Oklahoma Farm Bureau members are getting ready for the 2015 annual convention that will be held November 13-15. The 74th annual meeting will be held at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City. This year's convention theme of "A Heritage Worth Preserving, A Future Worth Protecting" focuses on the importance of fighting for agriculture and rural Oklahoma. The annual event serves as a premier opportunity for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers to gather together and make their voices heard as they set organizational policy and give direction for the upcoming state legislative session. Leading up to the convention, the state resolutions committee has met to review, condense and organize resolutions for its 2016 policy book. Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan said they are halfway through the resolutions process.


"It started with that member at county level," Buchanan said. "The county then took that resolution, pushed it forward and now we're halfway where our state resolution's committee has looked at those, pared those down so as speak and then they will have a group of those that they will present and recommend to the delegate body as whole in mid-November."


The delegate body will vote up or down on those resolutions. Buchanan said that will then define and describe their legislative agenda for 2016. The vast majority of issues will focus on statewide concerns. This includes support and funding of State Question 777, or the Right to Farm constitutional amendment. Members will also address the state's water and feral hog policy. Buchanan said there are federal issues that also need to be addressed in letting the legislative body know how those regulations are impacting Oklahomans. This includes private property rights and the nation's tax policy. Resolutions to OKFB policy will not be final until approved by the delegate body at the 2015 OKFB Annual Meeting.


The annual meeting also includes presentation of numerous OKFB awards, the election of three district directors, a trade show, general sessions and selection of delegates for the American Farm Bureau annual meeting in 2016.


For questions about resolutions and OKFB policy, please contact the Public Policy Division at 405-530-2681. For more information about convention, please click here.


I interviewed Buchanan about the upcoming convention. Click or tap here to listen to our conversation.

Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, writes in the latest Cow/Calf Corner newsletter.


Drought conditions, which advanced sharply in the late summer and fall, have decreased significantly with recent rains in Oklahoma. The latest Drought Monitor, dated October 27, showed only 2.79 percent of Oklahoma with drought rated at D2 and zero in D3 and D4, the worst drought categories. This was a significant improvement from the week prior. Despite rains in other parts of the state, the north central region of the state, an important wheat production area, had gone nearly 50 consecutive days with less than one quarter inch of precipitation. This region received up to an inch of rain as part of statewide rain coverage late last week. Additional improvement in the reported drought conditions are expected this week.    Last week's crop progress report showed that 85 percent of Oklahoma wheat was planted with 62 percent emerged. Both of those figures are slightly lower than the five-year average for that date. Recent rains will result in rapid wheat development and some wheat will be ready for grazing soon.


In the final report for the growing season, Oklahoma range and pasture conditions are rated about average for this time of year compared to non-drought years; with 78 percent of pasture rated fair to excellent. In many cases, pastures still have some green and quality is good. Estimated 2015 total hay supplies in Oklahoma are 7.3 million tons, the third largest annual hay supply ever for the state, and the largest since 2007. It appears that Oklahoma is in good shape with respect to feed and forage supplies and is ready for winter.

Click here to read more about Peel's outlook for the feeder and fed cattle markets.

The nation's corn, soybean and sorghum harvest has reached the homestretch. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported the nation's corn harvest was 85 percent done. That's six points ahead of the five-year average. Soybean harvest was 92 percent complete. That was four points ahead of average. Sorghum harvest was at 79 percent. That's seven points ahead of average. Peanuts were 72 percent harvested. That's seven points behind average. Cotton harvest reached the halfway mark. That's four points behind average.


The condition of the nation's wheat crop improved a couple points this week- but still is worrisome, with the good to excellent ratings fully ten points behind the snapshot of early November a year ago.

Nationally, the winter wheat crop was rated 49 percent in good to excellent condition, 39 percent fair and 12 percent poor to very poor. The Good to Excellent ratings stood at 59% at this point in 2014. Seventy two percent of the crop has emerged. That's in line with the five-year average.


Click here for the full National Crop Progress report.
    

Rain helped relieve the most drought-intensive areas of Oklahoma. In the weekly crop weather report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, precipitation averaged 3.4 inches across the state. Winter wheat planting reached 91 percent. That's two points behind normal. Wheat emerged reached 79 percent. That's slightly behind normal. The wheat crop was rated 38 percent in good to excellent condition. Canola emerged reached 85 percent. That's down five points from last year. The canola crop was rated 34 percent good to excellent condition.


Oklahoma's sorghum harvest reached 81 percent complete. That's 12 points ahead of average. Peanuts were 74 percent harvested. That's nine points ahead of normal. Soybean harvest was 51 percent done. That's three points behind average. Cotton harvest was 39 percent complete. That's one point ahead of normal. Click here for the full Oklahoma report.


Precipitation helped winter wheat development in Texas. USDA reports rain last week ranged from a trace amount to 15 to 20 inches in South East Texas. The state's winter wheat crop was 71 percent planted. That's behind the average of 83 and 55 percent of the crop has emerged. Corn was 84 percent harvested. That's ten points behind average. Soybeans were 84 percent harvested. Sorghum was 83 percent harvested. That's four points ahead of average. Peanuts were 57 percent harvested. That's 15 points behind average. Cotton was 40 percent harvested. That's three points behind average. Click here for the full Texas report.


Kansas also benefited from precipitation and harvest remained on schedule. USDA reports the state received half of inch of rain this past week. The state's winter wheat planting was 96 percent complete and emergence was at 77 percent. Both are equal to the five-year average. USDA rated the state's wheat crop in 45 percent in good to excellent condition. Corn harvest was 94 percent. That's near the average. Soybeans were 84 percent harvested. That's near the average. Sorghum was 77 percent harvested. That's 11 points ahead of average. Cotton was 20 percent harvested. That's near the average of 23. Click here for the full Kansas report.

CropLife America (CLA) is disappointed at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposal to revoke food residue tolerances for chlorpyrifos in response to a court-ordered deadline. In proposing this action, EPA has ignored the thousands of scientific studies that have examined and validated the product's safe use and agricultural importance. Chlorpyrifos is one of the most widely-tested products across the world and is an invaluable tool for growers on a diverse array of crops.


Following an unwarranted petition seeking these revocations, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court denied a request from EPA to extend its deadline to make a revocation decision to April 15, 2016. The court instead forced the Agency to respond by October 31, 2015, before EPA had an opportunity to complete its drinking water risk assessment.


"It is unfortunate that court-mandated deadlines helped result in the Agency's proposal to revoke food residue tolerances for a beneficial and wide-reaching crop protection product," commented Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America. "Unnecessary litigation-driven deadlines risk arbitrarily taking away valuable tools from all farmers, and this is just such a scenario. This is a drastic and unnecessary step that is caused by wasteful, agenda-driven litigation. We are confident that due legal and scientific process will make this proposed action unnecessary."


CLA looks forward to submitting comments on EPA's proposal.

Allen Moczygemba, a native of San Antonio, Texas, is the new chief executive officer of the American Angus Association, effective Dec. 1, 2015.


Moczygemba will serve as the chief executive officer for the American Angus Association and for each of the Association's subsidiaries: Angus Productions Inc., Certified Angus Beef LLC, Angus Genetics Inc. and the Angus Foundation.


He will also be responsible for implementing the Association's long-term strategic objectives and leading a team of more than 200 employees. The Association Board of Directors announced the decision Monday.  Click or tap here to read more about Moczygemba.

Choice middle meats showed a BIG jump higher this past week in the Boxed Beef Report provided to us Monday afternoon by Ed Czerwein of the USDA Market News office in Amarillo, Texas.

Prices for the Middle Meats were $17 higher- as buyers start locking in their needs for the holiday season dead ahead.

Overall- Ed says the comprehensive cutout value was almost three dollars higher this week versus last week- you can read more and listen to his commentary as well by clicking or tapping here.

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The next Superior Video Livestock Auction is set for this coming Friday morning at 8:00 AM central time- to be seen on both DISH Network Channel 232 as well as on this SuperiorClickToBid link.

26,000 head will be sold this Friday- details on the offering and more can be had by clicking here or you can call for information as well- the number is 1-800-422-2117.

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The 2015 National FFA Convention is now history- but we have lots of great photos that are up on our Flickr Album- spotlighting a lot of different aspects of the gathering of 65,000 FFA members and guests at the 88th Annual Convention.

Again here in 2015- we had four of our State FFA officers taking pictures during the course of the gathering- and pictures of the Convention from their perspective are among the 456 photos you can see and enjoy. 

Click here for the 2015 National FFA Convention Album, courtesy of our sponsors- ITC- Your Energy Superhighway, the Oklahoma FFA Alumni and the Oklahoma FFA Association.