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The President of the American Farmers and Ranchers, Terry Detrick, will remain in that job for the next three years as delegates to the 2013 Convention of the AFR and the Oklahoma Farmers Union reelected him to that post on Saturday in Norman.

Detrick, was appointed to the job in 2009 after Ray Wulf stepped aside- the Ames, Oklahoma wheat and cattle producer was the Vice President of the organization before taking over the Presidency in 2009. The won his first full three year term in 2010. The 2013 vote to retain Detrick in the job was not close, with 615 out of 850 delegates voting for Detrick.

Terry is well known outside of Oklahoma- having served as a President of the National Association of Wheat Growers- and he made an unsuccessful bid to become the President of the National Farmers Union about a decade ago.

John Porter of Stillwater will remain as the Vice President of the organization, while long time AFR staffer Paul Jackson has won the Secretary-Treasurer job, with 90% of the delegates supporting the Ringling, Oklahoma rancher. 

Click here for more on the elections at the 2013 AFR/Oklahoma Farmers Union Convention- and a chance to hear our visit with Terry after the Credentials Committee announced the results of the vote.  

Number of U.S. Cattle on Feed Drops Six Percent 

The number of cattle on feed across the U.S. came in close to expectations in the latest Cattle on Feed Report released Friday. 

Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter in the United States totaled 11.1 million head in feedlots with a capacity of 1,000 or more head as of February 1, 2013.  That's 94 percent of the inventory on hand one year ago.

Placements in feedlots during January totaled 1.88 million, which is two percent above 2012. Net placements were 1.80 million head. During January, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 445,000; 600-699 pounds were 395,000; 700-799 pounds were 535,000, and 800 pounds and greater were 501,000. 

Marketings of fed cattle during January totaled 1.92 million, 6 percent above 2012. 

Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities said the report is neutral to bearish.  Click here to listen to his report and to find a link to the full Cattle on Feed Report.

Water, Runaway EPA Two Big Issues on OFB's Priority List, John Collison Says

Several issues of paramount importance to Oklahoma farmers and ranchers were discussed at the recent Oklahoma Farm Bureau Leadership Conference. Those discussions were the culmination of earlier meetings of OFB members all across the state to determine policy initiatives and priorities for the coming year.

John Collison, vice president of public policy and media affairs with Oklahoma Farm Bureau spoke with me about the top issues OFB will be tackling on the state and national levels.  As you can imagine, the farm bill is high on the list, but so are the EPA and water resources. 

"EPA can hurt us or help us," Collison said.  "They usually hurt us more than the agriculture bills can sometimes... We need to make sure that we get an EPA administrator in there that understands rural Oklahoma, that understands farm dust, that understands how we work and how we live because a lot of these regulations that come out of Washington, D.C., don't seem to always take our farmers in to play. "

Looking at state issues, Collison said, there are a number of issues on the horizon, but none so important as water. 

"You saw the drawdown of Canton Lake by Oklahoma City and that's fine. They own the water. It was their water to do it. But you saw that it almost became a rural-versus-urban issue. In the Daily Oklahoman, in the newspapers and the stories that were written out there, it became a rural-versus-urban issue. We have to focus on that fight sometimes. Not only do we have to focus on the fights from the municipalities in Oklahoma or other entities, but we've got Texas taking us to the Supreme Court to fight for our water rights. It's Texas versus Oklahoma. This is the issue that will take us into the future."

Click here to read more and to listen to my conversation with John Collison.


 

Many Complicated Factors Holding Down Wheat Prices, US Wheat Associates Analyst Says

Casey Chumrau, a market analyst with US Wheat Associates writes in their latest Wheat Letter:

The downward trend in wheat futures the last three months has been a bit of a puzzle to a lot of buyers and sellers. While the wheat market fundamentals appear mostly bullish, wheat futures have fallen 20 percent on average since Nov. 8, 2012. Declining world production estimates and crop damaging weather have not supported the markets and the slide stands as a reminder that complicated dynamics are driving today's wheat market.

"The biggest reason for the drop in wheat futures," said Mike Krueger of The Money Farm, "has been an exodus of speculative money from the markets in late November and early December due to concerns about the approaching fiscal cliff in the United States." 

Krueger said uncertainty created by the U.S. government's budget battles overwhelmed any bullish wheat news at the time. Investors and investment funds looking for new opportunities pulled money out of commodities into the stock market, for example, which has performed extremely well the last few months. That erased the incentive to stay in or return to declining commodity markets.

Click here to read more.

New USGS Report Updates Decline of High Plains Aquifer Groundwater Levels

The U.S. Geological Survey has released a new report detailing changes of groundwater levels in the High Plains Aquifer. The report presents water-level change data in the aquifer in two separate periods: from 1950-the time prior to significant groundwater irrigation development-to 2011, and 2009 to 2011.

In 2011, the total water stored in the aquifer was about 2.96 billion acre-feet, an overall decline of about 246 million acre-feet (or 8 percent) since pre-development. Change in water in storage from 2009 to 2011 was an overall decline of 2.8 million acre-feet. The overall average water-level decline in the aquifer was 14.2 feet from pre-development to 2011, and 0.1 foot from 2009 to 2011.

The study used water-level measurements from 3,322 wells for pre-development to 2011 and 7,376 wells for 2009 to 2011. 

You can read more of this story as well as find a link to the full report by clicking here.  

 

Rainfall-Snowfall Gave Most of State an Inch of Moisture Last Week- More Arriving Now

Oklahoma- at least most of the state- got a really nice soaking over this past week from the combination of snow, ice and rain that fell across the state. Only the western half of the Panhandle and the far northeastern corner of Oklahoma got less than the one inch plus that most Mesonet stations received.

We have the snapshot of the graphic that captures what we ended up with last week after most of last week's snow had melted-ahead of this vigorous snow storm/blizzard as we finish writing our email on this Monday morning. Click here for the graphic of last week's rainfall and a News9 prediction of snowfall totals.   

As of 4:15 AM- Rainfall from this system thus far is already piling up- Weatherford has recorded 1.38 inches of rain- Cherokee with 1.25, Hobart with 1.22 and Seiling with 1.20 inches of rain. Our friend and colleague Jed Castles with News9 is calling this a big and dangerous storm- it may be one for the record books- be careful if you are in the blizzard area- and if you have not yet finished getting livestock into a sheltered situation- you may want to do that as early as you can if you are in the northwestern quadrant of the state.   

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to Deliver Keynote Address at Commodity Classic

For the fourth straight year, farmers and attendees at Commodity Classic will have the opportunity to welcome U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to the annual convention and trade show for corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum growers. The secretary will deliver a keynote address to an expected crowd of more than 6,000 during the event's General Session, to be held March 1 in Kissimmee, Fla.

I will be on the scene with coverage from the Commodity Classic all week long- assuming we can get out of OKC with the snowstorm that is bearing down on us.   

Pam Johnson, National Corn Growers President, said, "Secretary Vilsack has been a steadfast supporter of agriculture, and it is an honor to welcome him once again to Commodity Classic as he begins his second term.  Agriculture will be facing many important topics over the next year including a new farm bill, expanded trade and the federal budget. We look forward to hearing the secretary's remarks on these and other issues."

"As we gather in Florida next week to explore ways to optimize farmers' sustainability, profitability and impact in the larger American marketplace, we are excited to hear the secretary's thoughts on how our farmers can better convey our relevancy to their urban and suburban counterparts," said American Soybean Association President Danny Murphy. "Secretary Vilsack has been a wonderful voice for farmers, and we're proud to have him again at this year's Classic."  

Click here to read more about this year's Classic.