Stabenow, Other Senators Ask EPA to Clarify Waters of the U.S. Rule 

Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, along with several other Senators, Frday urged the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide farmers and ranchers with more certainty as the agencies move forward with clarifying which waters can be regulated under the Clean Water Act. In a letter, also signed by 12 other Senators, Stabenow said stakeholders across the country have raised concerns with the proposed "U.S. waters rule" and that more clarity from the agencies could provide much-needed certainty - to make sure the rule doesn't have unintended effects on agriculture and on critical conservation efforts.


"While we have long been supporters of the Clean Water Act protecting our nation's water resources, we want to make sure that the proposed jurisdictional rule and the interpretive rule do not have unintended effects on agriculture and on the conservation practices currently used by many of our nation's farmers and ranchers," the letter reads.


"Voluntary conservation practices supported by USDA and expanded in the 2014 Farm Bill are the federal government's largest investment in the conservation of private working lands and critical to maintaining clean water, clean air, wildlife habitat, and other benefits. The proposed 'waters of the US' rule and the interpretive rule could undermine progress made in the 2014 Farm Bill if they create an atmosphere of uncertainty that results in fewer conservation practices or significant new burdens for our nation's farmers and ranchers."


The letter asks the agencies for clarification to ensure the intent of the rule is met - to promote conservation practices and provide regulatory certainty for farmers and ranchers. 

You can read the entire letter and a list of the signatories by clicking here.

Kevin Good with Cattlefax Makes Case for Cow Herd Expansion Now Underway  

The cattle industry is transitioning from the liquidation phase to the expansion phase in terms of cattle numbers, according to Kevin Good, senior market analyst for CattleFax.  When combined with a very robust domestic and global demand for beef, it helps point to a rosy picture for the industry. Good made the remarks during a general session of the 2014 Cattle Industry Summer Conferences in Denver this past week.
 

"It's one for the ages," Good said, referring to the cattle market. "It's been a tremendous change from a year ago."

Our story on the web includes some of Kevin's thoughts about prices for the balance of this year for the cattle industry- and we have a special audio feature that you a complete overview of what he was saying in Denver about both cows and heifers in the beef herd expansion story.  Get those audio comments from our website here- as well as read his thoughts on prices ahead.

Canola Crop Insurance Written Agreement Needs to Be in ASAP- Bambi Sidwell

Canola growers should be planning ahead in getting their crop insurance for the 2015 crop. At this past week's Canola Conference in Enid, we caught up with Bambi Sidwell of Sidwell Insurance, who reminded us to remind you that the deadline for canola crop insurance is August 31st.

Going into a new crop year, Sidwell said there are a number of additional approved counties this year


"It is true that if your county was not approved in past years, you may not have to do a written agreement this year," Sidwell said. "But August 31st is upon us and if you are outside one of those approved counties you will want to start the paperwork soon, so you know after the written agreement is approved if you have the proper crop insurance or not for the 2015 crop year."  

You can read more of this story or catch my audio interview with Bambi Sidwell on our website.  Please click here to go there. 

NCBA's Bob McCan: Cow-Calf Outlook Continues to Improve for Producers

The outlook for cow-calf producers is improving across the nation. Rains across much of the country has improved the likelihood the nation's producers will begin to expand their cowherd. At the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver, National Cattlemen's Beef Association President Bob McCan talked about the state of the industry.

"It's nice to see a lot of the country side recovering from drought," McCan said. "There are some pockets, especially in California that are still suffering and our prayers go out to those landowners and producers out there."


"We've had some good rain in Texas and a lot of the central part of the United States... with the good markets we're enjoying right now it's a pretty good time in the cattle business," he said. 


Right now cattlemen are enjoying record high prices. McCan says cattle producers are seeing uncharted territory. 


"It's almost kind of scary as good as it has been, just seems like there is no end to it," McCan said. "Of course everyone is a little bit scared when they see the beef prices go up, but we have lots of good things that are helping to maintain that market with our good international market demand and of course our good domestic demand we have going on too."  

Click here to listen to our full conversation.

USDA Announces New Inspection System for Poultry Products

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today announced a critical step forward in making chicken and turkey products safer for Americans to eat. Poultry companies will have to meet new requirements to control Salmonella and Campylobacter, and up to 5,000 foodborne illnesses will be prevented each year as a result of the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS), an updated science-based inspection system that positions food safety inspectors throughout poultry facilities in a smarter way.


"The United States has been relying on a poultry inspection model that dates back to 1957, while rates of foodborne illness due to Salmonella and Campylobacter remain stubbornly high. The system we are announcing today imposes stricter requirements on the poultry industry and places our trained inspectors where they can better ensure food is being processed safely. These improvements make use of sound science to modernize food safety procedures and prevent thousands of illnesses each year," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.


FSIS will now require that all poultry companies take measures to prevent Salmonella and Campylobacter contamination, rather than addressing contamination after it occurs. Also for the first time ever, all poultry facilities will be required to perform their own microbiological testing at two points in their production process to show that they are controlling Salmonella and Campylobacter. These requirements are in addition to FSIS' own testing, which the agency will continue to perform. 

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Ross Wilson Talks Feedlot Status in the Southern Plains

Texas Cattle Feeders Association President and CEO Ross Wilson says cattle feeders on the Southern Plains are thankful for the rise in cattle and beef prices, which has improved profitability for producers. 

"We are so thankful and have been blessed these last several months to have gotten back into black ink," Wilson said. "Up until Q4 of last year there were a number of months where most of those were red and some of them were very red." 


I spoke with Wilson at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver, Colorado.  With record cattle and beef prices across the board, he said that creates concern for the impact onto beef demand. 


"At some point and time you scratch your head as to what the consumers response might be," Wilson said. "But both domestically and internationally we have been very fortunate that demand has maintained at a very strong level."


You can hear my full conversation with Ross Wilson on the Beef Buzz by clicking here.

This N That- Today- Ag in the Classroom, Tomorrow- Missouri Right to Farm and Next Year- Beef Checkoff Decision Delayed to 2015

The 2014 State Conference put on by the Ag in the Classroom folks gets underway this morning- it's a one day event and AITC will welcome about 250 teachers to the Moore-Norman Career Tech Penn Campus to "Plant the Seeds of Tomorrow's Greatness"  which is the theme of the event.

DairyMAX is doing a breakfast Surprise event- and several other ag groups are also in the mix to provide teachers a lot of inspiration for the just around the corner school year.

You can learn more about Oklahoma AITC here at their website.

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Tomorrow is election day in Missouri- and Amendment 1 in that state is their "Right to Farm" Constitutional Amendment vote.

According to a webstory from a site known as Governing.Com,  

"Voters in Missouri face a seemingly simple question in Tuesday's primary with potentially far-reaching implications: Do they support the right to farm?

"Amendment 1 asks if the state constitution should be changed to "ensure that the right of Missouri citizens to engage in agricultural production and ranching practices shall not be infringed." To supporters, the measure provides greater security from overzealous environmentalists, animal rights advocates and foodies who want greater regulation of agriculture. That's one of the things opponents most fear -- a barrier to future regulations that respond to new science about food safety or the spread of disease.

"When the public decides it really wants to do something, this amendment would be an obstacle," said John Ikerd, a professor emeritus of agriculture at the University of Missouri. ((Oldtimers remember when John Ikerd was a part of the Ag Econ Department at OSU)

Get the Governing.Com article on the Right to Farm vote here.   

Groups like the Missouri Cattlemen's Association and the Missouri Farm Bureau strongly support the measure- the HSUS has thrown about $375,000 into Missouri to oppose it. 

If you want to see the website that is supporting passage of the measure, click here.  The group is known as Missouri Farmers Care.

This measure is not much different from the one that almost made it out of the state legislature here in Oklahoma this past spring- only some differences in wording between the House and Senate kept the November ballot in Oklahoma from having our own battle over the right to farm.

As a result, Oklahoma's farm and ranch groups will be watching the Missouri vote very closely.

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We will have more tomorrow, but we did want to update you briefly on the Beef Checkoff Task Force of the NCBA- and the report they offered to the Board of Directors on Saturday in Denver.  The full Board approved the continued work of the Taskforce, as they wait on a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) that will detail a tentative deal between general farm organizations and beef industry groups over trying to move forward on getting a second dollar at the federal level for the dollar per head beef checkoff.

The full board- probably at their next meeting in February at the their annual meeting in San Antonio.  

As we mentioned- more on that in tomorrow's email.