USDA's weekly Crop Progress Report shows that nation-wide, winter wheat harvest has reached 76 percent completion.

Oklahoma's spring-planted crop conditions are pretty good. Corn conditions rated 67 percent good to excellent. Soybean condition rated 68 percent good to excellent. Cotton conditions rated 53 percent good to excellent, and sorghum rated 57 percent good to excellent.

Kansas's conditions are a bit better with soybeans rated at 57 percent good to excellent. Cotton conditions rated 57 percent good to excellent. and Sorghum conditions rated 57 percent good to excellent.

Texas's spring-planted crop conditions have improved a bit from last week with Corn conditions up to 50 percent good to excellent from last week's 34 percent. Cotton conditions are up to 46 percent good to excellent from last week's 34 percent rating. Sorghum conditions rose to a 63 percent good to excellent rating from last week's 57 percent. Soybean conditions fell marginally from last week's 36 percent good to excellent rating to 32 percent this week.

Pasture and Range Conditions for the 48 states are down one point from last week at 40 percent good to excellent. Oklahoma has improved five points this week to 56% good to excellent- Kansas dropped 7 points to 52% good to excellent- Texas is unchanged at 30% good to excellent(and 38% poor to very poor) while Missouri is unchanged at a very lush 90% good to excellent.



Invenergy is committed to Oklahoma, having completed its first project in the state in 2006. Today, Invenergy operates three wind energy centers in our state, employs over 60 Oklahomans and continues investing in our project communities. We believe building relationships is the key to being good community partners and we work to develop relationships to benefit our landowners, our employees, and our communities.

We invest in Oklahomans, and we take pride in their success. Our energy facilities provide jobs, tax revenues, landowner payments and other sources of local economic development.

For more information, visit www.InvenergyOklahoma.com

 

Programs that benefit every family in America are too important to put off any longer. That’s the message from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union and more than 500 other groups representing agriculture, nutrition, conservation, the environment, rural development and several other sectors who united Monday to send a letter to congressional leaders calling for the passage of a new, modernized farm bill.

The letter was sent to leaders in both chambers, and leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees. The groups stated, “Millions of Americans rely daily on the provisions of the farm bill to produce food, fiber and fuel; to feed their families and others around the world; to voluntarily conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat; to provide sustainable solutions for clean air and water; to provide a producer safety net; to facilitate international trade; to create local jobs and robust economies; and to support rural development nationwide.”

The groups recognize that time is running out to craft and pass a farm bill this year. Passing a stopgap extension of this critical piece of legislation would put it at risk of further delay following the presidential election, the seating of a new Congress, and other legislative priorities.

AFBF President Zippy Duvall said, “When more than 500 groups – many of which typically have competing agendas – come together and speak with one voice, it clearly demonstrates the urgency and importance of passing a new farm bill. We’ve experienced a pandemic, record-high inflation, global unrest and supply chain issues since the current farm bill passed. It’s time lawmakers work in a bipartisan manner and agree on a new farm bill that addresses challenges and looks to the future to ensure America’s families continue to have access to the safest, most affordable food, fiber and fuel in the world.”

Three Oklahoma based groups signed the letter- the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the Oklahoma Pork Council.

NCBA Members Worry About Losing the 2017 Tax Breaks at the End of 2025

At the Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with National Cattlemen’s Association executive director of government affairs, Kent Bacus, about some of the tax policies that are in jeopardy of being discontinued by the end of 2025.

Coverage from the 2024 Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting in San Diego is being powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted by the Trump administration in 2017, benefits most farm and ranch businesses and allows them to build their operations and stimulate the agricultural economy. Important provisions of the act include reduced tax rates, the new business income deduction, provisions to allow the matching of income and expenses, immediate cost recovery, and an increase in the estate tax exemption. The Tax Reform Act is set to expire at the end of 2025 if nothing is done to preserve it.

“There is a tremendous knowledge gap on Capitol Hill,” Bacus said. “If you look at the members of congress and senators that were not elected the last time, they had to go through this big tax reform push. It just goes to show you that there is a big knowledge gap there.”

The American Simmental Association is headed to the Texas Panhandle for Fall Focus 2024. Farm Director KC Sheperd is talking with ASA’s Chip Kemp and Callie Cooley about this event set for August 23-27 in Amarillo, Texas.

The Texas Panhandle is an epicenter of beef production and is also home to industry-leading educational institutions like West Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University. The event offers a unique opportunity for beef industry producers and enthusiasts to learn about the latest updates on industry issues, technology, science, and more, straight from the experts themselves.

“Once a year, we get together in a thought-provoking, yet pretty intimate atmosphere where serious seedstock folks and some bright minds from the scientific community, and a lot of commercial folks get together and talk about some of the pressing issues across our industry,” Kemp said.

Friday, August 23, will include a tour of West Texas A&M University’s research feedlot, an ultrasound demonstration, a panel discussion about trends in the beef industry, a meat laboratory tour, a beef sensory panel, a tour of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, and a Sod Poodles baseball game.

Growth Energy, the nation’s largest biofuels trade association, recently filed two intervenor briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a set of cases consolidated under Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) et al. (Case No. 23-1177). These briefs, filed in support of EPA’s recent RFS “Set” rule for 2023-2025 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), respond to challenges brought by oil industry and environmental petitioners.

“Growth Energy has always defended the RFS against false claims, and these latest challenges are no exception,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “It’s past time for anti-agriculture groups and their allies in the fossil fuel industry to accept that the RFS is working as Congress intended — delivering on the nation’s economic, energy, and climate goals.”

Growth Energy’s brief in CBD v. EPA buttresses arguments presented by both EPA and an independent group of scientists, exposing the outdated and debunked research behind false claims about land use and the potential to impact endangered species. Growth Energy further notes that EPA, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service developed a robust record of evidence, above and beyond the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) showing that biofuel production is not a threat to protected species.

Growth Energy’s second brief in response to oil industry petitioners pushes back on the implausible argument that the RFS was not intended to advance the growth of renewable fuels in 2023 and beyond. As the D.C. Circuit itself has held, Congress’ express purpose in adopting the RFS was to “move the United States toward greater energy independence and security” and “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Advancing the growth of renewable fuels, today and into the future, does just that, wrote Growth Energy.

“We’re optimistic that the courts will toss these challenges on the trash heap, alongside countless others over the last two decades,” said Skor.

Read the brief responding to environmental petitioners here. Read the brief responding to oil industry petitioners here.

Officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative hammered arguments made by Mexican representatives this week during oral arguments over Mexico’s ban on imports of genetically modified corn used in some food products.

The ban was issued in early 2023. USTR filed a dispute settlement under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement over the issue in August of that year after the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and state corn groups spent months pushing for action.

“The science overwhelmingly shows that genetically modified corn is safe for consumers and does not harm native plants,” said Minnesota farmer and NCGA President Harold Wolle. “U.S. officials did an excellent job of making their case, and more importantly they successfully argued that the Mexican government does not have the scientific evidence to support its actions or claims.”

During the hearing, which was held on Wednesday and Thursday in Mexico City, U.S. officials made several convincing arguments, according to Wolle, including that Mexico did not conduct a risk assessment to support its claims and the documentation they provided was over 20 years old and lacked scientific rigor. They also argued that Mexico’s regulatory agencies have previously determined that genetically modified corn is safe for use and this abrupt deviation from those determinations is a way to restrict trade and target imports.

The panel hearing the case is expected to render a decision toward the end of November.