Last year, the United States submitted an application and supporting information to the OIE's Scientific Commission to upgrade the United States' risk classification for BSE from controlled to negligible. The Commission, in turn, conducted a thorough review before recommending this week that the risk classification for the United States be upgraded to negligible.  A formal announcement is expected in May.

In response to the recommendation, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, "Being classified as negligible risk for BSE by the OIE will also greatly support our efforts to increase exports of U.S. beef and beef products. In recommending that the United States receive negligible risk classification, the Commission stated that the risk assessments submitted for their evaluation were robust and comprehensive, and that both our surveillance for, and safeguards against, BSE are strong. U.S. beef and beef products are of the highest quality, wholesome and produced to the highest safety standards in the world. The United States continues to press for normalization of beef trade with several nations in a manner that is based on science and consistent with international standards."  (Click here for more of Vilsack's statement.)

National Cattlemen's Beef Association President-Elect Bob McCan, a cattleman from Victoria, Texas, said he was pleased with the OIE's recommendation as well. 

Secretary Vilsack Says Man-made Risks are Threat to U.S. Agriculture 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told USDA's annual Agricultural Outlook Forum that many of the risks faced today by U-S agriculture are man-made.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says man-made risks are affecting U.S. agriculture and need to be addressed by Congress. Speaking to the annual Agricultural Outlook Forum held near Washington D.C., Vilsack said the current budget crisis and impending sequester are major yet resolvable threats.

"March one will come and if it comes before Congress has acted the sequester will be triggered and what that will mean for USDA is every line-item, virtually every line-item, of our budget will have to be reduced by a certain percentage. And that percentage could be somewhere in the neighborhood of five to six percent. The only way we can absorb a cut of this magnitude is by impacting the people who work in the food safety area of USDA. It doesn't just impact those workers it impacts all of the processing facilities and plants and production facilities across the country. Congress could give us flexibility and say we didn't really mean every line-item across the board, or they could come up with a larger deficit reduction package that would avoid sequester."

Click here to read more.

Science-Based Research, Regulation Make Sense for Genetically Modified Crops

This article by Steve Mercer, U.S. Wheat Associates Vice President of Communications, was published in their online Wheat Letter.

Food with ingredients that have biotechnology-derived traits have been available for almost 20 years and consumed in literally trillions of meals around the world with no evidence of added harm or illness. Just this week, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications reported that developing countries for the first time have grown more hectares of biotech crops than industrialized countries, "contributing to food security and further alleviating poverty in some of the world's most vulnerable regions."

Yet skeptics still question the safety of these food products and the validity of their regulation.

The fact is numerous studies undertaken by government agencies charged with monitoring food safety and conclusions by leading global health and medical organizations agree that biotech crops are equally as safe to eat as conventional crops.

You can read more by clicking here.

Crop Insurance Indemnity Checks Flow to Farmers

As the claims come in from one of the worst droughts in decades, farmers and ranchers across the country are receiving indemnity payments for the losses they have incurred, according to the latest newsletter from National Crop Insurance Services.

As of February 18, more than $14.7 billion has been sent to farmers. Farmers will invest more than $4.1 billion to purchase more than 1.2 million crop insurance policies.

In 2012, farmers invested more than $4.1 billion to purchase more than 1.2 million crop insurance policies, protecting 128 different crops.

Crop insurance policies protect more than 281 million acres of planted land.

Farmers have spent $28.6 billion out of their own pockets to purchase the protection of crop insurance in the past decade.

Seventeen states have loss ratios exceeding 1.05 - meaning that for every $1 paid in premiums, companies are paying out $1.05 in indemnities.   These states include: Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, South Dakota, New Mexico, New Hampshire, New York, Wisconsin, Texas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Wyoming.

Illinois has the highest loss ratio in the country at 3.23.

Nationally, the loss ratio is 1.33.

 

Precipitation Presents a Two-Edged Sword for Oklahoma Wheat Producers, Anderson Says

Even though much of Oklahoma received precipitation this week, it may not be a good thing for all producers says OSU Extension Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson. He spoke with Lyndall Stout for this weekend's SUNUP program.

"The producers who have fields-and there's quite a few of them-that the seeds haven't germinated yet, this moisture may cause them to germinate. It's late in the season for germination. The odds are, from what I understand from plant soil science specialists, is the odds of making a yield from that is pretty small. That could create some problems with crop insurance. Now, I'm not for sure about that, but it's something to look into."

"However, the fields that are looking like this, that are up, they have a stand, this is a Godsend for them. This is good, timely moisture. It can set them up for coming out of dormancy and it could create the atmosphere for some average or better yields."

Click here for more from Kim Anderson and to see the full lineup for this weekend's SUNUP show.

 

First Hollow Stem Has Arrived in the 2013 Oklahoma HRW Crop

"First hollow stem occurs just prior to jointing and is the optimal time to remove cattle from wheat pasture. Grazing past first hollow stem can reduce wheat grain yield by as much as 5% per day and the added cattle gains are not enough to offset the value of the reduced wheat yield. Checking for first hollow stem is fairly easy."

• You must check first hollow stem in a nongrazed area of the same variety and planting date. Variety can affect date of first hollow stem by as much as three weeks and planting date can affect it even more.
• Dig or pull up a few plants and split the largest tiller longitudinally (lengthways) and measure the amount of hollow stem present below the developing grain head. You must dig plants because at this stage the developing grain head may still be below the soil surface.
• If there is 1.5 cm of hollow stem present (see picture below), it is time to remove cattle. 1.5 cm is about the same as the diameter of a dime.

This N That- Rainfall Update, OACD Meeting and Express Bull Sale Reminder

Rainfall totals across southern Oklahoma continued to build during the day yesterday- and with this latest system now out of the state- we have the latest Mesonet station graphic to share with you on our website- as well as yesterday's Drought Monitor.

Click here for our webstory that has both of these graphics.

Over two dozen Mesonet locations have recorded over an inch of liquid rainfall- and many other locations- especially north of I-40 could push over that mark as snow melts today and into the weekend.  

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This coming Sunday through Tuesday, the 2013 Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts will be holding their annual meeting- once again at the Reed Center in Midwest City.  

Details of their meeting are in our calendar listing of the meeting- complete with a link to the agenda for the 2013 gathering of conservationists from all 77 counties. Click here to jump over there. 

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The 2013 Spring Bull Sale of Express Ranches will be here before you know it- and this year's event will feature some of the finest genetics found in the Angus breed today.  The sale at the Ranch in Yukon will include a lineup of 546 Bulls- featuring the National Western Grand Champion Carload. The sale will happen Friday, March first, starting at 10 AM.  

Bob Funk and Jarold Callahan write in the 2013 Catalog "With all of us experiencing the best cattle prices in history, we still feel one of the most important decisions we have to
make is bull selection. Proper bull selection allows us to optimize our opportunities to turn a profit and maximize our land,
labor and cowherd.

"At Express we are constantly striving to blend technology with common sense to supply you, our customer, with the best
bulls we can produce. All of the bulls selling have HD50K genomic profiles for you to examine."

Click here to go to the Express website and their sale page- they have the catalog on line to examine- video of the bulls and the ability to download the bulls performance data.