Oklahoma Congressional Delegation United in Call for Federal Disaster Relief After June 17 Storm

Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) along with Representatives Tom Cole (R-OK), Frank Lucas (R-OK), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), and Josh Brecheen (R-OK) sent a letter of support to President Biden to formally request disaster relief funding after the June 17 storm throughout the state. The delegation has remained engaged on the status of the storm clean up and the necessary assistance needed for the last two weeks. The letter of support from the delegation was sent in conjunction with the request filed by Oklahoma Emergency Management.

The delegation wrote, “We write in support of the formal request from the State of Oklahoma, through the office of Governor Kevin Stitt, that was submitted on July 1, 2023, for major disaster declaration, including categories A-G of Public Assistance, for Beaver, Cimarron, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Creek Delaware, Harper, Jefferson, Love, Major, McCurtain, Payne Pushmataha, Rogers, Stephens, Tulsa, and Woodward Counties to recover from last month’s severe weather, which included sustained wind in excess of 80 miles per hour. An Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency in these counties (E.O. 2023-18) was issued on June 20, 2023.

“State and local officials have informed us that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response and recovery is beyond the combined capability of the state and local governments, and that federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, and to ensure the safety of these communities. As such, we respectfully urge you to approve the Governor’s request for the counties listed above, along with any subsequently added counties.”

The Oklahoma Agriculture Mediation Program knows this is a hard time for farmers and ranchers. We want you to know we are still open, and we are still here for you. The Ag Mediation program is a free service that provides mediation to agriculture producers who may need help with ag-related disputes.

At Oklahoma Ag Mediation, we have been helping people in agriculture resolve conflicts since 1987. We know firsthand about working together to resolve conflicts, so you don’t have to go through the court systems. Let our professional mediators help you. Mediation is allowed for lease issues, farmer/neighbor disputes, family farm transitions, and more. These services are available at no cost for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers in all 77 counties. For more information, you can go to ok.gov/mediation, or give us a call at 800 248 5465.

Even in Tough Times, Oklahoma’s Wheat Crop Pushes the Limits Because of Top-Tier Genetics

I had the chance to talk with Mark Hodges, the Executive Director of Oklahoma Genetics Inc., about this year’s winter wheat crop and harvest.

“There is some good wheat out there in areas,” Hodges said. “It is really a mosaic pattern because it doesn’t necessarily relate to grazed and ungrazed, not that there was much to graze to start with.”

Unfortunately, Hodges said, when it did start to rain, in many places, it only brought on weeds because of the time period. As quality data starts to come out, Hodges said there has been some great quality, but this crop has been very diverse in its range because of weather conditions.

With Oklahoma’s outstanding genetics and wheat breeding team led by Dr. Carver at Oklahoma State University, Hodges said even in tough times, Oklahoma’s winter wheat crop pushes the limits.

“Oklahoma has got the best wheat breeder in the world and the best breeding team in the world,” Hodges said.

Regarding OGI wheat that will be sold and planted this next year, Hodges said one of the challenges is finding where the seed is available and how to get it to areas that do not have it.

USDA’s acreage estimates Bearish for new-crop corn, Bullish for new-crop soybeans and Neutral for total U.S. wheat

On Friday, USDA released its Acreage and June 1 Grain Stocks reports. Grain Stocks is the quarterly report showing a count of remaining old crop as of June 1. For corn and soybeans this is what is left over after three quarters of usage. For wheat, which operates on a June 1 – May 31 marketing year, this ends the old crop year. There are no numbers showing old crop production or demand in this report. Changes implied by this report will be reflected on the next WASDE set for July 12. The second report, Acreage, is USDA’s second major farmer survey of the year. 63,700 producers participated in today’s report. Of note for this report, different than the March Prospective Plantings, this report held both a planted and harvested estimate.

Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with Allendale’s Rich Nelson about the latest numbers for Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, and he said yield may be a discussion point going forward.

“No major changes on the planting issue here, especially for the hard red issue where we did see perhaps a bit better harvest acres than expected," Nelson said. "I think that will have to come into play these next few weeks, especially as we can further move through harvest. And we’re now also having a more serious discussion regarding yields here.”

Nelson said on the Grain Stocks report that wheat exports have had a rough season.

“Keep in mind these numbers do include March- April- May very well-known poor export sales, and I’ve got to say that also we understand the new crop sales," Nelson said. "As an example, Thursday, we saw a record-low new crop sale for that specific week. So no change in the export sales problem. This would have implied surprisingly better feed use in that March, April, May period of all things.”

When it comes to the Acreage report, Nelson said the harvest acre totals will be a big discussion point.

"That’s a clear discussion point for us on these issues these next few weeks, maybe not for corn and soybeans in a dramatic issue," Nelson said. "What I will say for wheat, the big surprise here for us is USDA dropped the planting numbers by 200,000, which was reasonable for wheat, but they raised the harvested acre estimate by 0.6, so they revised better.”

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am visiting with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Chief Counsel Mary-Thomas Hart about NCBA’s fight against the Biden Administration on the Waters of the U.S. rule.

The NCBA has joined a broad coalition suing the Biden Administration over their reluctance to move off their rule and rewrite the new WOTUS rule after the Supreme Court decision that did away with the significant nexus concept. NCBA and litigation partners filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas asking the federal court to issue a nationwide vacatur of the 2023 Biden Administration’s WOTUS definition.

“This is following the May 2023 unanimous opinion from the Supreme Court in Sackett v. EPA, where they found that the significant nexus test was a violation of the Clean Water Act,” Hart said.

There is a lot of variation, Hart said, in how different groups of stakeholders read the impacts of the Supreme Courts’ decision, even though it was a unanimous opinion.

“The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers have now said they believe they can make some small adjustments to the existing WOTUS decision and basically give us a direct final rule that will comply with this Supreme Court standard without going through notice and comment rulemaking and without providing the opportunity for substantive stakeholder involvement in that process.”

Despite Oklahoma’s Increase In Planted Wheat Acreage, 2023 Harvested Acres Are Estimated Lower

For the U.S., The 2023 winter wheat planted area is estimated at 37.0 million acres, down 1 percent from the previous estimate but up 11 percent from last year. Of the total planted acreage, approximately 25.7 million acres are Hard Red Winter, 7.66 million acres are Soft Red Winter, and 3.68 million acres are White Winter. Much of the Central Plains and Ohio Valley States are expecting increased planted acres from 2022. If realized, Utah will have a record low planted area.

In Oklahoma, 4.6 million acres of winter wheat were planted in 2023, up from last year’s planted acreage of 4.3 million acres. In 2022, 2.45 million acres of winter wheat was harvested in Oklahoma, down from the 2023 estimate of 2.6 million acres.

In 2022, Oklahoma harvested 3.02 million acres of hay, down from this year’s estimate of 3.54 million acres. Oklahoma is predicted to harvest the second largest acreage of hay, behind Texas at 4.7 million acres and ahead of Missouri at 3.2 million acres of hay.

Oklahoma planted less cotton this year, at 570,000 acres, below last year’s planted number of 670,000 acres. In 2022, Oklahoma harvested 230,000 acres of cotton- this year’s harvest estimates are not reported yet.

The state planted 370,000 acres of corn this year, ahead of last year’s plantings of 350,000 acres. In 2022, Oklahoma harvested 200,000 acres of corn for grain. This year the state is estimated to harvest 330,000 acres of corn for grain.

Plains Grains Updates Harvest Progress in their End of June Report

Here is the weekly Hard Red Winter Harvest Summary from Plains Grains:

 As of June 29th, harvest in Texas is 74% complete, Oklahoma 68% complete, and Kansas 35% complete.

As of this latest report- there is still no quality testing data available for the 2023 HRW crop.

According to Plains Grains- Results will be reported once a sample has completed all the grade and test factors that being looked at. Seventy samples have arrived and are undergoing testing. There is no reportable data this week.

Balancing the State Budget-State Treasurer Todd Russ

Across the country, the core constitutional objective for state governments during their legislative sessions is passing a state budget. The same is true for Oklahoma.

As the State Treasurer, I serve on the Board of Equalization (BOE), which is comprised of six statewide elected officials and one appointed official. The BOE provides an estimate of all revenue that’s available to be appropriated for the upcoming fiscal year.

Using this estimate, the Governor presents an executive budget proposal during his State of the State address, House and Senate leaders hold committee hearings to consider additional spending requests, and then negotiations ensue.

The Oklahoma Constitution and statutes require the approval of a balanced budget for the next fiscal year. In order to provide some breathing room, appropriations are limited to no more than 95% of certified revenue estimates.

The wisdom of our forefathers is clear. Compared to many states, Oklahoma has stringent budgeting standards. These conservative principles are designed to prevent deficits and the accumulation of massive and unmanageable debts.

NFU Releases 2023 Farmer’s Share of Fourth of July Food Dollar

On Friday- National Farmers Union (NFU) released the 2023 numbers of the Farmer’s Share of the food dollar for several items typically served at a Fourth of July cookout. 

“Year after year we’re seeing a troubling trend of farmers earning less and less of the dollars that Americans spend at the grocery store,” said NFU President Rob Larew.

“Whether it’s the highly consolidated meatpacking industry, or harmful mergers in the grocery sector, farmers and consumers are being squeezed out of their hard-earned money.” 

Last year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the farmer’s share of the food dollar had reached a historic low at just 14.5 cents of every dollar spent.  

President Larew added, “It doesn’t have to be this way. Through our Fairness for Farmers campaign, we’re fighting for a 2023 Farm Bill that creates fairer and more competitive markets that benefit farmers and consumers.” 

Included in the 2023 Fourth of July Farmer’s Share numbers are: 

• 8ct Hamburger Buns: Retail price, $3.49. Farmer’s Share, $0.10 
• 2lbs Ground Beef: Retail price, $11.07. Farmer’s Share, $3.42 
• 1lb Tomatoes: Retail price, $2.00. Farmer’s Share, $0.42 
• 1lb Lettuce: Retail price, $2.79. Farmer’s Share, $0.76 
• Party Size Potato Chips: Retail price, $5.99. Farmer’s Share, $0.29 
• 2l Soda: Retail price, $1.19. Farmer’s Share, $0.09 

Data for this publication was sourced from USDA NASS, and other industry sources. Click here for more information on the Farmer’s Share.