them with their graduation certificate and along with Director Edmund Bonjour and OSU Dean and Vice President Bob Whitson, congratulate each of them for engaging in this leadership development program.  

As you may recall, my lovely wife Jan and I traveled with Class XV on their international experience  to Ireland and Scotland- and we reported back daily on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network, in this email, via Flickr and Twitter and on our website- where we still have those stories lined up that you can go back and review-just click here. This class joins other agricultural leaders since the early 1980s that have graduated from this program.  NOW- it's time to gather together a new class that will start their journey this coming August.  

To that end- we talked after the graduation with Edmund Bonjour about the application process.  You can hear that conversation in full by clicking here.  One point that I want to emphasize- the age range that is published is from 25 to 45- but that is really a suggested top end of the age spectrum that we are encouraging to apply.  Someone that is a little over that age may still be a terrific candidate to be a part of this program- and avail themselves of all the program offers. If that is the case for you or for someone you know- don't hesitate to give me a call and we can talk further about this- my phone number is at the bottom of this daily email.  AND- please seriously consider applying- you will be glad you did.   

Ag Secretary Vilsack Remains Strong Defender of Need for NBAF 

The proposed 2013 federal budget may not contain funding for construction of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas, but Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is standing behind the project. Secretary Vilsack, who visited Manhattan, Kansas Tuesday, says construction of the facility should move forward. He contends the research facility is important to ensuring the U.S. continues to have a safe and adequate food supply for its citizens and the world.

He talked with Eric Atkinson of the Kansas State Radio Network about the NBAF- and his comments about the animal disease lab are featured on our Friday Beef Buzz.

The NBAF lab would handle research on deadly agricultural pathogens - replacing the aging facility at Plum Island, New York. But critics say moving this kind of research to the mainland would put the nation's food supply and security at unnecessary risk. When the site selection process was underway a few years ago, a semi finalist for the lab was the Ft. Reno facility in Canadian County- however agricultural groups in the state expressed misgivings about having the lab in the heart of the state, relatively close to the world's largest livestock auction market in Oklahoma City- and Oklahoma backed away from aggressively pursuing the project. It was later awarded to Manhattan, and ground was broken a couple of years ago at the location on campus at Kansas State University.

You can listen to the full interview with Tom Vilsack on the Beef Buzz by clicking here.  

USDA Responds To GAO Study Calling for Decreasing Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Crop Insurance Oversight

The GAO recently released a study which says the government can save over $1 billion each year by modifying crop insurance programs and charging the USDA with doing more to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse. Senator Tom Coburn requested the study and lauded it's findings. Congressman Frank Lucas, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, was less enthusiastic and cautioned Congress against damaging the crop insurance program.

Matt Herrick, a spokesman for the USDA, issued a statement in response to the study and its call for the department to carry out its mandate to do more to eliminate fraud and abuse:

"The Risk Management Agency and Farm Service Agency have already begun strengthening compliance. FSA is amending current procedures to require State offices to monitor and ensure that County offices complete the inspections. This guidance will ensure spot checks are completed and documented during the 2012 crop year. Furthermore, FSA will require State offices to report to Headquarters on the status of the inspections, adding more oversight than recommended by GAO. In addition to improved spot checks by FSA, a new system in use this year will improve the efficiency and accuracy of results reported from field visits...

"Prior to being placed on the spot-check list, a producer's rate of loss was about 15 percentage points higher than other producers in their county. After being placed on the spot-check list, their rate of loss declined to less than 8 percentage points higher than other producers in their county, for a reduction of about 48%."

You can read Herrick's full statement and find links to Senator Coburn's and Congressman Lucas's responses by clicking here.

Canadian County Canola Crop Turning a Lot of Heads, Brad Tipton Says

The canola crop in Canadian County is turning a lot of heads this spring. Brilliant yellow fields on either side of I-40 are showcasing a crop which a lot of Oklahomans are not familiar with. In this edition of Canola TV, Canadian County Extension Education Brad Tipton says he's fielding a lot of questions about the highly visible crop.

"I've had people in church ask me what's out there. We've had photography studios want to take senior pictures out in the canola. I'm surprised we haven't had a back up or a pile up out on I-40. We have some very visible canola in Canadian County along some main thoroughfares."

He says prospective producers have been giving the crop a second look, especially after running a few numbers.

"There seems to be a lot of interest, a lot of people now starting to take a look at this crop especially with the price they're going to get for canola. If they can get it in the bin, if we can get it harvested, compared to wheat, I've got a lot of guys saying 'I wished I'd planted a few more acres of that crop.'"

Click here to read more from Brad Tipton and to watch the latest edition of Canola TV

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Tight Supplies of Corn Driving Feed Wheat Demand

The 2011/12 marketing year will end May 31, a point at which most analysts, including Casey Chumrau of US Wheat Associates, expect the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make only minor changes to its year-end supply and demand estimates. USDA did make mostly small changes to wheat production, world trade and beginning stocks estimates in its monthly Supply Demand Estimates released April 10. However, USDA sharply increased projections of wheat used for feed. Generally, a spike in feed use would indicate quality issues, but other market factors are driving the feed wheat use higher than ever this year.


Driving feed wheat demand is the very tight supply of corn. Despite five consecutive years of record corn production, projected 2011/12 world ending stocks are 2 percent lower than last year and 7 percent lower than the five-year average. USDA currently projects U.S. ending corn stocks down 29 percent in 2011/12 to 20.3 million metric tons (MMT), 46 percent below the five-year average of 37.8 MMT.


Historically, about 70 percent of total world corn consumption is utilized as feed. However, the increase in total demand for corn, including biofuels, limits the amount available this year for feed. The lower supply of corn for feed and relatively high corn prices has driven livestock owners to look to alternative feed grains.

Click here for more of Casey Chumrau's analysis of the connection between corn supplies and wheat demand.

The Week Ahead- Conservation Day, Southern Plains Farm Show and House Ag Committe Field Hearing

Today is Conservation Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol- and there will be lots of celebrating "doing the right thing" for the environment Conservation folks occupy the Capitol.  

The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts is the main sponsor of the event. Cosponsors include a number of the state's 87 local conservation districts, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Districts.

The event will be held in the Capitol Rotunda on the fourth floor from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Participants will have exhibits on display featuring the diverse conservation activities across the state addressing local natural resource needs.

There will be an awards presentation at 1:30 p.m. in the Governor's Blue Room on the second floor. Jim Reese, Oklahoma Sec. of Agriculture will represent Gov. Mary Fallin and join Joe Parker, president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, in presenting awards. Representatives of sponsoring organizations will also join in the presentations.  We'll have details of the winners in tomorrow's email.

On Wednesday- we will be setting up our booth for the 2012 Southern Plains Farm Show that will be held at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City- the show itself is Thursday, Friday and Saturday- click here for details- and it is shaping up to be another dandy!  The Radio Oklahoma Network will once again be registering people to win the Priefiert Round Pen that will be used by horse trainer Scott Daily over the three days of the show. Stop by our booth to sign up or stop by at the horse training pen to sign up there.   

On Friday morning, I will be in Dodge City for the final of the four field hearings planned by the US House Ag Committee and Chairman Frank Lucas- this to get input on assembling the next farm bill. We will be tweeting from the event- and filing stories from there as well as Plains States farmers and ranchers will weigh in on what the 2012 Farm Bill should look like. The pressure is on to get moving and write a new bill quickly in order to move something out of the House Ag Committee ASAP- then hopefully on to floor consideration- with the aim of getting a bill from both the House as well as the Senate to a conference committee where a lot of the heavy lifting may occur. With elections looming- getting a 2012 Farm Bill done sooner rather than later gives agriculture the best chance of getting new legislation enacted this calendar year.  

Links to Share- Election Board, Pink Slime and FFA Foundation Honored

A few quick links this morning to share- the Oklahoma Election Board ended their Three Day filing period on Friday afternoon- with several rural Oklahoma lawmakers not drawing a candidate- and as a result- have basically won another term in the Oklahoma Legislature as a result. Among those who are in that camp are Dale DeWitt, Gus Blackwell, Harold Wright, Lee Denney, Joe Dorman, Steve Kouplen, Jeff Hickman and Senator Ron Justice.  You can see the full list of everyone that is running for a state or Congressional office this year in Oklahoma by clicking here. By the way, House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas did draw several opponents- all entering the race on the final day of filing.   

There is a really good article this morning up on Reuters that talks about the Pink Slime controversy and puts it into the context of the bigger battle with activists and animal rights groups- it points out that agriculture is playing catch up on several issues- including the pink slime issue.  Among others- it quotes Forrest Lucas- 

"We have to stop them," Forrest Lucas, founder of the Lucas Oil Co, said of the activists. He owns a 16,000-acre cattle breeding ranch in southwest Missouri. Lucas said he invested more than $600,000 to start the agriculture advocacy group Protect the Harvest and plans on spending "much, much, much more" to help back political candidates and social media campaigns to thwart critics this election year."  Click here to read the full article.

Finally- great news for our friend Kendall Brashears who is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma FFA Foundation- The Foundation which helps fund so many awards and events important to the FFA has been recognized as the very best non profit foundation in the state of Oklahoma here in 2012. Saturday night, the Oklahoma FFA Foundation was the overall winner in the fifth annual Oklahoma Nonprofit Excellence Awards competition. Click here to read more- courtesy of the Tulsa World.