Investigation Turns Up Stolen ATVs, Tractors, Narcotics and Exotic Animals 

An investigation over the theft of ATVs and farm equipment turned into much more when state and federal officials executed a search warrant Wednesday. Officials with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Investigative Services Division had obtained information that the Triple S Wildlife Ranch and Resort in Calvin, Okla. was attempting to sell stolen ATVs on Craigslist.

Officials executed a search warrant at 5 am Wednesday. The agency was aided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Examiners Board with a uniformed presence by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Chief Jerry Flowers says the ranch owner was very cooperative.


Flowers says they found evidence of the stolen ATVs that were advertised on Craigslist and two farm tractors. One of the tractors was stolen from McAlester less than a year ago. The other was a backhoe. Both items were actively being used on the ranch. Flowers says the tractors had their VIN numbers removed or ground off, which was attempt to hide the identity of the equipment.


As the officials searched the property they also found thousands of animals mounted on walls. Flowers says the US Fish and Wildlife Service officials identified several animals were extinct. Flowers says one mount was a Mexican Eagle, which possession of  is forbidden in the state of Oklahoma and likely the US.


"We seized all these items," Flowers said. "That part of this investigation is going to be turned over to the US Fish and Wildlife Service and they will continue their investigation to determine the violations and of course those violations will be presented to the United State's Attorney's office out of the Fort Worth, Texas area."


In the search the Veterinary Board Investigators found different narcotics. Flowers says these were controlled substances that were used to sedate or tranquilize animals. The Veterinary Board Investigator determined the owner can not have these items and these items came out of Texas illegally. These items were seized and the Veterinary Board will continue their investigation. 

Click here to read more ( or listen) from my interview with Jerry Flowers about this investigation.

Peel Analyzes 2014 Cattle Market

It's a hot time in the old town tonight, especially if you are a cattle producer and you're selling cattle at one of the auction markets- locally or online. Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel says these high cattle prices have caught a lot of folks by surprise.


"Markets at a record levels, feeder cattle prices, fed cattle, box beef all pushed out the spring highs," Peel said. "And so this is something that really wasn't anticipated."


"Slaughter has continued to decline, beef production has continued to decline and obviously that is the major support for these prices at these levels," he said.


Peel is our guest on the Beef Buzz and he tells us that with these record prices, there is a lot of concern about how demand will react to these higher prices.


"You know we've never been here before, so we are in uncharted waters, but the thing that may be a surprise to some, certainly a pleasant surprise, is that beef demand seems is holding up very well," Peel said.  


Click Here to read or to listen to Peel's comments on what he expects for the rest of the year.

Darci Vetter Confirmed by Senate as Chief Ag Negotiator

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today made the following statement on the Senate Confirmation of Darci Vetter as U.S. Chief Agricultural Negotiator:


"I am pleased that America's farmers, ranchers and rural communities will continue to benefit from Darci's experience and background in her new role as U.S. Chief Agricultural Negotiator. As Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, she helped to facilitate record food and farm exports that supported nearly one million jobs here at home and expanded opportunity in rural communities. I have no doubt that Darci will continue to be a valuable advocate for rural America."   Click Here for more of Sec. Vilsack's comments.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman also cheered  Senate approval of Darci Vetter's nomination as Chief US Agricultural Negotiator.

"Senate approval of Darci Vetter's nomination as chief U.S. agricultural trade negotiator is a win for American agriculture," Stallman said.  "She brings a wealth of well-rounded expertise in the trade arena to the position, including tenures with the Agriculture Department, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Senate Finance Committee."  Click Here for more Stallman's comments.

State Ag Commissioner Addresses Reinstatement of Fire Equipment Program and 'Waters of the US'

Rural fire departments will have access to fire fighting equipment, according to Oklahoma State Commissioner of Agriculture Jim Reece. On Wednesday it was announced the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Defense reached an agreement that will allow local fire and law enforcement agencies to continue to receive surplus military equipment.


"It is a significant win," Reece said. "Just out of the blue, they shut down the program and some people thought we were exaggerating, but they shut down the program down." 

"They were not allowing us to have any vehicles and where we get $15 million dollars of vehicles every year to distribute to rural fire departments across the state, its a very significant impact," he said.  


Click Here to listen to our conversation about the Rural Fire Department Win, the 'Waters of the US' proposal and Secretary Reese's take on the status of Oklahoma Agriculture here at the mid year point of 2014.

BY THE WAY- Secretary Reese will be our guest on this weekend's In the Field  as seen on KWTV, News9 in Oklahoma City during the Morning News block at about 6:40 AM.

House Ag Panel Examines Farm Bill Implementation

Rep. K. Michael Conaway, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, held a hearing to examine the efforts of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as it implements the new commodity and crop insurance titles of the Agricultural Act of 2014, otherwise known as the farm bill.


The Agricultural Act of 2014 made sweeping reforms to the commodity title repealing several programs and providing producers with an option between Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC). Neither option triggers unless the producer suffers a significant loss. The farm bill also improved crop insurance, which now serves as the core risk management tool for producers when disaster strikes.


Members of the Subcommittee questioned USDA Under Secretary Michael Scuse on the status of implementing key provisions.


"I commend USDA's initial efforts to implement the Agricultural Act of 2014 and I challenge them to fully deliver on the promises made to our farmers and ranchers in the law. Specifically, USDA must make it a priority to implement the Actual Production History (APH) adjustment because it provides critical relief for producers who have struggled with severe and devastating drought conditions for the past four years. Producers suffering from a drought shouldn't have to wait until the third year of a five-year farm bill to receive relief, particularly when Congress intended for it to be available immediately. Undersecretary Scuse told us today he is committed to exploring partial implementation of this provision and will provide the committee with details about potential timelines. That is encouraging and I look forward to hearing those details. It is crucial we work together to resolve some of these issues so that our producers have the necessary information to make plans for their farming and ranching operations," said Chairman K. Michael Conaway (R-TX-11). 

Click Here to read more about the progress of the Farm Bill Implementation.

Anderson Reflects On Downward Trend of Grain Market

The commodity market has taken a nose dive. In the last two weeks wheat has dropped 70 cents, corn has lost 50 cents and soybean are down $1.25. On this Saturday's SUNUP program, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson considers some of the factors that have resulted in this down turn.


Anderson says as you look at the wheat market, the price decline is being caused at least in part by the growing production of wheat around the world.


"Those ending stocks just keep going up as world production looks good," Anderson said. "Of course in the hard red winter wheat area our harvest probably came in as we expected, soft red maybe a little less, spring wheat looks good and the deal is, we just got more than adequate wheat around the world."

Anderson also offers his take on the corn and soybean markets- and you can either hear his comments now by clicking here or you can wait see him on this weekend's SUNUP on OETA.

Speaking of SUNUP- we have the entire lineup for this weekend's show at that link above.  It will be a great show- they are even talking Kudzu this weekend- so check the program's details out and then plan on watching Lyndall Stout and her team this weekend!  

EPA's Gina McCarthy Says Farmers & Ranchers Misunderstand WOTUS

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy calls the furor over the Waters of the US proposed rule a big misunderstanding about what the EPA is wanting to do. She claims it is all about giving farmers and ranchers certainty when it comes to being regulated or not regulated as the case may be- and that farmers and ranchers won't be regulated more aggressively under this new rule.


Speaking to an Agribusiness Roundtable in Kansas City on Thursday, McCarthy spoke of her time on a farm in Missouri on Wednesday when farmers and others expressed their concerns about the rule. She told the group in Kansas City "Yesterday, we heard very clearly some of the concerns about our proposed rule. Let me clear up some of that: We heard fears that EPA is regulating groundwater. This is not true; groundwater regulations do and will fall under the purview of the states. EPA is not regulating all activities in floodplains, or every puddle, dry wash, and erosional feature. In fact, we're doing just the opposite. If cattle cross a wet field - let them. That's a normal farming practice, and all normal farming practices are still exempt. The bottom line is - if you didn't need a permit before this proposed rule, you won't need one when it's finalized." 

Click here to read more- and to hear highlights or her comments made in Kansas City on Thursday.

We also have the transcript of her speech and the audio from the speech and some Q&A that follows- click here for that.