Farm Bill Implementation Likely to Move Very Slowly, Wiesemeyer Says 

The Agricultural Act of 2014 is an incredibly complex piece of legislation. While nobody expects implementation to be completed quickly, Informa Economics' Jim Wiesemeyer said implementation could take a very long time to complete. Wiesemeyer is the senior vice president of Informa's Washington bureau and was the keynote speaker last week at the 2014 Oklahoma Pork Congress in Midwest City.  I asked him about several issues including more specifics about why it will take so long to implement the new farm law.

"I was told that when the USDA recently held their internal meeting on farm bill implementation they identified over 600 decision-making topics-and you know government, that's later rather than sooner."

And, he said, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

"That's why I think ag secretary Vilsack said that sign-up for the farmer safety net could go into 2015. If that's not a farmer-friendly sign-up, I've never seen one because farmers will be able to monitor the price situation throughout, maybe even half of the marketing year for the 2014 crop, definitely for wheat, and they'll know the production out of the 2014 crop. We would have had August, September and October crop-production reports. I think that that's practical, actually, because the rules-and-regulations people at USDA, it just takes a long time. Then they go out for public comment and you have to go back and issue a final rule."


As negotiations on the farm bill were drawing to a close, there were a number of animal agriculture groups who thought the bill would modify if not kill Country of Origin Labeling outright. When the conference committee report passed without that issue being addressed, several beef industry groups were incensed and said they felt they had been betrayed by Senator Debbie Stabenow. Wiesemeyer said those groups unfairly targeted the Senator.


"I would point the finger right back at the meat industry groups. They fractured near the end. And in any major omnibus bill-the farm bill is one of them-you better hold together."

Jim Wiesemeyer has a lot more to say and you can read more of his comments or listen to our conversation by clicking here.

Risk Management More Important Than Ever for Cattle Producers, Jeri Donnell Says 

With cattle prices continuing an upward climb that doesn't show signs of abating anytime soon, producers need to pay closer attention than ever to their operations and risk management says Agricultural Economist Consultant Jeri Donnell. Donnell works with the Noble Foundation and spoke at the recent Texoma Cattlemen's Conference in Ardmore.

"Producers need to become more familiar with managing their risk just because of the value of these cattle that we have today and the increased feed prices, hay prices, all of those things go into their daily decisions and even though they may be doing the same types of things they were doing 20 years ago, we're at a completely different price structure than we've ever been at before."

While that climbing price structure may look good to producers, Donnell says it is making bankers more than a little skittish when it comes time to lend money to ranchers. Because of this, producers need to adopt some strategies that may be a little foreign to them.

Click here for more of this story and my interview with Jeri Donnell on the latest Beef Buzz.
 

Soy Checkoff Takes on Two Billion Dollar Problem- Weed Resistance 

Two billion dollars annually: Only a problem this large and costly could bring together private industry, universities from across the country and farmer-led organizations to provide farmers with answers.


That's how much University of Wisconsin researcher Vince Davis estimates herbicide-resistant weeds cost U.S. farmers each year.


To help fight this loss, the soy checkoff recently took the lead in creating the Take Action program to help farmers implement production practices on their farms that can manage herbicide-resistant weeds. Universities and herbicide providers have joined the effort, and all are promoting a unified approach to weed management.


"Diversification is the most important thing farmers can do to manage these weeds," says Davis. "This includes diversification of effective herbicide modes of action, diversified weed-management practices and also utilizing non-herbicide control options such as judicious tillage, cleaning equipment for weed seed and diversified crop rotations. Weeds develop resistance more quickly when production systems remain static."

Click here to read more about the soy industry moves to battle weed resistance.  And the soy checkoff funding has helped set up a new website that will be focused on the weed resistance battles- click here for that website- Take Action on Weeds.Com. 

Beef Market Winter Challenges Continue

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

Another blast of severe winter weather moved across the U.S. this past weekend causing problems for cattle producers and impacting beef distribution and consumption. Cattle and beef markets continue to exhibit volatility in the face of supply and demand disruptions. Boxed beef prices increased sharply last week with Choice values up $10/cwt to finish the week at $225/cwt. Fed cattle prices increased to end the week at about $150/cwt.   

Winter weather is contributing to reduce beef production in 2014. Beef production for the year to date is down 6.9 percent compared to last year with total cattle slaughter down 7.5 percent year over year. Reported average cattle carcass weights have averaged about 4 pounds heavier so far this year but this masks some of the underlying cattle production issues. Overall cattle carcass weights are a function of the carcass weights of individual classes of slaughter cattle as well as the composition of cattle slaughter by class. Average steer carcass weights are about a pound lighter so far this year, while heifer and cow carcass weights are slightly heavier. However, steer slaughter is the largest slaughter component and is a larger percentage of total slaughter this year contributing to a higher cattle carcass weight average even with lighter steer carcasses. For the year to date, steer slaughter is down 6.5 percent; heifer slaughter is down 10.7 percent; and cow slaughter is down 11 percent, all compared to the same period last year.

Click here for more of Derrell Peel's analysis.  

Beef Checkoff Launches Online Community for Popular Training Program

The Beef Checkoff Program unveiled a new web-based platform for its popular training program, Beef University. For nearly a decade, foodservice and retail professionals have relied on checkoff training tools to educate staff on how beef is brought to market, from farm to fork.

Beef University educates retailers and foodservice operators on all facets of beef from production and product quality to marketing and merchandising. Downloadable tools include PowerPoint presentations, fact sheets and videos; all of which can be used for self-directed education or part of a customized training session facilitated by Beef Checkoff staff or utilized within a company's training program.

"Retail and foodservice operators have a direct connection with the people that consume the beef raised by my family and the entire beef community, and so it's important that we share the knowledge and insights on the care that goes into raising American's favorite high-quality protein," says Sid Viebrock, a beef producer from Washington and chairman of the checkoff's Value Subcommittee. "Because of this, we saw an opportunity to create a forum for increased engagement with those who are on the front lines serving and selling beef every day."

To read more of this story and for links to the Beef University program, please click here.

 

DuPont Leader Outlines Growth Strategy for Agriculture and Nutrition & Health Segments

DuPont Executive Vice President James C. Borel outlined growth drivers across the seed, crop protection and nutrition and health businesses today at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2014 Global Agriculture Conference - highlighting the launch of a next generation decision services platform for U.S. farmers.

"Increasing global demand for more nutritious, safe and affordable food is driving growth at DuPont," said Borel. "We are focused on increasing our return on research and development through innovation; expanding our global reach; and strong execution in our Agriculture and Nutrition & Health segments."

One of DuPont's three strategic priorities in its plan to build a higher growth, higher value company is to extend its leadership in the science-driven segments of the agriculture-to-food value chains, and to leverage the linkages across these segments. In 2013, DuPont's Agriculture and Nutrition & Health segments comprised more than 40 percent of company sales and segment operating earnings.

You'll find the rest of this story on our website by clicking here.
 

This N That- Canola College App, Surviving the Elements Week One and Midweek Dose of Winter Weather Cometh

If you have not downloaded our App as of yet- today will be a great day to do so- for example, if you are a canola producer or interested in adding canola to your farming operation- we have stories featuring the presentations of several of the presenters from last month's Canola College in Enid.   

You will find audio conversations with five of the presenters at Canola College discussing their subjects from dealing with weeds by Dr. Angela Post to Fertilizer management with Dr. Brian Arnall (and lots more)

They are all in one place on our APP- in our Canola section.  

If you have a smartphone or tablet- you will find daily farm news, market updates and many of our special interviews as a part of the daily diet of farm and ranch information found on our Oklahoma Farm Report APP.  

If you have an IPhone or IPad- Click here to jump to where you can download (or visit the Itunes store).  For Android users- you can click here or go to the Google Play store.

**********

This coming Friday is the first of four weeks of Surviving the Elements Drought Symposiums at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in northeast Oklahoma City on I-44.  Click here for the complete lineup of speakers for this week's symposium.  

Museum officials say that the purpose of the Sympsoiums is "to increase awareness of drought and rural issues in the American West, by focusing on stewardship and conservation of land and water."  

You can call the museum at 405-478-2250, Ext. 280 for more details and to make reservations for this week or for any of the other three Fridays in March.

**********

 Winter weather is not willing to leave the state as of yet- and it appears that a little more precipitation may be in the mix mid week.  We have a graphic courtesy of  Travis Meyer at the News on 6 in Tulsa that shows moisture of one sort or another rolling through.  And- if you click here- you will get not just the graphic but also some weather jargon from Alan Crone from the News on 6 that describes our chances of wet stuff- when and where on Wednesday.

Thanks Gents!