Oklahoma Farm Report masthead graphic with wheat on the left and cattle on the right.
Howdy Neighbors!
Ron Hays, Director of Farm and Ranch Programming, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network  |  2401 Exchange Ave, Suite F, Oklahoma City, Ok 73108  |  (405) 601-9211

advertisements
   
   
   
   
   

Agricultural News


In Case You Missed It- Senate Leader Mike Schulz Goes In the Field with Ron Hays

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 05:43:44 CST

In Case You Missed It- Senate Leader Mike Schulz Goes In the Field with Ron Hays In case you missed it- Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays hosted Oklahoma Senate President Mike Schulz of Altus this past Saturday morning during his regular In the Field segment as seen on KWTV, News9 in Oklahoma City. Schulz is not just the Senate leader for the brand new legislative session that has started this week but he is also a very happy southwest Oklahoma cotton farmer who, along with his fellow cotton producers, has just enjoyed a record crop in 2016.

Hays talks about both the new legislative session and what Schulz hopes to accomplish in Oklahoma City- but also about that record cotton crop and what that means for the economy of western Oklahoma.

Click on the play button in the video box below. Beneath the video box is an earlier story of last week on an off camera conversation that Senator Schulz had with Hays.


News9.com - Oklahoma City, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports |



***********

In the face of some big challenges this year, Oklahoma Senate President Pro-Tempore and Altus cotton producer, Mike Schulz, says it will take an open-mind and lots of discussion to solve the budget deficit situation the state has found itself in for the second year in a row. He told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays in a recent interview that all options are on the table as he leads the state's legislature in its efforts to fix this issue.


"There's no one silver bullet out there that will solve this budgetary situation that we're in right now," Schulz said. "We're talking about reforming tax credit, tax incentives and we'll probably have some discussions about new revenue raising measures."


He says expanding the state's sales tax base is something that has been looked at for a while now and uses neighboring states as an example in his illustration that Oklahoma is far less on par with the norm of taxable goods and products. However, he feels confident that exemptions commonly used by farmers for their operational expenses will not be subject to these discussions and admits these talks in and of themselves will be a source of contention.


"It's one of those things," he said. "The rule of thumb in a good piece of legislation - if all sides in the piece of legislation are not completely happy, it's probably a good piece of legislation. And some degree of that holds true in the budgeting process."


Balancing the budget will be a major focus in the legislature this year, but also being scrutinized are any actions concerning property rights and in regards to that, water issues. Although Schulz is unsure at this point what, if any property rights issues will crop up in this session, he does assert that it is a priority of his that stays top of mind under his radar, in case defense measures are required.


Speaking as a cotton producer though, Schulz says Oklahoma's cotton crop this past season is a bright spot in the state's economy.


"We're in an extremely difficult time overall in agriculture. We've seen cattle prices, grain prices take a tremendous downward trend over the last couple of years and not a lot of rosy outlooks that they're going to bounce right back," Schulz said. "So, right now, the cotton segment of agriculture looks really, really good."


Schulz explains that this could mean a boom in cotton production here in the state as an alternative to wheat, given the commodity's less than enticing value in the marketplace currently. He suggests there is great potential for a significant increase in planted acres of cotton not only in Oklahoma, but throughout the cotton growing regions of the South-central United States. He adds that the benefits of cotton surpass that of economic reasons, but also tap ecological benefits.


"Even after grain prices recover, cotton is a great rotation," he said, "a great opportunity to break disease patterns, weed patterns and insect patterns. It's a great rotation to small grains."


Listen to Hays' full conversation with Schulz pertaining to issues expected to arise in this year's legislative session as well as his outlook on the future of Oklahoma's cotton sector, by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR below.



   
   

right-click to download mp3

 

WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI

 


Top Agricultural News

  • Oklahoma Youth Expo Sale of Champions Sale Order Available Here- Sale Set for 4 PM Friday  Fri, 17 Mar 2023 04:50:54 CDT
  • Rural Voters Dominated Vote to Defeat Recreational Marijuana March 7th  Fri, 10 Mar 2023 07:13:05 CST
  • Ron Hays Talks to Israeli Ag Tour Guide Colin Lotzof About the Miraclel of Ag in Israel  Wed, 22 Feb 2023 22:11:04 CST
  • OALP Members Experience First Hand View of Cutting Edge Drip Irrigation Technology as Israel Travel Ends  Wed, 22 Feb 2023 10:51:49 CST
  • OALP Members Get First Hand View of Cutting Edge Drip Irrigation Technology as Israel Travel Ends  Wed, 22 Feb 2023 10:50:10 CST
  • Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program Sees Fruit, Beef and Dairy Production North of the Sea of Galilee in Israel  Mon, 20 Feb 2023 21:56:02 CST
  • Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program Sees Diverse Farm Operations in Jordan River Valley of Israel  Sun, 19 Feb 2023 21:17:30 CST
  • Israeli Tour Guide Mark Kedem Talks About The Cultural Aspects of What Class XX of OALP is Experiencing   Sat, 18 Feb 2023 22:17:23 CST

  • More Headlines...

       

    Ron salutes our daily email sponsors!

    Oklahoma Beef council Oklahoma Ag Credit Oklahoma Farm Bureau National Livestock Credit Ag Mediation Program P&K Equipment Oklahoma City Farm Show Union Mutual Stillwater Milling Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association KIS FUTURES, INC.
       
       
       
       
       

    Search OklahomaFarmReport.com

    © 2008-2024 Oklahoma Farm Report
    Email Ron   |   Newsletter Signup   |    Current Spots   |    Program Links

    WebReady powered by WireReady® Inc.