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Oklahoma Farm Bureau announced the resignation of OFB Vice President of Public Policy Tyler Norvell, effective Jan. 6, 2012.

Norvell is leaving OFB to serve as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Youth Expo, in Oklahoma City. The OYE Board of Directors named him to the new position on Dec. 19, 2011.

"I will always cherish my time at Farm Bureau, especially the opportunity to represent OFB members at the Capitol and work daily with Oklahoma's farmers and ranchers to protect their way of life," Norvell said.

Norvell began his OFB career in 2006 as a legislative specialist. He also served as director of national and state affairs before receiving a promotion to vice president of public policy in November 2010.

We talked with Tyler on Wednesday afternoon about this move- we'll share that conversation in the near future.  It's our understanding that Jeramy Rich- who has been serving as the OYE Executive Director- has several projects ahead of him- including a business he is buying in his hometown of Prague.  

Moving forward, OFB has named Kinsey Money, Esq., as Director of Public Policy for the organization. Kinsey previously served as OFB Director of Research and Policy Development and counsel to the OFB Legal Foundation. Also, OFB has selected field representative and Young Farmers and Ranchers coordinator Chris Kidd to serve as Director of State and National Affairs. 

Click here for more from Oklahoma Farm Bureau on these changes. 

USDA to Inventory U.S. Cattle in January 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is calling on nearly 50,000 cattle operations nationwide to report the latest and most accurate data on cattle inventories and calf production.

"During the first two weeks of January, Oklahoma producers have the opportunity to serve as the frontline source of accurate data on cattle in Oklahoma and the United States" said Wilbert Hundl, Jr., Director of the Oklahoma Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). "We'll be contacting nearly 2,200 Oklahoma operations requesting their response to the January Cattle Report, which measures trends in beef and dairy cattle inventories, calf crop and cattle operations."

To make it as easy as possible for producers to participate, NASS offers the option of responding via a secure Internet connection, telephone, mail, or personal interview with a local NASS representative.

"However producers choose to respond, they are providing an important service to the cattle industry and to U.S. agriculture as a whole," Hundl said. "Their responses will be compiled with those of their fellow producers nationwide, providing the only accurate and comprehensive estimate of the state of U.S. cattle production." 

Click here for more information on the USDA's cattle inventory.

Less Than One Month to Apply for the Conservation Stewardship Program

USDA's National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently announced that the deadline for producer applications for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) will be January 13, 2012.

While CSP is a continuous sign-up program and producers can apply to enroll at any time of the year, NRCS applies a cut-off date for applications to be considered during a particular fiscal year. Once the cut-off date is past, producers may continue to apply for the program, but they will not be considered for entry until the spring of the following year, in this case spring of 2013. In order to enroll in 2012 applications must be filed by January 13.

The Conservation Stewardship Program is a voluntary stewardship incentives program, administered by USDA's NRCS, designed to reward farmers, ranchers, and forestry producers to maintain existing conservation, as well as for the adoption of additional conservation measures that provide multiple environmental benefits that run beyond the farm or ranch. This program pays producers for clean water, better soil management, improved habitat, energy efficiency, and other natural resource benefits.

Click here for more information on applying for the CSP program.  

Both Pioneer Brand Sorghum and Corn Sweep Nearly All Categories in National Contest

Growers planting Pioneer® brand sorghum hybrids recently won four of five first-place finishes and 12 of the 15 national categories in the 2011 National Sorghum Producers (NSP) Yield and Management Contest. Ten of these growers won national finishes with Pioneer sorghum hybrid 84G62. 
          
First-, second- and third-place national honors were awarded in each of the five segments. Growers compete within a broad range of five sorghum production classes, including conventional-till irrigated, conventional-till non-irrigated, mulch-till non-irrigated, no-till non-irrigated and reduced-till irrigated.

In addition to national placings, growers planting Pioneer sorghum hybrids captured 73 percent of all state category placements. 

Click here for more on the sorghum competition and Pioneer brand. 

DuPont congratulates David Hula, Charles City, Va. and eight other growers planting Pioneer® brand corn hybrids who won U.S. national titles in the 2011 National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Yield Contest. Farmers planting Pioneer® brand hybrids won 50 percent of the 18 national spots in the annual contest, including four of six first-place category finishes.

Hula attained the highest overall yield of 429.02 bushels per acre with Pioneer® brand P2088HR. He won first place in the No-Till/Strip-Till Irrigated category.

"Every year the industry continues to see growers planting Pioneer corn hybrids succeed in the NCGA Corn Yield contest and we're thrilled that these growers choose Pioneer products for these winning yields," said Paul E. Schickler, president of DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred.

Click here for more on the corn competition and Pioneer hybrids.

Pfizer Animal Health to Provide More Than $1 Million to Support FFA Programs

One of the world's largest animal health companies will provide more than $1 million in sponsorships of National FFA Organization programs, local chapters and more this year.

New Jersey-based Pfizer Animal Health is one of the largest contributors to the National FFA Foundation Leadership Fund, which provides unrestricted funds for FFA programs. Pfizer Animal Health has funded the development of the new National FFA Veterinary Science Career Development Event and will sponsor the first event in 2012. Through the National Association of Agricultural Educators, Pfizer Animal Health sponsors a series of teacher workshops at the National FFA Convention, which draws more than 50,000 students, advisors and industry professionals each year. Pfizer is a participant in the convention's Agricultural Career Show and Collegiate Career Expo.

Pfizer Animal Health also provides significant funds to help their retailers support local FFA chapters.

Click here for more on this sponsorship by Pfizer Animal Health.

Soybean Checkoff-Funded Initiatives Support Food Production for the Future

More than seven billion people inhabit planet Earth, and about two billion more will join within 40 years, according to the United Nations Population Division. While many decision makers express concern about sustaining the population, often they forget to ask an important question: Are U.S. farmers ready to produce the food needed to feed the growing population?

The United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff has responded with a resounding 'yes,' by funding soybean production research designed to help U.S. farmers grow as much as possible with as few resources needed.

"Soybean farmers must stay in tune with what is going on in the United States in order to stay ahead of any problems, such as the growing population," said Jason Bean, a soybean farmer from Holcomb, Mo., and USB director. "Finding ways to figure out how to get everything out of our soybeans in order to have the best yield is crucial for success."

Click here for more from information from the Soybean Checkoff.

Christmas Comes Early for Monsanto as the Biotech Giant Gets "Non Regulated Status" for Corn with Drought Tolerance Trait     

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will lift its restrictions on a corn variety genetically engineered by Monsanto and BASF to tolerate drought. It expects to publish the deregulation notice in the Federal Register on December 27- right after Christmas.

Commercial approval of drought-tolerant varieties has long been a goal of the biotech industry and, if it lives up to its promise, be a milestone in crop improvement and food production.

In a statement on Wednesday, Monsanto said that the drought-tolerant trait "is projected to be introduced as part of an overall system that would offer farmers improved genetics, agronomic practices and the drought trait." On-farm trials next year will give farmers experience with the product, while generating data to help inform the company's commercial decisions, it said.

 "Our drought system is designed to help farmers mitigate the risk of yield loss when experiencing drought stress, primarily in areas of annual drought stress," said Hobart Beeghly, U.S. product management lead. "This spring, farmers in the western Great Plains will have an opportunity to see how the system performs on their farm through on-farm trials" with varieties that include its Genuity stacked traits that resist insects and tolerate glyphosate herbicides.

Click here for more from both Monsanto as well as from partner BASF on this project- and links to several documents from APHIS that help to establish their confidence in the safety of this Genetically Enhanced corn.