Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News

Howdy Neighbors! 

Oklahoma's Senior Senator Jim Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and senior member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) committee, praised on Wednesday the agreement reached by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) that will allow local fire and law enforcement agencies to continue receiving surplus military equipment:


"I applaud the DOD and EPA for coming to an agreement on a 25-year-old rule that the Department of Defense (DOD) recently decided to start enforcing to the detriment of a program supporting Oklahoma's local fire departments and their ability to fight wildfires. This quick resolution would not have been possible without the rapid criticism from many Members of Congress and the coordinated effort with Governor Fallin's office.  

"Today the agencies decided to extend the national security exemption for this vital program on the grounds that the vehicles' titles remain under DOD after being repurposed in order to ensure the vehicles are eventually destroyed. This new agreement will create more red tape for our local fire departments by requiring the roughly 17,000 pieces of surplus equipment around the state to now be tracked and returned once they are no longer in use. This is the best short term answer to maintain the program with the DOD, and I will be working with my colleagues to address the unnecessary regulation created by the agreement. Since Thursday, I have been in contact with both agencies about this issue and I appreciate their responsiveness to my staff and me on this urgent matter. "

Each year, Oklahoma's fire departments receive and rely on $13 million to $15 million worth of surplus equipment from the DOD. The cost of new vehicles falls between $150,000 and $200,000, but the departments are able to take these surplus vehicles and equip them for as low as $30,000.

Earlier on Wednesday, Governor Mary Fallin released a letter that she sent to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), criticizing the agency for discontinuing the longstanding program.  Click Here to read the rest of the article and the written letter sent by Governor Fallin.

Sponsor Spotlight

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack provided a 12-week progress report on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster assistance programs today, announcing that USDA has processed 106,000 payments to farmers in 40 states across the country who suffered livestock and grazing losses between October 2011 and passage of the 2014 Farm Bill.


"Farmers and ranchers who waited two and a half years for a Farm Bill are now getting some relief," said Vilsack. "We met the very ambitious goal to get these programs up and running in just 60 days. Now, thanks to our dedicated staff in offices across the country, we've provided more than 106,000 payments to farmers and ranchers in 40 states who suffered drought, blizzard, and other weather related losses." 

While disaster relief is a critical lifeline that can prevent farmers and ranchers who do not have access to crop insurance from being wiped out by weather-related losses beyond their control, most producers only receive support equal to 60 percent of their actual losses.   

Click Here to read more about the disaster program deadlines.

Environmental Protection Agency Region Six officials heard from Oklahoma agricultural leaders this week about the 'Water of the US' interpretative rule as well as the 'Waters of the US' proposal itself. Representing the cattle industry was Richard Gebhart, President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association. He says the interpretative rule which defines normal farming and ranching practices and the role itself will be detrimental to agriculture.


"The interpretative rule, that defines normal farming practices and says if you do normal farming practices you will not have to have a section 404 permit," Gebhart said. "The kicker is that to do those normal farming practices, they are defined by 52 NRCS practices that can be by the interpretive rule and MOU by the Corps of Engineers and USDA."


"They will review them every five years and can change those and add to them at anytime," he said. "Those include everything from fencing requirements to prescribed burns."


At the Spring Cattle Industry Conference in Washington,  Gebhart says he heard EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy speak to a cattle producer audience and she bluntly said  "We will continue to allow you to farm and ranch".    


"I think its just an indication of how upside down the federal government views our property rights," Gebhart said. "It seems to me that I am going to continue to allow her to regulate part of my private property, not her to continue allow me to enjoy my private property. "  

Click Here to read or to listen to more of Gebhart's comments as he talks with me on the Beef Buzz about the proposed rules.  

AND Speaking of the Waters of the US- The Oklahoma Farm Bureau also weighed in this week at that encounter with Region 6 officials- click here for the general farm group's thoughts on where we stand with this proposal from the EPA.  

A little moisture is bring optimism to the state's cotton industry. Cotton acres have declined in recent years due to the ongoing drought. Oklahoma Cotton Council Executive Director Harvey Schroeder says this year there are approximately 280 thousand acres planted to cotton. Nationally cotton acres are up about nine percent. Schroeder estimates this year Oklahoma acres are up closer to 20 percent.


"That's good for the state, it's good for good for our infrastructure," Schroeder said. "Our infrastructure has suffered, we haven't had a crop, get the acres and our infrastructure is really hurt."    


"We're hoping this year we will have a decent harvest that we can get some infrastructure gone through again and people's spirits lifted up," he said. 

Schroeder talked with me earlier this week- you can hear our full conversation and/or read more by clicking here.

 

Producers interested in learning how to maximize productivity of their canola crop should plan now to attend one of two Winter Canola Conferences taking place July 29 in Enid and July 30 in Altus.


There is no charge to attend either of the conferences being put on by cooperating partners Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Kansas State University, Oklahoma Oilseed Commission, and the Great Plains Canola Association.


The July 29th conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Enid Convention Hall, located downtown at 301 S. Independence Ave. in Enid. A meeting of the Great Plains Canola Association will follow the meeting.


The July 30th conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Western Oklahoma State College, located at 2801 N. Main St. in Altus. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. for both conferences, with programs kicking off just before 9 a.m.

Click Here to learn more about this year's Canola Conferences. 

Dr. Sandra Morgan from the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Stillwater (at the OSU School of Vet Medicine) has raised the red flag over Cyanide and it's ability to  build up in some plants. Dr. Morgan and our State Vet  Dr. Rod Hall both say Johnson Grass is one of the worst accumulators.  A small amount can be deadly in a very short time.  

Here's the warning from Dr. Morgan from Wednesday afternoon:

"Two cows died in Payne County after eating Johnson grass that was "regrowth" after recent rain.   Interestingly, Johnson grass that had never been cut was negative for toxic levels of cyanide while the part that had grown back after mowing was strongly positive.  It is important that producers understand the risks associated with ingestion of Johnson grass.

"Testing cyanide levels in Johnson grass is routinely performed at the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (OADDL).  Alternatively, producers can purchase Cyantesmo Paper from CTL (800-686-3454) to determine cyanide levels.  Fresh leaves must be chopped up and immediately sealed tightly in a quart size Ziploc bag along with a one inch strip of Cyantesmo Paper.  If placed in a warm area, like the top of a pickup, a reaction (paper turns dark blue) will occur in approximately10 minutes. 

"While the test is not quantitative, it is a quick way to help determine if cattle can safely be moved into a pasture containing Johnson grass.  Different areas of the pasture can have different amounts of cyanide so more than one test is needed.  Cyanide levels in plants can change with time so it may need to be retested. Cyantesmo Paper should not be stored in a hot truck; the paper is stable in air conditioned room temperature."

If you have questions- you can contact Dr. Morgan at (405) 744-6623.

We had in yesterday's Email a report on new counties being added to locations in Oklahoma where crop insurance coverage can be written for winter canola.  

There needs to be a clarification of what producers are facing both in those counties as well as those outside of these counties.

Oklahoma counties now eligible include  are Alfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche, Cotton, Custer, Dewey, Garfield, Grant, Kingfisher, Logan, Major Noble and Woods counties. Wichita and Moore Counties in Texas are now eligible for RMA canola crop insurance, the RMA stated.


Having your county listed means canola producers will be able to purchase crop insurance for winter canola without the time consuming and uncertain process of submitting a proposal for a written agreement. 

Now- what about those farmers in a county not listed?  We mentioned two dates yesterday- the deadline of September 2, 2014 which is when the paperwork is due to the RMA for a Winter Canola Crop Insurance policy- either from a listed county or a written agreement from a non listed county.

The other date mentioned was July 31st.  This is a suggested date to target for getting your information to your crop insurance agent to allow them plenty of time to work up the written agreement- get it to RMA and have them approve it well ahead of the third date to have in mind- September 10, which is the opening of the planting window as dictated by RMA for winter canola here in the southern plains.  

Click here for our revised story- sorry about any confusion the two dates may have caused.

**********

The final wheat harvest report of the season was released yesterday afternoon by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission.  Mike Schulte and his team reported on the wrap up of harvest in the Panhandle and in some central and north central fields.  

"Harvest continues to move forward in Northern Oklahoma with producers harvesting today around the Tonkawa, Blackwell and Newkirk areas.  Also harvest is continuing in the Panhandle regions of the state on both dry-land and irrigated wheat.  Producers in Cimarron county had severe storms last week that hindered progress on the dry-land harvest and are finally getting back into the fields.  Yields have been ranging all over the board with reports of 7 to 15 to even 25 bushels per acre depending on the locations.  


"Test weights have dropped significantly with the heavy rains this past week but the state wide average for all the wheat harvested is still running around 59 pounds per bushel.  In the Panhandle, irrigated wheat is ranging from 70 bushels per acre to 90 bushels per acre with some reports on wheat South of Guymon making over 100 bushels per acre.  USDA is currently calling Oklahoma 95 percent complete with harvest, and producers are hopeful they can be finished by the end of this week if they can just get a few more days of harvest without rain.  In parts of central Oklahoma some wheat is still left to harvest, but weed competition has created many problems for the wheat farmer causing them to abandon those fields all together. "