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Peanut harvest is ready to begin in Oklahoma- and Mike Kubicek of the Oklahoma Peanut Commission calls the attitude of producers "cautiously optimistic " as they are close to digging up this year's crop of goobers and seeing what is under that green canopy of peanut plants. Acres took a hit in 2014- Kubicek blames the lateness of many bigs by peanut processors and shellers as the reason that some acres that have been in peanuts in recent years went to other crops this spring- he's hopeful that those acres will return to peanuts in 2015- and he thinks they will if contracts to buy next year's crop are out in a more timely fashion next spring.


As for this season's harvest- Kubicek predicts that a lot of peanuts will be dug over the next couple of weeks.

As we participated in last night's Pre Harvest Peanut Field Tour at the Caddo Research Station at Ft Cobb Lake, we talked with Kubicek and others about what the future holds for peanuts as a crop in the state- and one of the bright spots mentioned are several new varieties that have high levels of resistance to Sclerotinia blight- a disease that once you get it in your soil- will stick around for decades- and remains on many of the acres in areas like Caddo County that used to grow peanuts.

 Click or tap here to read more- and to hear comments from Kubicek and Kelly Chamberlin of the USDA-ARS about the breeding work done- including a new peanut variety that is now out with enough seed that at least some farmers should be able to plant it as early as next season.   

By the way- I snapped a bunch of pictures at the Caddo Research Station yesterday afternoon/evening- click or tap here to take a look at them on Flickr!     

Oklahoma Farm Bureau's PAC Endorses Governor Mary Fallin in Her Reelection Bid 

The OKAgFund announces its endorsement of Gov. Mary Fallin as she seeks reelection for governor.


"Gov. Fallin understands the importance of rural Oklahoma for economic development all across our state," said John Collison, OKFB vice president of public policy and media relations. "We sincerely appreciate Gov. Fallin for continuing to stand with and support the agricultural industry, and we are honored to endorse her in her campaigning efforts."


The OKAgFund, Oklahoma Farm Bureau's political action committee, is made up of OKFB members from across the state who identify candidates who demonstrate beliefs and actions that are consistent with Oklahoma Farm Bureau's policies, regardless of political affiliation. While the OKAgFund contributes financially to several state campaigns, an endorsement is the highest level of support the committee gives to select candidates.


Oklahoma Farm Bureau will be celebrating the endorsement of Gov. Fallin on Thursday, Sept. 25, at the Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech football game. The tailgate will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the southeast corner of Hall of Fame Avenue and Duck Street in Stillwater. The location is in a parking lot on the east side of the practice fields and the southeast corner of the intersection. 

Art Barnaby- Crop Insurance Premiums for Wheat Likely to Be Lower for 2015 Crop

Farmer-paid winter wheat premiums will be lower for 2015, regardless of the Risk Management Agency (RMA) rate changes. The reason for lower premiums per acre is the winter wheat crop insurance price election for 2015 has dropped from $7.02 to $6.30 and volatility has declined from 19% to 17%, an all-time low over the past 17 years. In 2013 the winter wheat approved volatility value was 24%. Those volatilities and prices are set by the market and out of RMA's control. The third factor for setting a premium is the farmer's APH, also outside of RMA's control. RMA does set the rate and the premium cost is then adjusted based on the APH, volatility, and base price.


Table 1 (available here) shows a comparison of a Great Plains wheat premium in 2015 vs. 2014, based on an APH of 40 bushels and a $6.30 base price. The rate comparisons were based on an enterprise unit. The farmer-paid premium for this farm in 2015 at the 85% coverage level declined by 6.59%. This means for the exact same coverage in 2014, farmers will pay 6.59% less premium in 2015. This was surprising given this county suffered one of its worst yield losses in 50 years. The volatility caused a 2.61% premium reduction, but RMA also reduced the rate by 3.87%, resulting in a total premium reduction of 6.59% at the 85% coverage level.


All but the 50% coverage level showed rate reduction. However, with the exception of the 80% and 85% coverage, all of the rate reductions and resulting premium cuts were due to lower volatility. Coverages from 50% to 75% all showed a rate increase from RMA. Without the volatility decline, premium rates for coverages below 80% would have increased (Table 1).  Click Here to read more about the different risk management options.  

It's always been a challenge selling US beef into the European Union. This goes back to the 1980's when they first banned product coming from cattle with hormone implants. Since that time the US has challenged the EU in the World Trade Organization courts. This US has won each time and there has had a significant penalty against European exports into the US that were eventually negotiated away back in 2009 when the EU agreed to open a duty-free import quota for beef produced from non-hormone-treated cattle (NHTC) raised under specific feeding and grading conditions.


US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Senior Vice President for Trade Access Thad Lively said the US has seen beef exports into the EU grow, but now there is a significant problem.


"In 2009 the Europeans agreed to create a new quota which would have no duty," Lively said. "That quota would be for product that would meet a specific definition, very similar to the product we produce here in the United States. We started shipping under that quota and saw good grow in our exports but over the years since then the EU has permitted other countries to also ship under the quota. Not surprisingly the volumes have increased dramatically and even through we've seen increases in the US beef exports under the quota each year, Australia and Uruguay in particular have really ramped up their shipments."


While the current quota year does not end until June 30, this is an issue of immediate concern. The quota is administered on a quarterly basis, with an allocation of 12,050 mt reserved for each quarter. In the current quota year that began on July first it looks like the quota is going to be filled. Lively said the first quarter of the total quota has been nearly filled, so as we go through the year the pressure on the quota is only going to grow.  Click here to listen to this Beef Buzz feature or to read how the quota is reaching critical trade levels that could be harmful to US beef producers.  

EPA Abandons CAFO Lawsuit in West Virginia

The Environmental Protection Agency's decision not to appeal a key federal ruling in favor of West Virginia farmer Lois Alt highlights the cynicism that drives the agency's water agenda, the American Farm Bureau said.


The U.S. Court for the Northern District of West Virginia earlier ruled against EPA and in favor of farmer Lois Alt in October 2013. The court rejected EPA's contention that the Clean Water Act regulates ordinary stormwater runoff from the farmyard (non-production areas) at large livestock or poultry farms.


Since no federal court had ever addressed the question of stormwater runoff from farms such as Alt's, the lower court's ruling carries implications for tens of thousands of poultry and livestock farms nationwide. An appellate court decision upholding that ruling would make it even harder for EPA to persist in imposing wide-scale federal permitting requirements on large animal farms (known as "concentrated animal feeding operations" or "CAFOs"). EPA's voluntary dismissal of its appeal signals the agency's desire to avoid a likely loss in the appellate court. The appeal could still go forward if any of the five environmental groups that intervened in support of EPA decides to go forward without the government.


"EPA knows its effort to regulate perfectly well-run farms cannot withstand legal scrutiny, and the agency doesn't quite know how to deal with that," AFBF President Bob Stallman said. Both AFBF and the West Virginia Farm Bureau joined the suit on the side of Alt. "Apparently, the agency would rather move on and continue pursuing its regulatory agenda farm-to-farm, but not defend it in court." Although EPA's motivation seems self-evident, said Stallman, "you wouldn't know it from the agency's spin machine."
  

Click Here to learn more about case of Alt vs. EPA.  

National FFA Membership Grows to 610,240 Students

Analysts forecast that the world's population will grow to 9 billion people by 2050. With global needs today to fight hunger and prepare for the expected population explosion, the industry of agriculture needs educated, skilled and passionate people dedicated to sustainability.  Today's students are answering that call, evidenced by an explosion in FFA membership throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the past year.


Membership in FFA today stands at 610,240 students up from 579,678 in 2013. Membership increased by more than 30,500 during the 2013-14 school year. The number of new, local FFA chapters throughout the country grew to 7,665.


"FFA, through agricultural education, is preparing our youth to ensure the security of our country's food, fiber and natural resources for years to come," said National FFA Organization CEO Dr. Dwight Armstrong. "Through real-world experiences, the nation's agriculture teachers are helping students develop the technical knowledge, skills and problem-solving capabilities to be the industry's leaders of tomorrow. FFA members will be tomorrow's advocates for agriculture."


The Texas FFA Association added more members than any other state, with 8,364 members. Total FFA membership in the Lone Star state stands at 103,379 with 1,021 chapters. California, with 76,470 members, is the country's second-largest FFA association, followed by Georgia with 37,698 members, Missouri with 25,935 members and Oklahoma with 25,561 members.  Click Here to learn more about the National FFA Organization.

This N That - CHS Gives Big to FFA, Big Iron Wednesday and Remembering Bart McSpadden

Tomorrow, CHS will announce its commitment to furthering agricultural education in the United States through a gift of $1.5 million dollars, to be given over the next 3 years to the National FFA Foundation.  The gifting ceremony will take place at CHS headquarters in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., just in advance of the National Teach Ag Day celebration.  A large portion of the CHS donation will be earmarked for the National Teach Ag Campaign ($275,000) and the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education.

The National Teach Ag Campaign is an initiative to raise awareness of the need for more agricultural educators and celebrate the contributions agricultural educators make in their classrooms every day.

Click or tap here for more details. 

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It's Wednesday- and that means the Big Iron folks will be busy closing out this week's auction items- all 717 of them- starting at 10 AM central time.                  

Click Here for the complete rundown of what is being sold on this no reserve online sale this week.

If you'd like more information on buying and selling with Big Iron, call District Manager Mike Wolfe at 580-320-2718 and he can give you the full scoop.  You can also reach Mike via email by clicking or tapping here. 

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Memorial services for Bart McSpadden are planned for this morning at 10 AM at the Crossings Church Chapel in north Oklahoma City.   

The 46 year old McSpadden died unexpectedly this past Friday and is survived by his wife, Kate, and children, Noah, Chloe, Tucker, and Luke, and mother, Donna McSpadden.

In the spring of 2013,  Bart McSpadden was honored with the okPORK Distinguished Service Award by the Oklahoma Pork Producers- one of the groups he represented at the State Capitol as a lobbyist.

We were there that evening for that presentation- and had  the chance afterwards to talk with Bart about those early days of working for the pork industry here in the state during what has been called the "Hog Wars."  Here's a link back to that story and that interview with Bart for those of you that want to remember some of the great things he helped accomplish for animal agriculture here in the state that are a part of his professional legacy.

I will miss Bart- he was always willing to talk politics and how things that were going down at the Capitol might impact rural folks- he told it like it is- and in this day of people always wanting to make themselves look good- that was refreshing and much appreciated.

Keep his family in your prayers during this most difficult day- and in the days to come.