Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan continues to rave about the selection of Scott Pruitt by President Elect Donald Trump to be his nominee for the position of Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency.

This past week, we sat down with Buchanan and he elaborated on his support of the Oklahoma Attorney General to be the next boss at EPA. "We believe in the man greatly" adding that he has talked with other State Farm Bureau Presidents from across the US in the last few weeks- assuring them that Scott Pruitt will be a friend to the farmers and ranchers Farm Bureau represents.

Buchanan says he has told his counterparts in other states "we know what we have had in Gina McCarthy in the overreach and the over burdensome regulatory authority coming out of EPA and we believe that will change and will change for the better."


Buchanan says that Pruitt will be "land use friendly" and says that "I think Scott Pruitt is the right guy at the right time and look forward to supporting him."

Click here to listen to our Q&A with Tom on the positives that he believes Scott Pruitt will bring to the EPA in the Trump Administration.

 

Officials at the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) have selected the Grassland Restoration Incentive Program (GRIP) to receive $2.9 million to assist landowners with implementing conservation practices that improve habitat for declining grassland bird and monarch butterfly populations. In Oklahoma, GRIP covers around 30 percent of the state in the cross timbers region, from Osage County to Lake Texoma and from Oklahoma County to Eufaula Lake.


"Iconic Oklahoma bird species such as the scissor-tailed flycatcher, bobwhite quail and eastern meadowlark have long been on decline due to habitat loss and invasive species encroachment," said Mike Sams, NRCS State Biologist for Oklahoma. "Projects just as GRIP are often the best hope for many species because they leverage the resources of local and diverse groups combined with voluntary, incentive based conservation practices-this is a similar approach that has been used to improve lesser prairie-chicken habitat in Western Oklahoma."

Click here to read more about this project that is a part of the GRIP efforts of the NRCS.

 

Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center was called "a center for all of Oklahoma" during its dedication in 1997, and that stated mission continues to provide benefits today in terms of enhancing food products and keeping jobs and dollars in the state.


"The impacts FAPC has had on the food and agricultural industries in the state are tremendous," said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director. "From education and training sessions to client projects to food-safety assistance, FAPC continues to be a resource for food processors."


In 2016, FAPC had an economic impact of $405,000 on entrepreneurial business, $565,000 on medium and small food processors and $73,868,750 on large food processors. FAPC's total economic impact was $74,838,750.

Click or tap here to learn more about the value of the FAPC to the state of Oklahoma.

 

On Tuesday, Missouri Governor-Elect Eric Greitens tapped Chris Chinn to serve as the next Director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Chris Chinn and her husband raise hogs, cattle, hay and row-crops on their Northeast Missouri farm. Governor-Elect Greitens said her words and actions have been widely recognized.


"It's tough enough to run a successful farm, which the Chinns do, but Chris is also a leading agriculture advocate," penned Governor-Elect Greitens in a Facebook post. "She has become a voice for Missouri farmers, and she has repeatedly stood up to critics and activists. She writes and speaks around the state and country about what a farm can do when it is run with care."

Missouri is a state that is flipping from a Democratic Governor to Republican- and Governor Elect Greitens calls Chris Chinn an "an outsider and a champion for agriculture" in his Facebook post naming her as his Director of the Department of Ag. (Not a news release- but rather- a FACEBOOK POST!).

For many folks- Chris Chinn has been a social media hero and blogger that has been explained her hog farm to urban folks- and in 2013- was named one of the first Faces of Farming and Ranching by  the US Farmers-Ranchers Alliance.

Click here to read the full FACEBOOK post from the Governor to be- and we have a video in our webstory that comes from the Missouri Dept of Ag that profiled their new boss before she was their new boss- as she explains how they care for their piggies on the farm that she and her husband operate in northeastern Missouri.

 
The Oklahoma Beef Council has been involved in a variety of programs and investments- all designed to sell more beef and educate children, youth and adults about the benefits of beef in a healthy diet.

OBC has released a list of ten of their success stories- we have the full list that you can read by clicking or tapping here- but a couple of my favorites include:

OBC funded multiple successful promotions of US beef in Japan in 2016. These efforts help drive growth in the export market which is so important to the bottom line of Oklahoma farming and ranching families. In one successful promotion in 1500 outlets, we drove approximately $600,000 in additional sales of US beef and the retailer is making plans to increase its US volume 70 percent.

The OBC worked with other state beef councils as part of a partnership to drive consumer awareness and usage of the "Beef. It's What's for Dinner" website in states with high populations like California and New York. Oklahoma dollars specifically drove 86000 views of the "Beef. It's What's for Dinner" website and generated 137,000 views of our online videos.

Through a cooperative program with FFA, just under 500 FFA students received their Master's of Beef Advocacy (MBA) ensuring we have a generation of beef advocates.

 

With the election of Donald Trump, the new administration is looking for qualified Oklahomans as they work to fill two key appointments within the state of Oklahoma. The posts that need to be filled include the Oklahoma Executive Director of the Farm Service Agency and the Oklahoma Executive Director for the USDA Rural Development Office in Oklahoma.


Senators Jim Inhofe and James Lankford are looking for qualified applicants for these positions- and have assembled an industry advisory committee to receive and consider recommendations to the Senators for the positions.


Rodd Moesel with American Plant Services in Oklahoma City is chairing the Advisory group- and invites those who are interested in being considered for one of these positions to email him by clicking here on the email address- rmoesel@americanplant.com and provide a resume.


The Advisory panel will take applications until January 6th.

 

The final days of 2016 are looking very mild- and dry- for the state of Oklahoma that has slipped into a significant amount of drought in the last couple of months.

There had been hope that some relief for drought might happen over the Christmas holiday weekend- but that did not really happen- a few folks got some shower and a couple of locations exceeded an inch of rainfall in some isolated eastern Oklahoma locations- but that will likely not move the needle on the drought stats when they are released again tomorrow morning.

According to Jed Castles with News9- it stays mostly dry the rest of the year- and then watch out for frigid conditions in the first few days of 2017- this for western and central Oklahoma:



Meanwhile, Alan Crone with the News on 6 says it stays mild in eastern Oklahoma with a possible chance for rain by New Year's Eve- and by next Tuesday- it could much colder and stay that way through the end of the week at the least- his blog post on the weather outlook can be read by clicking or tapping here.