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The House Ag Committee focused on the operations of the US Department of Agriculture on Wednesday morning- and hosted the US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, as their star witness for the Hearing.

HPAI(highly pathogenic avian influenza) questions were raised- and the Secretary told members that the Department is glad that there have been no cases reported since mid June- but is preparing for round two this fall.  

Vilsack reported to the Committee that the government is gearing up to deal with as many as 500 incidents of avian flu this fall, far more than the number that devastated Midwest producers this spring.

Vilsack added that his department is working to increase the number of incident response teams to deal more quickly with outbreaks on farms.

"What we have learned is that we do need a command and communications structure that is organized and in place as quickly as possible," Vilsack said. "We're looking at ways in which we can identify assets and increase the number of incident command teams as soon as this thing hits."

Click here to read more- and to hear Vilsack's comments on the Bird Flu plans- plus his answers on Cover Crops being eligible for safety new payments and where USDA is on modernizing their computer systems.   

MEANWHILE- Oklahoma is also getting ready for Bird Flu flying into the state when those wild birds come south for the winter- Bryan Painter at the Oklahoma Department of Ag has an excellent article you can find on our website about a response exercise run this week in eastern Oklahoma that allowed ODAFF to simulate how they would respond to a case of Bird Flu being reported in the state.  Click here to read how that practice session went.  

Hundreds of Groups and Companies Urge  House Members to Approve H.R. 1599, the Safe & Accurate Food Labeling Act

A coalition of Farm Groups, Agribusiness Firms and more have signed onto a letter sent to members of the US House ahead of floor debate and a likely vote on HR 1599, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act.   

In that letter, the groups tell Congress "Today interest groups across the country are pushing state-level labeling mandates that will exacerbate consumer confusion and drive up food prices. Instead of informing consumers, these state initiatives are filled with loopholes, exempting as much as two-thirds of foods. The result will be higher food prices for hard working American families - as much as $500 a year for a family of four, according to a study by Cornell University Professor William Lesseri.

"By putting a stop to the patchwork of state-based labeling requirements, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act will protect consumers from unpredictable price variations and protect farmers and food manufacturers from having to contend with inconsistent and costly regulations.

"GMOs have been an important part of our nation's food supply for the past 20 years, and 70-80 percent of the foods people eat in the United States contain ingredients that have been genetically engineered. In addition, the leading health and regulatory bodies in the world, from the World Health Organization to the American Medical Association, have all concluded GMOs are safe."

Several Oklahoma groups signed onto the letter- including the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association, the Great Plains Canola Association, the Oklahoma Ag Coop Council and the Oklahoma Ag Retailers Association.  Over 475 groups and companies signed the letter- the complete letter is available here.   

Chuck Connor of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives is one of the leaders signing off on the letter- and his group also made a plea to folks interested out in the country to make contact with their House member and ask for a yes vote on HR 1599. Click here to read his comments along these lines.  

NCBA  NCBA Says Repeal of COOL Has to Happen- R-Calf's Bill Bullard Calls That a Terrible Idea

Congress has a limited amount of time left to address mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL). Earlier this summer, the House of Representatives voted to repeal COOL, now action waits on the U.S. Senate. Some agricultural groups continue to say the U.S. doesn't have to hurry in voting on the matter. National Cattlemen's Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs Colin Woodall said the U.S. is getting closer to having a retaliation number set by the World Trade Organization (WTO), which would allow Mexico and Canada to retaliate against the U.S. Once that figure is released, retaliation will begin, then the U.S. will have to go through the entire WTO dispute settlement process, which could take two to five years. Woodall said Canada and Mexico believe their retaliation request will approved by the WTO.


"As soon as they get the OK from the WTO, they will commence retaliation against the U.S. beef industry and many other industries that they have outlined as potential products to have a tariff placed on that product, as it's imported," Woodall said. "Now everybody needs to understand that a tariff is basically a tax and for beef we are looking at a 100 percent tax on our product. That will in effect shut down the trade that we have with Canada, which continues to be one of the top five markets for export of U.S. beef."


That's unacceptable to NCBA, especially after the 300-131 vote by the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal COOL. Woodall said now the U.S. Senate needs to take up COOL. Some agricultural groups believe Congress shouldn't be so quick to repeal COOL and there is a way to negotiate a fix. Woodall said there is only one way to prevent retaliation, which is full repeal of COOL. 

Woodall was our guest on Beef Buzz- and you can hear his comments by clicking or tapping here.   

One of the groups that Woodall is referring to is R-Calf- and their Exec is begging their supporters to call Senators and urge opposition to any effort to repeal mandatory COOL.

In a "Red Alert." Bill Bullard writes "Tell all your consumer friends to stock up on all the USA beef they can find because a handful of Senators are trying repeal Country of Origin Labeling and labels will soon disappear at their favorite grocery stores.

"Background: Tonight we learned that Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Hoeven (R-ND) are planning to introduce legislation tomorrow in the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee that would repeal COOL for beef, pork, chicken and ground meat and then convert mandatory COOL for beef, pork and chicken into a voluntary program.

"Cosponsors of this deceitful bill are Senators John Thune (R-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  

These are Senators that up to this point, have been strong supporters of Mandatory COOL- but now are responding to the likely retaliation that is coming once WTO issues their final authorization.  

We have posted on our website parts of the email from Bullard- click here to take a look. 

Renaissance Tulsa Hotel & Convention Center Chef Named Oklahoma Taste of Elegance Winner

Consumers got to taste the best pork dishes in the state Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. Twelve chefs presented their best pork dishes at the Oklahoma Pork Council's "Taste of Elegance" event at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. For the second year, the event benefited the Oklahoma chapter of the "March of Dimes".


"Taste of Elegance" supporters got to taste high-end pork from event sponsor Smithfield Farmland, as they showcased their latest product line called Smithfield DURoC Pork. Vice President for Specialty Programs Shane Ward said said Smithfield utilizes their superior genetic line influenced by Duroc genetics, the product is minimally processed and meets the stringent quality standards set by Smithfield. This specialty pork product combines taste, flavor, and tenderness in providing consumers the very best pork. He said Smithfield DURoC Pork represents the top two to three percent of their pork products. This event also allows Oklahoma chefs to cook with Smithfield DURoC Pork, so they can taste the difference in this high quality pork product.


"We see that the trend continues to move away from your general commodity type products to more of a value added or story type product and this is one of the programs that we're marketing in order to meet that growing niche," Ward said.


I caught up with Ward at the "Taste of Elegance" event. Click or tap here to listen to the full interview and to find the full results of the chef competition.
  

ITC Great Plains Invests in Oklahoma Healthy Soils Project

ITC Great Plains, a transmission-only utility operating in the Southwest Power Pool region and a subsidiary of ITC Holdings, Corp., the nation's largest independent electricity transmission company, is joining forces with the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD) by investing in the Oklahoma Healthy Soils Project.


"ITC is pleased to support OACD's Healthy Soils Project as both of our organizations are committed to the long-term sustainability of our natural resources," Brett Leopold, ITC Great Plains president stated, "Upgrading our nation's outdated power grid is critical to keeping the United States economically competitive and provides the infrastructure to develop renewable energy."


ITC Great Plains currently operates 436 circuit miles of transmission lines in Oklahoma and Kansas. The company is currently in the process of constructing new transmission lines throughout the southern plains to reduce system congestion, provide more efficient and cost-effective transmission of energy and increase access to a broader range of generation resources. 

Click here to read more about ITC's investment in the Oklahoma Healthy Soils Project.

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.

Rabobank Pork Quarterly Q3: China's Shrinking Hog Herd to Ignite Global Pork Trade

According to the latest Rabobank Pork Quarterly report, the global pork market recovered during Q2, with rising prices in almost all main exporting and importing countries.


Supported by limited supply growth, the supply/demand balance clearly improved across the globe, with the most notable recovery in the US, Canadian and Chinese markets. The EU and Japan were the exceptions, as pork prices dropped. This trend was supported by limited exchange rate movements.


Rabobank animal protein analyst Albert Vernooij says: "The main questions are when Chinese import growth will start, how much volume growth there will be and what the support for pork prices will be across the globe."


Click here to read more about the outlook for regional markets.
 

This N That- Cattle Reports Coming Friday, Oklahoma FFA Has Got Stars and TSCRA Has New Ranger in Oklahoma

Friday afternoon, USDA will double up on cattle counting reports for us to chew on- the monthly Cattle on Feed Report as well as the twice a year Cattle Inventory report.  

Rich Nelson with Allendale offers us his take on the Cattle on Feed count- due out at 2:00 PM on Friday afternoon- " June Placements are expected to be 6.8% smaller than last year at 1.356 million head. This is the smallest June placement in nineteen years. USDA's cattle feeding margin ended the month with a $131 per head loss on outgoing cattle. This would be seven months in a row of losses. Live cattle prices fell from $160 at the end of May to $148 at the end of June. Corn averaged $3.72 in Western Kansas in June ($3.67 in May, $4.67 in June 2014). June placements supply the November through February slaughter period.

"Allendale anticipates a Marketing total 5.9% lower than June 2014. There was one more weekday in June 2015 vs. 2014. This caused an artificial 4.6% higher adjustment. Our 1.738 million head estimate is the smallest June marketing since the current data-series started in 1996. This is the sixth month in a row of marketings at their respective lows for modern times.

"Total Cattle on Feed as of July 1 is 0.1% smaller than last year. That is a decrease from the June 1 total that was 0.6% over last year."

Nelson also believes the USDA Cattle Inventory report will show strong growth in the US Beef Cow numbers- predicting a 4.2% increase in the Beef Cow herd compared to a year ago- with a predicted 30.88 million beef cows on the ground as of July one in the US.  The Cattle Inventory report will also be released by Uncle Sam at 2:00 PM central on Friday.

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Good news coming from Kent Boggs, State Executive Secretary of the Oklahoma FFA Association, as the state office in Stillwater has gotten early word that Oklahoma will have a pair of Star Finalists competing in Louisville this coming October.   

William Maltbie of Burlington will be a Star Finalist in Agribusiness and Gatlin Squires of Kingfisher is a Star Finalist in Ag Science.   

I am biased- but I believe both of these young men have a great chance of bringing home top honors in these two categories, as they both have experience in competing at the national level.

One other name we will be talking more about as the 2015 National Convention draws closer is Logan Johns.  He is from the Morrison FFA Chapter and won the right earlier this summer to represent Oklahoma as a National FFA Officer Candidate this year.

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Finally, congrats to Brett Wellden of Guthrie- who has joined the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association as a Special Ranger for District 3 in south-central Oklahoma.   

Details on his appointment have been released by the TSCRA- and you can read more about Wellden by clicking here.