The Trump transition team continues to roll out their picks for the President Elect's Cabinet- Tuesday we saw the announcements for Commerce and Education.

Nothing new is out there on the choice for the USDA position- Jim Wiesemeyer and Tyne Morgan of Ag Web added our favorite son Jimmy Emmons to their list on Monday- and they currently have fourteen names they believe could end up getting the phone call from the Transition team. Click here for their story that featured the adding of Emmons- and the other thirteen names they see as possible selections.

Compared to 8 years ago- the wild card this time is RFK- Trump has chosen him to be the Secretary for HHS- and based on our conversation with Emmons- he may have influence on the USDA choice- which strengthens the case for Jimmy Emmons as a leader in Regenerative Ag and Soil Health.

The Trump team are getting down to their final picks- the President Elect is interviewing candidates for Treasury Secretary- but the USDA job may also be getting close to being announced- today might be the day- assuming the Trump people and the Kennedy people are on the same page.

MEANWHILE- the odds are plummeting on a last minute Full Five Year Farm Bill- Meredith Lee Hill of Politico reports on X "Speaker Johnson confirmed in closed-door House GOP meeting Republicans are rejecting Sen Stabenow's last-min farm bill push."

Hill also reports that Ag Chair Thompson dismissed the Stabenow bill roll out as "legacy protection" for retiring Stabenow.(we have the Senator's defense for her lame duck rollout further down in the email)

Hill adds that the comments from the Speaker include the idea that they'll pursue extension as planned.

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While attending the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Convention, Maci Carter got to talk to the Executive Head of Terrain John Newton. They discussed the election results, the pending farm bill, and the first 100 days of President-elect Trump’s administration.

He pointed to the historic inflation seen across the economy in the past four years, as well as growing concerns about immigration, saying that the American people spoke through their votes at this year’s election. “They want to see change. They want better economic conditions for their families. They want safer communities, and we saw that in the election,” he stated.

Newton believes that there is a chance that the farm bill will reach completion during the lame duck session of Congress. “Farm bills are always bipartisan. Senator Boozman and Senator Stabenow are working with G.T. He already has a bill out of the committee. Once the four corners agree on what a deal could potentially look like, you can get a bipartisan farm bill over the finish line if staff works very quickly.”

He pointed out that the math changes if the farm bill process continues into 2025 which means that Chairman Thompson would have to start over with getting a new farm bill out of the Ag Committee, this time amid tax reform and reconciliation.

Strategic Planning for Heifer Retention: Rabobank’s Lance Zimmerman

Rabobank’s senior beef analyst, Lance Zimmerman, talked in depth with Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays about strategically rebuilding the U.S.’s mama cow herd. Yesterday, Zimmerman and Hays discussed the beef market and why it is so important for producers to fill out NASS surveys. Click here to see that conversation.

According to Zimmerman, the days of liquidation are over. “In 2024, we finally stopped liquidating mama cows,” he said. “Year-to-day beef cow slaughter is down about seventeen to eighteen percent. Right now, year over year, we are seeing declines of over twenty percent in this fall run period where we typically would liquidate a lot of cows as we wean calves.”

Due to this, he expects the 2025 Cow Inventory Report to reflect numbers similar to those reported in 2024. Even still, he says that intentional rebuilding hasn’t yet begun evidenced by watching the fall run; the percentage of heifers in feeder cattle and calf sales, is still steady with the last several years, around 40%.

“We won’t see bigger herd numbers in all likelihood, certainly for 2025 and likely not any bigger for 2026,” he predicted. “We’ll be looking now to January 1, 2027’s report to hopefully start seeing some bigger cow and heifer numbers.”

During the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack highlighted four years of progress and historic investments made under the Biden-Harris Administration to position U.S. agriculture and forestry as climate leaders, develop innovative climate solutions and build climate-smart markets to provide new revenue streams for rural communities. Today marks the second-ever day at a COP conference focused on the food and agriculture sectors.

Through a series of events and meetings, Secretary Vilsack showcased the Biden-Harris Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, now in its third year, which nearly doubles support for voluntary conservation and climate-smart practices on farm and forestlands. Secretary Vilsack also highlighted USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative and the public and private collaboration underway to create markets that can help meet climate objectives while providing new income opportunities for farmers, ranchers and forest landowners. In addition, Secretary Vilsack announced recent accomplishments of the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate).

“Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration has made historic progress in tackling climate change by making unprecedented investments in climate action, providing producers with needed conservation assistance, and helping them tap into new markets for climate-smart commodities and products,” Secretary Vilsack said.

“Farmers, ranchers and foresters in the U.S. and across the world have experienced the increasing destruction caused by natural disasters – including droughts, floods and extreme weather – all of which are expected to continue and worsen due to climate change. The best way to combat the impacts of climate change is to equip producers of all sizes with the tools they need to adapt and build resilience.

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, Monday spoke on the Senate floor to introduce the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act.

Chairwoman Stabenow’s remarks as prepared for delivery are available below:

For more than 2 years, I have been working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass my sixth Farm Bill and the third I have led as either Chair or Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

I have met with farmers across the country who have made clear that crop insurance is the #1 risk management tool they have.

The Oklahoma State University Beef Extension team featured OSU distinguished alumna Minnie Lou Bradley in a Rancher’s Thursday Lunchtime Series webinar in October.

Bradley was the first woman to graduate with a bachelor’s degree from OSU’s Department of Animal Husbandry (later named Animal and Food Sciences) in 1953. She was also the first woman to compete on the OSU livestock judging team, earning high individual in the beef cattle division at the 1952 American Royal Livestock Judging Competition. Later that season, she placed first in sheep, second in horse and first overall at the Chicago International Competition, carving a path for other women to participate in local and national livestock judging contests.

Bradley and her husband, Bill, established Bradley 3 Ranch in Memphis, Texas, 25 miles northwest of Childress and the gate to the panhandle of northwest Texas. In the early 1950s, they pioneered cattle management techniques in the area’s dry and rough terrain. The Bradleys’ daughter and son-in-law, Mary Lou and James Henderson, joined the business, and seven decades later, the family owns one of the most respected seed stock Angus operations in the country. Their management practices have revolutionized the industry by minimizing herd deficiencies and creating profitable bulls for commercial producers.

The OSU Beef Extension team met with 92-year-old Bradley in Texas to reflect on her ranching success and discuss the family’s impact on the beef industry.