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Just in time for the holiday giving season, HumaneWatch.org, a project of the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), is issuing a consumer alert reminding Americans to be wary of the deceptive fundraising practices of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The ad, airing nationally on television beginning Dec. 14, highlights HSUS's duplicitous fundraising practices as the vast majority of their fundraising commercials feature dogs and cats, yet only 1% of the money HSUS raises from the public goes to local, hands-on pet shelters. The ad also encourages Americans to give directly to their local pet shelters to make the greatest impact in their community.
     
The ad comes in conjunction with a new analysis of HSUS's recent television ads, which determined that the group's television fundraising appeals perpetuate the misperception that HSUS is an organization that primarily supports pet shelters. Specifically, CCF examined 28 separate HSUS television appeals that ran from January 2009 through September 2011, identified by the Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), and discovered that more than 85% of the animals shown in the ads were dogs and cats despite very little of HSUS's budget going to pet shelters.
     
"HSUS uses emotionally manipulative ads to raise money on the backs of abandoned and abused dogs and cats, yet it gives just one penny of each dollar it raises to local pet shelters," said CCF Senior Research Analyst J. Justin Wilson. "HumaneWatch.org wants to ensure that donations go to support the cause donors intend. If they want their dollars to aid cats and dogs in their community they should give directly to local pet shelters instead of inadvertently bankrolling HSUS's aggressive animal rights agenda."
     
According to recent public polling performed by ORC International, 71% of Americans mistakenly believe that HSUS is a pet shelter umbrella group and 68% wrongly believe that HSUS gives most of its money to local pet shelters.
 

Click here for a link to watch the new TV ad by HumaneWatch.org.

Canola TV - Canola Crushing Wraps Up 2011 Canola Crop  

In the latest edition of Canola TV, we talk with Gene Neuens of PCOM about the 2011 canola crop and how the crop is holding up as the year comes to a close. Neuens says that Oklahoma had a fair crop for 2011 despite some weather difficulties such as drought and even cold weather.

The oilseed content was down to about 38-39% says Neuens, while the oil content has been running about 42% usually. Overall, Neuens says the canola crushing was good and they will be crushing canola all throughout the winter months. Neuens adds that learning how to crush canola has been a beneficial process because this year PCOM is crushing a lot more canola than cottonseed because of the drought reduced cotton crop of 2011 in the southern plains.

Compared to wheat, Neuens says he predicts the prices of canola to be fairly steady and wheat prices to go down a little due to the large amount of carryover. The price of canola throughout 2011 was a fairly consistent and decent price and Neuens predicts that to continue. 

Click here to watch our newest edition of Canola TV with Gene Neuens. 

Oklahoma Board of Equalization Estimating $6.5 Billion Budget Number for Coming Fiscal Year- Flat is Good

The seven member Oklahoma Board of Equalization has certified preliminary revenue figures that show lawmakers will have an estimated $6.5 billion to spend on next year's budget- Fiscal Year 2013- that begins July 1, 2012.

The amount certified by the Board of Equalization on Tuesday is roughly the same that they spent last year. However, the budget estimate for this coming fiscal year looks far better than just two years ago when that body was guessing that Oklahoma lawmakers would have $4.4 billion of state revenues to build a budget on for Fiscal Yer 2011. Federal One Time funds helped  that year dramatically and to a lesser extent in the current Fiscal Year.    

After word came from the Board of Equalization- Governor Mary Fallin offered the following statement-  "The numbers certified by the Board of Equalization today indicate that tax revenues are increasing as Oklahoma's economy continues its rebound from the national recession. That's the good news. The loss of one time funding sources, however, means the state is currently facing an estimated budget shortfall of $150 million. While that number may change, the bottom line is that next year's budget will be flat at best. Moving into 2013, state agencies should redouble their modernization and efficiency efforts to ensure they are maximizing the value of their appropriated funds and saving taxpayer dollars."  

State House Speaker Kris Steele of Shawnee also looked at the announcement in a "glass half full" way-  "It shows what we've expected, and that is to prepare for a relatively flat budget. The encouraging takeaway is Oklahoma's strong, growing economy has helped lead to a positive state revenue rebound, so we're going to keep doing our part at the Legislature to promote pro-growth policies, seek tax relief and manage state resources in a fiscally conservative way. If these figures are any indication, the path we're on is the right one."  

Click here for the final Board of Equalization numbers issued last June for Fiscal Year 2012 that the state of Oklahoma has been operating on since July one of this year.    

OSU's Dr. Derrell Peel Advises Cattle Producers How to Prepare for 2012

The drought and extreme weather of 2011 added on a lot of additional pressure to cattle producers in the state of Oklahoma. With a lot of cattle liquidation and even some uncertainty, cattle producers are beginning to prepare for the 2012 year. Dr. Derrell Peel, OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist, offers some advice.

Peel says that obviously, producers need to keep watching the drought conditions, particularly into next spring, to see if it is going to allow producers to operate a little more normally when it comes to forage production. However, Dr. Peel adds that there are a few things that are generally going to be true in 2012.

The first is that prices are going to generally be good, certainly for any kind of feeder cattle, whether it is light weight calves or heavier weight feeder cattle says Peel. The other general factor says Peel is the fact that even with these high priced feeder cattle, there is a good opportunity for some decent value of gain for stocker producers. 

Click here to listen to our Beef Buzz with Dr. Peel on gearing up for 2012. 

Better Wheat Pasture Conditions May Moderate Oklahoma Cattle Losses

The current climate forecast is for drought conditions to persist this winter across central and western Oklahoma. According to Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, though future conditions are uncertain, widespread and persistent rain in November was ideal for establishment and growth on winter wheat. The result has been more winter wheat than anyone thought possible at the end of October.

However, it must be remembered that the amount of wheat pasture is still below normal. Many pastures have a minimal amount of forage for grazing and look more like what they would a month earlier in a more typical year. Depending on winter weather these pastures may or may not see much additional forage growth before February.

Nevertheless, the available wheat pasture fueled a brief feeder cattle market boom after Thanksgiving that saw prices in Oklahoma jump $10-$12/cwt for stocker cattle as local demand pushed against smaller than normal volumes. The boom lasted about two weeks as producers picked up a few stockers to take advantage of the unexpected wheat pasture. Prices have dropped this last week but are still $8-$10/cwt. higher than November for light stockers while heavy feeders are $1-$3/cwt. higher than a month ago. In other situations, the wheat pasture is being used to provide forage for cows and replacement heifers. Many producers have minimal supplies of forage, often of marginal quality and the high quality wheat pasture provides critical nutritional supplies for cow-calf operations. 

Click here for more from Dr. Peel on wheat pasture conditions.

RFA Seeks Answers in 2012 Renewable Fuel Standard Delay

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) wrote to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson seeking an explanation for the delay in releasing the 2012 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirements. According to statute, volume requirements for the coming compliance year were due by November 30th.

A portion of the letter from RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen to Administrator Jackson is listed below:

"With fewer than two weeks remaining before a new compliance year is set to begin under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), it is concerning that EPA has thus far failed to announce the volume requirements for 2012 as dictated by the law. Equally concerning is the failure to provide renewable fuel providers and obligated parties under the RFS any explanation for the delay beyond the November 30th deadline set forth by the statute."

Click here for a complete copy of the letter sent to Administrator Jackson.

This and That- Snow Blankets Exceptional Drought Zone- & Oklahoma Ag Leadership Alums Reminded to Get Some Skin in the Game

The Oklahoma Panhandle got significant amounts of snow- and the hope is it that it won't all blow into Colorado and Kansas. The word from the Amarillo National Weather Service office is that Kenton topped snow fall amounts in their region- with 15 inches of the white stuff, while Boise City ended up with a foot of snow- Guymon six inches and Beaver with five inches. Click here for further NWS data of the Snow Fall totals from the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles through yesterday evening. 

For alumni of the Oklahoma Agriculture Leadership Program, there is still time to contribute to the $20,000 Noble Foundation Challenge Grant.  To date, 59 alumni have sent in their contributions but Director Edmond Bonjour reports that OALP is still short of meeting the goal.  He asks that alums of the program to  "join your fellow alumni in helping us meet the challenge.  All contributions must be post-marked by Dec. 31 and checks should be made payable to "OSU Foundation/OALP" and sent to 321 Wes Watkins Center, Stillwater, OK 74078."  Edmond tells us that  Classes X and XIV are currently tied for the lead followed closely by Classes IV and VIII in the numbers of alums from those classes who have contributed any amount to the Noble Challenge Grant. To learn more about the OALP- you can click here for their OSU based website.