A public hearing was held on Wednesday at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture to determine whether or not the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association is qualified to represent cattle producers in Oklahoma as the organization has asked to conduct a referendum to establish an Oklahoma state-level beef checkoff.

The OCA submitted petitions with over 5,000 signatures on May 15th to the agency, asking for the referendum- and if the ODAFF agrees to the request, the OCA announced at the hearing they intend to hold a vote on the proposal on November first, with voting open to anyone owning cattle in the state. The actual voting will be held at County Extension offices across Oklahoma, with an opportunity for producers to also request an absentee ballot and vote by mail.

Our Top Ag Story this morning explains more about the proposal- and features comments from two cattle producers who are a part of the officer team of the Oklahoma Cattlemen- President Charlie Swanson and NE District Vice President Jess Kane.  We also have letters of support from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and AFR that were submitted to ODAFF as well. Click or tap here to read more and to hear from Swanson and Kane.

The Ag Department was accepting comments until the close of business yesterday on the proposal- and it is expected a quick decision will be rendered by State Ag Secretary Jim Reese on the certification of the OCA as a representative of cattle producers in the state- and their right to conduct a referendum on a State Beef Checkoff.

The Oklahoma Wheat Commission released its latest harvest report for the state, yesterday. According to OWC Executive Director Mike Schulte, harvest continues to move farther North in the state, noting that the Panhandle has seen this week, its first combines rolling. Meanwhile, most harvesters are wrapping up throughout Southern and Central Oklahoma.

Despite some light rain in the western half of the state, combines were undeterred and continued on the faster than normal pace of cutting this year.

Schulte warns though that test weights will continue to drop the longer wheat stays in the field. However, at the moment, most farmers are reporting an average of about 60 lb./bu.

Yields are still varying across the state and protein levels remain range-bound between 10.5 and 11.5 percent.

 You can read the full report here, including a location-by-location breakdown of harvest conditions around the state. Here's a sample of the breakdown -

Perry- Harvest moved quickly over the weekend in this region and elevator managers are calling it 80% complete. Test weights have gotten lighter with the rains. Currently the average test weight for the region is 59 lbs./bu. Yields have been reported all over the board with reports as low as 10 on hail damaged wheat, and other reports with yields as high as 60. We have had a lot of reports of wheat making in the mid 40's to mid 50's in this region.

For the first time in more than a decade, beef products produced in the United States will officially be allowed into China's marketplace through the front door. Kent Bacus, director of international trade and market access for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, told me, this trade agreement has been a long-time coming and is very welcomed.

"There's been a lot of us cutting our teeth on trade policy with the Chinese for many years over this beef issue," he said, citing a 2003 BSE incident in the US that caused the Chinese to close their markets to US beef. "For the last several years, we've really been trying to educate the Chinese government and a lot of their representatives on just how safe our product is."

With many internal issues of their own, Bacus says food safety protocols are one of the chief concerns of the Chinese when it comes to vetting their trade partners. As part of the negotiated requirements to allow US beef back into China, only certain cattle will qualify for exportation, which adhere to a strict 30 month of age limit and mandatory enrollment in a "bookend traceability system," that will allow isolated risks to be tracked should they arise. But, China is not the only participant that has negotiated some fail-safes.

"God, forbid we ever have another BSE case - part of this protocol includes language that says that China reconfirms that its market will remain open if there's another confirmed case of BSE in the United States," Bacus said. "That's very important, because, in the past, we were left out of that market for 13 years."

Listen to Bacus and I discuss some of the terms of the recently negotiated beef trade agreement between the US and China, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

AND- if you want to hear our complete, in depth, conversation with Kent Bacus- we have posted it as a special RON Podcast- click or tap here to jump to our website for that.

The Ag in the Classroom Program completed the second day on the road of its rolling bus tour, dubbed, "Ag on Rt. 66."

Audrey Harmon is the state coordinator for Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom and is hosting a bus full of Oklahoma educators, touring agricultural operations and meeting with leaders of the industry in the state. Audrey is blogging about the tour for us.

Yesterday's itinerary included stops at Yazel Ranch, a wheat and soybean farm owned by Scott Johnson, as well as a tour of Miller Pecans and Gibson Farms, and ended the day with a drive through Picher, OK, for a steak dinner at The Red Onion in Miami. 


"All tour stops are connected to Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom lessons which are aligned to the state academic standards," Harmon said.

The group also met with leaders from the Oklahoma Board of Agriculture, the Vinita FFA Chapter and the Oklahoma Soybean Board.

Click here to learn more about Ag in the Classroom's rolling tour of the Northeast part of the state, and view a photo gallery of pictures from the tour as well.

During his appearance before the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture Appropriations, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue boldly defended ag spending and emphasized the importance of safety net and subsidy programs to the financial security of the ag industry and the people that earn a living from it - despite the deep cuts to the USDA's budget, as outlined in the President's FY18 budget request.

The Secretary's actions did not go unnoticed. President of the National Association of Wheat Growers, David Schemm, took to the wires and commended Perdue for living up to his promise to be agriculture's biggest advocate.

"NAWG commends Secretary Perdue for standing up for agriculture and expressing concern over the deep cuts to crop insurance, research, rural development, and international food aid," stated Schemm. "If implemented, the Administration's FY 2018 budget would not only inhibit growth in the wheat industry but the entire U.S. agriculture sector."

Schemm went on to say that without some of the USDA programs that are critically important to the success of the industry, US agriculture would inevitably lose its competitive edge in the world markets.

Click here to read the full remarks made by NAWG President David Schemm regarding Secretary Perdue's testimony before the Senate Subcommittee.

The American Farm Bureau Federation released to the general public yesterday, a letter inked by the organization's Executive Director of Public Policy Dale Moore to the office of the USTR.

Categorically, Moore outlines AFBF's priorities pertaining to the renegotiation of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement.

Here's a few of those priorities...

For a complete look at AFBF's letter, click or tap here.

The American Soybean Association was busy this week writing its own letter. This one addressed, not to the USTR, but Congress - calling upon members to provide adequate funding to the USDA's Farm Service Agency.

With the President's proposed budget cuts to the USDA, the ASA suggests that the FSA's inability to provide sufficient risk management services, would be detrimental to farmers struggling through the current down-trending economy in the ag sector.

"With the farm economy only expected to worsen, access to credit, specifically credit provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Farm Loan programs, is critical," the letter stated.

With the farm economy expected to continue its decline into the foreseeable future and lines of credit becoming increasingly more difficult to extend, farm loans through the Farm Service Agency will be even more vital to the viability of farming and ranching operations in the coming months, than they were previously in 2016.

The ASA's sentiments were joined by several other co-signers, led by the National Farmers Union.

You can read more and view the actual letter to Congress, composed by the ASA, NFU and others, by clicking here.