BPI Lawsuit Against ABC News Seeks More than $1 Billion for Alleged Defamation

Beef Products Incorporated has filed a defamation lawsuit seeking over $1 billion from ABC News, Inc., for its series of stories airing last March about BPI's product Lean Finely Textured Beef. The lawsuit also names reporters Dianne Sawyer, Jim Avila and David Kerley, charging that they "engaged in a month-long vicious, concerted disinformation campaign against BPI."

Also named in the lawsuit was Gerald Zirnstein, the unhappy former USDA employee who ABC used as a credible expert who they claimed understood the LFTB process all the way back to its beginnings.  But, not letting the facts stand in the way of a good story, ABC went with ZIrnstein as a key part of their story even though he was not around when LFTB was first developed in the early 1980s and clearly had his dates wrong and the people who were involved in adding the enhanced step around 2000 to battle e-coli.  BPI proposed to the FSIS adding a puff of ammonium hydroxide to kill pathogens and got that approved in 2001.  To learn more about Zirnstein's role in this mess and to get a perspective of why he is named in the lawsuit- click here for an analysis from earlier this year written by Steve Dittmer.

The suit, filed in Circuit Court in Union County, South Dakota, alleges that ABC and the individuals named in the suit knowingly made false, defamatory and disparaging statements regarding BPI and LFTB even after BPI and others sent ABC factual information about LFTB, including conclusions from USDA, FDA, food safety organizations and numerous beef industry experts that LFTB is a safe, nutritious lean beef.

As a result of ABC's reports, BPI claims sales declined from approximately five million pounds of LFTB per week to less than two million pounds per week resulting in the closure of three BPI facilities and the loss of more than 700 jobs. 

Eldon Roth, founder and CEO of BPI, said in a statement released in a statement as they announced the lawsuit  "The blatantly false and disparaging statements made about our lean beef have done more than hurt my family and our companies; they have jeopardized the future of our employees and their families."  

The lawsuit is being filed under a very interesting South Dakota law that gives standing to food and ag groups who believe they have been harmed by false and misleading information- the lawsuit is for $400 million- but damages are allowed to be tripled- bringing the potential liability against ABC up to $1.2 billion.

For more on this story, links to the full lawsuit and a report about the importance of LFTB to the U.S. beef market, click here. 

EPA Awards Over $2 Million to the State of Oklahoma to Fund Nonpoint Source Pollution Projects 

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the Oklahoma Office of the Secretary of Environment $2,059,773 to implement watershed based plans designed to control nonpoint source pollution and protect water quality. The funds will support the Oklahoma Nonpoint Source Management Plan in priority watersheds. Project activities will include the implementation of best management practices, construction of bioretention cells, the purchase of conservation easements in the Eucha/Spavinaw watershed and riparian protection and stream bank stabilization in priority watersheds.

Unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, nonpoint source pollution comes from many different sources. Nonpoint source pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and man-made pollutants, depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and groundwater.

Nonpoint source pollution can include:
--Excess fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides from agricultural lands and residential areas
--Oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production
--Sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands
--Salt from irrigation practices and acid drainage from abandoned mines
--Bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes and faulty septic systems
 

OSU Extension, Dairy MAX Team Up for Nutrition Program Success in Kingfisher County

Val Evans with the Kingfisher County OSU Extension office says a nutrition and exercise program they've been promoting in partnership with Dairy MAX and the county's public and private schools is paying off. She recently spoke with us about the Extension service's role in the Fuel Up to Play 60 program.

"We have the same mission as Fuel Up to Play 60. We want to teach young people to make healthy food choices and exercise 60 minutes every day. And that's actually the number one programming area that our program advisory council identified as a need in Kingfisher County."

Evans said the OSU Extension program has had a strong relationship with the public and schools in the county and has been doing enrichment activities for many years. The Fuel Up to Play 60 program is an outgrowth of those efforts. She said a recent grant has bolstered her ability to expand the healthy choices message county-wide.

So far, she said, about half the students participating have achieved the program's highest levels of healthy eating and daily activity.

You can catch our audio interview with Val Evans by clicking here, or you can watch us on "In the Field" about 6:40 a.m. Saturday on News 9.

America's Farmers Mobile Experience Coming to Oklahoma City

Ever wonder what it's like to be a farmer today? As farmland dwindles, farmers face the challenge of providing enough food and clothing to sustain a population that has recently breached 7 billion people.

Oklahoma City residents will have an opportunity September 19-22 to take a look into the life of an American farm family and learn more about the vital role they play in the world of agriculture today at the America's Farmers Mobile Experience. The exhibit will be open at the Oklahoma State Fair.

The America's Farmers Mobile Experience is a traveling 53-foot trailer that expands into 1,000-square feet of exhibit space. Visitors will journey through three different areas offering interactive tools and displays to better understand the life of an American farmer.

Click here to learn more about the displays and the daily schedule of tours.

Young Oklahoma Cattleman Sets Sights on National Beef Ambassador Post

Levi Shelby from Madill, Oklahoma, is hoping to spread his wings. The freshman at Redlands Community College won the Oklahoma Beef Ambassador competition earlier this summer, and he's hoping to be named a National Beef Ambassador at the end of this month. He will travel to Sacramento, California, for the national competition.

Shelby recently spoke with us about the competition and what sparked his interest in it.

"Well, the beef industry is a very important aspect of my life. I've raised beef cattle all my life, so I wanted to be an advocate of the beef industry and promote our product to consumers so it helps our industry out.   It's something that's very near and dear to my heart.

"The Beef Ambassador Contest helps prepare me for the real world. It's not just a contest. It really actually prepares me for everyday life being a beef producer."

Shelby is a fifth-generation cattleman. His father is a large-animal veterinarian. Shelby said he would one day like to follow in his father's footsteps. He plans on enrolling at OSU upon completing two years at Redlands. He said he hopes to pursue a career in bovine reproductive physiology.

You can hear our full conversation by clicking here.

Anderson Says Recent WASDE Report Basically a Stand-Still Report

On this weekend's SUNUP show, Kim Anderson, OSU Small Grains Marketing Specialist, goes over the recently-released WASDE numbers. He tells Lyndall Stout the report was basically a stand-still report.

"There just wasn't much in the report. They didn't change the wheat U.S. numbers at all. On the world wheat situation they lowered production a little bit, lowered ending stocks a minute amount. No impact on wheat prices. On corn, the production was above the expectations, pre-release expectations, and ending stocks were above pre-release expectations. Corn prices were initially down a little bit, but they are leveling out. It's really a null event on this report."

Anderson says the market is in a holding pattern, looking for some impetus to move one way or the other.

"The market's looking for some direction. There's really nothing out there right now to change prices. At Kansas City, I think that December contract is going to continue to trade between $8.69 and $9.57 percent. That sideways pattern has really narrowed up to plus or minus 25 cents from nine dollars."

You can hear more from Kim Anderson and see the full line-up for this weekend's SUNUP program by clicking here.

Rainfall Totals Set Up Canola and Wheat Planting in Parts of Central & Western Oklahoma

A pretty good swath of western Oklahoma- from the west central border with Texas up to the Grant County area and into Kansas received from just under an inch of rain to close to an inch and a half of precip from this rain making system that is starting to make its way out of the state- exiting from northeastern Oklahoma this morning with likely some more rain in those Green Country counties for a while longer on Friday.

Southwest Oklahoma counties were slighted this go round- with amounts at mostly just a couple of tenths of rainfall- not enough to hardly move the needle. 

Several Oklahoma Mesonet stations in central Oklahoma also received right at one inch of rainfall- that did not include Canadian County except for the Minco area where that Mesonet station did pile up 1.14 inches of rain with this current system.

Will this be enough to get the planters rolling?  Some of the areas that got the most moisture this go round very in exceptional drought- so the rain will be soaking in very quickly- but it may be enough to allow a lot of folks to get busy early this coming week.  For our wheat farmers- the decision is still- do you want to shoot for wheat pasture or not?- if you do, you probably plant right away.  For the folks wanting to plant canola- a shot of moisture is all many of them were waiting for to move and plant during the Crop Insurance mandated planting window of September 10 through October 10. 

Click here for a rainfall map as of early Friday morning- this update also has the latest Drought Monitor graphic for this week- which was virutally unchanged from one week ago- exceptional drought still gripping almost 40% of the state. You will note that some of the exceptional drought area did get at least some of the much needed rainfall- thank you Lord.