Vilsack Addresses the 'Beef' Over Dietary Guidelines

Keeping beef on America's plate was a hot topic during a recent meeting with U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. The head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture took questions from the crowd during the celebration of the one-year enactment of the Farm Bill on Friday at Redlands Community College. Richard Gebhart, who serves as the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association President and Vice Chairman of the Oklahoma Beef Council voiced his concerns that the nation's dietary guidelines could remove beef from its recommendations.


Vilsack responded by providing background on the situation. The nation's dietary guidelines are established by two government agencies - the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services. Vilsack said every five years the dietary guidelines are rewritten and every five years the responsibility for leading the effort is reversed. In 2010, USDA was in charge of the operation, so this time around HHS is leading. Vilsack said the process starts with a group of experts meeting over a period of a couple of years as they discuss a variety of issues and make a "set of recommendations".


"I am emphasizing the word 'recommendations' for a reason," Vilsack said. "Because it doesn't necessarily mean that is what the guideline will be or should be. It is what this group believes, ought to be."

To read or to listen to Secretary Vilsack's response, click here. 

Producer Support of Beef Checkoff Remains High

Three out of four producers support the beef checkoff, while the number who disapprove of the program, at just 11 percent, is the lowest in program history, according to a recent survey of 1,209 beef and dairy producers nationwide.


The random survey conducted by the independent firm Aspen Media & Market Research in late December 2014 and early January 2015 found an overwhelming majority of beef and dairy producers continue to say their beef checkoff has value for them in many ways:


-- 81 percent of producers say the beef checkoff has helped to contribute to a positive trend in beef demand.


-- 72 percent of producers say the beef checkoff contributes to the profitability of their operations.  

Click here for more about the results of the beef checkoff producer survey.  

Kingfisher FFA Member Quizzes Vilsack

FFA students got a lesson in government during the recent visit from the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Oklahoma Friday to celebrate the one-year enactment of the 2014 Farm Bill with Congressman Frank Lucas, the former House Ag Chairman.   At the town hall meeting at Redlands Community College in El Reno, Colton Smith of the Kingfisher FFA Chapter asked Secretary Vilsack about government funding of conservation programs.


Vilsack said when the Farm Bill passed, it essentially sets goals for each of the priorities such as conservation. Vilsack said it is most important to look at how much was allocated last year and how much will be allocated this year to truly gauge the available funding. He said conservation dollars in the new five-year Farm Bill will go further.


"In the past we didn't have a true mechanism for really encouraging people to really think holistically, comprehensively, partnerships about conservation," Vilsack said. "Now we do and those 115 projects we just funded, that will add at least another $372 million of conservation spending, that might not have occurred in prior years."  

 

To read or to have the opportunity to listen to the full response, click here.  

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate Tuesday would limit the amount of federal crop insurance premium subsidies a grower can receive, saving billions of dollars while affecting very few farmers, Environmental Working Group Vice President of Government Affairs Scott Faber said.


The Crop Insurance Reform Bill filed by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) would place a $50,000 a year cap on the amount of premium subsidies a person or legal entity can receive. The Congressional Budget Office calculates that this reform alone would save $2.2 billion over 10 years.


"From 2003 through 2012, American taxpayers paid more than $42 billion for crop insurance premium subsidies - a full 72 percent of the federal crop insurance program's total cost during that time," said Faber.

Click here to read more from the EWG.   

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 for Jerry's website where there is a link on the Left Hand Column where you can subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.

Refuge Compliance Report Shows Increased Compliance in 2014

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is pleased to announce that the enhanced Compliance Assurance Program (CAP), which includes on-farm refuge assessments, an online survey, and IRM education and awareness, is seeing strong success and an increase in both the overall number of growers planting their corn refuge and integrated refuge products.


The CAP is designed to improve compliance with Insect Resistance Management (IRM) requirements. The Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee (ABSTC), a consortium of Bt corn registrants, submits an annual CAP report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describing industry-coordinated compliance assurance efforts for Bt traits.


Adoption of integrated refuge products result in automatic compliance in the Corn Belt.  Click here for highlights of the survey indicate a strong adoption of integrated refuge products.