On Christmas Eve, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) warned cattle producers that Corporate Transparency Act filing requirements are back in effect following a court decision that reverses the injunction that previously halted this mandate. 

“The Corporate Transparency Act requires millions of family farmers and ranchers to file complex paperwork and disclose beneficial ownership information with the federal government under penalty of severe fines and jail time,” said NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus. “FinCEN should do the right thing and provide a realistic delay to the Corporate Transparency Act until Congress has an opportunity to provide a permanent fix that protects family farmers and ranchers.”

On Monday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a nationwide preliminary injunction on the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act, holding that the government is likely to prevail in a constitutional challenge. This decision places many small businesses in jeopardy that have not yet filed Beneficial Ownership Information with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. 

In light of the Fifth Circuit’s decision, FinCEN announced it will delay enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act until January 13, 2025—just three weeks from now. This delay does not allow enough time for millions of small businesses to comply with the law, and it is deeply concerning that FinCEN will proceed with enforcing this law when it has failed to give adequate notice and instructions to law-abiding family business owners.

NCBA will continue fighting for a permanent solution that protects cattle farmers and ranchers from this overreaching mandate. In the meantime, cattle producers are advised to consult their attorney and/or tax professional regarding this new development.

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Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays talked to OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel about market expectations for 2025.

When discussing the 2025 Cattle Inventory Report to be released in the latter part of January, Dr. Peel expects beef replacement heifers to be up only marginally because heifer slaughter rates and heifer-on-feed inventories have remained strong.

The final quarter of 2024 hosted the highest prices of the year for all classes of cattle, which caused a tremendous rally at auctions. “If you look at the feeder cattle auction volumes in Oklahoma, they have been really strong, particularly in December,” Dr. Peel noted. “With this big run-up in prices, people are basically selling whatever they have available to take advantage of this market. That is certainly good for them in the short run, but it carries the implications of what we will be able to do in the future.”

With prices as they are, making the decision to rebuild the herd is a tough one for producers to make. “At some point, they have to ask themselves about the future and where they want to be positioned with their herd, two or three years down the road. What are their expectations about the market? At some point, I think we will turn the corner, but a lot of it is going to depend on forage and drought conditions in the country.”

Rainfall Helps Out End of Year Moisture in Mostly Eastern Oklahoma

Christmas week has delivered some nice end of the year moisture- with NO ICE and NO SNOW- and the forecast for today has another rain making system coming in across mostly south central and southeastern Oklahoma- Tulsa and the northeast will get some of that as well. Central Oklahoma has a 50% chance of lighter rain.

Much of Oklahoma will be dealing with fog this morning- mild temps are in the forecast today and tomorrow with temps into the 60s by Saturday through Monday- then a cold blast to end the year.

The latest rainfall won't be reflected in this week's Drought Monitor out later this morning- but next week's Drought Monitor should reflect these latest Christmas rains.

Click on the map above to see details on a Mesonet site by site details of the rainfall amounts this week.

The National Farm Medicine Center began in 1981, when a nurse at the time, but currently Dr. Barbara Lee realized that something had to be done about the number of farmers needing care for an ailment she knew as Farmer’s Lung. The organization she started now researches farm injuries, fatalities, and farm illnesses, as well as ways to protect farmers from these challenges. Farm Director KC Sheperd visited with the organization’s outreach specialist Melissa Ploeckelman to learn about the organization.

Ploeckelman said that tractors are the number one cause of death in the farming community. “We talk a lot about putting ROPS on older tractors, and not letting children ride with you on the tractor,” she said. “Tractors are also the number one cause of youth deaths, too. We’ve recently been talking about whole body vibrations of youth in tractors.”

Otherwise, recent discussions have centered on H5N1, or Avian Influenza, and how to protect farm workers. “We know with poultry, humans are less likely to get the virus,” she detailed. “With dairy, from April to November, we have seen twenty-eight cases, which is a lot of cases very fast coming from dairy.”

She explained that the virus is not airborne, so masking will not help, but eye protection will. Eyes are the number one receptacle of Avian Influenza. “Getting raw milk, urine, or feces in your eye can infect you with the virus,” she said.

Today, House Speaker-Elect Kyle Hilbert announced the following appointments to the House Ag Committee for the 60th Legislature:

Agriculture Committee: Chair – Rep. Kenton Patzkowsky, R-Balko; Vice Chair – Rep. Rick West, R-Heavener

• Rep. Ty Burns, R-Morrison
• Rep. David Hardin, R-Stilwell
• Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin
• Rep. Cynthia Roe, R-Lindsay
• Rep. Ajay Pittman, D-Oklahoma City
• Rep. Trish Ranson, D-Stillwater

Senate Pro Tem-Elect Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, today announced the full list of committee assignments for the Oklahoma Senate for the upcoming 60th Legislature that begins in February. These are the Senate Ag & Wildlife Committee Members:

Senator Casey Murdock, R-Felt, Chair

Senator Roland Pederson, R-Burlington, Vice Chair

• Senator David Bullard, R-Durant
• Senator George Burns, R-Pollard
• Senator Grant Green, R-Wellston
• Senator Randy Grellner, R-Cushing
• Senator Spencer Kern, R-Duncan
• Senator Dana Prieto, R-Tulsa
• Senator Jonathan Wingard, R-Ada
• Senator Tom Woods, R-Westville
• Senator Cari Hicks, D-Oklahoma City
• Senator Nikki Nice, D-Oklahoma City