House Passes Farm Bill 251 to 166- ONE Vote and ONE Signature to Go 

The US House has passed the Conference Report for HR 2642 by a final count of 251 to 166, sending the measure on to the Senate for a vote as early as next week. This now means, we are ONE vote and ONE signature from having the Agricultural Act of 2014 put into law.

Here is the statement from House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas released by the Committee after this successful vote by the US House:

"I am pleased a majority of my House colleagues joined me in supporting a five-year, comprehensive farm bill. I appreciate the efforts of everyone who helped get us here. This is legislation we can all be proud of because it fulfills the expectations the American people have of us. They expect us to work together to find ways to reduce the cost of the federal government. The Agricultural Act contributes major savings to deficit reduction, significant reforms to policy, and yet still provides a safety net not only for the production of American food and fiber, but also to ensure our fellow citizens have enough food to eat. I am hopeful this legislation will enjoy the same success when the Senate considers it, and I encourage the president to sign it quickly into law."

I spoke with Congressman Lucas on Tuesday in advance of the vote and we talked about the conference report and the politics that surrounds it.  Click here to listen to our conversation.   

Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, released a statement praising the House's vote on the bill and calling on her Senate colleagues to act.   

"It's now up to the Senate to take the final step. The Senate has twice passed the farm bill with overwhelming bipartisan support. I have no doubt we'll do it again, and show that it is possible to do something to reduce the deficit and boost the economy when people work across the aisle. 

You can read the rest of her statement by clicking here. 

The Oklahoma Congressional delegation saw three members vote in favor of the Farm Bill Conference Report- and two say no.  Frank Lucas, Tom Cole and Markwayne Mullin voted aye- while Jim Bridenstine and James Lankford cast no votes. 

Representative Tom Cole hailed the bill's passage as a victory for all Americans.  

"Despite competing interests on both sides of the aisle, this legislation shows that both chambers of Congress and the Administration can come together and get work done."  (You can read more of Cole's remarks by clicking here.)

Representative James Lankford had praise for Lucas, even though he voted against the bill.   

"While I strongly support Frank Lucas' work, the final version did not help families on Food Stamps transition into employment and several of the major farm reforms were lost. I hope we can flip the Senate later this year and start passing conservative reforms through both houses."

In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, Lucas's Republican primary opponent Robert Hubbard blasted the farm bill and Chairman Lucas.  

"Only a Washington insider can call an almost $400 billion increase in spending a 'cut,'" said Hubbard, who was referring to the $972 billion price tag for the 2014 Farm bill Compared to the 2008 Farm Bill, which cost $604 billion."  (Click here for more of Hubbard's comments.)

Farm and Conservation Groups React Favorably to House Passage of Farm Bill 

Terry Detrick, President of the American Farmers & Ranchers, emailed us one of the early reactions we got from a variety of folks on the passage of the Agricultural Act of 2014.  Detrick, who lives in Oklahoma's Third District and calls Frank Lucas his Congressman, says "I congratulate Chairman Frank Lucas on the long-sought passage of a five-year farm bill. We appreciate his hard work and his dedication to providing certainty for agriculture producers, financial institutions and consumers."  Click here for Detrick's complete statement.  

Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation hailed the bill and House members who voted for it.

"The American Farm Bureau Federation commends the House for its passage of the new five-year farm bill today. It's been a tough road for the legislation during the past two years, but we are pleased with the clear bipartisan vote that prevailed. We appreciate the conferees' diligent work in making some tough decisions to put forth a solid bill and in getting it to this crucial point."  (You can read more of Stallman's statement by clicking here.)

You can also read reactions from the following groups:

American Soybean Association,

National Association of Wheat Growers

National Corn Growers Association

National Cotton Council,

National Council of Farmers Cooperatives, 

National Sorghum Producers

and Plains Cotton Growers by clicking on their names.

Conservation groups including the Izaak Walton League and the Land Trust Alliance also welcomed the bill's passage- praising  its funding for conservation projects.

"This funding is a great investment for future generations of farmers, ranchers and all Americans. It will enable the purchase of perpetual conservation easements from landowners who are willing to restrict their land development and help secure food and fiber, clean water, wildlife habitat, and our rural heritage," said Rand Wentworth, president of the Land Trust Alliance. 

Stand Up for the Promise of GMOs, Free-Market Group Says at Monsanto Shareholder Meeting

The National Center for Public Policy Research spoke out recently at the annual shareholder meeting of Monsanto to counteract the message of radical activists who for the last year planned a rally at the meeting to promote their anti-GMO agenda.

Holding the proxy for National Center Chairman Amy Ridenour, a Monsanto shareholder, National Center Free Enterprise Director Justin Danhof urged Monsanto shareholders to vote against Shareholder Proposal One . The proposal is intended to force Monsanto to work toward mandatory labeling of genetically-modified foods, commonly referred to as GMOs.

Danhof reminded shareholders that "GMO foods are a great gift to mankind. They lower food costs, allow farmers to produce food in a more sustainable way, and, as Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation have pointed out, show great promise for ending world hunger and malnutrition."

You can read the rest of this story on our website by clicking here.

Activists failed to approve several votes that would have called on Monsanto to not oppose GMO labeling language at the state or national level. The Huffington Post has online coverage of the meeting from Tuesday of this week- click here to check it out.   

Fish and Wildlife Service Reopens Public Comments on Lesser Prairie-Chicken Special Rule

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reopening for 14 days the public comment period on the proposed special rule that would provide regulatory certainty for landowners by exempting from regulation conservation actions and development undertaken in accordance with the state-developed, range-wide lesser prairie-chicken conservation plan, should the prairie-chicken be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The reopening is to ensure that the public has access to the range-wide conservation plan referenced in the special rule. The range-wide plan is now posted on the agency's web site.

The Service is also accepting public comment on the proposed rule to list the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened under the ESA. The proposed special rule would exempt take incidental to routine agricultural practices on existing cultivated lands and to activities conducted by landowners participating in the Natural Resource Conservation Service's Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative. The Service must publish a final listing determination for the lesser prairie-chicken no later than March 31, 2014.

Click here for more and to find a link where you can post your comments to the USFWS.

 

DuPont Pioneer Introduces Two New Sorghum Hybrids

DuPont Pioneer continues its commitment to sorghum growers with the introduction of two new hybrids for 2014:

--Pioneer® hybrid 86P20 is a 63RM hybrid with strong stress tolerance and early maturity rating.

--Pioneer hybrid 85P05 has a 68RM rating, with excellent yield under stress and very good performance on the High Plains and in Kansas. This hybrid has above-average stalk lodging scores.

"Global sorghum testing allows Pioneer to develop products like these to meet challenges growers are facing now," says Doug Pilkington, DuPont Pioneer sorghum marketing manager. "These new hybrids are also the result of our efforts to develop high-yielding solutions for U.S. grain sorghum producers."

Click here for the rest of this story.

 

This N That- Roger Mills County Cattlemen Bull Sale and a Call for Prayer This Weekend

The Roger Mills County Cattlemen's Association will be holding their 36th Annual All Breed Bull Sale this Saturday, February 1, 2014. The Sale begins at 12 Noon at the Cheyenne Ag Pavilion on the west side of Cheyenne, OKlahoma.


There are over 50 bulls now consigned for the 2014 sale, Registered and Commercial that include Angus, Hereford, Red Angus, Composite (Sim/Angus, Char/Maine and Maine/Angus) 

We have the catalog for you to download online on our website- click here for the listing with some late lot information and the link to download the PDF version of the main catalog.

For information about the sale, you can call Lynda Lucas at 580-497-7366, Earl Bottom at 580-821-0633 or Ashlea Yager at 580-497-7124.

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A California ranch lady by the name of Celeste Settrini is promoting a day that she calls "Harvesting Faith" this coming Sunday.  In a Facebook post for the event she has created on this social media site- she writes "On Sunday February 2 I ask that you all join me in prayer and fasting to ask for rain for our livestock, our crops , our livelihood here in California and in those places that need added moisture."

Some of our friends in southwest Oklahoma (including Shari Holloway) that are continuing to live in extreme to exceptional drought conditions have passed this along to me- our friend Trent Loos has picked up on this and he is beating the drum for it- and we wanted to point you to her Facebook page on this- click here for the event page that is not promoting anything except stopping this Sunday and crying out to God for moisture in the driest areas of our country.  

We'll be praying Sunday (and before then) and hope you will, too.