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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

-- Class XVII of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program Continues Their Studies in Vietnam

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Eleven Months and Two Days. That's the amount of time left before we see a new resident move into the White House- and Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas is looking forward to the end of the Obama Presidency for a variety of reasons. At the top of the list, the Roger Mills County farmer/rancher said that he is hopeful that in eleven months and two days, the new President will terminate a whole host of regulators that have been appointed by President Obama- including the Administrator of the EPA, Gina McCarthy.


Lucas says that in the meantime, McCarthy signaled the House Ag Committee this past week that she intends to be "full speed ahead" as long as she is in office in laying as much regulation on top of the American economy as she possibly can. 


We also talked about the EPA's WOTUS and other regulatory burdens that are in place or are being put into place by Gina McCarthy.


Lucas also talked about the challenge of getting anything done in 2016 in the US Congress- hard enough since we are starring at Election Day in November- and even harded with the death of Supreme Court Justice Scalia, which is likely to totally shut down many of the functions of the US Senate in the weeks and months ahead.


Lucas said he is pleased that House Speaker Paul Ryan desires to establish "regular order" and see the Appropriations process work- but that will be a tall order to accomplish in this election year.


Lucas also talked about the implementation of the 2014 Farm Law, the efforts to get Cottonseed declared an "Other Oilseed", the political landscape in Washington and even what he is hearing from constituents in the Third District about earthquakes.


But, at the end of the wide ranging conversation, it all comes back to Eleven Months and Two Days. Congressman Lucas is hopeful.


Click or tap here to hear our full conversation, recorded in Kingfisher just ahead of the Town Hall Meeting that Congressman Lucas had on Thursday, February 18th.


BY THE WAY- Congressman Lucas gets the Gold Star for not missing a beat as the lights went off and then on and then off again as we recorded this interview- high winds knocked power off that morning in Kingfisher and power was down in that area well into the afternoon.

Chairman Roberts Announces Biotechnology Labeling Solutions Markup 

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Friday announced the Committee will hold a business meeting on February 25 to consider the Chairman's Mark on Biotechnology Labeling Solutions.  This will be held on Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. in the Russell Senate Office Building. 


"We are grateful to Chairman Roberts for his leadership towards advancing a common-sense solution to the GMO food labeling issue that protects our nation's farmers, consumers, grocers and small businesses," said Brian Baenig, Biotechnology Innovation Organization's (BIO) Executive Vice President of Food & Agriculture.  Click here to read more from BIO.

"The introduction of Roberts's proposal is an important first step to restoring sanity to America's food labeling laws," said National Corn Growers Association President Chip Bowling, a farmer from Maryland. "GMOs are perfectly safe and America's farmers rely on this proven technology to protect our crops from insects, weeds and drought. Important food safety and labeling decisions should be made by the scientists and qualified policymakers at the FDA, not political activists and campaigns. Yet, despite the scientific evidence, states such as Vermont are quickly moving toward costly, confusing mandatory labeling legislation. It is imperative that the Senate takes up this issue quickly to avoid a situation in which all American consumers pay a high price and gain little actual information."  Click here to read more from NCGA.

"We've heard repeatedly that Americans want more information on what's in their food, and we are invested in providing that information to them. Chairman Roberts' bill is one that moves the food production industry in a direction of greater transparency, while at the same time protecting farmers' ability to use what science has repeatedly proven to be a safe and sustainable technology," said American Soybean Association

President Richard Wilkins, a farmer from Greenwood, Del.  Click here to read more from ASA.

United States Cattle on Feed Down Slightly, Tom Leffler Calls Report Neutral

Few surprises were found in the latest cattle on feed report. Market Analyst Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities said the report came in very close to pre-report estimates. The number of cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.7 million head on February 1, 2016. The inventory was slightly below February 1, 2015 and 4.1 percent below the five year average. Nebraska was down two percent, Texas was down two percent, but Kansas was up two percent versus a year ago.


"This is the third straight month of being lower than previous year on our on feed numbers and this is the sixth lowest February on feed number of the past 21 years," Leffler said.


Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.78 million head, one percent below 2015. That was 5.5 percent lower than the five year average.   Leffler said this was the 14th time in the past 16 straight months that placements were lower than the previous year. This was the fifth lowest January placement figure of the last 21 years. Texas was down four percent, Nebraska was down three percent and Kansas was up one percent versus a year ago. 


"It looks like this report will have no reflection on our markets come next week," Leffler said.

Click or tap here to read the full report or to listen to the full analysis from Tom Leffler.

AFR Delegates Reelect Terry Detrick as President of the General Farm Organization at 111th Annual Meeting

DuPont, Dow Announce Site Structure of Intended Independent Agriculture Company

DuPont (NYSE:DD) and The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) Friday announced the U.S. site structure for the global agriculture leader the companies intend to create following the planned separation of DowDuPont into three independent, publicly traded companies.


The corporate headquarters for the Agriculture company will be located in Wilmington, Delaware and will include the office of the CEO and key corporate support functions. Sites in Johnston, Iowa and Indianapolis, Indiana will serve as Global Business Centers, with leadership of business lines, business support functions, R&D, global supply chain, and sales and marketing capabilities concentrated in the two Midwest locations. In addition, the independent Agriculture company will feature DuPont in the company's name, following completion of the corporate naming and branding process.


"This efficient structure takes full advantage of the unique expertise and resources that exist in each location, enabling us to deliver the long-term opportunity for the leading global Agriculture company we intend to create," said Edward D. Breen, chairman and chief executive officer of DuPont. "Our deep presence in Iowa and Indiana will continue the close ties to our customer base and the broader Agriculture community, while leveraging the existing corporate infrastructure and expertise we have in Delaware - DuPont's home for more than 200 years."

With the announcement of the intended Agriculture company site structure, each headquarters location of the three intended independent, publicly traded companies now has been determined.  Click here to read more.

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NCBA's Dr. Shalene McNeill Talks Beef Role in a Healthy Diet and the Nation's Dietary Guidelines

Dr. Shalene McNeill serves as the Executive Director of human nutrition research at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). In that role, she was on the front lines battling on behalf of cattle producers across the country on the nation's dietary guidelines. These nutritional recommendations come out every five years from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The process got a rough start when major studies like the "Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet", otherwise known as BOLD study was missed. She said this showed that beef can lower cholesterol and it has a role in a healthy diet. She also found some committee members did not understand the definition of lean meat and red meat and some did not understand how much of today's beef supply has become leaner.


"So those issues were raised and ultimately at the end of the day the Secretaries reviewed the science and landed in a place that supports the science and we see these dietary guidelines clearly saying now that lean beef can be part healthy guidelines and they are definitely part of the dietary guidelines," McNeill said.


The nation's dietary guidelines set the standard for the school lunch program, federal feeding programs and serve as the baseline that many registered nutritionists use for guidance. McNeill said the next step for the beef checkoff is making sure consumers know beef is part of a healthy diet, along with providing recipes, meal plans and other materials when the dietary guidelines are put into practice.  Click or tap here to listen to this Beef Buzz feature.

Oklahoma Teacher Selected for 2016 Excellence in Teaching About Agriculture Award

The National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization (NAITCO), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Farm Credit announced that Lisa Storm of Kingfisher is among seven general education teachers from around the country selected as winners of the National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award for 2016.


Storm, a teacher at Heritage Elementary in Kingfisher, was the 2014 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year for the statewide Ag in the Classroom program coordinated by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.


"My favorite thing about teaching is it allows me to be very creative. I constantly look for innovative ways to bring my students memorable learning experiences. Ag in the Classroom curriculum is a combination of solid agricultural knowledge, research-based learning objectives, and creative hands-on learning," Storm said when she received the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year award in 2014.

Click or tap here to read more about the seven teachers selected for the National Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award.

Class XVII of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program Continues Their Studies in Vietnam

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