Congress Passes Omnibus Spending Measure Including Ag Research Funding

The House passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus appropriations bill on Wednesday, on a 359-67 vote, that would fund the federal government for the rest of the 2014 fiscal year. The bill, introduced by House Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), establishes discretionary spending at $1.012 trillion as well as an additional $98 billion for defense and disaster relief. MEANWHILE- the Senate approved the omnibus appropriations bill Thursday evening on a 72 to 26 vote. The White House has signaled the President will sign the measure by Saturday., which includes all 12 of the annual appropriations bills. This bill also meets the spending cap set by the December budget deal negotiated by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.). The Omnibus bill provides $20.9 billion in discretionary funding for agriculture programs which is $350 million above the fiscal year 2013 enacted level.

The bill provides $2.6 billion for agriculture research programs, including the Agricultural Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. This includes $316 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, a competitive agricultural research grant program supporting research to help stop and mitigate devastating crop diseases and improve food safety and water quality, placing priority on drought, invasive species, and herbicide resistance issues. It also provides $826 million for the Natural Resources Conservation Service to help farmers, ranchers, and private forest landowners conserve and protect their land.

For a full summary of the agriculture appropriations spending click here  

Inhofe Tries to Add Back Funding  to Allow Horse Slaughter Plants Be Inspected (and fails)

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment on Thursday to the omnibus spending bill that would strike a provision of the bill blocking the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from inspecting horse slaughter plants and thereby effectively banning these facilities in the United States.

"I am very concerned that the omnibus appropriations bill includes a provision that blocks government inspection of horse processing facilities, effectively shutting down this industry," said Inhofe. "Without these facilities, aging horses are often neglected or forced to endure cruel conditions as they are transported to processing facilities across the border. This provision is counterproductive to what animal rights activists are hoping to achieve through this provision. That is why I am offering an amendment to strike the provision, which would reinstate these inspections."  

Senate Leader Harry Reid blocked all amendments from being allowed- and so the provision will be a part of the measure that President Obama signs into law on Saturday. 

Inhofe and Congressman Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-2) plan to introduce standalone legislation on this issue  now that the amendment will not be adopted.

Tom Buchanan, president of Oklahoma Farm Bureau issued a statement supporting Inhofe's amendment.  You can read his comments by clicking here.   

Market Conditions Conducive to Beef Herd Expansion in 2014, Derrell Peel Says 

The U.S. cattle industry will be paying close attention to the January 31st Cattle Inventory report which, among other things, will detail the size of the nation's beef cow herd. Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Derrell Peel says herd expansion has begun, but the unanswered question is what size is the herd currently and what will it be next year.

"Herd expansion really started in the last part of 2013. I think heifer retention started in the second half of the year. The report, I expect, to confirm that. So, we're looking for beef breeding heifers to be up in excess of three percent as of January 1. Cow slaughter was down significantly in the second half of 2013. And, so, those things said, I think the beef cow herd got a little smaller in 2013 and it will be smaller as of January 1, 2014, but I think behind the scenes we've already started the ball rolling toward herd expansion. And so the real question going forward is just forage conditions as we move into the spring period. If we can continue to moderate those drought conditions in that March, April, May period in terms of both pasture and hay production, then I think herd expansion will move forward. We could potentially see a one- to two-percent in the beef cow herd in 2014 under favorable conditions."

Peel says he sees high cow prices ahead for the next couple of years due to the low supply of cattle in the U.S. He says it took several years for this deficit to develop and the market is now sending signals via higher prices for herd expansion to take place.

Derrell is my guest on the latest Beef Buzz.  Click here to listen in or to read more of this story.  

Final sales figures are yet to be compiled, but preliminary reports indicate the varieties produced by the Oklahoma State University hard red winter wheat breeding program and marketed through Oklahoma Genetics, Inc., did very well during this planting cycle.

Mark Hodges, executive director of OGI says there was a tremendous demand for the program's varieties.

"At the top of the list were Gallagher, Iba, Ruby Lee, Double Stop, which is Dr. Carver's new two-gene clear field technology wheat. He made the statement that he would have released Double Stop whether it had the two-gene clear field technology or not. It was that good. And that's exactly what we've seen and it's been extremely popular.

"Everyone that had any bushels of it at all this year had such high demand that they were looking for more. And, of course, obviously, that's where we want to be.

"We were very pleased with sales this last year. We don't have the final totals yet, but I can tell you that those newer varieties sold very, very well."

Click here to listen to my conversation with Mark Hodges or to read more of this story. 

Anderson Says Markets Settle Following Recent USDA Crop Report Release

Recent crop reports issued by the USDA have had about a week to work on the markets and, at least initially, says OSU Extension Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson, the markets were somewhat perplexed.

"The market reaction to the corn and wheat reports was surprise. The soybean report was just as expected. Initial reaction to the corn, the estimate of lower-than-expected stocks, both in-storage and ending stocks, was higher corn prices. Wheat with the lower planted acres in Oklahoma-five percent lower planted acres, in Kansas seven percent, higher planted acres in Colorado by about 600,000 acres-was a surprise to the market and lowered prices."

Anderson says some analysts are questioning the planted acres figures and think the actual number of planted acres is in line with what the trade is expecting. He says that means wheat markets will probably trade in a sideways pattern in the foreseeable future and corn will probably follow the same pattern, but may grind a little lower.

You can listen to Kim Anderson's full analysis on his preview to this week's SUNUP program by clicking here.  You'll also find the lineup to this week's show.

This N That- Coburn to Step Down Two Years Early, 20 Oklahoma Counties Get USDA Ag Disaster Designation and Apache Replacement Cow Sale Set for Tomorrow 

In a statement released Thursday night- Oklahoma's Junior Senator Tom Coburn says he will leave the Senate at the end of this calendar year- leaving two years unserved in his current term and setting up a vote for both Senate Seats this November in the state of Oklahoma.  

Click here for the statement released by Senator Coburn.   

The announcement sets up the unusual situation of Oklahoma voters electing candidates that will fill both of the Oklahoma Senate seats at the same time.  Senator Jim Inhofe has indicated he will run for reelection for a full six year term this year- but now the scramble will be on to fill the last two years of the Coburn seat.   

We have heard interest from several of the Oklahoma House delegation- and state level politicians like TW Shannon may have interest as well.   

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 20 counties in Oklahoma as primary natural disaster areas due to a recent drought. Those counties are: Beaver, Beckham, Cimarron, Comanche, Cotton, Custer, Ellis, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Jackson, Jefferson, Kiowa, Roger Mills, Stephens, Texas, Tillman, Washita, Woods, and Woodward.
   

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Oklahoma also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are: Alfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Carter, Dewey, Garvin, Grady, Love, and Major.  

Click here to read more of this story.

The Apache Livestock Market has a Replacement Cow Sale on Saturday at 11:00 AM.  Jeff McGuire's Complete Herd Dispersal offering Charolais cross and Angus cross cows bred back to Charolais bulls
Approximately 300 head of running age cows and 50 pair. Guest consignments include:

Angus & Angus cross bred to Angus & Hereford bulls
25 3 year old cows 5-7 months bred
50 4 year old cows 5-7 months bred
50 5 year old cows 5-7 months bred
15 5-7 year old Charolais cows bred to Angus bulls
40 5-6 year old Sim-Angus cross cows bred to Red Angus bulls, 5-7 months bred.

Please contact Bob Rodenberger at 405-641-8998 or Greg Griffeth at 918-306-1359 to learn more about this special Saturday sale at the Apache Livestock Auction.