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We have a Farm Bill Conference Report- which means, we are two votes and one signature from having a Farm Law of 2014.   

The Agricultural Act of 2014 contains major reforms including eliminating the direct payment program, streamlining and consolidating numerous programs to improve their effectiveness and reduce duplication, and cutting down on program misuse. The bill also strengthens our nation's commitment to support farmers and ranchers affected by natural disasters or significant economic losses, and renews a national commitment to protect land, water, and other natural resources.

"I am proud of our efforts to finish a farm bill conference report with significant savings and reforms," said Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. "We are putting in place sound policy that is good for farmers, ranchers, consumers, and those who have hit difficult times. I appreciate the work of everyone who helped in this process. We never lost sight of the goal, we never wavered in our commitment to enacting a five-year, comprehensive farm bill. I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting its passage." 

Click here to read comments from the other three actual farm bill negotiators- plus the high points of the 2014 farm bill deal.

After sufficient numbers of the Farm Bill Conference Committee signed off on the almost thousand page document, Lucas headed to the House Rules Committee last night to obtain a rule that will allow the bill to be considered Wednesday morning before the Republicans hop on buses and head to the hills for their GOP retreat.  

He called the fact that we have a conference report a miracle and quiped "If I should expire in the next 3 days, I want a glass of milk on my tombstone, because it is what killed me" as he made reference to the very difficult process of getting a dairy supply management program without the supply management in it.  

While at the Rules Committee, he dialogued with his Oklahoma Congressional colleague Tom Cole, who is a member of that Committee- we have that conversation as well as the link to all thousand plus pages of the measure for you to check out by clicking here.   

Early reaction to the Conference Report from the farm community is mostly positive- except for the livestock groups that represent the major cattle and hog producers in the US- see our next story for what they are saying- we will have more reaction tomorrow from many of the farm and rural groups around the country- but here are links to a few we have posted as of this morning_

American Soybean Association 

National Association of Conservation Districts 

National Corn Growers Association  

American Farm Bureau Federation

Major Livestock Groups Disappointed COOL Changes Excluded from Farm Bill Conference Report 

In a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture committees, six major farm groups reacted to the lack of change to COOL regulations in the farm bill recommended for passage by the Conference Committee:

Dear Chairmen and Ranking Members:

The U.S. livestock and poultry industries appreciate all of your efforts to resolve the many contentious issues where compromises were found to bring this Farm Bill close to the finish line. We know that this has been a lengthy and difficult task.

However, we must express our deep disappointment with the decision to exclude language that was in the House-passed version of the bill on the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Act (GIPSA), the Conaway-Costa amendment. If included, the Conaway-Costa amendment would have refocused the U.S. Department of Agriculture's regulation on the five specific areas of contraction, as Congress directed in the 2008 Farm Bill. As well as restoring Congressional intent, this language was included in four appropriations bill (including 2014) and signed by the President.

We are also disappointed that a WTO-compliant resolution to mandatory Country-of-Origin Labelling (COOL) was not reached, particularly in the face of retaliatory actions by the governments of Mexico and Canada. This retaliation will be crippling to our industries and threaten the long-term relationship with two of our most important export markets. COOL is a broken program that has only added costs to our industries without any measurable benefit for America's livestock producers. The coalition represented below offered many solutions and all were rejected.

Click here to read more of this letter - signed by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the National Pork Producers and the American Meat Institute and three others. 

National Farmers Union led a coalition of groups that released the following joint statement yesterday:

Today the meatpacker and poultry industry attacked the Farm Bill conference for standing with farmers, ranchers, consumers and rural communities that have advocated for transparent country-of-origin labeling as well as commonsense Packers & Stockyards Act contract protections for poultry and hog producers. The farm bill conference is likely to include several strong positives for livestock, which calls into question the meat and poultry industry commitment to the livestock sector and motives in attacking the Farm Bill. Permanent baseline funding for livestock programs is part of the bill, including nearly $5 billion in disaster funds, an improved Livestock Forage Program, and various livestock health initiatives.

The Farm Bill conferees must resist the last-ditch counter-attack by the meatpacking and poultry lobbies and stand up for the millions of working farmers and ranchers across the country and the hundreds of millions of consumers that support the country-of-origin labels that were finalized in 2013. The Farm Bill conference report should not make any changes to country-of-origin labeling or livestock reform provisions that could undermine support for final passage of the Farm Bill. Now is not the time to retreat on these meaningful labels and protections that farm and consumer advocates have fought for since before the 2002 Farm Bill.

You will find a list of the groups which released the statement by clicking here. 

Canola Crop Getting Along Well, Canola College On Tap, Ron Sholar Says

As falling temperatures plunge Oklahoma back into the deep freeze, Ron Sholar, executive director of the Great Plains Canola Association, said it's nothing for canola producers to worry about. He spoke with me recently about how this year's crop is doing, how the industry has progressed in such a short time, and the upcoming Canola College event in Enid.

"We got a lot of canola planted last fall, most of it at the right time," Sholar said. "We've got a little bit of the crop in a little bit late. It's kind of a wait and see kind of a thing on the very-late planted. It's probably not going to fare as well as that that was planted right on time. Everything's very dormant right now. A lot of first-time growers are wondering what's going on, but this is very normal.   The crop goes into a state of dormancy; it is not dead. And, when those spring conditions return, we'll look forward to the crop looking good once again."

Sholar said he believes about 300,000 acres were planted to canola across Oklahoma this year. Kansas, Texas and Colorado will count for an additional 100,000 acres. He said that Oklahoma growers have gone from about 40,000 acres to more than 300,000 in less than ten years.

You can listen to my interview with Ron Sholar and find more information about Canola College by clicking here.

 

OSU's Derrell Peel Sorts Out the January Cattle and Beef Market Run

Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist writes in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter:

It appears that the phenomenal January run of wholesale beef prices may be over. Choice and Select boxed beef prices peaked on Wednesday, January 22 at $240.05/cwt (Choice) and $237.44/cwt. (Select). Choice boxed beef dropped back nearly $3/cwt by Friday with Select dropping just over $1/cwt. This leaves a very narrow Choice-Select spread of $1.98/cwt. This level is close to the seasonal low in the Choice-Select spread but it usually does not occur until March or April.   

Several factors are at work in the current wholesale beef market. Clearly supply reductions are a major driving factor. Year to date beef production is down 10 percent from 2013 January levels, with cattle slaughter down 10.6 percent year over year so far this year. This follows a nearly 10 percent drop in beef production the last week of December, 2013, due in part to a fire that idled one major packing plant for much of Christmas week. Another factor is that this market rally has been driven almost entirely by Chuck and Round products rather than middle meats (Rib and Loin). Additionally, the cutter cow cutout is up $10/cwt. from year ago levels; all of which indicates that this rally is driven by mostly by ground beef and processing beef demand. The more than 11 percent drop in cow slaughter in the fourth quarter of 2013 probably played a significant role in setting up the supply reductions that helped drive the January rally. 

Click here for more of Derrell's analysis. 

Robert Hubbard Challenges Frank Lucas for 3rd District GOP Nomination

On a day when Congressman Frank Lucas, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, was completing work on the farm bill, Oklahoma rancher and small business owner Robert Hubbard announced that he would run for the GOP nomination for the 3rd Congressional District in Oklahoma. 

"We are at a time when our nation needs consistent, conservative leadership," said Hubbard. "And frankly, we are not getting that with our current Congressman."

Hubbard highlighted his conservative values and the need for Oklahoma to have members of Congress who reflect Oklahoma's conservative values. "We are the reddest congressional district in the reddest state in the country," said Hubbard. "Yet Congressman Lucas has one of the most liberal voting records in our state."

Hubbard is a long time resident of Canadian County where he owns and operates Hubbard Ranch. In addition he runs a construction company in the Oklahoma City metro area.

You can listen to Hubbard's announcement or read more of it by clicking here.   

Red River Crop Conference Underway Today and Tomorrow in Altus 

The red River Crops Conference is a two day educational event for farmers in north Texas and southwest Oklahoma that gets underway today and runs through tomorrow at the Altus Southwest Technology Center in Altus, Oklahoma.  

The Red River Crop Conference will bring together two land-grant institutions - Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and OSU - Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. 

Today the sessions focus on cotton production, while the Wednesday session covers a variety of other crop options for southwestern Oklahoma and the northern Rolling Plains of Texas.

For details, click here for the brochure about the event.