We
are down to the final hours of 2015- and while we
have covered literally hundreds of farm and ranch
news stories for you over the last twelve months-
three stories came to the top of pile for the old
year.
One of the stories has a happy ending
for many in livestock agriculture- the other two
have yet to have their stories finished as 2015
slips away.
First- the story that came to
an abrupt end.
COOL Repeal
is Done. In the
Monday, December 21st
email- not that long ago- I wrote "After
reporting on the contentious battle over Country
of Origin labeling for meat for years, it's
suddenly over. (I may have withdraws!) On Friday,
the House voted, the Senate voted and the
President signed the Omnibus and COOL for beef and
pork was history.
After those votes,
Secretary of Agriculture
Tom
Vilsack released a statement confirming
he got the memo- saying "Effective immediately,
USDA is not enforcing the COOL requirements for
muscle cut and ground beef and pork outlined in
the January 2009 and May 2013 final
rules."
"USDA will be amending the COOL
regulations as expeditiously as possible to
reflect the repeal of the beef and pork
provisions. In addition, all imported and domestic
meat will continue to be subject to rigorous
inspections by USDA to ensure food
safety."
Above, I have the link to that
December 21st email where the top 2 stories are
about COOL repeal- Vilsack's reaction- Mexico and
Canada's Response and details on how ag groups
reacted to the end of mandatory
COOL.
Stick a fork in it- it's
done.**********
The two
other top of mind stories for 2015 will be talked
about a great deal in 2016.
One is state
specific- I am referring to the passage of HJR
1012 by the Oklahoma legislature that authorized a
vote in November 2016 on a constitutional
amendment that would put Right to Farm in
the state Constitution.
Out of 1012 came
State Question 777- and we have
seen the supporters of SQ777 step forward and
begin the process of getting a "Yes" vote in
November. However, we also covered the news
conference of the folks against State Question 777
this fall- and it is very likely that they will
have a lot of money to spend in opposition of
SQ777.
I have several links to share about
State Question 777 to remind you where we
are-
In late spring- we featured one of the
key authors of 1012 on In the Field- State Rep
Scott Biggs-
click here to take a look
and listen.
In July, we moderated an
industry panel explaining State Question 777 at
the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Convention-
click here to read more
and take a listen to that extended
conversation.
In October- we talked about
the educational effort underway for State Question
777- as we visited with Oklahoma Farm Bureau
President
Tom Buchanan-
click here for that
Q&A.
In mid November- the
opposition to State Question 777 did a media event
at the State Capitol- and we were there- talking
to former State Attorney General
Drew
Edmondson about how the
Oklahoma
Stewardship Council hopes to convince
folks to vote no on State Question 777.
Click here for our
story that includes our Q&A with the
former AG.
***********
Finally- for
agriculture- there is unfinished business as it
relates to the
EPA's Clean Water Rule-
WOTUS. This was also one of the
major stories of 2014- so on and on it
goes.
In late May- EPA, released their
final language on WOTUS- and a lot of people
reacted with anger over what they called an EPA
land grab. We featured the EPA release and
lots of react to it in our May 28th email-
click here to take a
read.In late August- EPA made the rule
final- but
Gina McCarthy did not
get a complete victory. We wrote in our
August 28th email "We
have been talking about this day coming for
several years now- and with the arrival of August
28th- the EPA has achieved a dream of more control
across the American landscape with their Clean
Water Rule now law in 37 of the 50 US
states.
"Only a Federal District Judge in
North Dakota has kept EPA Administrator Gina
McCarthy from claiming a total victory- as Judge
Ralph Erickson said the
administration had overstepped its bounds in
trying yet another end run around
Congress.
"Judge Erickson called the
Environmental Protection Agency's attempt
"inexplicable, arbitrary and devoid of a reasoned
process," and issued an injunction preventing the
EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from
claiming oversight of millions of acres of land
that contain small bodies of water.
"The
EPA, though, said it will only honor the
injunction in the 13 states that had sued, and
will move forward with the rules in the rest of
the country. "
Later in the year- the Sixth
Circuit Court in Cincinnati extended the original
injunction against WOTUS to the entire country-
which is where the current litigation now
stands. Meanwhile Congress punted and did
not address funding for WOTUS in the massive
Omnibus earlier this month. We were told the
White House got a pass on funding for WOTUS in
exchange for an okay on the end of oil exports.
OF COURSE- we covered so
much more in 2015- and we want to say
THANK YOU for the opportunity to
stop by and visit with you daily via this email
and on the radio and on the web and on the
TV. It's because of you that we do what we
do- you are a blessing to
me.