Farm Bureau Pushes For Permanent Repeal of Death Tax  

With 218 co-sponsors-more than half of the House of Representatives-on board, legislation to repeal estate taxes is ripe for floor action, the American Farm Bureau Federation said on Wednesday.


Rep. Kevin Brady's (R-Texas) Death Tax Repeal Act, H.R. 2429, would repeal estate taxes, and maintain stepped-up basis.


"Although permanent law enacted as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 provided significant estate tax relief, repeal is the best solution to protect all farms and ranches from the estate tax," said AFBF President Bob Stallman.


The estate tax burden falls heavily on farmers because it takes more capital assets, such as land and equipment, to generate the same level of income as other types of businesses.

While this measure would clear the House, there is ZERO chance it could pass the US Senate, especially as long as the Democrats maintain control of the 100 member body.   

Click Here to read more.

 

Harvest is moving in most all regions of the state today, most of the wheat harvest is completed in the regions of Southwest Oklahoma from Grandfield to Frederick to Hobart. Test weights for the most part in all regions of the state are still favorable, however the heavy rains in Northern Oklahoma north and east of Enid have had an impact with regards to lower weights in those areas. Wheat harvest around Tonkawa and Ponca City is moving slower because of the heavy rains this past week and also moisture levels are not coming down as much in those areas because in some places the wheat is still not ready.

Red meat exports are off to an exceptional start in 2014. K-State Livestock Market Economist Glynn Tonsor says the US Department of Agriculture has a released a report from the Economic Research Service showing exports are strong for many US agricultural goods, not just red meat.


"The entire US agricultural commodity bucket, which is much broader than beef, is estimated to be up in value a full 31 percent for fiscal year 2014," Tonsor said.


"That's a huge increase in the value and its driven by some commodities with many more pounds, some commodities like beef a little bit change in the pounds and a notable change in value, couple that across the entire basket and that's very good for US ag, we are bringing more dollars home, if you like ," Tonsor said.

 

Tight Supplies Keeping Beef and Pork Prices Higher in 2014

Higher prices look to continue for beef and pork producers, according to the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook released by the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.


In the beef/cattle outlook, increased precipitation could also motivate support for prices already at record levels for all weights of feeder cattle and cows. Cow slaughter could decline for the second quarter with recent precipitation over the Southern Plains. Steer and heifer slaughter are currently below previous expectations, but could increase into summer. Based on recent and current feeder cattle and corn prices, even with the jump in fed cattle prices, the ERS reports red ink could reappear for cattle feeders this summer.


Packers appear to be seeing positive margins. Despite record price levels, lackluster demand for middle meats is exerting downward pressure on retail prices and wholesale cutout values.   

Click Here for a summary of the ERS report, including the outlook for pork producers.   

Rep. Mullin Introduces Legislation to Limit Regulatory Overreach

Congressman Markwayne Mullin (OK-2) introduced H.R. 4866, The Lesser Prairie Chicken Voluntary Recovery Act, a bill designed to address regulatory overreach by the federal government and enhance state and private sector conservation efforts of the lesser prairie chicken.


In effort to conserve the lesser prairie chicken, a historic amount of protected acreage was enrolled by both private landowners and industry - nearly 14 million acres under various agreements. Despite this unprecedented achievement, the Fish & Wildlife Service chose to list the species as threatened, resulting in economic challenges for the affected states.


By effectively reversing the listing for five years, this legislation would allow state and private sector conservation activities and the financial resources committed to conservation of this species a fair and reasonable amount of time to work.


The Fish & Wildlife Service would continue to monitor progress on conservation efforts, report to Congress on that progress annually, and ultimately retain the authority to list the species five years in the future if conservation efforts do not produce the results predictable.

Click Here to read the rest of the article.

 

After reviewing applicants statewide, Oklahoma Pork Council (okPORK) officials have selected 12 Oklahoma high school students as 2014 okPORK Youth Leadership Camp participants. The students will spend June 23-27 learning about the pork industry, including production, sales and career opportunities.


The student participants are: Amber Conrady - Woodward, Jasmyn Davis - Mangum, Emily Franke - Covington, Cheyenne Gaff - Jet, Courtney Hendershot - Shawnee, Sadie Higgins - Cement, Logan Holt - Shattuck, Robert Johnson - Choctaw, Kassie Kilgore - Porter, Austin Kirk - Yukon, McKayla Malone - Big Cabin and Grant Wilber - Cherokee.  The educator participant is: Josh Davis - agriculture teacher at Bethel High School


The camp begins in Stillwater, and includes sessions in Ames, Hennessey, Guymon, Woodward and Springdale, Arkansas. Camp participants will learn all phases of the industry from breeding sows to selling pork chops. Participants will also complete a live animal evaluation and actually harvest and process the hogs they evaluate.


"We need more young people who are interested in careers in the pork industry," said Roy Lee Lindsey, Executive Director of okPORK. "This camp gives participants the opportunity to see all aspects of the industry while also educating them on issues that affect pork production from outside the farm."

 

This N That- Day Two for Ag in the Classroom Panhandle Roaming. Video Link to the Lankford-Shannon Debate and Here Comes the Rain!

Dana Bessinger with the Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom program continues to wander No Man's Land and found wifi to email us late last night with some of the highlights of Day 2 of the Bus Tour for 44 teachers who are the guests of AITC and the Ag Community: "First stop for Day Two on the Ag in the Classroom Tour was No Man's Land Beef Jerky. Their story is truly an inspirational story of a Made In Oklahoma company. The Smith family give back to soldiers, surprising them by sending boxes of beef jerky to military units overseas.  

"On our way to the Black Mesa we had Sherry Nye and Vikki Schumacher on the bus with us. 4th generation cattle ranchers, these Labrier girls know all about the grass, cattle, and ranches in Cimarron county. We saw the tracks of the Santa Fe Trail and several cowboys cattle branding, the old-fashioned way. This was an opportunity for some great discussion about animal handling.  

"We visited the Arthaud Family Farm. They grow wheat, canola, barley, millet, milo, corn, and cattle. Tomorrow(Thursday),  we will visit Seaboard Farms and Woodward Sale Barn. We are hoping to hear more about beef and maybe a poem or two from Jerry Nine."

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Who won last night's Senatorial debate between Congressman James Lankford and State Representative TW Shannon?  The Tulsa World says both candidates polished up their talking points during the hour long conversation seen on News9 in Oklahoma City and the News on 6 in Tulsa.

If you watched last night- drop me an email by clicking here and give me your review of the encounter.  

And if you missed it- click here for the debate packaged up in segments.  

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Rainfall is rolling across western Oklahoma as we finish up our email this morning(Click here to check rainfall totals realtime with the Mesonet)- and the prospects for significant rainfall totals look really good between now and next Tuesday.  Here is the QFC Five Day Forecast map that has a big hunk of Oklahoma painted with purple- and for this forecast map- that's a good thing.