Agricultural News
State Ag Secretary Reflects on 2013, Outlines Priorities for 2014
Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:25:17 CST
Looking back on 2013, Jim Reese, secretary of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, says producers in the state had a pretty good year. He spoke recently with Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays and will appear on this weekend's "In the Field" segment on News 9 about 6 a.m. Saturday. (You can listen to their full conversation by clicking on the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of this story.)
"The majority of the state has received a lot of rain. It's been such a contrast to 2011 and 2012. There are still pockets of the state, particularly in the southwest and some west that are still dry, but across the state, if you take our hay crop, it was two-and-a-half times the last couple of years. Commodity prices have been good. Crops were good. So, as a whole, the state of agriculture has been very good in 2013."
Looking forward, Reese says his office has several priorities. Topping his list is consumer education.
"We have to have people comfortable with all of the food we produce. Everybody eats. One hundred percent of the population eats. They have to be comfortable with all of the production methods and food safety efforts that Oklahoma producers put into their products."
Reese says his office is anxiously awaiting the passage of the federal farm bill because it greatly impacts the operations of his department in the areas of food, feed and fertilizer safety and consumer protection.
"The biggest thing about the farm bill people are concerned with is how it affects the producers themselves and I can relate to that, but it certainly affects our agency because we do a lot of things for the federal government, thankfully."
The agricultural sector, year in and year out, is one of the main drivers of the Oklahoma economy that is often taken for granted, Reese says. But, with newer technologies constantly being adopted by producers, he says its value to the state grows year after year and more and more people are starting to understand that.
"There's a Department of Commerce study that showed that agriculture was one of the wealth-creating sectors of our state economy. There were a lot of people, a lot of sectors that weren't in the top five that think they should have been. In agriculture, we've been there for a long time- The wealth-creating opportunity in agriculture is quite significant."
Reese points to the growth in sales made by participants in the department's "Made in Oklahoma" program and in the "Made in Oklahoma" coalition as examples. Participants sold over three billion dollars worth of processed food products last year. Nearly 85 percent of those products were shipped out of state.
"That is a significant impact on the economy of Oklahoma," Reese says.
He says the crux of the Made in Oklahoma program is to help Oklahoma producers get a start and increase the footprint of their products in the marketplace.
"The Made in Oklahoma program is exactly for that person who has an idea-whatever that is, a barbecue sauce, a jelly, or a jam or whatever that product might be. And, then, they can go to the Food and Ag Products Center at OSU. We direct them there and then we help them find marketing opportunities."
Reese says that in addition to provide enhanced consumer education, he sees his department's ability to help grow exports for Oklahoma producers as one of its key opportunities in the years to come.
"There are growing export opportunities all over the world. People are making more money. The standards in the economies in the third world are getting better. They taste the nutrition we are able to provide and they want more. They can afford more. And, so, export opportunities in the next decade are going to be really, really good."
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