Ag Secretary Vilsack Brags on Farm Bill Implementation- But Says APH Won't Happen for 2015 Crops- Not Important Enough

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced continued progress on implementing the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the 2014 Farm Bill), which President Obama signed into law nearly six months ago on Feb. 7, 2014.  

"I am pleased to report that we have made tremendous progress in the first six months since the Farm Bill was signed," Vilsack said. "Thousands of farmers and ranchers have received critical disaster assistance, innovative new conservation programs are up and running, new risk management programs for producers are available with more tools to come, the new Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research has been incorporated, and much more. Thanks to the hard work of thousands of USDA employees across the country, we are continuing to get new initiatives off the ground and make important reforms to existing programs that are helping to boost the country's economy."


Since the Farm Bill was signed into law, USDA has made progress throughout all 12 titles of the 2014 Farm Bill.  

Click Here to read the detailed list of USDA's implementation progress to date.

One of the things you will not find in the USDA list is work on getting APH in place for crop insurance policies for the 2015 crop year.

Secretary Vilsack continues to refuse to consider full or partial implementation of APH- Actual Production History- for Crop Insurance for the 2015 crop year, despite it being called for in the 2014 Farm Law. In that Wednesday teleconference with reporters, the Secretary said he doesn't have staff or computer horsepower to get it done this year- and that other farm bill implementation needs must be done first.   

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas has been calling on USDA to enact the provision. Lucas has suggested that USDA could at least allow farmers in some drought-plagued counties to update their histories. 

We have details and the audio here of Vilsack's comments in regards to APH. 

Russia Announces Ban on US Poultry and Other US Agricultural Exports

Russia is beginning to retaliate against the US and EU by imposing bans on food imports. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Wednesday banning or limiting imports from countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia because of its support of rebels in Ukraine.


A spokesperson for Russia's Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) told Reuters that Russia will ban U.S. poultry imports.   

American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman released the following statement.  "This is clearly a political move. It is unfortunate that the biggest losers in this will be Russian consumers, who will pay more for their food now as well as in the long run," he said.

American Soybean Association President Ray Gaesser highlighted soybean farmers' concerns with the ban.  "ASA pushed hard for the establishment of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia last year because of the significant growth and opportunity presented in the Russian marketplace. Soybeans are the biggest crop export from the U.S. to Russia, due in large part to that country's burgeoning economy and growing demand for meat. Sanctions and bans like the one proposed by President Putin serve only to hurt the Russian people by limiting their access to the food and products they need and want," he said.

 It's too early to determine what will be included on the list, but government officials have stated the ban will be substantial. In 2013 Russia imported $43 billion dollars worth of food.

Oklahoma Genetics Variety Spotlight - Garrison

As wheat planting plans come into focus, the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and Oklahoma Farm Report.com want to help you consider how the genetics developed by Dr. Brett Carver and his Wheat Improvement Team may fit into your wheat production system. A profile of several of the major wheat varieties that have come from the Oklahoma State University program will be offered for the next few weeks.  Today, we showcase the variety Garrison.


Garrison has a unique history. Carver said Garrison's parentage had green bug resistance, was a hard white wheat variety and offered higher test weights.   Carver said in the end Garrison didn't get resistance to green bug, it turned to be a hard red wheat, but it also had a pretty good combination of disease resistance.


"That was motivation behind naming this variety Garrison, because we felt there was a Garrison of protection provided to a lot of diseases," Carver said. "One of those diseases happened to be stripe rust."

Click Here to read or to listen to Dr. Jeff Edwards talk about how Garrison performed in the 2014 wheat variety trials.  

Last week, we showcased Duster and Ruby Lee.  Click Here for Duster and Click Here for Ruby Lee.  

Koch Nitrogen to Begin $1.3B Enid Expansion Project

Koch Nitrogen Company, LLC will begin construction in mid-September on a previously-announced $1.3 billion expansion project at its Enid, Oklahoma facility. The project will be implemented over the next three years and will increase production capacity by more than 1 million tons per year.


The expansion project is comprised of a number of projects, including:

* Construction of a 900,000 ton-per-year urea plant.

* Efficiency improvements and capacity increases to existing ammonia plants.

* Added capability to produce high-purity urea to serve the diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) market. 

* Construction of high-speed truck and rail loading facilities, complementing the existing access of the Burlington Northern and Union Pacific railroads. 

Governor Mary Fallin applauded Wednesday's announcement by Koch- saying "Koch Nitrogen's $1.3 billion expansion in Enid will mean hundreds of new jobs for Oklahoma families," said Fallin. "The company's continued commitment to Oklahoma illustrates the success of our pro-growth policies, which include low taxes, sensible regulations and a commitment to public education that produces skilled workers. I am excited that Koch has chosen to make a larger footprint in Oklahoma and will continue to generate even more great jobs and opportunities for our citizens." 

Click Here to read more about the expansion project and the construction jobs this project will bring in, plus the increase in full-time employment at the Koch plant.  

US Beef on Track to Break Export Records in 2014

The world appetite for beef continues to grow. Last year was a record breaking year for beef exports and 2014 has the potential to be even better. At the recent Summer Cattle Industry Conference in Denver, US Meat Export Federation President and Chief Executive Officer Phil Seng told me about the strong start to US beef exports in 2014. 

Seng said for the first five months of this year the US has increased beef exports by nine percent on a volume basis and 17 percent on a value basis


"Right now we are on a pace to probably eclipse six and half million dollars," Seng said. "For a fed steer, basically an animal presented at slaughter, about $245 a head is the export dividend for that, so its significant to the viability of the beef industry and also hopefully it will be an impetus for expansion in the beef industry, something we sorely need and the world sorely needs."    

Click Here to read or to listen to part one of my interview with Phil Seng on the factors contributing to strong US beef exports in 2014.  Phil continues with us the balance of the week on our daily radio feature called the Beef Buzz. 

Canola farmers will have several seed options this fall from WinField with their Croplan varieties. At last week's Canola Conference in Enid, we caught up with Justin Stejskal with WinField,  Overall, he said Croplan varieties performed well in 2014 despite the difficult year.   


"This winter posed a lot of different challenges to us with the drought, with winter hardiness and we were able to come in a very consistent basis and a lot of times toward the top of the pack there," Stejskal said. "So you can look at a lot of different plot results, get a lot of results across the board, but the main thing right now is to look at consistency across the board."


Going in the 2015 crop year, WinField is currently offering three different Croplan varieties for Oklahoma farmers.

This N That- OQBN Sales Set, Southern Plains Beef Symposium Coming Saturday and Spotlighting Two FFA Stars!

Our friend Gant Mourer has been busy setting up a great set of Oklahoma Quality Beef Network sales for this fall- and says that this program is all about helping ranchers- big or small- to take advantage of a tremendous value added marketing opportunity.

"The Oklahoma Quality Beef Network (OQBN) is available to aid producers in making preconditioning decisions and capturing value of preconditioned calves when it becomes time to market. OQBN is a program, which began in 2001, and is a joint effort by Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) and the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association.  

"At its core, OQBN provides improved communication among producers of all segments of the beef industry and allows for increased education while providing tools to improve access to value-added programs. One way in which this is done is through the OQBN Vac-45 health verification program. Cattle meeting the management requirements are verified through OCES and can be marketed as OQBN Vac-45 cattle. Once verified producers have the option but are not obligated to market cattle in a certified OQBN sale."

Get more details here on OQBN and the list of sales for 2014. 

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The Southern Plains Beef Symposium will be happening this Saturday at the Ardmore Convention Center in Ardmore- and one of the speakers that will be featured this year is speaking to a slightly different group than he is used to visiting with.  Dr. Jeff Edwards is the state Wheat Specialist for OSU Extension- and he will be talking about how to maximize your wheat production for forage- both through grazing as well as making hay.  Edwards and the other members of the Wheat Improvement Team at OSU have always been dedicated to having options for wheat production that works for grain and grazing outcomes- and Jeff will be offering an emphasis on the second option of that strategy as he talks to cattle producers at this year's Symposium.

Jump over to our website here and take  a look at all of the details about this year's Southern Plains Beef Symposium.

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In case you missed our brief story from a few days ago- Oklahoma can boost of having two of the sixteen National Star Finalists for the upcoming 2014 National FFA Convention.

Zach Weichel of Cordell FFA has been named a finalist for the 2014 Star Farmer of America award- Zach was the 2011 Oklahoma Star Farmer and you can look back at our profile of his program by clicking here.

In the Ag Placement Category, Garrett Sharp of Waukomis FFA is a national finalist this year- and he also is a past Star at the state level- having been named Star in Ag Placement for Oklahoma FFA in 2012.  Here's the link for our look at his award winning program to that point that will now be showcased at the National level this coming October in Louisville, Ky.