Agricultural News
State Secretary Jim Reese Says Oklahoma Department of Ag Preparing for Budget Shortfall
Tue, 24 Feb 2015 03:23:25 CST
The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry is already making preparations for a revenue shortfall. Last week the Board of Equalization approved revenues available for Fiscal Year 2016 discretionary appropriations of $6,601,534,037, which is $611.3 million, or 8.5 percent, less than was appropriated for FY 2015, for the current fiscal year ending June 30.
Jim Reese, Secretary and Commissioner of Agriculture said his department is ready to deal with the situation as the state has already seen several years similar to this one, such as 2010, 2011, and 2012 without any new revenue. He said they will be more frugal and are planning for a reduction of funds from the state for next year.
Reese said last year's budget will be fully fulfilled, so funding will adequate for this year, but he knows any money that can be saved this year will help out the budget situation next year. Reese said right now they are looking at a five to ten percent cut potentially for 2016. Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays interviewed Reese at Canola College held recently in Enid. Click or tap on the LISTENBAR below to listen to the full interview.
With the start of Governor Mary Fallin's second term, Reese said the department has set four strategic goals. First they aim to increase agricultural receipts, but that will be challenging as outside factors such as drought or pests can heavily impact that goal. As the drought continues, he said the department will focus on the areas the state can control such as providing education to producers and providing assistance in emergency situations. The other goals include increasing the state's agricultural exports, increasing agricultural processing, and increasing food manufacturing in the state.
"Those are the four things that increase wealth for the state of Oklahoma," Reese said. "So, things that we do at the department of Ag, we want to fit into those four things to increase production from Oklahoma agriculture and therefore build the Oklahoma economy."
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