Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News

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U.S. Senator James Lankford said the Renewable Fuel Standard has outlived its usefulness and Country of Origin Labeling has hurt the situation more than it has helped. Lankford said he isn't opposed to ethanol, but he is opposed to RFS mandate. He said the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) conducted a study on corn based ethanol and the study found if the RFS mandate was pulled back, 13 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol would still be used voluntarily.


"Because the system is in place and people prefer that fuel, but what would go away is higher prices for it, because the mandate is actually driving up the price to the consumer and actually eliminating the amount of choice, Lankford said. "People that don't want to have ethanol, shouldn't be required to have it. Those that choose to use the fuel, it's in the system, it's already built in the cake at this point and it will continue to used for those areas and especially those regions where a lot of that corn-based ethanol is actually produced. It will be in our system for a very long time, if not forever at this point, but the mandate should go away quickly."


When the RFS was developed, Lankford said the situation was different. He said the conversation focused on energy independence and improving the environment. At that time, he said the U.S. was importing 60 percent of the nation's oil supply. With the recent finds of natural gas and oil reserves, he said today the U.S. is importing 27 percent of its oil needs. In terms of the environmental impact, Lankford said the Environmental Protection Agency has found ethanol increased ground based ozone.


The U.S. Senate looks to bring up legislation to repeal Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) soon. Lankford wants to get repeal as soon as possible. He has found COOL has impacted the markets and added expense to the consumer without additional gain. 


I interviewed Lankford in Washington D.C. this week. You can hear the full conversation on the Supreme Court ruling over the Affordable Care Act and how things on different in the U.S. Senate. Click or tap here to listen to the full interview. 

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The House Agriculture Committee Wednesday began a full-scale review of U.S. international food aid programs with a hearing focused on the nation's international efforts to alleviate hunger and malnutrition and to enhance food security.


The U.S. government provides international food aid through a variety of programs administered by either the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) or the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Members of the committee and witnesses primarily addressed the current major food aid programs including Food for Peace, Food for Progress, the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, and the Emergency Food Security Program. Discussions focused on the efficiency of the programs, potential areas of improvement, and the importance of maintaining an appropriate balance of in-kind and cash-based assistance. 

In the opening remarks, Chairman K. Michael Conaway said, "Agricultural commodities grown by our farmers here at home have been a core component of U.S. international food aid programs for over 60 years now. That said, I am aware of the continued calls for additional reform to these programs-Title II of the Food for Peace Act in particular. However, I think the balance struck in the most recent farm bill shows the agricultural community's recognition of those concerns. It is prudent that we monitor the outcome of this added flexibility over the life of the Farm Bill to get a better sense of what is working and what needs to be improved."  Click here to read more Chairman Conaway.

At the hearing, Ranking Member Collin C. Peterson said in his opening statement, "While the 2014 Farm Bill made important improvements to food aid programs, some in Congress have proposed additional reforms. I have said repeatedly that reopening the farm bill is a bad idea and I will oppose any efforts to change farm bill provisions outside of the reauthorization process. I do think it is important for the Committee to continue oversight of farm bill implementation, learn more about how these programs are working and what changes, if any, may be needed in the next farm bill.  Click here to read more from Ranking Member Peterson.

Chairman Mike Conaway of the House Ag Committee issued the following statement in response to new Senate legislation that contradicts the House-passed bill (H.R. 2393) which repeals mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for beef, pork, and chicken. Introduced by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), the Senate legislation leaves in place several of these burdensome mandatory labeling requirements.


"Any conversation about a voluntary program must be preceded by a full repeal of COOL, as we have an obligation to our trading partners to come into compliance. Earlier this month, an overwhelming majority of 300 House members supported H.R. 2393, a bill that not only brings us into compliance with our trade commitments and avoids harmful retaliation; it also ensures stability in the marketplace and offers relief from burdensome compliance costs through the repeal of mandatory labeling requirements for beef, pork, and chicken. These labeling requirements are costly for producers, burdensome for the entire supply chain, and provide no quantifiable benefits for consumers. By leaving in place a host of federally mandated requirements, Sen. Stabenow's bill still creates unnecessary compliance costs and prolongs this failed experiment. After four World Trade Organization rulings against the U.S. for mandatory COOL, it is time to abandon this program and ensure certainty in the marketplace."  

MEANWHILE- Senator Pat Roberts is planning a Senate Ag Committee hearing this morning at 9:00 AM central time- looking at COOL and the trade retaliation that is anticipated- Senator Roberts wanting the Committee to look at "what is at stake for America's farmers, ranchers, businesses and consumers."  Witnesses include the CEO of the North American Meat Institute Barry Carpenter, Kansas Livestock Association President Jaret Moyer and Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Hill testifying on behalf of the American Farm Bureau.  All of these witnesses are expected to call for complete repeal.  The one witness that represents the viewpoint that getting beat in the WTO dispute process is not important- we need to fix COOL and not repeal it is Leo McDonnell- on behalf of the US Cattlemen's Association.   

Details of the hearing are available here. To watch the hearing on the web- click here for the link provided by the Committee on their website.

Wheat farmers, custom crews and everyone associated with the 2015 Oklahoma wheat harvest have put in long hours this week- and that has resulted in significant progress being made in getting the wheat crop out of the field and into the bin. The Executive Director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Mike Schulte, has put together his latest wheat harvest report- here are a couple of the highlights:

"Wheat harvest continues to move forward with harvest completed in most parts of Southwest Oklahoma. Other parts of South Central Oklahoma have also rogressed with approximately 90% of the crop harvested around the Sentinel and Rocky areas. Areas around Watonga, Omega, Greenfield and West of Thomas are 80 to 85% complete based on locations. Around the Okarche, Kingfisher and Cashion areas harvest is starting to wind down with over 98% of the wheat harvested.

"In Northwest Oklahoma, custom cutters and producers made large gains over the last several days.   It is reported around the Helena and Goltry areas that approximately 75-85% of the crop is harvested.   In Burlington, approximately 75-85% of the crop is harvested. Wheat harvest is also moving along around the Ponca City and Blackwell areas being considered 65% complete. Producers are still fighting mud in the North Central and Northern regions of the state in the lower lying areas."

Schulte says that reports suggest to him that test weights in some areas have improved some- but that an average range for this indicator of quality continues to run from 57 to 59 pounds per bushel.

The full harvest  report from the Oklahoma Wheat Commission can be seen on our website- it's available here.

Producing more with less. That's the goal of sustainability. Dr. Sara Place, associate professor of animal science at Oklahoma State University has been tackling this very issue for the beef industry. She recently presented at the Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) convention in Biloxi, Mississippi. She told scientists that American producers are doing a good job in terms of sustainability. Over the last 25 to 30 years, a tremendous amount of improvement has been made across all sectors of animal agriculture, but especially in the beef sector.


"We essentially produce the same amount of beef today with 30 percent fewer animals," Place said. "That's a tremendous change in efficiency, if we are thinking about using our resources more wisely if we have a growing population."


A study published in the Journal of Animal Science showed that change over the thirty year span of 1977 to 2007. The project was conducted by Dr. Jude Clapper. In looking at the categories such as resource use and environmental impact, Dr. Place said the research showed there were declines in all those categories.


"So what's happening here, production efficiency, we are doing more with less," Place said. "If we have a growing world population, we have one planet Earth, we're going to need to do a lot more of this, right? Doing more with less is really key and the industry has been doing that."
 

I featured Dr. Place on our latest Beef Buzz, as heard on great radio stations across the southern great plains. Click or tap here to listen to this 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.

Positive comments regarding the approval by the US Senate of "Fast track Authority" for President Obama as well as his successor have come from a wide range of farm organizations. General farm groups, livestock groups as well as commodity organizations all quickly provided their praise for the 60 to 38 passage of Trade Promotion Authority on Wednesday. 

One of the first groups that sounded off on the Wednesday vote was the American Farm Bureau. President Bob Stallman was credited with this statement about the Senate vote: 

"The Senate's bipartisan passage of Trade Promotion Authority today sends a strong signal to foreign governments that we mean business at the bargaining table and are ready to complete new agreements that will break down trade barriers and open new markets from Asia to Europe. The American Farm Bureau applauds the Senate for moving this important trade legislation forward.

The Oklahoma Cattlemen also weighed in- President Charlie Swanson says "We thank the Senate today for passing Trade Promotion Authority.  This is a very good day for Oklahoma's beef cattle producers.  Special thanks to Senators Inhofe and Lankford for supporting this legislation earlier and again today."  

Our story posted on our website has reaction from livestock and crop agriculture- all agreeing that this is positive for US Agriculture and for the American economy in general. Click here for our overview of comments from multiple ag related groups.

Coming up tomorrow morning is the next regular video auction of cattle from Superior Video Livestock- they are nation's largest marketer of cattle- and tomorrow's sale will feature 18,000 head- including 5,200 yearlings and 5,000 weaned calves.

Details about the sale can be seen here- and you are welcome to give Superior a call for more information and to register as a buyer- that number is -1800-422-2117.

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Our Hilltopper friend in Stillwater, Dr. Jeff Edwards, has a new challenge that he taking on- the OSU Board of Regents confirming him at their most recent meeting as the new Department Head of PASS (Plant and Soil Science) within the Division of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University.  

Dr. Edwards is well known across the entire region as our state wheat specialist- and has done great work in supervising the wheat variety trials at multiple locations across the state's wheat belt.

Congrats Jeff- I know you'll do well!

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Kevin Meeks is a recent OSU grad coming out of the OSU Ag Communications Department- and he is a member of the current class of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Encounter.  OALE is the collegiate age group that is associated with the Oklahoma Youth Expo.  Each fall, a new class is formed and looks at agriculture across Oklahoma- travels to Washington to see the sausage making process of lawmaking in this country and wraps up their Encounter with an International Trip.  They also serve as staff for the world's largest junior livestock show each March- the OYE.

Kevin has provided us a quick look at the travel that the group has undertaken "Down Under" in New Zealand.  It's how we will wrap up today's email- Enjoy!

"The Oklahoma Youth Expo Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Encounter Class XII is traveling across New Zealand for its international encounter from June 20 to July 1.

"They departed from Dallas late Saturday evening and arrived in Sydney, Australia Monday morning. They enjoyed a quick tour around the city that included the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach and the Sydney Opera House, before flying onto New Zealand that evening.

"Sydney was a beautiful city," Kelly Vierck said, "the opera house is an architectural wonder, no photo can really do it justice."

"The group awoke in Christchurch, located on the South Island. They headed out across the vast Canterbury plains, a region known for its agriculture activity, passing tree-lined paddocks of sheep, cattle and crops with the ever-present Southern Alps in the distance.

"Rotational grazing is a large part of their livestock production," Mari Palacio said, "seeing fenced off sections of land is very different from the wide open ranches we're used to seeing."

"New Zealand agriculture faces many of the same issues as we do, such as water usage and generational turnover. One of the biggest differences is that there are no farm subsidies.

"Several farms, including a fresh vegetable market, sheep and cattle ranches, a major seed production farm and a dairy, have hosted the tour. They will rest tonight in the popular vacation town of Hanmer Springs, before making their way to the North Island.

"It is winter down here, so of course we've already had a few snowball fights," Kendra Rash said. "The time change was easy to handle, we're enjoying living in the future, compared to back home."

"OALE XII members include: Bailey Buck, Molly Gardner, Austin Kindschi, Kevin Meeks, Mari Palacio, Brooke Powell, Kendra Rash, Kelly Vierck and Lindsey Underwood. Also on the trip are advisors Jerry Fitch and Tyler Norvell and other sponsors."