Legislation to allow for horse processing facilities in Oklahoma passed the Oklahoma Senate yesterday following a lengthy battle between livestock producers and animal activists. HB 1999, sponsored by Sen. Eddie Fields and Rep. Skye McNiel, received 32 yes votes and only 14 no votes in the Senate chamber.

"I am very pleased with the support of my colleagues in the Oklahoma Senate," McNiel said.  "I have said repeatedly that when all the facts regarding this issue are on the table and our lawmakers are educated on this issue, they will find that this bill is a much more humane way to treat these animals, to manage the population and to control the neglect that we are seeing when irresponsible owners decide they can no longer take care of their horses."  (Click here to read more from McNiel.) 

John Collison, Vice President for Governmental Affairs at Oklahoma Farm Bureau, is confident that Governor Mary Fallin will sign the bill into law. We talked with Collison on Tuesday afternoon at the State Capitol- and you can hear our conversation and read more by clicking here.

Activists Thank Outgoing USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan 

More than 100 environmentalists, activists, CEOs, actors, chefs, pediatricians, authors, and public interest groups sent a heartfelt letter to Kathleen Merrigan, who is resigning as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to thank her for her extraordinary service at the agency over the past four years.

Signers include actresses Marisa Tomei and Kristin Bauer, chef Alice Waters, author Laurie David, Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb, Annie's CEO John Foraker, The Honest Company founder Christopher Gavigan, Organic Valley CEO George Siemon and Environmental Working Group president Ken Cook.

"You have been a voice for millions, not only as a courageous advocate for local food production and its marketing but also for organic food and for farmers," the letter states. "In light of the challenges facing the health of our country and food system today, the value of your work cannot be emphasized enough. From improving school meals, expanding opportunities for American farmers and managing USDA budgets through challenging economic times, your work has touched so many lives."

You can read more by clicking here. 

DuPont and Monsanto Reach Technology Licensing Agreements on Next-Generation Soybean Technologies

DuPont and Monsanto announced a series of technology licensing agreements that will expand the range of seed products they can offer farmers. The agreements include a multi-year, royalty-bearing license for Monsanto's next-generation soybean technologies in the United States and Canada.

Through these agreements, DuPont Pioneer will be able to offer Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Yield® soybeans as early as 2014, and Genuity® Roundup Ready 2 Xtend™ glyphosate and dicamba tolerant soybeans as early as 2015, pending regulatory approvals.

DuPont Pioneer also will receive regulatory data rights for the soybean and corn traits previously licensed from Monsanto, enabling it to create a wide array of stacked trait combinations using traits or genetics from DuPont Pioneer or others. Monsanto will receive access to certain DuPont Pioneer disease resistance and corn defoliation patents.

DuPont and Monsanto also agreed to dismiss their respective antitrust and first-generation Roundup Ready® soybean patent lawsuits pending in U.S. federal court in St. Louis.

Click here to read more.  

USDA Announces No Marketing Quota for 2014 Wheat Crop

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that no marketing quota will be in effect for the 2014 wheat crop, a declaration required by current circumstances.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 authorized commodity crop programs for the 2008 through 2012 crop years with the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 providing a one-year temporary extension for the 2013 crop year. Unless superseded by new farm legislation, any actions taken by USDA pertaining to the 2014 wheat crop must be done in accordance with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, as amended (the 1938 Act), and the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended. Those laws require, under certain market conditions, the imposition of quotas, acreage allotments, marketing certificates and parity price support programs for wheat.

Therefore, if a new farm bill is not written or the current law extended, the 1938 Act calls for a marketing quota for the 2014 wheat crop if the total supply of the crop is likely excessive without the quota, and requires the Secretary to decide not later than April 15, 2013, whether to impose it. Based on USDA projected supply and demand for the 2014 growing season, no quota is required.
 

COOL Itself is Not Ruled Illegal by WTO, But Finds Label Wording Problematic

Daryll E. Ray, director of the University of Tennessee's Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, writes in the latest Policy Pennings Newsletter:

On Friday, March 8, 2013, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a new rule to bring the mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) regulations into compliance with the July 2012 decision of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body (AB). The US first included COOL requirements in the 2002 Farm Bill though no regulations were issued for beef, pork, lamb, and a number of other agricultural products until after COOL was again included in the 2008 Farm Bill along with a firm date for issuing the implementing regulations-September 30, 2008.

The administration complied on August 1, 2008 by issuing rules implementing COOL, though in a way that left loopholes large enough to drive a train through it. As we will see it, in part, the loopholes put into place by an administration that consistently resisted COOL that, in part, provided the basis, in a case filed by Canada and joined by others, for the World Trade Organization's Appellate Body to rule that the COOL regulations violated US trade obligations under parts of the WTO's  Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (TBT). 

According to the Appellate Body, the issue under examination is not whether the COOL law and its implementing regulations "have a detrimental impact on imports" but whether or not the measure "'stems exclusively from a regulatory distinction rather than reflecting discrimination against the group of imported products.'"

Click here to read more of Daryll Rays's analysis of the COOL ruling.  

Seeing is Believing: Answer Plot Knowledge Events Offer Insight into Canola and Wheat

The next Canola and Wheat Answer Plot Knowledge Events will be held April 2nd in Apache and April 3rd in Kingfisher. Both events start at 9:30 a.m. The Apache plot is located one mile north of the Apache Livestock Sale Barn on the west side of N2590 Road, and the Kingfisher plot is on the north side of the fairgrounds. Each Canola and Wheat Answer Plot Knowledge Event lasts approximately two hours with opportunities to get questions answered and gather new ideas.

Canola and Wheat Answer Plot Knowledge Events are full agronomic tours in a four-acre outdoor classroom that allow for hands-on learning opportunities with the newest genetics and best agronomic practices, demonstrating the best available options for maximizing yield potential in the area.

At the events, experts in agronomy will be available to meet with you to answer questions about the technology on display, as well as address your unique field challenges. Lunch will be provided. For more information please contact John Stotts at 405-826-8603 or Justin Stejskal at 405-747-4415. 

This N That- Wheat Freezing Blogging, Big Iron and OYE Correction- Addition

Predicting freeze damage is not an exact science- but Dr. Jeff Edwards has posted on his wheat blog some of what may have happened to us on Mondy and Tuesday mornings when temperatures got downright cold. Jeff tells us "it remains to be seen whether or not we actually have widespread wheat freeze injury in the 2013 wheat crop.  My best guess is that we will have some injury and might lose our primary tillers in more advanced fields."

You can read Jeff's full post by clicking here- he even has pictures.

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It's Big Iron sale day- and this week they have a total of 488 iems- click here to jump over to their web page and you can go looking for the items you need for your operation- the first items start closing at 10 AM central time on this online no reserve auction.

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Finally- we missed one of the hog breed champs in our list of Barrows at the 2013 Oklahoma Youth Expo- and a very sweet Mom called us and pointed out our oversight- so click here and you will see the full and complete list of Breed Champs as a part of our wrap up story on the Market Barrow competition for the "World's Largest Junior Livestock Show."