Livestock Disaster Protection Act Introduced in the House of Representatives 

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) supports the efforts of Rep. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) in introducing legislation that would provide a safety net for livestock owners across the nation. Under the Livestock Disaster Protection Act - the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) would be extended for five years and would apply retroactively to cover losses in fiscal years 2012 and 2013.

"While cattlemen and women need the certainty that would be provided through a permanent disaster program in a full five year farm bill and we continue to work toward that goal, we appreciate the efforts of all members of Congress in keeping disaster assistance part of the national dialogue," said Scott George, NCBA President and a dairy and beef producer from Cody, Wyo. "The continued drought which has now covered more than 70 percent of cattle country has impacted all of our ranches. Cattle producers need the tools necessary to manage the risks associated with mother-nature."

The nation's livestock producers have been hard hit, with the current drought across the country only adding to the effects caused by multi-year droughts in some of the largest cattle production areas. The drought has been a major factor in lower yields and subsequent high costs for hay and feed grains, forcing many ranchers to sell their cattle.

Click here to read more of this story.  

Biotechnology Offers Society Tremendous Benefits As Used in Animal Agriculture 

The breeding of dairy and beef cattle, hogs and even poultry have all been aided tremendously for decades by biotechnology- according to University of California-Davis Professor Dr. Alison Van Eenennenaam. Her definition of "biotechnology" is the use of any technology to aid in the advancement of a living organism. She includes well accepted practices like artificial insemination which have been used since the 1940s in livestock.

Dr. Van Eenennenaam is our guest on today's Beef Buzz. She describes the fears that were in place when AI was first being adopted- of the talk of animals that would be somehow unnatural being created. She equates the fears found in the early years of AI to today's unfounded fears of genetically enhanced technology. She points out that billions of meals of genetically modified crops have been eaten in the more than twenty years since GMOs have been in commercial use- and that the fears of "what if" have never come to pass as there has never been a documented case of a person becoming ill from eating a meal that has plant material that is genetically enhanced.

I talked with Dr. Van Eenennenaam during the 2013 Annual Conference of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture.

Click here to listen. AND- you can also hear part two of our visit with Alison about the value of biotechnology in the cattle industry- click here for that.

Anderson Sees Little Good News for Southern Oklahoma Farmers

In his weekly preview of this week's SUNUP show, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson has been travelling the state and getting a first-hand look at the condition of the wheat crop and its producers. He says it's been a tough time down south for farmers.

"I've been through southern Oklahoma and southwestern Oklahoma and some of them are despondent, and I think rightfully so. This year they've got the drought. They've got the freeze. The wheat is mostly in poor condition. You look over the last five or six years, they've lost two, three, or four of their crops in those six years.

"One year they harvested no cotton in the majority of their land. The prices, where they've been high, they just haven't had anything to sell. And they're ready for some good news. They're ready for something good to happen."

Anderson says he's been wracking his brain to come up with some good news, but so far he is coming up short.

You can hear Kim Anderson's analysis and see the lineup for this week's SUNUP show by clicking here.

Oklahoman Included Among Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame Nominees

Six legendary cattle veterinarians, including Oklahoman Don Williams, have been nominated for the 2013 Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame, which celebrates the rich traditions of production veterinary medicine by honoring exceptional individuals who have made lasting contributions to the veterinary profession. From the development of herd health protocols and management strategies to maintaining leadership roles in teaching and research, these nominees have helped shape the industry throughout their distinguished careers.

The Cattle Production Veterinarian Hall of Fame is sponsored by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), the Academy of Veterinary Consultants (AVC), Bovine Veterinarian, Merck Animal Health and Osborn Barr, an agricultural marketing and communications company.

"Selected by their peers, each of the nominees represents a legacy of excellence, dedication and accomplishment that make them truly worthy of Hall of Fame recognition," says Mark Spire, D.V.M., technical services manager for Merck Animal Health. "During their extraordinary careers, they have played key roles in establishing standards of cattle care and developing health protocols that have had a remarkable impact on our industry."

Click here to read more and to find a full list of the nominees. 

House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas Sets May 15th as Mark Up Date for 2013 Farm Bill 

David Rogers reported yesterday at Politico that, "House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) said Thursday that he will move ahead a farm bill markup May 15 despite pressure from the Republican leadership to take more time first and consider tougher changes in the food stamp program to win over conservative votes.

"Lucas told POLITICO that he was fully prepared to hold listening sessions first with the Republican whip's office over the next month. But he wants to keep to his schedule and produce a bipartisan bill together with his ranking Democrat, Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson.

"'They suggested I take a little more time,' Lucas said of a meeting Thursday with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and his top staff. 'I said I wanted to go May 15 but would be happy to hold the listening sessions to hear what my colleagues think.'"

Mr. Rogers added that, "As the floor leader, Cantor is said to be worried still about the ability to win over conservative support for any farm bill, and Lucas has felt pressure from the leadership to steer more to the right and consider tougher work requirements for food stamp beneficiaries, for example."

We have sourced this from our colleague and friend Keith Good at FarmPolicy.Com- click here to read the rest of his Friday update where he transistions into what the Senater Ag Committee may be looking at now- it appears they have slipped into May for a possible mark up as well.

The Latest Drought Monitor: The Trend is Our Friend

Consider the drought relieved... for a swath of Oklahoma about 30 miles wide, says Associate State Climatologist Gary McManus. Wednesday's severe weather brought lots of tornado, hail and wind reports, but it also brought torrential rains. Where those storms formed along yesterday's warm front and trained to the northeast is rather obvious from the latest Mesonet rainfall map. 

Medicine Park takes the prize for actual gauge-measured rain, with 6.63 inches in a hurry. The bulk of that rain fell between 6pm and 8:45pm.

Rains of 2-7 inches up and down the I-44 corridor caused localized flooding in Medicine Park, Lawton, Chickasha, Newcastle, Norman, Oklahoma City, Shawnee, Bixby and Kansas, to name a few. Anywhere along that line of training storms probably had some flooding problems. River flooding is occurring along the Little River near Tecumseh, the North Canadian in Oklahoma City, a broad area in Wagoner, Tulsa, Okmulgee, Okfuskee, Muskogee and Creek counties, the Neosho River near Commerce, and finally another broad area of Wagoner, Rogers, Muskogee, Mayes, Delaware and Cherokee counties.

You can read more of this story and see the latest Oklahoma Rainfall and Drought Monitor maps by clicking here. 

 

This N That- Southern Plains Farm Show Continues, McAlester Cow Sale and In the Field Reminder

We mentioned in the Sponsor Spotlight this morning (right under story one) about our give aways at the 2013 Southern Plains Farm Show- we appreciated the chance to see a lot of folks who stopped by and said howdy on Thursday- and will look forward to seeing you either today or tomorrow at this year's Farm Show.

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Tomorrow- Saturday April 20th is the date for the next special stock cow sale for the McAlester Union Stockyards- they start at twelve noon.  There are a lot of really good looking cattle that will be a part of this sale- click here for the current listing as of Friday- and the contact information to be a part of this sale on Saturday.

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Our "In the Field" guest for this weekend will be Mike Spradling, President of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.  Mike and about 40 Oklahoma Farm Bureau folks are just back from Washington and we will get an overview of the message they took to Washington and what sort of "vibes" they were getting from our elected officials on several key issues that matter to agriculture. In the Field is seen on the Saturday morning news segment at about 6:40 AM on KWTV News9 in Oklahoma City- we will post it to our App and also on our website over the weekend.