Tom Fanning has been at ground zero in northwest Oklahoma for the wildfires that have burned over 300,000 acres in Oklahoma, a similar amount in the Texas Panhandle and more than that in southwest Kansas. The owner/operator of Buffalo Feeders has invested an enormous amount of time since March 6th in organizing relief efforts for his fellow cattle producers- and that effort continues.

At the Wildfire Relief Meeting held Monday at the Harper County Fairgrounds, Fanning talked with me about where the relief efforts
currently stand- and what is next.

Fanning says that "We've had lots of hay come in- I think we are over the emergency of getting the cattle tomorrow, the next day and next week. Now we're looking forward to getting the fences rebuilt and restoring the financial wellbeing of our ranchers." Fanning says that while the immediate need of feeding cattle has been met, he and others are working with livestock and feed companies to figure out a low cost program to drylot beef cow herds until green grass comes on mid spring. He adds that the need for hay is not over and donations of hay continue to be very much appreciated.

What is starting to occupy a lot of Fanning's time is talking to and trying to coordinate a growing number of groups of volunteers that want to come to northwest Oklahoma and help with cleanup and the especially the repair and rebuilding of fence. 

He says he getting calls daily from coast to coast about wanting to offer labor to get fences back up. He says he and others are working non stop to try to coordinate each group with a ranch that has the materials to take advantage of donated help to save on the huge cost of replacing or repairing fence.

Click or tap here to listen to my conversation with Tom Fanning- his comments are featured in today's Beef Buzz as heard on great radio stations across the region.

 
The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is announcing the availability of more than $6 million in funding to implement practices that will help private farmers, ranchers and forest landowners affected by wildfires in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

In Oklahoma, agricultural producers in Beaver, Harper and Woodward Counties will be eligible for wildfire relief assistance. Funding will be delivered through NRCS's Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and applications will be accepted until April 21, 2017.

"We stand by Oklahoma's farmers and ranchers in their recovery from these devastating wildfires," said Gary O'Neill, State Conservationist for NRCS in Oklahoma. "I encourage affected producers to take full advantage of our financial and technical assistance."

Most notably- EQIP can be used to cost share the repair or rebuilding of fire damaged fence- meaning there are two USDA programs that may be help to ranchers in that regard.  We reported yesterday that the ECP- the Emergency Conservation Program that is administered by the FSA will cost share the rebuilding of fence.

To learn more about the EQIP announcement that came yesterday afternoon- click or tap here.

 
Democrat David Scott, a U.S. Representative from Atlanta, Georgia, will introduce Sonny Perdue at his Senate Agriculture Committee confirmation hearing Thursday. Perdue has apparently asked Scott, an old friend from when Perdue was a Democrat, to make the introduction before Perdue gives testimony to the Senate panel in hopes of boosting Perdue's bipartisan credentials.

The two served as Democrats together in the Georgia Senate for eight years before Perdue switched to the GOP in 1998. Representative Scott is a senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, and plans to talk about his work with Perdue and what the former Georgia Governors appointment could mean for agriculture. Scott said of Perdue that "he's the right person at the right time and the right place."

The formal nomination of Perdue was sent to the Senate Agriculture Committee by the White House March 9th. Financial documents that show Perdue will step away from his business interests, along with an FBI background check, were forwarded to the Senate panel earlier this month.

President Donald Trump announced Perdue as his nominee for Agriculture Secretary on January 19th. Depending on the hearing and confirmation process, it may not be until after the Easter Recess of Congress before the full Senate confirms Perdue.

The Hearing tomorrow will start at 9:00 AM Central Time.

 
The Oklahoma wheat crop now in the ground and about ten weeks out from the 2017 harvest is dominated by Oklahoma State University (OSU) varieties- and one of those varieties- Gallagher- was the overwhelming choice by wheat producers when they planted the current crop last fall.

Fully one in every five acres of of the hard winter wheat crop in the state is planted to Gallagher, first released to the public in 2012. During his time as OSU State Wheat Specialist, Dr. Jeff Edwards called Gallagher one of the "Sons of Duster" after it was released for public use. Gallagher took over as the most planted variety in 2016 from Duster and extended that leading position for the crop that will be harvested this year.   

According to the March 2017 "Oklahoma Variety Report" from USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, the top six leading wheat varieties planted in the state were developed by OSU. Gallagher was planted on just over twenty percent of the wheat acres in the state last fall, followed by Duster, Endurance, Iba, Ruby Lee and Doublestop CL Plus.

Click or tap here to read more about the report- and the dominance of the OSU Wheat Breeding Program led by Dr. Brett Carver.

 

The House Ag Committee's Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing in Washington yesterday- listening to the major livestock industry groups about their current wish list when it comes to Uncle Sam. 

The National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association both testified- and they both pushed Congress to get moving on finding the money to establish a Vaccine Bank for Foot and Mouth Disease.

NPPC Vice President David Herring laid out a three step plan that needs money to become reality:

Contract with an offshore, vendor-maintained vaccine bank that would have available FMD antigen concentrate to protect against all 23 of the most common FMD types currently circulating in the world.
    
Maintain a vendor-managed inventory of 10 million doses of vaccine, which is the estimated need for the first two weeks of an outbreak.
   
Contract with an international manufacturer or manufacturers for the surge capacity to produce at least 40 million doses.

Click or tap here for more on the NPPC testimony.

NCBA President Craig Uden also weighed in on the need to be ready in case FMD ever shows up- saying that Congress needs to allocate $150 million annually for the next several years to establish a FMD Vaccine Bank. 

Uden told the Subcommittee "Analysts estimate that an FMD outbreak in the United States could potentially cost our nation's livestock producers billions of dollars in the first 12 months alone. An FMD outbreak has the potential to cause enormous economic losses to not only livestock producers, but also to auction markets, slaughterhouses, food processors and related industries." 

Click here for more on what Uden told the Committee- beyond FMD.
 

 
In the wake of the devastation recently caused by the wildfires in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, Merck Animal Health has announced it will donate $20,000 to help support communities impacted by the fires. The Kansas Livestock Foundation, Oklahoma Cattlemen's Foundation, the Working Ranch Cowboys Association (TX) and Colorado Farm Bureau Foundation Disaster Relief Fund will each receive $5,000 to assist in the recovery and rebuilding efforts.
           
"For many in these communities, the land and cattle are their livelihood and some have been left with nothing," said Shannon Kellner, Associate Vice President, Food Animal Business. "These farmers and ranchers are more than just our customers; they are our neighbors and friends."

Click or tap here to read more about the response from Merck to help ranchers hit hard by the wildfires from earlier this month.

 

In case you missed it last week- the latest the Food Demand Survey (FooDS) was released by Dr. Jayson Lusk from the Ag Economics Department of Oklahoma State University.


This month, some of the highlights of the report included Willingness-to-pay (WTP) decreased for steak, pork chops, and especially deli ham. Meanwhile, WTP increased for chicken breast, hamburger, and chicken wings. WTPs for all meat products are lower than one year ago, except for hamburger. In addition, the largest percentage increase in concern was for bird flu and the largest decrease in concern was for farm animal welfare.


Several new ad hoc questions were added to this month's survey that mainly dealt with knowledge of farm production practices. First in a series of four ad hoc questions posed, respondents were asked whether or not they had ever worked on a farm before. Of those that responded - only 17 percent answered 'Yes.'

You can read more about the latest Survey and grab the link back to the complete report for mid March on our website- click or tap here for that.