The House voted 240 to 179 Thursday for full repeal of the Death Tax, a tax that is threatening the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers across the country.  House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) Thursday issued the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1105, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, authored by fellow Texan Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX).


"As a CPA, I know from experience that the Death Tax hurts individuals who have worked hard and saved all of their lives in order to build up a nest egg for themselves and their families. Farmers and ranchers are hit especially hard, because their assets are primarily land and equipment. When a farmer or rancher passes away, even though he has already paid taxes on everything he owns, the sons and daughters who want to carry on the family tradition will first have to get over the hurdle of a whopping tax penalty that can reach as high as 60 percent. A repeal of the death tax is long overdue." 

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman released the following statement.  "Farmers and ranchers need tax laws that protect their family businesses. They don't want to be punished for their success. With House passage of the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015, we are one step closer to tax reform that will help farm families invest in the future and pass their businesses on to the next generation."  Click here to read more from AFBF.


National Cattlemen's Beef Association President Philip Ellis said H.R 1105 Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015 is commonsense legislation necessary for rural America.  "When did it become appropriate to tax death?" said Ellis, a multi-generational rancher from Wyoming. Click here to read more from NCBA.

National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson opposed the death tax vote, stating the move would place a larger tax burden on American family farmers and ranchers.  "Repeal of the estate tax puts a larger tax burden on those that are currently exempted from the tax," said Johnson. "Over 99 percent of small farms do not face the tax, as estates under $5.43 million, $10.86 million for couples, are exempted from it. As a result, NFU opposes completely eliminating the tax."  Click here to read more from NFU.    

At the state/regional level- we also have reaction from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, American Farmers & Ranchers, Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and the Texas-Southwestern Cattle Raisers.  

Click on the name of the group for their complete statement-  

Oklahoma Farm Bureau calls it a great victory.

Terry Detrick with AFR agrees with the House on the Repeal vote- but worries about potential budget offsets hurting agriculture.

OCA's Charlie Swanson calls this "important legislation" and thanks the Oklahoma House members for all voting for repeal.  

The TSCRA weighed in- saying they are pleased with the House vote and offered thanks to Texas lawmaker Kevin Brady for his leadership in getting this bill to a point of being voted on.

New Southern Plains Mobile Disaster Relief Unit Ready to Help Those in Need

Oklahoma will be better prepared to respond to natural disasters. On Friday, Oklahoma's leading agricultural lenders will unveil a new disaster relief resource at the Oklahoma City Farm Show. A mobile response unit will be presented to the Fellowship of Christian Farmers, a non-profit, nondenominational organization that promotes fellowship, mission work and relief efforts in agricultural communities.


A similar trailer was used two years ago after the tornado severely damaged Moore. Tony DeGiusti of Tuttle, Oklahoma helped bring in a trailer from Illinois from the Fellowship of Christian Farmers International. In using the trailer for about six months, he saw firsthand how this unit helped people by providing a place to take a hot shower and wash clothes. DeGiusti said this was beneficial to the families in need as well as for those individuals helping with disaster relief. In living in tornado alley, he said it was important to get a trailer like this closer to Oklahoma.


Five Farm Credit associations based in Oklahoma and the Denver, Colorado based CoBank came together to build and donate a trailer to the Fellowship of Christian Farmers. The $60,000 mobile unit has six showers and laundry facilities to victims and first responders following tornadoes, wildfires, floods and other rural disasters. The trailer was built by Exiss trailer at El Reno and fitted by Sierra Trailers. The unit will be based in Oklahoma and used for disaster response across the state as well as in Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado and New Mexico. 

Click here to read more or have the opportunity to listen to my Thursday conversation with Tony DeGiusti.    

Anderson See Stronger Canola Prices by Harvest- and Likely for Wheat as Well 

Canola prices have been on a downward slide. In looking at forward contracts for harvest delivery, Oklahoma State University Crop Marketing Specialist Dr. Kim Anderson said prices are at about $6 per bushel in most places in Oklahoma. That's well below harvest prices for 2014, when prices were around $10 per bushel.


On this weekend's edition of SUNUP, host Lyndall Stout asks Anderson about the $4 drop in prices. Anderson said in Oklahoma canola prices are based on soybean meal and soybean oil prices. As the price of soybeans have dropped so has the price of canola.


In looking at canola prices in North Dakota. Anderson said last June prices were about $10.45 per bushel. Now prices are at around $8.40 a bushel, so while prices are down $4 a bushel in Oklahoma, they are down $2 in North Dakota. Anderson said that's a positive indication of where prices can go.


Rain this past week has driven wheat prices lower. Anderson said wheat prices dropped by 40 cents for about a seven percent decline over the last week. In talking with farmers in Garfield County, Anderson said these farmers felt the rain helped boost their wheat yields from 12 to 15 bushels an acre to around 25 bushels. He said that increase in yield will help offset the decline in the wheat price.

To hear Kim's conversation with Lydall ahead of watching it on the TV on Saturday and Sunday- click here to listen and you can also see the full SUNUP lineup for this weekend- as will be seen on OETA. 

Huge Rains Dent Drought and Even Bring Flood Warnings in Western Oklahoma as State Drought Ratings Fell Three Percentage Points in Latest US Drought Monitor

As we are wrapping up the writing of this morning's email- it has been raining hard in western and northwestern Oklahoma since last night- and the amounts are really piling up.

At least three Oklahoma Mesonet weather stations have reported over three inches of rain in the past 24 hours- Cheyenne(again) with 3.7 inches of rain, Freedom with 3.4 and Putnam with 3 inches in the rain gauge.  Five more locations in northwest Oklahoma have more than two inches and lots more with over an inch- between the rain of last weekend and what is happening as we write- it's the best rainfall for this quarter of the state in well over a year.  

Click here for the realtime Mesonet map going back 48 hours to get a really good updating map of the rain as it moves into central Oklahoma.

MEANWHILE- Rainfall this past weekend did help reduce the percentage of Oklahoma in drought conditions from 68.27% to 65.21%. The area of Oklahoma that now has no drought designation at all (which includes no Abnormal drought designation is up to 23.52%.

To review the latest Oklahoma Weather Mesonet Ticker from State Climatologist Gary McManus, click here.


As of Thursday afternoon at 5:00 PM, rainfall has returned to the Oklahoma Panhandle and far southwestern Oklahoma, with much of the state expected to receive rain in the next couple of days. Click here to read a graphic showing the latest predictions.  

Tonsor Finds Challenges Ahead for U.S. Beef Exports

There are some head winds for beef exports in the short term for the U.S. cattle industry. Kansas State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Glynn Tonsor said several factors popped up in the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate report. The WASDE report includes export projections for the year. Tonsor said the report continues to make revisions downward for U.S. meat exports in nearly every category.


The U.S. continues to find new cases of H5N2 Avian Influenza. Tonsor said with a growing number of countries or regions making ban announcements, the U.S. will export less broiler and turkey meat in 2015. The April WASDE report forecast has U.S. turkey/poultry exports down about six percent, which Tonsor calls a notable reduction because of the amount of poultry exported by the U.S.


The U.S. continues to deal with ongoing exchange rate problems with the stronger U.S. dollar and companies continue to recover from the west coast labor dispute. 


The Australian drought has put more Australian beef on the global market. Tonor said that has created more competition for the U.S. cattle producer. With the stronger U.S. dollar that has not been favorable for American beef exports. There is also the ongoing Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) dilemma. He said all of those factors are bearish for the short term for U.S. beef exports because these factors are making it harder to export American beef. In looking at the long term outlook, Tonsor said he remains bullish on U.S. beef exports. 

Click here to read more or to listen to this Beef Buzz feature.     

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.

USDA Announces Record Number of Organic Producers in U.S

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Wednesday that the organic industry continues to show remarkable growth domestically and globally, with 19,474 certified organic operations in the United States and a total of 27,814 certified organic operations around the world.


According to data released by the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP), the number of domestic certified organic operations increased by more than 5 percent over the last year. Since the count began in 2002, the number of domestic organic operations has increased by over 250 percent. The certified operations list is available at apps.ams.usda.gov/nop.


"As demand for organic products continues to soar, more and more producers are entering the organic market," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "USDA tools and resources have created opportunities for organic farmers and more options for organic consumers. Growing demand for organic goods can be especially helpful to smaller family operations. The more diverse type of operations and the more growing market sectors we have in American agriculture, the better off our country's rural economy will be."
 

Click here to read more about USDA's commitment to the nation's organic farmers.  

This N That- Oklahoma City Farm Show and TPA Bills Introduced

The 2015 Oklahoma City Farm Show had a great first day- excellent foot traffic as a lot of folks came on opening day this year.  

The show continues today (bring your rain gear) and tomorrow- 9 to 5 today and 9 to 4 on Saturday.  Come see is in the Cox Pavilion and be sure to sign up for the Priefert Round Pen than is being used by Horse Trainer Scott Daily- you can sign up out at the Horse Training location(which may be rather wet today) or inside at our Radio Oklahoma Ag Network booth.

We enjoyed chatting with a lot of both new friends and folks we have known for decades.

To learn more about the OKC Farm Show- click here and be sure to check out the interactive map of where all the exhibitors are at this link(main website of the Farm Show)

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Senior lawmakers reached agreement Thursday on a bipartisan trade promotion authority bill that has already ignited a fierce fight between President Barack Obama and liberal Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Two Republicans - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan - negotiated for months on the "fast track" trade legislation with Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has faced intense pressure from labor and progressive groups to walk away from the talks.

Obama needs the legislation to finish negotiations on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement with Japan and 10 other countries, a trade deal that would be the largest ever for the United States and is considered to be a vital deal for access by US agriculture in these Pacific Rim markets. 

A whole host of ag groups have been offering their support for this deal- we will have a rundown of that support coming in the Monday email- and you can review those reactions later today on our website- OklahomaFarmReport.Com.