For the second year in a row, Oklahoma is dealing with a budget deficit and as state legislators prepare for the 2017 Legislative Session, the agriculture industry can rest easy that it has a friend in high places. Serving as Senate President Pro-temp is Altus farmer, Mike Schulz, and he tells me he is confident that as discussions get underway to solve the budgetary situation, farm and ranch exemptions will be safe from likely sales tax reforms being considered.

"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."

And while balancing the budget will be a major focus in the legislature this year, potential property rights, coupled with related water issues will also be on Schulz's mind. Although Schulz is unsure at this point if any such issues will crop up in this session, he asserts they will be a priority of his should they crop up.

"Property rights is always something we have to look for and defend," he said. "That's always certainly on my radar that pops up the quickest."

We talked about his plans to lead the Senate here in 2017- but we also had to talk about the exceptional cotton crop of this past year and the prospects for even more cotton acres planted in Oklahoma this upcoming spring- to hear our full visit with the Senator Farmer-  click or tap here.

Members of the pork industry are cheering news that came over the weekend from President Donald Trump, who has decided after his productive visit with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, that he will pursue action to strengthen trade between our two nations.

"We applaud the Trump administration for recognizing the importance of free trade agreements to American agriculture and the entire U.S. economy," said NPPC President John Weber, a pork producer from Dysart, Iowa. "We're pleased that it will work for a stronger trade relationship with the United Kingdom through a mutually beneficial trade agreement."

The NPPC is urging the president to start talks with our British friends as soon as possible to give our economy a swift boost. However, these negotiations will only be able to come after the UK officially leaves the European Union.

This departure, or "Brexit" as it is referred to, could take up to two years. In the meantime though, Trump says he and his British counterpart will begin laying the ground work to apply what practical measures they can put in place to get the process started.

To learn more about this budding relationship, click here.

Cattlemen from all over the nation will gather later this week, Feb. 1-3, in Nashville, TN for the 120th Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show.


Among those attending from Oklahoma is Matt Boyer of Claremore who received a scholarship funded by Merck's Cash for Cartridges program, by the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association.

The OCA was able to provide this scholarship through the program which works by Merck paying OCA for every empty Ralgro or Revalor cartridge collected each year. These dollars are being invested back into the industry by sending young leaders to NCBA events.


"It's exciting for me to see young cattlemen with a passion to learn and lead, like Matt. It's not only healthy, but vital to our organization and industry to continually identify and cultivate young leaders and provide opportunities for involvement," said OCA President Charlie Swanson.

Learn more about Matt and his opportunity to attend the Cattle Industry Convention this week, by clicking here.

The US Department of Agriculture surprised the industry last week after reporting placements were up nearly double what was expected in Friday's Cattle on Feed report for the month of January. According to Oklahoma State University's Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel, the market may have actually been trying to send signals to this effect in the feeder cattle complex. I caught up with Dr. Peel for his explanation.


"Clearly there was some demand for those cattle and we see that reflected here in the number of cattle it moved in the feedlot," Peel observed, referencing data points from the 4th Quarter of 2016. "Some of it is month-to-month timing and you have to be a little careful with these things not to read too much into any one month because occasionally it's just sort of lumpiness and we smooth it out over time."


According to Dr. Peel's summary the report showed feed inventories just fractionally higher, at 0.3 percent compared to a year ago, with placements during the month of December up 17.6 percent and marketings at an increase of 6.8 percent. And while the placement figures may be alarming, Peel says when all these numbers are put into the equation, the resulting translation is a bit more uplifting.


"We're moving more cattle through feedlots, so the inventory is not bigger; it's not equal to a year ago after being down for a couple months," Peel reassured. "And even though the placements were bigger on this one month in total, what we've done for several months now is actually marketed cattle faster than we've placed them."

You can read more or listen to Dr. Peel's complete analysis of the numbers in Friday's Cattle on Feed report released by USDA, in my full conversation with him, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

Mike Johanns and Dan Glickman, two former US Secretaries of Agriculture serving under former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton respectively, co-authored an article featured recently in the Morning Consult, examining the benefits of the Dow-DuPont merger, through the lens of an American-owned agriculture company, championing the interests of the American farmer.

"As former U.S. secretaries of agriculture from both sides of the aisle, we know firsthand that the contributions made by farmers and agribusinesses of all sizes are rarely given the credit they are due. American farmers help to drive the U.S. economy and create new opportunity in rural communities. They contribute almost $1 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product each year and exported $129.7 billion worth of American-grown and -made products in fiscal year 2016 alone. By 2050, a growing global population will need twice as much food as the world can produce today, which presents even more new opportunities for American farmers.


"With new opportunities come new challenges. Looking forward, we see headwinds acting against the livelihoods and future global competitiveness of American farmers and the security of our national food supply: the unmanageable cost of innovation and the need for a strong, focused American-owned agriculture company.


"There is no greater imperative for global agriculture than science and technology. Mother Nature throws farmers an endless stream of curve balls, from new weather patterns to spreading pests. As the challenges evolve, the needs of farmers for new products and services evolve, too. Those who grow and consume food depend on tools focused on reducing water usage and raising drought resistant crops; nutritional advancements that assure the hungry are fed and improve overall health and well-being; better planting techniques and conservation and tillage practices that improve and preserve soil health; practices that reduce post-harvest loss and food waste; and new seed varieties that can stand up and thrive under the most difficult conditions, among others.


"But as costs of discovery and commercialization rise, and agriculture has become both more global and more competitive, fewer and fewer companies have the scale to afford the costly, end-to-end process from discovery through development and regulatory approval that is required to bring new products to farmers. With fewer and fewer companies having the capability to do so, farmers everywhere face the prospect of limited choices and fewer new products."


For the full story, continue reading by clicking here.