NO Shutdown- NO Farm Bill- NO Ag Appropriations

I am certain there are folks that are disappointed that the the Federal Government has not shut down as we hit the first days of October- but a last minute deal that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy cut with a few Republicans and a lot of Democrats keeps Uncle Sam open for business until mid November.

One Republican that is pleased is House Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole who offers this statement after the deal was done:

“While Congress should come to an agreement to fully fund the government, we should also remember that the funding levels instilled by Democrats previously in control of both chambers of Congress are unsustainable,” said Cole. “House Republicans are passing our appropriations bills to provide full funding and have already sent four bills, which would fund nearly 70 percent of the discretionary budget, to the Senate. But we cannot shutdown the government in the interim and punish the American people, our service members and civilian workforce. This legislation would avoid that while allowing Congress to finish the job and provide critical disaster relief to Hawaii which was devastated by wildfires.

“I applaud Speaker McCarthy for taking this path forward. Government shutdowns are not the way to govern and do not work as a negotiation tactic. I thank him for his leadership to avert a shutdown, something the previous four Republican Speakers did not do, and this body for working in a bipartisan manner for the good of the American people.” (Links to others in our Congressional delegation further down in email)

One GOP House member who is livid is Florida Congressman Matt Geatz- “I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week,” Gaetz (R-Fla) said. “I think we need to rip off the band aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy.”

MEANWHILE- to no one's surprise- we don't have a Farm Bill at the moment- altho that technically means we revert to 1938 and 1949 Farm Law language- USDA will be in no hurry to getting around to making that happen. In reality- federal farm safety nets continue to the end of the current market year for the carious commodities and one of the first things that must be dealt with by Congress is the Dairy Price Support program- which must happen before December 31st. The conservation programs are extended through 2031 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

More troubling is the failure of the House to pass the USDA/FDA appropriations bill this past week. One lawmaker who understands the farm policy of this country better than almost any other is Oklahoma Third District Representative Frank Lucas- former House Ag Committee Chair. He voted against the Ag Appropriations measure- and he told Politico reporter Meredith Lee Hill about the no vote- "It was my opinion you got to stop the tail from wagging the dog." adding that the spending bill was structured in a "destructive" way causing his no vote- joined by several other Republicans.



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The Small Grains 2023 Summary report was released by the USDA on September 29, 2023, along with the Quarterly Grain Stocks report. Farm Director, KC Sheperd, talked with Allendale’s Rich Nelson about both reports.

For wheat, Nelson said the Quarterly grain stocks report represents what is left over after one-quarter of usage, as the wheat marketing year began on June 1.

“USDA was active in revising wheat production higher,” Nelson said. “In most recent years, they have been having a lower trend on this report (Small Grains Summary), so they added 68 million bushels to this new crop wheat production number.”

Hard red winter wheat was not a major contributor to the increase in wheat production numbers, Nelson added.

In Oklahoma, 4.5 million acres of winter wheat were planted in 2023, up 6 percent from 2022. Acres harvested for 2023 were the same as in 2022, at 2.45 million acres. The 2023 yield is estimated to be the same as 2022 at 28 bushels per acre. In 2023, Oklahoma is estimated to produce the same amount of winter wheat as in 2022 at 6.8 million bushels.

Beef Checkoff Works to Keep Beef in the Conversation for Dietary Guidelines for Americans

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am visiting with the Executive Director of Nutrition Research at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Dr. Shalene McNeill, about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Currently, the U.S. is under the dietary guidelines that came out in 2020 and will expire in 2025. The next set of Dietary Guidelines are now being formulated by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee- who hope to issue updated Guidelines for 2025 -2030 by the end of 2024.

The dietary guidelines have been around since 1980, McNeill said, and she has been working with the Beef Checkoff on those guidelines since around 2000.

“These dietary guidelines shape how we think about what we are eating for healthy diets,” McNeill said. “As a registered dietitian, we really look to the dietary guidelines to make recommendations to people, so they are really important.”

One of the reasons why the Beef Checkoff funds nutrition research is to make sure there is scientific evidence of the nutrients of beef when these national guidelines for health are written.

USDA’s Insurance Option Offers First of Its Kind Risk Management Tool for Cow-Calf Producers

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a Weaned Calf Risk Protection, a new insurance option for livestock producers in several states. This policy, offered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), offers Actual Production History (APH) coverage for beef cow-calf producers to insure revenue from their spring calving operations. Weaned Calf Risk Protection will be available for the 2024 crop year. 

“There are many variables and pressures involved in running a cow/calf operation, making it even more important that ranchers have a variety of insurance options available similar to the wide range of options available to crop growers,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “The introduction of Weaned Calf Risk Protection reflects our priority to always pay attention to the evolving needs of producers and create options that can meet their unique situation.” 

APH policies insure producers against yield losses due to natural causes such as drought, excessive moisture, hail, wind, frost, insects, and disease. In the case of the new Weaned Calf Risk Protection, coverage is provided for a decline in price and loss of yield due to a decrease of overall weaning weight like revenue coverage offered for other crops.

The program will be available in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Texas, beginning with the Jan. 31, 2024, sales closing date for the 2024 crop year. Coverage levels between 50 and 85% will be available along with catastrophic coverage.

Farm Director, KC Sheperd, caught up with the Oklahoma State Director of USDA Rural Development, Kenneth Corn, and talked about grant opportunities opening up in October through the Rural Energy for America Program.

The REAP program is aimed to help ag producers and small businesses in rural areas save money on their energy costs, lessen the demand on the energy grid, and ensure a cleaner environment.

The application period will open on October 1, Corn said, and close on December 31. Through the REAP program, Corn said ag producers and small businesses in communities under 50,000 have the chance to receive funding for up to 50 percent of a project relating to energy efficiency or renewables.

Regarding small businesses that may quality, Corn said the program uses the Small Business Administration’s metric to determine what is considered a small business.

“Milo’s Tea here is considered a small business and they actually received one of the grants in the last go around,” Corn said. “For ag producers, it is any ag producer that can show that 50 percent of their income comes from the farm.”

Southern Plains Perspective: Conflicting Ag Headlines

There is a new blog post out at the Southern Plains Perspective. Read below! The Southern Plains Perspective is authored by Clay Pope- who farms with his wife Sarah and is a contractor for the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub in the area of outreach. 

“WHEAT YEILDS IMPROVE WITH NO-TILL.” That was the banner headline that came to my inbox today. It seems that a study released this summer by the Washington State Department of Agriculture showed that over 72% of dry-land wheat producers in that state were growing their crops using no-till or minimum-till farming practices and of those producers, nearly half were seeing yield increases while also seeing reductions in equipment costs, labor costs and in some cases, fertilizer costs.  The study went on to say that no-tillers in Washington were seeing increases in soil moisture retention and reductions in run-off and erosion (especially among those no-tillers who also utilized cover crops).

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Higher yields, lower costs, more sub-soil moisture, and less erosion.  This ought to be something more farmers look at possibly adopting, right?

Well, that leads to the next headline that I saw—“NO-TILL, COVER CROP ADOPTION LAGS IN U.S.” This article stated that USDA Economic Research Service is reporting that just 34.6% of U.S. cropland is farmed using no-till practices and that less than 3% is cover cropped.



So what gives? If you can realize higher yields, reduce costs, hold on to more moisture and lose less soil, why are the adoption rate on practices like no-till and cover crops so low?

American Pecan Council and American Pecan Promotion Board Together Announce New CEO

Anne Warden brings deep experience in agricultural marketing and building future-ready organizations.

The pecan industry welcomes a new but seasoned leader to grow pecan demand at home and abroad. Anne Warden has been named the CEO of both the American Pecan Council and the American Pecan Promotion Board, signaling another important step these organizations are taking to deepen the industry’s unity and further expand the role nutrient-rich pecans can play in the diet.

“The American Pecan Council has helped reawaken many Americans – and increasingly consumers in key global markets – to the incredible versatility and nutrition of pecans,” said Larry Don Womack, chair of the APC. “With so many more opportunities to grow our industry, Anne is the leader with the marketing experience and business vision to take us to the next level.”

“Over the past two years, we’ve built a strong foundation for delivering consistent value back to the growers and importers who created the American Pecan Promotion Board,” said David Salopek, chair of the APPB. “Anne’s track record for unifying the supply chain around shared business opportunities and then delivering results makes her the CEO pecans now needs to accelerate our market share growth.”

Statement of NCFC President Chuck Conner on Passing of Senator Dianne Feinstein

“On behalf of farmer co-ops across the country, I would like to express our sadness at the passing of Senator Dianne Feinstein. Senator Feinstein has been a trailblazer throughout her career. In particular, she has long been a champion of agricultural labor reform. Throughout her tenure, the senator was a critical part of bringing together both representatives of farmer workers and ag employers in search of a solution to one of the most serious issues facing farmers and ranchers across the country. We extend our deepest sympathies to her family and close friends.”

CR Votes from the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation

Congressman Tom Cole's(yay) Reaction to the Continuing Resolution is in the Top Story above- Senator Lankford(yay) and Representatives Bice(yay) and Brecheen(nay) also issued statements and the links to them are below. Senator Mullin(yea) and Congressmen Lucas(yea) and Hern(nay) did not issue statements.