
Agricultural News
House Unanimously Passes Industrial Hemp Bill - OK Ag Secretary Blayne Arthur on This and More
Thu, 11 Apr 2019 17:23:16 CDT
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Associate Farm Director Carson Horn visited with Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur this week to discuss some of the legislation she has followed this session. Five bills in particular have caught her attention this week, having made some significant movement in the legislative process, including the Industrial Hemp bill, S.B. 868. You can listen to the complete interview below by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR to hear Secretary Arthur offer her legislative update for this week with Carson Horn.
According to Arthur, the Industrial Hemp Bill was in fact passed unanimously off the House Floor, today. This bill updates the current state statutes to align with the provisions for hemp production included in the 2018 Farm Bill signed into law by President Trump just before Christmas. Currently, Oklahoma growers that are producing industrial hemp are operating under the pilot program that was established last year through participating universities that licensed local growers. If signed by the Governor, the new statutes will apply to growers producing hemp in 2020.
Another piece of legislation she is monitoring currently as it continues to move through the Legislature, is S.B. 545, which simply declares Oklahoma a brucellosis-free state. Arthur says Oklahoma has been free of the livestock disease since 2011. S.B. 547 is an Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA) bill. This bill would change the current test on record approved for official use at the Dept. of Agriculture in diagnosing EIA in horses - for an improved, preferred test.
In addition, S.B. 556 would allow new identification technology to be used to ID blood samples and livestock for brucellosis testing, replacing the current ID requirement. Also, S.B. 558 would update old existing language specifying metal ear tags as official ID in state statute to allow the use of any new technology that is considered official ID.
"All of those bills, we have watched them move through the process and certainly had conversations with our commodity and ag groups as they have worked though the House and Senate at the State Capital," Arthur said.
The Secretary also commented on the 2017 Ag Census data released on Thursday. You can hear her remark on the major themes picked from that report, among other topics discussed with Horn, by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR below.
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