Attorney General Scott Pruitt Tells HSUS to Disclose Information as They Sue Him Over His Investigation 

Attorney General Scott Pruitt on Wednesday again urged the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to disclose documents that the group is refusing to give to the Attorney General's Office pursuant to a civil investigative demand (CID). After being granted several time extensions, the HSUS failed to comply with the requests in a timely manner and instead has chosen to respond with a lawsuit.


The Attorney General's Office is reviewing the solicitation practices of the HSUS in order to address concerns that the group's solicitations in Oklahoma may be misleading. The concern is that the HSUS projects heart-wrenching imagery of puppies and kittens in solicitations in order to extract donations from unsuspecting Oklahomans who believe their donations are going to help local animal shelters, but instead, their hard-earned money may go to high-powered lobbying and special interest campaigns that are determined to shape state and federal legislation that would harm farmers, ranchers and other Oklahomans.
 

With their lawsuit, HSUS has added an element of political drama as they have retained former Attorney General Drew Edmonson to represent them, spending even more of the dollars they raise from donors in places other than in local pet shelters. 

Click here to read more, including the full letter sent by the AG's office to HSUS.  

Study Claims No Harm, No Foul from COOL Against the Canadian or Mexican Cattle Industries  

The National Farmers Union has helped fund a study that their President, Roger Johnson, contends shows Country of Origin labeling in the United States has not harmed Canadian or Mexican cattle producers since it was implemented by rule making that came out of the 2008 Farm Law. Contrary to arguments made by America's trade competitors to the World Trade Organization (WTO), this Auburn University study asserts that an economic downturn that sapped consumer demand - not Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) - caused decreased demand for cattle imports into to the U.S.


"COOL did not cause the declines in livestock exports to the United States, which largely coincided with a substantial global economic downturn that sapped demand for more expensive meat products," notes the study, authored by C. Robert Taylor, Ph.D., an Auburn University Alfa Eminent Scholar and Professor.


Canada and Mexico challenged COOL provisions related to muscle cuts ofbeef at the WTO in 2008, alleging the widely popular labeling law was a trade barrier that compromised their export opportunities and market access to the United States for live cattle and hogs. The cost of implementing COOL, they argued, discouraged U.S. meatpacking and processing companies from purchasing livestock of non-U.S. origin and, as a result, reduced the prices of these livestock exports.


Read more about how this study assessed the impact of COOL on market access(and hear the author of the study- Robert Taylor with his description of his work), by clicking here.   

Mother Nature has the state's wheat crop off to a decent start. Oklahoma State University Extension Wheat Specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards said across most of the state the crop is sitting in good shape. Throughout the winter there has been adequate moisture, but the state remains short on sub-soil moisture.


"We certainly have the potential right now to produce a wheat crop that is well-above average," Edwards said. "If Mother Nature cooperates, I think we could come out well-above average and hopefully more than double what we produced last year, which isn't a just a tremendous number, but still I think we certainly have that potential." 


Many of the state's wheat farmers planted the crop early to allow it to be grazed by cattle. Edwards said that has an effect on the grain yield. OSU research has shown grazing lowers the crop's grain yield by 15 - 25 percent. He said half of that grain yield loss comes from planting the crop a month earlier than recommended to allow for grazing. The remaining yield loss is because of grazing, so Edwards recommends farmers focus on minimizing their yield losses.

Read more and have the opportunity to listen to the full interview by clicking here.

Edwards will be the featured guest on the In the Field TV segment that is seen Saturday mornings on KWTV, News9 at 6:40 AM.  

NCBA Confident Congress More Productive in 2015

Now that we are beyond the State of the Union address by President Barack Obama, agricultural organizations can concentrate on things that Congress will be focusing on this year. According to National Cattlemen's Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Colin Woodall, he is excited about the prospect of getting several things done in 2015.


Three areas of priority for NCBA are taxes, trade and transportation. Woodall is optimistic work can begin on all three areas, especially with the Senate controlled by Republicans.   He said there are some new committee chairman that will be willing to address a lot of topics that haven't been addressed in recent years. One being ongoing concerns with the Environmental Protection Agency. He said one of the committees with jurisdiction over the agency is the Senate Environment and Public Works committee, which is now chaired by Oklahoma's Senator Jim Inhofe.


"He (Inholfe) has made it very clear that fighting EPA and pushing back on 'Waters of the United States', is going to be top priority of his," Woodall said.


 I featured Woodall on the Beef Buzz as heard on radio stations across the region that are a part of the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network. Click or tap here to read or to listen the full feature as Woodall discusses why NCBA is optimistic for progress in the Senate.   

Anderson Says Stronger U.S. Dollar Impacting Grain Exports

A stronger U.S. dollar is negatively impacting commodity prices. In looking at the dollar index, the value of the dollar has gone from 80 relative to other currencies in July. It's up to a value of 93.6. That's a 17 percent increase. On this weekend's edition of SUNUP, Oklahoma State University Crop Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson said he thinks that is negatively impacting prices. Click on the LISTENBAR below to listen to the full interview.


"Now if you look at the cost of wheat to our foreign buyers, it has increased that cost about a dollar (a bushel), that's transfers probably into around 70 cent lower wheat price," Anderson said. "If you look at corn, its 70 cents higher to our buyers, that has probably 50 cents on our corn market and if you look at canola, the dollar versus the Canadian dollar, it's probably lowered our canola price by about $1.15."


In looking at Kansas City wheat contracts, Anderson thinks contracts are positive with the March contract around $5.73 and the December contract up to $6.08. He said right now there is an eight cent spread between March and July. Normally July would be less than March, so he thinks that is positive for wheat prices. 

Click here to read or to listen to the full interview with Anderson.  

Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains- Click here to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.

House Ag Committee Holds Organizational Meeting, Approves Rules

Members of the House Committee on Agriculture met Thursday to formally organize and adopt the Committee's rules for the 114th Congress.


"We have a very talented team of proven leaders whose impressive and diverse backgrounds will be a great asset in the Committee's work this Congress," said Rep. Michael Conaway, who began his first term as Chairman this month. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to promote a strong production agriculture system and maintain a vibrant rural America."


The Chairman's full statement can be viewed by clicking here. Supporting documents can be viewed by clicking here.


Click here to watch the video of the meeting of the House Ag Committee.   

OSU's Food and Ag Products Center Plans 15th Annual Research Symposium Next Month  

Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center will hold its annual Research Symposium to highlight food and agricultural products research conducted by FAPC, OSU and other universities.


Sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists-Oklahoma section and DuPont Nutrition and Health, the symposium will be held Feb. 17 in room 201 of FAPC from 8 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. and will feature oral and poster presentations and a speaker presentation.


"The event will provide an opportunity for graduate students to make presentations of their work and for researchers to network with others in the food and agricultural field and possibly foster future collaborations among colleagues," said Peter Muriana, FAPC food microbiologist and chair of the symposium.


The keynote speaker, Larry Steenson, senior principal scientist at DuPont Nutrition & Health, will discuss "Use of Antimicrobials in Food; an Industry Perspective."

More details about the Symposium are available here.