Senate Budget Cut Package Unfairly Targets Farmers, NCFC's Chuck Conner and AFBF's Bob Stallman Agree 

The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) expressed its strong opposition to the disproportionate cuts to farm programs contained in the Senate proposal to defer budget sequestration cuts. The Senate bill would cut $31 billion from the farm bill, all of which would come from the commodity title of the bill; it would include elimination of direct payments.

"No producer, no co-op across the country doubts the need for our federal government to get its spending more in line with revenue-agriculture has always stood ready to contribute its fair share to deficit reduction," said Chuck Conner, president and CEO of NCFC. "Unfortunately, the Senate proposal fails to treat farmers equitably. The only parts of the budget taking cuts under this proposal are defense and agriculture. It should also be noted that this cut would be three times what agriculture would contribute to deficit reduction if the sequestration process is allowed to move forward on its own."

As for Bob Stallman- his Friday afternoon statement on the subject sounds like he and Connor are singing from the same hymnbook- "We recognize there are many steps on the road toward restoring fiscal responsibility to our federal government and that some will be painful. That pain, however, should be a shared experience and not take such a heavy toll from any one sector. Once again, agriculture is being asked to step up to the cutting table and hand over substantially more than its fair share."

For the NCFC complete statement from Chuck Connor- click here. AND, for the AFBF statement offered by their President Bob Stallman- please click here.  

US-EU Trade Negotiations Draw Praise from Farm Bureau and Poultry Groups 

Various segments of the agriculture industry responded positively to last week's announcement by President Barack Obama that the United States and the European Union would soon launch negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

"The beginning of comprehensive trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union holds the promise of expanded market access and an improved, science-based regulatory approach for agriculture and food," said Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau.  "Farm Bureau is encouraged that some long-standing issues hindering trade between the U.S. and the EU, such as sanitary standards for beef, have lately been addressed."  (Click here for more from Bob Stallman.)

Wheat Commission's Mike Schulte Says Crop Looking Poor in Northwest Oklahoma

Spotty precipitation over the last couple of weeks has helped the wheat crop in some areas, but Mike Schulte, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission says this year's crop has a lot of producers concerned.  

"When you look at this year with regards to the moisture content and producers getting the crop out, they just really haven't had a chance anywhere," Schulte said. In a lot of cases and instances producers planted the crop on six-tenths of moisture and that's all they had had until the first of January.

"In the northwest part of the state we haven't seen a lot of emergence yet. We have seen some germination taking place now because of the moisture we received on the 1st of January and we're hoping with this snow the past week we will see some emergence. But, you know, this time of year for the wheat to be emerging that's just really, really late. And I think that producer's got to make that decision. I feel like there's going to be a lot of crop insurance collected up in the northwest part of the state. And that's really our strong area that always comes on for heavy production. So I think going into this crop it's going to have a significant impact on what we take in in the state this year." 

You can hear my interview with Mike Schulte by clicking here.

Animal Disease Traceback Finally Getting Off the Ground

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is finally getting its Animal Disease Traceback plan in place which will allow the tracking of the interstate movement of livestock to help trace outbreaks of disease. Phil Seng of the US Meat Export Federation says this is very important for our meat export customers.

"It will help. Anything that we can do is going to help. I think we can always do more. Customers expect more. It's a work in progress and that's probably the best way to describe it."

In animals under 18 months of age is there anything that will help in dealing with overseas customers?

"There's really two things to look at. I think number one is: What is the system that we have? And I think where USMEF is most concerned that will ensure if we have any kind of an animal health issue in the United States that we would be able to maintain the flow of product. And, obviously, that has to be more comprehensive. So, when I say there's still work to do that's work to do because our trading partners will do basically what we would do and that would be to close our market. So, we think we have to be more comprehensive in that regard."

Phil joined me on the latest Beef Buzz.  Click here to go there.

Congressman Frank Lucas and five state legislators will be honored this evening at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau's annual leadership conference at the Skirvin Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City.

Lucas, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, will receive the Golden Plow award.  It is presented annually to one member of the U.S. Senate and one member of the U.S. House of Representatives who have demonstrated strong support for Farm Bureau and agricultural issues.  (You can read more about Lucas's award by clicking here.)

No-Till Oklahoma Conference Meets in Norman February 19th-20th

The 2013 No-till Oklahoma Conference is scheduled February 19th and 20th at the National Center for Employee Development in Norman. 

No-till continues to grow in popularity among producers who want to increase soil quality, conserve soil moisture, and decrease fuel and labor costs.   The program will include several nationally-known speakers including Dr. Ray Ward, Gail Fuller, Brian Arnall, and Dr. DeAnn Pressley.

Some of the topics covered in two day conference will include:

• Fertilizers
• Vertical tillage
• Herbicide-resistant weeds
• Cover crops

 The conference will last from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.  For more information and registration information, go to www.notill.okstate.edu

Oklahoma Conservation Districts, Churches Call for Interfaith Prayers for Rain

With the drought in the Oklahoma projected to continue through the spring and with the specter of a growing water crisis on the horizon, the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD), the Oklahoma Conference of Churches and the Whole Creation Community, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma, today jointly announced a call for all Oklahomans of faith to come together for a series of Interfaith Days of Prayer for Rain in the coming months and for all Oklahomans to have a meaningful conversation about our stewardship of the state's water resources.

The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Episcopal bishop and professor of Native American ministries at Oklahoma City University's Saint Paul school of theology agreed.

"As this drought continues to deepen, we feel that it's critical that all Oklahomans come together to petition for relief from this crisis," he said. "In the Old Testament book of Zechariah, Chapter 10 verse 1 it says to 'Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms, He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone. (NIV) ' We feel that while we heed these words, we should also take this opportunity to show ourselves to be the best stewards possible of what we have already been given. While we pray for rain, we should conserve what we already have." 

For more, please click here.