Yesterday, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt helped President Donald Trump fulfill yet another presidential campaign promise, by unveiling a new rule that will rescind the Clean Water Rule of 2015 that we have called WOTUS. 

During a Senate Appropriations hearing, Tuesday, Pruitt announced that his agency, in tandem with the Army Corps of Engineers, would be submitting a proposed rule to repeal and replace the existing WOTUS rule, implemented by the Obama-era EPA, to the Federal Registry.

This action begins the process to repeal the measure, that has gained the reputation as being a tool for government overreach.

"We are taking significant action to return power to the states and provide regulatory certainty to our nation's farmers and businesses," said Administrator Scott Pruitt. "This is the first step in the two-step process to redefine 'waters of the U.S.' and we are committed to moving through this re-evaluation to quickly provide regulatory certainty, in a way that is thoughtful, transparent and collaborative with other agencies and the public."

This action by the EPA follows an executive order signed by President Trump back in February, instructing the agency to review the WOTUS rule.

The next step in this process, is for the agency and its appropriate partners to begin re-evaluating and redefining what constitutes a water of the US for the interim term.

To learn more about this move by the EPA to repeal the WOTUS rule, click here.

The agricultural community has been talking WOTUS for years- as the Obama Administration wrote a proposed rule that was seen early on as a massive land and power grab. We went thru the rule making process in 2013 and 2014- and then saw the actual rule put into place in 2015- and it has been in limbo since then because of legal action brought against EPA.

Since the Presidential campaign of last year- it was widely expected that a Trump Administration would roll back WOTUS- and with the announcement yesterday of a new rule that eliminates the current rule- the celebration has begun within the agricultural community.  Here's some of the react:

Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan issued a statement saying that, "After years of battling the Environmental Protection Agency's Waters of the U.S. rule, Oklahoma farmers and ranchers today applaud the agency's decision to rescind the rule."

Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey agreed stating that, "It is wonderful to see EPA, led by Administrator Scott Pruitt, finally come back to recognize that the true stewards of the land with the most vested interest in the preservation of the water, land and air are those that live, work and depend upon it - farmers and ranchers."

President of the American Farmers and Ranchers, Terry Detrick said, "The EPA administrator's comments demonstrate he clearly understands the problems this rule posed all over the country." To read the full remarks of these gentlemen click here.

Congressman Frank Lucas added to the discussion as well. "This Obama-era regulation sought to expand federal control over landowners and has generated widespread uncertainty among ag producers and other businesses throughout rural America," he said. Click here to read his complete statement.

Lucas' colleague and House Agriculture Committee Chairman K. Michael Conaway joined him in praising the EPA's announcement. "WOTUS has never been about clean water, it was about feeding the Obama EPA's insatiable appetite for power. Well that ends now." Get his full release about the EPA's decision here.

Texas farmer Wesley Spurlock, president of the National Corn Growers Association, put it simply saying, "The goal of the Clean Water Act is to restore and maintain the integrity of the nation's waters. The 2015 rule moved us further away from that goal. Repealing it is an important first step toward providing farmers the certainty and clarity we have long desired." For the complete NCGA statement, tap here.

"This is great news for America's pork producers," said National Pork Producers Council President Ken Maschhoff, a pork producer from Carlyle, Ill. "The WOTUS rule was a dramatic government overreach and an unprecedented expansion of federal authority over private lands. Read the NPPC's full remarks here.

"Farm Bureau looks forward to supporting Administrator Pruitt's proposal. EPA should ditch this rule once and for all, go back to the drawing board, and write a new rule that protects water quality without trampling the rights of businesses and the states," said Zippy Duvall, president, American Farm Bureau Federation. Click here to read more.

The Office of the US Trade Representative invited members of the agriculture industry to testify at a hearing yesterday to voice their opinions regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement, ahead of the negotiations set to take place later this summer between the three North American trading partners to review the terms under which they conduct commerce between our borders.

The President-elect of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Kevin Kester, a fifth-generation California rancher, participated in the hearing bearing witness to impact the NAFTA agreement has had on agricultural trade.

"NCBA strongly supports NAFTA because the terms of NAFTA developed Canada and Mexico into two very important export markets for U.S. beef," Kester testified at a hearing hosted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. "Quite frankly, it is difficult to improve upon duty-free, unlimited access to Canada and Mexico-so please do no harm and do not jeopardize our access." You can read more about NCBA's stance on the NAFTA renegotiations, by clicking here.

U.S. Grains Council Chairman Chip Councell also testified Tuesday, who stressed the fact that since talks began about renegotiating the trade treaty, tensions between our trading partners have risen.

"What is happening now in our relationship with Mexican buyers will change how the Mexican industry invests in infrastructure, impact our demand for years to come and impact individual producers like myself financially," he said. Read the full statement by USGC here.

Don Shawcroft, Colorado Farm Bureau president, stated during the hearing that, "A modernized NAFTA should at best eliminate, at worst reduce, barriers to trade that keep our farmers and ranchers from having a level playing field with our neighbors." You can check out more points made by Shawcroft, by clicking here.

This year, the US beef business started off strong with good demand, and thus far has managed to sustain that momentum, beyond expectations, even surviving the traditional seasonal peaks. And those in the cattle business are quite happy about this continuing trend, something Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel told me, almost never happens.


"That's very rare in this industry with all the dynamics that are typical of this industry, for everybody to be making money at the same time," Peel said. "But, it really is a testament to what happens when you have good demand pulling the whole system along."


Peel has observed market signals and indicators from all different segments of the market recently that point to strong consumer demand, from boxed beef values to retail prices and even spill over demand for pork and poultry, seemingly immune to the effects of the large, growing supply of those meats. But it is the influence of recent trade activity that Peel credits as the lynchpin to this sustained demand.


"Really trade in general, not just exports, but the combination of exports and imports are an important part of this as we go forward," he said. "Not only in terms of the total tonnage of products that moves in those trade markets - but also the sort of balancing of products that goes on."


Listen to Peel and I discuss the strength of beef demand in today's market, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

Obtaining intellectual property rights on a creation or invention in the food and agricultural industry can be a daunting task, but Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center can be a valuable resource.


 FAPC has worked on several projects and with multiple food companies, providing research and assistance for protecting intellectual property rights, which can be trademarks, copyrights, patents and such, said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director.


"The food industry has not used the patent process because companies are unaware of the procedure," he said. "FAPC can be used as model to help assist companies in acquiring intellectual property rights on products, processes, equipment and more."

A recent FAPC project focusing on onion food safety resulted in an awarded process patent for Unitherm Food Systems of Bristow, Oklahoma. 


Unitherm Food Systems, a market leader in innovative equipment technologies for pasteurization, cooking and chilling of raw, partially cooked and fully cooked food products and agricultural food commodities, developed a gas-fired flame grill to help reduce bacteria in products. Onions are moved along a conveyer belt and exposed to flames to burn the outer layer where the bacteria would reside. A secondary system with a wet scrub brush is used to remove the ash residue from the onions.


"The motivation to develop the process was a direct result of recalls of contaminated onions in Washington and California ," said David Howard, president and chief executive officer of Unitherm Food Systems. "The research has already proven beneficial both domestically and internationally."

Continue reading about FAPC's mission to assist innovators in the food industry, by clicking over to our website.

To the approval of Greg Fogel, policy director of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the House Appropriations Ag Subcommittee made good with farmers, ranchers and conservationists this week, submitting a bill that leaves conservation program funding intact for the 2018FY.

According to Fogel, the bill leaves intact mandatory farm bill funding for both the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), USDA's most heavily used working lands conservation programs. The Subcommittee bill also rejects the President's call to slash the discretionary conservation operations budget, which USDA uses to help producers write and implement conservation plans.

"These programs help producers increase soil health, protect water quality, and remain viable through persistent drought," said Fogel. "They are also oversubscribed year over year - meaning that USDA routinely turns away qualified farmers because demand for conservation support is so strong. We commend the Subcommittee for recognizing the value of these resources and protecting funding for CSP and EQIP in the FY 2018 funding bill."

Unfortunately, though, Fogel says the bill falls short in other areas important to rural America, failing to provide adequate funding to sustain existing programs for rural development and the Farm Service Agency.

Fogel insists the deep cuts to these departments will ultimately come at the expense of farm folks across the nation. You can learn more about the budget request submitted by the subcommittee this week, by clicking here.