AFR President Reviews Farm Bill Rollout and Demands Clarity with WOTUS

The head of the American Farmers & Ranchers / Oklahoma Farmers Union says all crop and livestock producers need assistance after multiple years of drought. The US Department of Agriculture has outlined its top priority as livestock disaster assistance being made available for producers who have suffered from drought as well as the devastating blizzards in the northern United States. AFR President Terry Detrick talked with me about the rollout of the new Farm Bill as well as the 'Waters of the US' proposal.  Detrick says the government is offering substantial assistance to producers who have dealt with drought and he encourages producers apply as soon as possible.


"October 1 is the beginning of the new fiscal year, there's additional sequestration cuts that kick in October 1," Detrick said. "So whatever they are eligible for now could be cut that 2 percent after October 1.  


AFR, the National Farmers Union organization and other ag organizations are pushing USDA to implement actual production history adjustment provisions of the Agricultural Act of 2014 in time for the 2015 crop year.


"That's a ten-year average," Detrick said. "Every year one year drops off, a new one (year) comes on and if we go through three year's of crop failure, our average is down and our maximum coverage that we can buy is based on our average production." 

Click Here to listen to our full interview including AFR's view of the WOTUS' proposal.  Detrick will appear with us on our regular "In the Field" feature Saturday about 6:40 AM KWTV, News9 in Oklahoma City.     

Talk of Record Cattle Prices Helps Kick Off 2014 Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Convention 

The Director of the Livestock Market Information Center, Jim Robb, was the leadoff speaker for the 2014 Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Convention at the Reed Center in Midwest City on Thursday- and covered lots of ground for the full room of cattle producers that came to hear his presentation.


Robb told producers that "I never thought I would live long enough to talk about these kind of cattle prices." He detailed the record levels we have seen in recent days for wholesale boxed beef, feedlot cattle, yearlings and calves. For example, one graph that he showed reflected current calf prices almost double that of the five year average.


He also spoke about Beef Demand- saying that since the end of the recession that our country struggled through in 2008-2009- beef demand has steadily improved- and is the only meat protein that can make that claim. Robb says that beef demand seems to be following the overall health of the economy- and that he doesn see a big drop in beef demand unless the economy slides into a major downturn- even with beef prices at wholesale and retail at historically high levels. 

We have posted his entire presentation on both our website as well as on our APP.  Get Jim Robb's full presentation here from our Ag Perspective Podcast section of our website- or open our APP on your smartphone or tablet and listen there in the Beef Section.

If you don't have the APP- we have links on the left hand column of this email where you can grab our APP for either an Apple iPhone or iPad or for your Android.   

Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research Established to Foster Public-Private Partnerships

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the creation of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR) and the appointment of a 15-member board of directors. The new foundation will leverage public and private resources to increase the scientific and technological research, innovation, and partnerships critical to boosting America's agricultural economy.


Authorized by Congress as part of the 2014 Farm Bill, the foundation will operate as a non-profit corporation seeking and accepting private donations in order to fund research activities that focus on problems of national and international significance. Congress also provided $200 million for the foundation which must be matched by non-federal funds as the Foundation identifies and approves projects.


"Studies have shown that every dollar invested in agricultural research creates $20 in economic activity," said Vilsack. "Investments in innovation made over the past several decades have developed new products and new procedures that have been critical to the continued growth of American agriculture. We must continue to make strategic investments in research and technology if we are to remain leaders in the global economy."


The research funded by the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research will address issues including plant and animal health; food safety, nutrition and health; renewable energy, natural resources, and environment; agricultural and food security; and agriculture systems and technology.

Click Here to read more about this public-private partnership and the 15-voting members on the board of directors.

Anderson Says KC Wheat Price At Critical Level

This past week Kansas City wheat fell below the support price at $6.36, where is it going from here? On this Saturday's SUNUP program, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Economist Kim Anderson provides his forecast for the market.   


"If it can back through that $6.36, which I give it a 40 percent chance of doing that in the next couple weeks, then we'll take a run back up at that $6.60," Anderson said. "I think it will probably go down and challenge the $6 - $6.05 level on that Kansas City September contract, if it breaks it .....its probably going to down $5.70 or $5.75."


The drop in price can be attributed to a variety of factors. Anderson says hard red winter wheat stocks in the US are very tight with the short crop, but domestic stocks of other wheat classes like hard red spring and soft red winter wheat look to be above average, along with world ending stocks projected to increase.


If producers are holding onto their wheat, Anderson says the strategy should be marketing a third at harvest, a third in September-October, then a third in the November-December timeframe. If farmers have sold any of the crop so far, he says its time to sell some of it.


"If they hold it, I think they are looking at a 60 cent downside risk, downside lower price," Anderson said. "If they are selling, I think they are giving up the potential for maybe a 40 or 50 cent price increase, so that's their risk."  

Click here to listen to Anderson's view on the price difference between wheat and a wheat canola rotation. You can also take a look at the SUNUP lineup for this weekend on OETA.   

Redlands Building Cattle Herd and Future Producers

Redlands Community College is helping students learn more about the cattle industry through their show cattle program. Redlands Agricultural Continuing Education Coordinator April Bow says the program was started three years ago.


"Ed Zweiacher wanted to get our show program started from a calf that he purchased from Treelane Ranch," Bow said. "He wanted to use it to promote kids and promote the beef program, just be really an advocate for agriculture."


From the first year, the program has grown from one calf to feeding 14 head of show cattle and recruiting up to 17 Redlands College students to participate in the program each year. Many of the students come into the program with experience with cattle and the showring through 4-H and FFA.


"We want them to learn this is not just a show program, but production side," Bow said. "We want them to learn about reproduction, about embryo transfer, about AI-ing, and how to take care of commercial cows as well as show cattle." 
 

Click Here to read or to listen to today's Beef Buzz segment.  

American Agri-Women (AAW) recently award Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma with its "Champion of Agriculture" award as part of its 2014 Fly-In to Washington, D.C. AAW is the nation's largest coalition of farm, ranch and agribusiness women. The award is presented annually to outstanding members of the U.S. Congress for their steadfast courage in upholding the ideals of American agriculture to their peers.


"As chair of the House Agriculture Committee, Lucas has supported such programs as voluntary conservation reserve programs, renewable energy and guarded against regulatory overreach," says AAW President Sue McCrum, who is part of a fifth generation family farm in Maine. "We are pleased to recognize him as a champion for farmers and ranchers and all they do to support our nation's food supply."


Lucas represents Oklahoma's third Congressional district, including all or portions of 32 counties in northern and western Oklahoma. Lucas serves as the chair of the House Committee on Agriculture. In addition, he serves on the House Committee on Financial Services and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Lucas also serves as a member of the Republican Whip Team. Lucas' family has lived and farmed in Oklahoma for more than 100 years.


AAW also awarded Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota with its 2014 Champion of Agriculture award. Past recipients include Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma. 

This and That- Go FFA, State 4-H Roundup and Another Day of Heat, But 70s Not Far Off

The National FFA Organization has unveiled their theme for the 2014-2015 School Year- and one that will be seen prominently at the 2014 National Convention in Louisville this coming October- we discovered a You Tube showcasing the new theme and thought you might enjoy it- so here tis-

2014-15 National FFA Organization Theme - Go All Out - #goFFA

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The 2014 State 4-H Roundup has been happening on campus at Oklahoma State University this week in Stillwater- the SUNUP folks will have some coverage of the event on this weekend's show to be seen on OETA- so check Lyndall and her team's coverage, which I know will be first rate.

We do want to salute the the 2014 Oklahoma 4-H Hall of Fame winners- Aspen Schmidt of Tulsa County and Madison Rash of Payne County. 

Congrats to these outstanding young ladies who have given a bunch of years to Oklahoma 4-H.

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Our News9 colleague and morning weather wizard Jed Castles has posted his latest nine day forecast- and next Wednesday has gotten a little cooler than it was yesterday morning when we were in studio with Terry Detrick recording tomorrow's In the Field that will be seen around 6:40 AM on News9 in Oklahoma City.

Take a look at this crazy forecast for the end of July- Start of August.

Tap on the graphic for forecast for central and western Oklahoma- you can get the Tulsa area forecast by tapping here.