Pork Groups Urged Congress To Pass TPA 

The National Pork Producers Council and 39 state pork associations Wednesday urged Congress to approve legislation renewing Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) so that major trade deals can be finalized and implemented to help the U.S. economy. Failure to do so would allow other countries to write the rules for international trade, according to the organizations.

The Oklahoma Pork Council was the one of the first state pork groups that stepped up to sign the letter that the pork industry has sent to all members of the US House and Senate.


TPA defines U.S. negotiating objectives and priorities for trade agreements and establishes consultation and notification requirements for the president to follow throughout the negotiation process. Once trade negotiators finalize a deal, Congress gets to review it and vote yes or no - without amendments - on it. Congress has granted TPA to every president since 1974, with the most recent law being approved in August 2002 and expiring June 30, 2007.


In a letter sent to all 535 congressional lawmakers, the pork organizations pointed to the benefits of agricultural exports, which have nearly quadrupled in value since 1989 - the year the United States began using bilateral and regional trade agreements to open foreign markets - topping a record $152.5 billion in 2014, and of pork exports, which have increased 1,550 percent in value and 1,268 percent in volume over the same period. The United States shipped more than $6.6 billion of pork to foreign destinations in 2014.


To read more about the benefits of TPA or to read the letter sent members of Congress, click here.   

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Names Attorney General Pruitt a 2014 Champion Award Recipient 

Attorney General Scott Pruitt is among nine of the state's top agricultural advocates who received the Oklahoma Farm Bureau 2014 Champion Award.


Attorney General Pruitt was presented the OKFB Champion Award for his continuous work to protect Oklahoma farmers and ranchers, including challenging the Humane Society of the United States.


"As the state's largest agricultural organization, Oklahoma Farm Bureau is committed to preserving the livelihood and legacy of our fellow farmers and ranchers," OKFB President Tom Buchanan said. "It is an honor to distinguish these state leaders who share our vision and who continue to help make positive strides for Oklahoma agriculture."


In addition to Attorney General Pruitt, the following legislators were also recognized for their outstanding efforts: Rep. Scott Biggs, Chickasha; Rep. Tom Newell, Seminole; Rep. Mike Sanders, Kingfisher; Sen. Brian Bingman, Sapulpa; Sen. A.J. Griffin, Guthrie; Sen. Ron Justice, Chickasha; Sen. Bryce Marlatt, Woodward; and Sen. Mike Schulz, Altus.   

Jim Gerrish: Insight Into Grazing Management and Cell Grazing

Jim Gerrish is considered an innovator in grazing management today, but it didn't start that way. In growing up on a rowcrop farm, he didn't have any experience in raising cattle or in range management. When he started out in Missouri, he had a very conventional cow-calf operation that calved in February and March and they fed a lot of hay. It was at this point that he realized a key lesson.


"If you are in the cow-calf business, you should stock your ranch to your winter grazing capacity, not your summer grazing capacity," Gerrish said. "So, we changed from being strictly a cow-calf operation to being a mixed cow-calf and custom grazed enterprise, so we brought in a lot more stock April through July and early August to utilize the spring flush of growth and then when those animals left we stockpiled those acres for our winter cow feed."

Gerrish was a featured speaker that helped kick off the 2015 Oklahoma No Till Conference on Tuesday in Norman.


"To effectively manage pasture, you have to get that stocking rate in sync with what your carrying capacity actually is," Gerrish said.


To do that requires lot of planning to determine just how many animals your land can carry through the winter and how many acres that will take.  To read more or have the opportunity to listen to my interview with Gerrish at the Oklahoma No-Till Conference, click here.   

Research: Key Pillar in Growing Beef Demand- We Beef Buzz with Polly Ruhland 

Research is one of the three main priorities for the nation's beef checkoff. The beef checkoff was charged to work in three areas in an effort to improve beef demand for cattle producers- Research, Education and Marketing. Polly Ruhland is the Chief Executive Director of the Cattlemen's Beef Board, the body responsible for collecting and investing the dollar a head beef checkoff on behalf of beef producers around the country. Ruhland said she can't stress the importance of research enough, because all of the decisions made in the other areas, are based on market research or other types of research.


In looking at the future of beef checkoff, Ruhland said she is a big believer in innovation. This is especially important for the millennial generation that craves a new eating experience all the time. She said product innovation research will be an important aspect in the future.


Another key area is human nutrition. Ruhland said human nutrition research will be critical to the checkoff to keep beef on the plate and to keep science-based information in the discussion in showing beef's role in a healthy diet. Food safety is another high priority that never goes out of style. She said food safety is the price of admission for consumers to trust the product. Sustainability is another key priority area. Ruhland said sustainability ranks about 7th in driving consumer's choice, but it is growing in importance as it moves up the list. 

To read more or have the opportunity to listen to this Beef Buzz feature by clicking here.    

NCC Responds to McDonald's USA New Antibiotic Policy

McDonald's USA announced Wednesday new menu sourcing initiatives that includes only sourcing chicken raised without antibioticsimportant to human medicine.


The National Chicken Council released the following statement, attributable to Ashley Peterson, Ph.D., National Chicken Council vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs:


"The top priority of farmers and chicken companies is to raise healthy chickens, because healthy chickens are directly related to a safe food supply. Responsible, FDA-approved veterinary treatment and prevention benefits animal welfare and human health by reducing the need for increased doses of antibiotics in the event of widespread disease.


"The vast majority of these antibiotics are never used in humans. McDonald's, veterinarians and animal scientists recognize their importance to minimize the use of those antibiotics that are important in human medicine.    


To read more from the NCC, click here.   

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.  

Climate Corporation Offers Farmers New Functionality with Climate Basic

Climate Basic is a free web and mobile app, used by farmers on more than 50 million acres in the U.S., that helps farmers optimize their daily decision making with field-level weather information. This spring, the tool will deliver an even simpler user interface for farmers, an upgraded notifications system, and added scouting functionality.


"This year in Climate Basic, farmers can easily identify historical and predictive rainfall, crop growth stage, and current and future radar from their home screen," said Gary Rudolph, senior director of mobile engineering. "Last year, farmers told us they liked the notifications functionality in Climate Basic that enables them to receive alerts when their fields are exposed to significant weather events. New this year, farmers can receive notifications across all their devices, web and mobile, and can retain them for their records," said Rudolph.


Coming this spring, Climate Basic will also include key scouting functionality. "Farmers will be able to add scouting notes easily in the field, add photos to their notes, and share their scouting records with their agronomist, retailer, or other trusted advisor," said Rudolf. "It's essential to offer these tools both online and through our mobile app because we know access to scouting tools anywhere, anytime is important to our farmer customers as they monitor their fields throughout the season."  

To read more about Climate Basic, click here.   

Calendar Reminders- Express Bull Sale Friday, Blackjack on Saturday and the Oklahoma Youth Expo Just a Week Away

We remind you to regularly check our calendar of events that is a part of our Oklahoma Farm Report website- we add stuff to the calendar almost every day and there are a bunch of things coming this month and into the spring in the days ahead.

Short term- we remind you of Express Ranches Spring Bull Sale that is set for tomorrow at the ranch in Yukon, Oklahoma. A total of 550 Angus Bulls will be offered- details are here.

Coming Saturday is the Blackjack and Friends auction in Seminole- details are here.

Next week- we have coming up the 100th anniversary of the spring livestock show in Oklahoma City- what we call today the Oklahoma Youth Expo.  We will have extensive coverage of the 2015 centennial event- from the first shows next weekend all the way through all four species and ending up at the Premium sale of top animals that happens Friday, March 20th.

We have the Oklahoma Youth Expo events listed on a day by day basis- beginning March 11th on our calendar.  Click here for the March segment of our calendar and look for  the Oklahoma Youth Expo entries daily through March 20- we will be covering the Youth Expo here in the email- in the Blue Green Section of our Website, on our radio reports on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network, on Twitter, via Flickr and on our Ag Network's Facebook page.