It was a unique moment in farm policy history this past week as farmers and ranchers descended upon Capitol Hill with a single message- the time for patronizing the farm community is past- we need a new farm bill that has an adequate, updated federal farm safety net now. Tom Sell with Combest, Sell and Associates was one of the organizers of bringing in hundreds of farmers to Washington from a variety of commodity groups with that message. Add to that doing their own thing but with that same message was the American Farm Bureau, National Farmers Union and the National Pork Producers Council.

Sell was excited to see multiple commodity groups bring their members to Washington, who along with bankers and others in the agribusiness community, explained the dire situation that faces American agriculture here as clock counts down on 2024.

Sell adds that it’s no longer a smart thing to be kicking the farm bill can further down the road as has been happening for two years- it’s time to get it done. And he adds that another extension is not the right answer.

Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays and Sell talked about the message given to lawmakers and their staffs and he explained that he believes that there is a window of opportunity to craft a 2024 Farm Bill this fall or perhaps in the lame duck session. He believes “that when they see the need(Congressional Leaders), they can do the work quickly.

"There’s a of language that has to be worked through- but they have a really good starting place that G.T. Thompson has put together- and they put it all together quickly. Obviously, this is not going to be a traditional process- it’s not going to get House floor time or Senate floor time- there just are not enough days left for that but there is a window to hitch a ride on some of the bigger end of year packages that are running this fall or in the lame duck session- this has happened before- it can happen again and we need to make it happen.”

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Matti Carlile, business coordinator for the Oklahoma Pork Board, had the opportunity to travel to Tokyo with the USMEF trade mission, with 21 delegates representing pork, beef, soybeans, and corn.

Farm director KC Sheperd visited with Carlile while in Japan and discussed all the things the USMEF Heartland Team has been experiencing: “We’ve covered a little bit of everything. It’s been a really awesome experience. We’ve had some meetings and some retail visits, kind of just working on those relationships that we’ve built with Japan, and it’s been incredible.”

While in Tokyo, Carlile has had the opportunity to visit local retail and food service outlets and gain valuable insights from USMEF Japan staff and the U.S. Embassy in Japan. Carlile said representing Oklahoma Pork has been a great experience, “I’ll tell you about one of those. We had brunch at a restaurant, and they served Tonkatsu, which is pork loin deep fried in some breadcrumbs. They told us that U.S. pork was being used, all U.S. pork, but one of their main companies was Seaboard. And you know how big Seaboard is in Oklahoma, so it was a really proud moment.”

Troy Sander Educates Congressional Staffers on Value Added Cattle Marketing

Featured in this Beef Buzz is the President Elect of the Kansas Livestock Association Troy Sander. Sander is the chief operations manager for Heritage Beef, which operates feedyards in Haskell and Labette counties in Kansas. Sander is based in Oklahoma City.

In this Beef Buzz, Sander discusses his trip to Washington, D.C. to brief policymakers on cattle marketing and business issues. He shares his perspective on unique innovation and quality improvements in the cattle industry, and the future for greater beef demand. He says that it’s important for those involved in policy work in our nation’s capitol to understand that our complex marketing chain has fully taken advantage of the improved genetics of our beef cattle in the US- and that it helps provide value back to the owners of the cattle in the beef chain proportionate to the quality of the animals being raised.

Sander says the cattle industry has changed how we market cattle a great deal over the years- “How that has changed over the years and how we have differentiated ourselves by moving to alternative marketing agreements and different types of grid marketing and those things- and really the message for the day that they left with(the staffers) and the current policy that we have on the NCBA books right now- we are good stewards of our industry and we are good stewards in how we market our cattle and we want to keep those decision making processes within the producers’ hands and not in the control of the government. We want to make sure we are the ones making marketing decisions and not the government making decisions for us.”

It was a cloud of dust that was seen on Clay Burtrum's farm operation in and around Payne County- dust that came with his wheat drill rolling across the fields.

Clay posted several times on Facebook this past week or so and admitted it was a long dusty week.

But his philosophy was simple- Dust it in bust the bin or in our case make the cattle gain! It won’t sprout in the bin! 

Other farmers that we have talked to or listened in on their conversations are mostly waiting on a rain before they get fully engaged in planting the 2025 wheat crop- planting this early is primarily aimed to grow wheat pasture.

Last week- we still had zero percent planted according to NASS in the state of Oklahoma- we will see what Troy and his team come up with in a few hours in this week's Crop Progress Report.

AFR President Scott Blubaugh Expresses Frustration Over Lack of Progress on New Farm Bill

American Farmers and Ranchers of Oklahoma (AFR) traveled to Washington, D.C., for the 2024 Legislative Fly-In. They heard from USDA officials there, including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux.

They also participated in a Capitol Hill briefing with Senate Agriculture Committee staff, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Lina Khan, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathon Kanter.

Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with AFR President Scott Blubaugh about his thoughts on this year’s Fly-IN, and he said this year, the main focus was on getting a farm bill done, “You know, our farm bill expired about a year ago. And very, very little progress has been made since that time to get us a Farm Bill done. There are big holes in the farm safety net there right now. And we really need to get this done. But I will tell you, from all my visits up on Capital Hill and with the administration, I’m not very hopeful.”

Despite meetings with Congress and the administration, he expressed pessimism about progress due to political gridlock. He highlighted the impact of inflation and reduced grain prices on farmers, noting that neither party seems willing to compromise, “We’ve never had a farm bill that was not bipartisan, and that’s the only way we can get one because neither side has enough votes to pass a farm bill by themselves. They’ve got to have bipartisan support, or we won’t get one. And there seems to be no willingness on either side to give an inch up there. So I am a little bit distraught.”

At the Farm Progress show held August 27-29, 2024,in Boone, Iowa, Oklahoma Farm Report’s Maci Carter visited with John Deere Go-To Market Manager of Hay & Forage Kaylene Ballestero about John Deere’s new 6M Series and the added value they bring to producers.

Ballesteros, along with her John Deere team, was excited to tell Carter and potential customers about the new 6M Series of utility tractors, which were just launched earlier this summer. She said that it is one of the most versatile of the John Deere’s mid-size tractors.

“A new 6M paired with our balers and MoCos, really makes a powerful duo no matter what job you are doing,” she said.

The hot topic about the 6M Series is that they are customizable tractors. “They allow a customer that doesn’t want that ultimate, cab, spec-level experience of what our R Series is at an ‘M’ or midsize level, but without losing the performance they want,” Ballesteros added.

OSU Celebrates Grand Opening of the New Ag Hall

The new home for the Oklahoma State University Ferguson College of Agriculture, OSU Ag Research and OSU Extension is now open.

OSU commemorated the grand opening of Agricultural Hall on Thursday with a celebration that included students, faculty, staff and university leaders.

“We have a lot to celebrate,” said Jayson Lusk, OSU Agriculture vice president and dean. “Not only are we celebrating the opening of our new facility, but we also are proud of the work we are doing to embrace the land-grant mission to promote learning, advance knowledge, enrich lives and stimulate economic development.”

OSU dubbed Sept. 9-13 Land-Grant Week — a celebration of the land-grant mission to serve the common good through research, teaching and Extension. Faculty, staff and students participated in a week of activities showcasing how OSU is helping advance the land-grant mission, culminating in the grand opening of the new, state-of-the-art facility.

When the final section of the original Agricultural Hall, now Legacy Hall, was formally dedicated in 1969, OSU dignitaries chose to break a loaf of bread rather than cut a ribbon to symbolize OSU Agriculture’s commitment to feeding a hungry world. During Land-Grant Week, OSU President Kayse Shrum, OSU/A&M Board of Regents Chair Jimmy Harrel and Ferguson College of Agriculture Associate Dean Cynda Clary joined Lusk in breaking a 5-foot loaf of bread in new Agricultural Hall to continue that tradition.(seen above)