Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has announced his endorsement for Governor Jeb Bush in his quest to become the GOP nominee for the Presidency of the United States. Pruitt said they found common ground over federalism and the need to give power back to the states. This has become a core message for the Bush Campaign, in desiring a balanced relationship between the federal and state governments, a need to make sure Washington is not the center of the universe and is not so consequential in our day-to-day lives.


In receiving his endorsement, Pruitt has also gained a leadership role in the Bush campaign. Pruitt has been appointed to lead an effort nationally in restoring a proper balance between the federal and state governments. Pruitt will likely recruit other Republican attorney generals to join the coalition. Pruitt said Bush is committed to disempowering Washington D.C. and giving power away. Pruitt said Bush has recognized the federal government needs to be more limited in the power and reach of the office and respect the role of the states.


Over the last six years, Pruitt and other AG's have fought the Obama Administration over government overreach through healthcare, banking, energy, immigration and property rights. Many states are suing the federal government over the Environmental Protection Agency's 'Waters of the U.S.' regulation. An injunction has been entered for 13 states that are involved in a lawsuit in North Dakota, while the other 37 states, including Oklahoma, remain in uncertainty, as the regulation is implemented. With coalitions of states filing litigation, Pruitt said those actions will likely be consolidated in a proceeding in Washington D.C. At that hearing, he said they will ask the judge to extend the North Dakota order to stop the enforcement of the rule, while the case is pending. Pruitt said WOTUS is the most egregious and most far reaching rule ever to come from EPA.


"It literally submits decision-making that we have in respect to how we use our own land, to a first stop at the EPA, as far as getting permit authority to our own land," Pruitt said. "It is quite breath taking the impact it will have on our economy and on our use of private property, and so we've got to fight this, preferably we will get an injunction to prevent the implementation of it, because we need it as a country."


Pruitt is hopeful the WOTUS litigation will continue through the remainder of the Obama term. He said then we can get a President Bush in office, that will undo the rule. In by-passing Congress through executive order, Pruitt said the next President can reverse the actions just as quickly. 


I talked with AG Scott Pruitt yesterday afternoon. Click or tap here to listen to the full interview.

In case You Missed It- This past weekend, Scott Bulling with Superior Crop Insurance joined me for my In the Field segment as seen on KWTV, News9 on Saturday morning. Bulling talked with us about the signup deadline of September 30th for winter wheat crop insurance. 

Click here to jump over to our ICYMI story that includes the video conversation that we had with Scott- as well as the off camera audio visit as well- we remind one and all that you have to sign up for winter wheat crop insurance by close of business today.

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It's also deadline day to sign your enrollment contract for the federal farm safety net that comes out of the 2014 Farm Law. Our friend Chris Clayton with DTN penned a good blog on that subject a few days back- you may want to skip over there to read it- available here.

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A couple of events coming up have deadlines today as well. The Early Bird Discount for No TIll on the Plains Winter Conference ends today- details on that available on their website. The event is not til next January- but they are offering substantial savings if you sign up today.

And- the American Angus folks have a really good looking Boot Camp planned in mid October on the campus of Oklahoma State University- you cannot register on site or, for that matter, at all after today- so click here for those details.

Most Americans think the Endangered Species Act is outdated and needs to be revised, a survey by Morning Consult shows. The poll conducted in early August adds impetus to congressional efforts to overhaul the increasingly outdated 1970s-era statute.


The survey shows:


-- 63 percent of Americans support modernizing the ESA;


-- 62 of Americans believe the act should help with species recovery, as opposed to merely cataloguing changes in their populations;


-- 69 percent of Americans want the federal government to offer resources to third parties to help species recovery; and


-- 49 percent of Americans believe that state or local authorities, rather than the federal government, lead in recovery of endangered and threatened species. Only 31 percent of Americans favor the federal government taking the lead.


"The intent of the Endangered Species Act is inspiring, but results have been less so," American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman said. "Farmers, ranchers and environmentalists agree that we must save wildlife facing preventable extinction, but the current recovery rate of less than 2 percent shows the law is a failure."  Click here to read more about  the statistical summary of the poll.

Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources recently selected the 2015 DASNR Champions and Distinguished Alumni.

The word champion is synonymous with someone going above and beyond the call of duty to succeed, often on someone else's behalf or in support of a cause.  The purpose of the awards program is to recognize and honor those who are not graduates of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources but who bring distinction to DASNR and have demonstrated a continuing interest and commitment in agricultural sciences and natural resources.  This year's DASNR Champions are Linda Cline, Rita Sparks and John Williams.  Click here to read more. 

The DASNR also recently selected its 2015 Distinguished Alumni. This year's recipients are Minnie Lou Bradley, James Kennamer and Robert Westerman.


"While we have an extremely supportive and accomplished alumni base, Minnie Lou, James and Robert stand apart as exceptional achievers and leaders," said Tom Coon, vice president, dean and director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. "Their professional success and continued support of the division is a testament of the relationships that are founded and built on the campus of Oklahoma State University."  Click here to read more about this year's recipients. 

Both the "Champions" as well as the Distinguished Ag Alumni  will be recognized during an inaugural DASNR Honors night, Oct. 16 at the Wes Watkins Center in Stillwater.

One personal note- I am grateful that I was in the first "class" of DASNR Champions in 2011- and most certainly say congrats to all six of these remarkable folks- the stars will be shining brightly (a bright shade of orange no doubt) October 16th in Stillwater.

Op-Ed Written By: U.S. Senator James Lankford

"It's always surprising to me how often bureaucrats in Washington, DC, who spend most of their life on concrete, want to control everyday Americans thousands of miles away who spend most of their life on dirt. They think they know better than hard-working Americans, and nowhere is this philosophy more evident than in the agricultural industry.


"Over the last few years, federal government overreach has reached new highs. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Waters of the U.S. rule is a perfect example. With this proposal, puddles and potholes could be subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act, whether they be on private or public land. This new EPA action is not a result of a new law or act of Congress, this is simply the President "reinterpreting" a decades old law in a way that no president ever has before.


"We all want clean drinking water, but this unprecedented attempt to gain even more federal power will burden farmers, ranchers, businesses, private property owners, and state and local governments. Virtually every river, stream, and creek in the nation could be under the regulation of the Clean Water Act if the EPA gets away with this power grab. As we all know well in Oklahoma, if you control the water, you control the economy. In the past two months, we have cut the funding from EPA to implement the Waters of the U.S. proposal and a wide variety of effective private lawsuits have been filed against the out-of-control EPA. I have also personally talked with the Administrator of the EPA about the Waters of the U.S. rule and scheduled multiple hearings to determine where the EPA perceives they have the authority to change this rule."  Click here to read more from Senator Lankford.

 U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Tuesday awarded nearly $20 million through 385 grants to help support the start-up or expansion of rural small businesses.


"These grants will strengthen the economic fabric of our rural small towns and communities by providing capital to small and emerging businesses," Vilsack said today during a visit to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.


USDA is awarding the grants through the Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) program. Recipients may use the funds to provide technical assistance, training and job-creation activities.


A total of 5 grants are being offered to Oklahoma entities- including the City of Heavener, Eastern Oklahoma State College and the Choctaw Nation.  $406,000 is being dished out in these Oklahoma grants.

Click here for the complete list of grants nationally.  The complete USDA release is available here.

We posted the final commentary for Oklahoma Farm Bureau's radio guy Sam Knipp yesterday- as he explained to his listeners that after doing radio reports about Farm Bureau in Oklahoma for the past 19 years- he is hanging it up. 

Sam says that he has done 988 Focus on Agriculture programs over these past 19 years.  He thanks Oklahoma Farm Bureau for the chance to advocate for agriculture over these many years. You can click here to take a listen.

In visiting with Sam yesterday in his office on the third floor of the State Farm Bureau building across the street from the State Capitol- we relived days gone by- and the fact we were both doing farm radio in the 1970s in Kansas- I was at KFH Radio in Wichita and he starting out at the radio station in Pratt, Kansas.

Sam is one of the good ones.  I wish him well as he takes care of that list of "To Do" items that have piled up while he has been busy covering agricultural events and activities.

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Express Ranches is getting ready for their 2015 edition of their fall Ranchers Bull Sale- set for next Monday, October 5th.

With 300 Bulls headlining a great sale lineup- Express Ranch Owner Bob Funk and His President Jarold Callahan offer this invite- "We, at Express Ranches, are excited about the future of the cattle business and are proud to present you with this big, stout set of predictable Angus and Hereford bulls. At Express Ranches, our objectives are to produce high-performance, problem-free cattle that have moderate birth weights with superior growth and excel in Marbling and Ribeye."

Read more- and more importantly- learn more about the Bull Sale lineup by clicking here.


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