Presented by

 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- Feral Hog Bill- After Easily Passing the House and Senate- Could Be in Jeopardy

Featured Story:

USDA Releases Results of New Survey on Honey Bee Colony Health 

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of its first ever Honey Bee Colony Loss survey last week. The survey queried more than 20,000 honey beekeepers about the number of colonies, colonies lost, colonies added, and colonies affected by certain stressors and gleans state-level estimates on key honey bee health topics. The survey was developed as part of the "National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators" released last summer, and gleans state-level estimates on key pollinator health topics.


Results from the survey will provide statistically strong baseline information about honey bee losses and can help guide honey bee management decisions in the United States. NASS created the survey questions with input from beekeepers and researchers, and other stakeholders. The results will allow USDA and other federal departments and agencies to create a more unified and complementary approach to implementing the National Strategy, which was unveiled in May 2015.


"Pollinators are essential to the production of food, and in the United States, honey bees pollinate an estimated $15 billion of crops each year, ranging from almonds to zucchinis," said Dr. Ann Bartuska, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. "This new data will add to USDA's robust scientific body of knowledge on the inventory, movement and death loss of honeybees in the United States."


According to the survey released this past week, there were 2.59 million or 8% fewer honey bee colonies on January 1, 2016 than the 2.82 million present a year earlier on January 1, 2015 for operations with five or more colonies. New quarterly colony data allow new levels of analysis. For example, there was an 18% loss of colonies in the January-March quarter in 2015 and a 17% loss in the same quarter in 2016. Honey beekeepers with five or more colonies reported Varroa mites as the leading stressor affecting colonies. They also reported more colonies with symptoms of Colony Collapse Disorder lost in the first quarter of 2016 with 113,930 than the 92,250 lost in the same quarter in 2015.

 

Read more about the survey and find a link to the complete results here.

Trey Lam Says Conservation Practices are Paying Off for Oklahoma Farmers and Ranchers

 

Oklahoma continues to rank in the top five when it comes to improving the quality of the state's water, and Trey Lam, executive director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, says it is a testament to the work agricultural producers are doing to conserve natural resources.


Lam says when the Nonpoint Source Pollution Program was first established in Oklahoma, officials decided to monitor the streams near the epicenters of agricultural activity across the state to determine the industry's impact on water quality.


"We continue to monitor those while conservation practices are put on the ground; thus, we can show improvement that's directly related to the activities that farmers and ranchers are doing to not only improve the quality of water but also to improve the quality of their soil and productivity," he says.


OCC recently announced seven water quality success stories from across the state. Lam says these are examples of the ongoing effort to promote the progress being made to improve Oklahoma's water sources. He attributes the state's success to the idea of tying the in-stream water quality monitoring process to the conservation practices.


"It's actually being able to monitor over a long period of time - close to those agricultural lands - that we can show that agricultural producers in Oklahoma are doing the right thing through conservation," he says. 

 

Click here to listen to Lam talk more about OCC's water quality and soil health improvement efforts.

Joe Neal Hampton on the Hunt for Wheat Farmers to Join the Oklahoma Wheat Growers

 

If you are a wheat farmer in the state of Oklahoma, Joe Neal Hampton would like to have a word with you. Hampton has taken on extra duties beyond his role as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association, as the OGFA has taken over the management of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association- and Hampton is now the Executive Director of the state Wheat Growers group.


We caught up with Hampton on Friday at the 2016 Lahoma Wheat Field Day- and talked with him about the efforts that are now under way to entice wheat growers all over the state to join the revitalized Association.

Click here to jump over to our story on our website for a chance to hear our conversation with Joe Neal about the membership development efforts that he and his staff are undertaking even as wheat farmers prepare for wheat harvest.

Frankly Speaking - USDA Proposal Threatens Rural America's Access to Food Assistance Programs

 

On a regular basis, Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank Lucas authors an opinion-editorial article called "Frankly Speaking." This week, the Congressman looks at some of the latest rules being proposed by the Administration for the SNAP program.


"This week the House Agriculture Committee heard from a variety of retailers, including Love's Travel Stops in Oklahoma, about their experience working with SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Under a new USDA proposal, there is a growing concern from many retailers and convenience stores that they will no longer be able to accept SNAP benefits.


"USDA's new criteria calls for much stricter requirements on the number and variety of foods a retailer must stock and sell to participate in the program. It also disqualifies businesses where readymade or prepared meals account for over 15 percent of its sales.


"This may make sense for more urban, densely-populated areas but for folks in rural America who live 20, 30 or more miles from the nearest grocery store, the new standards are far too stringent. Smaller retailers are disproportionately impacted because they are simply unable to keep up with stricter staffing and food stocking requirements. These sorts of business decisions make it significantly more difficult for retailers who are looking to open up shop in regions without large grocery stores.


"Assistance programs like SNAP serve an important purpose to help folks who are struggling to put food on the table.


"It's also an essential reality for the development and passage of any modern Farm Bill that maintains critical protections and resources for our nation's farmers and ranchers. We made big reforms in the 2014 Farm Bill to rein in excessive spending and promote SNAP accountability by tightening the standards for eligibility and implementing commonsense restrictions.


"Several years of hard work and bipartisan negotiations went into crafting and passing the 2014 Farm Bill, and I believe the law is very clear when it comes to which retailers may or may not participate in the food stamp program.

 

Read Congressman Lucas' complete article here.

 

U.S. Grain Elevators Facing A Host Of Challenges In New Crop Year

 

U.S. grain merchandisers are beginning the new-crop growing season facing significant challenges, according to a new research report by CoBank. Low price volatility, ample grain and oilseed inventories, slow farmer selling and an anemic export program suggest elevators are in for a difficult 2016-2017 season.


"With no relief immediately in sight, grain merchandisers will undergo further belt-tightening in the year ahead," said Tanner Ehmke, senior economist with CoBank's Knowledge Exchange Division. "Most grain elevators have solid balance sheets thanks to multiple years of strong revenues. Nonetheless, pressure for consolidation will likely intensify in an environment of slimmer profit margins."


Amid ample inventories in the U.S. and a lackluster export market, the grain and oilseed basis markets continue to remain stagnant, offering limited opportunities for elevators to profit on old-crop basis appreciation. However, grain elevators could still stand to profit by year's end off the opportunity to buy wider new-crop basis post-harvest, says Ehmke. 


A growing concern among co-op managers is the availability of storage space this fall. High carryover stocks mean inventories will continue to build. Elevators are already holding a significant amount of farmer-owned old-crop in their facilities. Most years, inventories are about 10 percent farmer-owned, but many co-ops report that level at around 30 percent this year. Experts predict that only a major weather-induced crop failure could reverse this trend, and even then supplies are expected to remain sufficient to meet demand.


"Barring any significant weather-related crop losses this year, grain handlers could be tasked with managing huge farmer-owned inventories into the new-crop year and creating, at least temporarily, additional storage," notes Ehmke. "Whether or not farmers will be willing to sell grain, remains the coops' wildcard."

 

 

Click here to read more about CoBank's report and to find a link to a brief video overview of the report, "Grain Elevators Braced for a Challenging 2016." 

Want to Have the Latest Energy News Delivered to Your Inbox Daily?

USMEF Working to Expand Export Markets for Beef Variety Meats

 

The beef export business is an important aspect of the U.S. cattle industry, and the sale of beef variety meats - liver, tripe, oxtails and more - continues to play a vital role in that export trade.


Beef variety meat exports make an important contribution to the profitability of U.S. cattle producers by enhancing the "drop credit" - the price received for items other than muscle cuts. 
Dan Halstrom, U.S. Meat Export Federation senior vice president for global marketing, says the drop credit has been under pressure in recent years, due in part to Russia closing to U.S. beef in 2013. 


He says the USMEF is "focused on trying to impact that demand curve for the beef variety meats" and points to Japan and South Korea as good examples of this process.


"We've had a lot of success this year in Japan, especially with beef tongue. The volume on exports is up about 20 percent compared to last year," Halstrom says. "Beef feet and oxtails have a very big market in Korea, and we've seen more volume in the first three months this year than we did in the first half of last year. 


"If you add a few of these together, it impacts the drop credit dramatically."


Halstrom says beef liver exports to Egypt have increased by 14 percent in volume in 2016, but says the U.S. is becoming overexposed with so much of this variety meat going into that market. To help reverse this trend, Halstrom says it is important to find a wider range of destinations for beef livers. 


"Markets like Peru, markets like Angola and South Africa - we just regained access there from the 2003 BSE incident," he says. "So South Africa would be a brand new market that hasn't had the opportunity to send any variety meats there, and it's definitely a destination for beef liver.


"Trying to build up that demand in some of these smaller emerging markets is a key strategy of ours."


Hear more about how variety meats are impacting the U.S. beef export business during the latest Beef Buzz.

Kubota to Acquire Great Plains Manufacturing

 
It appears Kubota Corporation is not done expanding its farm equipment footprint. After buying the Kverneland Group in 2013- which provided Kubota a line of hay tools, there were indications that Kubota was continuing to shop to expand its influence in the ag and rural lifestyle market.

On Friday, they executed their next move- the purchase of a Kansas company that had just celebrated their 40th anniversary- Great Plains Manufacturing. 

According to the News Release from Kubota and Great Plains, it appears that Kubota most wanted the Land Pride division of Great Plains.

"Since 2007, Kubota has worked closely with Land Pride to provide quality, performance-matched implements to Kubota dealers and customers across the U.S. and Canada. "This acquisition aligns with our long-term strategic vision to continue our market expansion and provide high-quality products and comprehensive solutions for our customers," said Mr. Masato Yoshikawa, president and CEO of Kubota Tractor Corporation. "Great Plains and Kubota share a common set of values in that we both were founded four decades ago on a reputation for quality, innovation and engineering excellence. We believe these synergies will continue to add value for our dealers and our customers for many years to come."

For farmers here in the southern plains- Great Plains is synonymous with grain drills for planting hard red winter wheat.

As for Kubota- they have emerged as a leader in the small horsepower tractor line- and earlier this year- added higher horsepower tractors to their stable.  They are also establishing themselves as a middle of America company.

According to Farm Industry News- "Kubota recently announced that its North American Distribution Center will be established in Edgerton, Kan., which will be the primary distribution hub for Kubota parts and whole goods distribution across the U.S. and Canada. Kubota is also moving its U.S. headquarters from Torrance, Calif., to Grapevine, Texas. It's new corporate headquarters facility is now under construction."

Feral Hog Bill- After Easily Passing the House and Senate- Could Be in Jeopardy

Apparently one single word that was mistakenly struck has caused a huge amount of heartburn in Senate Bill 1142, a measure that would authorize the hunting of feral swine 24/7 by a landowner or anyone he or she authorizes on their land without having to get a license from the State Wildlife Commission.

Michael Kelsey explained the snafu on Friday afternoon at the OCA Spring Quarterly Board Meeting.  With the striking of the word "fish" in the bill, Bowfishing in Oklahoma could be in jeopardy- and that would likely have meant the Governor would have vetoed the bill.

Last Monday, the Legislature sent the bill to the Governor.  Apparently someone figured out the error May 10th- as the request was made in the form of SCR 39 asking the Governor to return the bill to the lawmakers. 

The official request was adopted last Thursday- and the Governor has agreed- and as of May 12- the bill is back to the Senate to be repaired.  

That is likely to happen as early as this morning- the measure could be on its way back to the Governor by midweek- but hold on to those wild piggies for a moment- Kelsey told his board members that there are rumblings that Governor Mary Fallin just might veto this bill- no real reason why was offered- BUT if she does- the time line to attempt a veto override gets pretty tight- especially as lawmakers concentrate on the contentious budget fight ahead of Sine Die a week from Friday- May 27th. 

So- while those wild hogs keep breeding out in the woods- it's unknown what the Governor will do with a cleaned up Feral Hog Control bill that should reappear on her desk before the end of this week.

  

 

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment,  American Farmers & Ranchers, Stillwater Milling Company, Oklahoma AgCredit,  the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, Pioneer Cellular, Farm Assure and  KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis- at NO Charge!

 

 

We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.   

 Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com  

 

 

God Bless! You can reach us at the following:  

 

 

 

Oklahoma Farm Bureau is Proud to be the Presenting Sponsor of the Ron Hays Daily Farm and Ranch News Email