'Weather Whisperer' Says El Nino Offers Temporary Drought Relief 

Click here to read more or to listen to Browning Garriss' view on the longer term outlook for drought.

Leffler Reaction to Lower Cattle on Feed, US Cattle Inventory Numbers 

No surprises in the latest Cattle on Feed report and the July Cattle Inventory reports that came out from the US Department of Agriculture on Friday. Both reports came in close to market expectations according to Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities. Leffer says the latest Cattle on Feed report was "neutral to bearish", coming in close to expectations, so he does not look for a big impact on the market on Monday morning. 

The July first Cattle on Feed numbers came in at 98 percent, the trade was looking for 98.2 percent. This means 10.127 million head of cattle are on feed. That's 1.4 percent below the five year average. Nebraska was up four percent over a year ago, Kansas down six percent and Texas was down three percent.


"This is the lowest July on feed number the past four years," Leffler said. "It's also the lowest on feed number on a month since back on September 2013." 

Oklahoma's inventory is down 16 percent from last year. Oklahoma's inventory of cattle on feed totaled 255 thousand head on July 1, down four percent since June. Placements during June were 37 thousand head, down 24 percent from a year ago. Marketings of fed cattle during June were 46 thousand head, down 13 percent from 2013. 

Click here to read or listen to Leffler's full analysis of USDA's  Cattle on Feed Report, US Cattle Inventory and cold storage reports.
 

Speaking to the Wrapup Session at OCA- NCBA's Colin Woodall Calls WOTUS the "Biggest Land Grab Ever" for the Federal Government 

Colin Woodall, VP for Legislative Affairs for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, was the featured speaker on Saturday morning for the OCA Annual Convention in Midwest City.


In advance of his comments with the cattle producers gathered, we talked with Colin about several issues and you can get the video of that conversation here.  

The conversation included a look at the current legislative wish list for the NCBA, what might happen in a lame duck session later this year and several key regulatory issues that NCBA is targeting including WOTUS- the Waters of the US Proposed Rule that Woodall called the "largest land grab we have ever seen from the Federal Government." 

We also talked about more than WOTUS- legislation that needs to be done but may not happen until a lame duck session after the elections, other regulatory issues and more.

We also have a separate audio interview that we have posted that Colin and I did on Friday- it is in the Podcast section of our website- tap here to  go and check it out. 

Oklahoma Ag Secretary Reese Worries About the "Could Be" in the Waters of the US Proposed Rule

Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese has submitted comments to the federal government in regards the so called Waters of the US proposed rule that has been advanced by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Secretary has provided us with a copy of his comments- and they follow:

 "First I want to be complimentary to Ron Curry, EPA Region 6 Regional Administrator, and Bill Honker, Water Quality Protection Division Director at EPA Region 6. Leadership and staff at Region 6 have been very helpful working cooperatively with the state and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry in implementing AgPDES at the state level and helping to clean our water in Oklahoma through the 319 Program. Oklahoma has removed more streams from the 303(d) impaired list than any other state. We have documented removing more phosphorous and nitrogen from our streams than any other state. Thank you for helping us in those efforts.


"Secondly, I am glad to live in a country with the greatest quantities of clean water and air in the world and the EPA has provided great assistance in achieving this and improving it.

"From there, in discussing this proposed rule, I will not be as complimentary.

"These rules appear to be written by EPA lawyers to appear politically palatable, but still leave everything within the power of the EPA to determine what are and what are not Waters of the U.S.   It intends to circumvent every Supreme Court decision that has previously stopped the EPA from enforcing CWA on all waters. Specifically Part 328.3 a. 7. The term Waters of the U.S. means: on a case-specific basis, (determined by the EPA) other waters, provided......, have a significant nexus (determined by the EPA) to a water identified in paragraphs a) 1-3.

"The case-specific basis will be determined by the EPA and the significant nexus will be determined by the EPA. Those are problems that will create "government creep" into private property rights of citizens.

Click Here to read more Reece's comments on WOTUS.
 

RFA to DOE: Update Your E85 Data!

Today, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) pointed to the vast underrepresentation of E85 stations in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) database and implored DOE to accurately account for all stations selling E85. RFA uncovered nearly 1,000 missing stations as it compared the 2,391 stations found in the database on Tuesday to the 3,349 retail locations found on the "crowd-sourced" website E85prices.com.


"The AFDC database is way off in its reporting of E85 stations, and this is negatively influencing discussions over the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blending requirements. It isn't just a handful of stations that are missing; we are talking about the exclusion of hundreds of stations nationwide. In fact, they missed 40 percent of the stations that are included in other databases! That's simply unacceptable," said Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the RFA.


In a letter sent to the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, the RFA illustrates the central role of the database in crucial policy decisions, stating, "EPA's mistaken belief that existing E85 refueling infrastructure is insufficient to distribute the 2014 RFS volumes specified in the statute is based in large part on information from the AFDC. As a result, the Agency wrongly proposed to reduce required renewable fuel blending volumes in 2014."

Click Here to read the rest of the article and view of RFA.
 

Americans Continue to Demand Beef Amidst Record Prices

 Across the board cattle and beef prices have surpassed record levels. Speaking at the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association annual convention, Livestock Marketing Information Center Director Jim Robb says from an economist view its a combination of the supply and demand side coming together.


"The domestic consumer demand has stayed surprisingly strong and we've had some support in the beef complex from the trials and tribulations in the pork industry and the moving up of pork and hog prices," Robb said. "Then the export demand has been surprising good at these very high prices that foreign demand has stayed very strong and very robust for beef, in fact we are getting year over year increases still in beef exports."


At the OCA meeting, Robb talked with Radio Oklahoma Network Farm News Director Ron Hays about the market situation. On the supply side, the industry has shrunk numbers significantly in recent years from ongoing drought in the south as well as the Midwest. In the short term Robb says packers are needing animals, which pushes cattle and in turn beef prices higher. He says there are strong fundamentals under the market and at some point the market will peak, but no one knows when that will take place.


While beef prices have moved to record levels, demand has not been effected. Robb says part of that is Americans having a craving for beef and in looking at the meat case, pork and chicken prices have also increased.
 

Click Here to read or listen to more of Jim Robb's comments from today's Beef Buzz.

Former Oklahoma Beef Council Employee Tapped by Obama Administration as a Champion of Change

Back in 2009, Adam McClung was on the staff of the Oklahoma Beef Council as their Director for Industry Relations- this after spending time with the Arkansas Cattlemen's Association as their Director of Membership.  McClung, a native of Arkansas, did his schooling in Oklahoma- at Eastern Oklahoma State College in Wilburton and later Oklahoma State.

In December of 2009- he returned to the Arkansas Cattlemen's Association as their Executive Director and has established himself as one of the bright young stars of the beef cattle business.  

Earlier this year- he was nominated to be honored by the White House- and they have selected him as one of fifteen Champions of Change for US Agriculture. The Administration says these individuals who are being honored have been doing "extraordinary things to build the bench for the next generation of farming and ranching. These champions are leading in their industries and communities, inspiring others who want to find careers and a life on the land, and providing food, fiber, fuel, and flora around the world. "

Get more on this story here.