Ag Chairman Lucas Says 'May 15th Is a Go' for Farm Bill Markup 

Frank Lucas, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee has been meeting with the House leadership to move forward with the 2013 farm bill. He spoke with me yesterday and said the talks have produced a firm date for the bill's markup. (You can read more our hear our full interview by clicking here.)

"May 15th is a go. We have not issued the official markup notice yet, but both the Ranking Member Peterson and myself are discussing this in public. I think we have an understanding, leadership has been alerted. May 15th, I believe that's a Wednesday, we will markup the 2013 farm bill in the House Agriculture Committee.

"We will begin with a draft that essentially is the 2012 document. There have been some adjustments in some points simply because of the various entities like OMB and CBO have rescored some or our expenditures, our savings, and we've had to make adjustments to reflect that. But, we're going to have choice. We're going to save money. We're going to do it in a bipartisan way. We're going to have a safety net for all crops in all regions. And we're going to make sure our fellow citizens who need help have something to eat."

He said that, in the end, he expects the ag committee members to stick to the principles they agreed upon last year when writing the farm bill, but to achieve the $38 billion target for savings, "You might see some more CRP come out. You most assuredly will see more reforms in the nutrition title. You'll see some adjustments in the commodity title."  

Subcommittee Examines Specialty Crop Programs for the 2013 Farm Bill 

Representative Austin Scott, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology and Foreign Agriculture, held a public hearing to examine specialty crop priorities for the 2013 Farm Bill. The Subcommittee heard from growers and representatives of the specialty crop community on the effectiveness of the current programs within the Subcommittee's jurisdiction.

Last summer, the Agriculture Committee reported H.R. 6083, the Federal Agriculture, Reform, and Risk Management Act (FARRM). The FARRM Act achieved $35 billion in savings to reduce the federal deficit, while expanding popular and successful programs that recognize the diversity of U.S. specialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, horticulture, and nursery crops.

"Growth in the specialty crops sector can play an integral role in our economic recovery. As we continue to examine farm policy and prepare to reauthorize the farm bill, it is essential that we expand on our past successes with programs that help grow our nation's economy," said Chairman Austin Scott (R-GA-8).

Click here to read more and to find links to the witnesses' testimony.

The American Farm Bureau urged Congress to support the specialty fruit and vegetable growers.  You can read their statement by clicking here.   

Second Release of Newly-Converted Sorghum Lines Made Available to Seed Industry

The Sorghum Checkoff in collaboration with MMR Genetics (NuSeeds America) and USDA-Agricultural Research Service have released 50 new sources of sorghum germplasm through the reinstated Sorghum Conversion Program.

This is the program's second of three scheduled releases of sorghum germplasm. In June 2012, the program released 44 converted lines that were distributed to 12 public and private entities engaged in sorghum breeding for the development of new and better hybrid lines of sorghum.

The reinstated sorghum conversion program releases make more of the world's inventory of sorghum genetics available to public and private breeding programs. The material released provides a brand new source of germplasm with potential yield-improving benefits among other desirable genetic traits. Breeding companies can capture potential traits from this new release of germplasm to incorporate into their current sorghum lines to improve the crop's productivity.

You'll find the rest of this story on our webpage by clicking here. 

Short Term Calf Removal Can Improve Rebreeding Rates, Glenn Selk Says

Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter:

Short-term calf removal is the term that describes the temporary physical separation of the calf from its mother. This removes the nursing stimulus from the cow for about two days. Removal of the suckling stimulus for two days has the effect of "fooling mother nature" as some of the cows will begin to produce and release the hormones that cause the cow to return to heat cycles. The care of the calf during that 48 hours is actually quite simple. Most producers will make certain that calves access to some "sweet" feed, high quality hay and plenty of fresh drinking water. The calves will eat very little during this time.

Removal of calves for 48 hours has been shown to improve rebreeding rates of moderately conditioned (Body Condition Score = 5) cows by four to eight percent. This improvement although, seemingly small in magnitude is large compared to the out-of-pocket investment. Short-term calf removal can be used at the first of the breeding season or in the middle or both depending on the labor situation. Short term calf removal is not a powerful enough stimulus to "jump start" very thin cows. Those that are in a body condition score of 4 or less may need to have the calves weaned completely to allow the cow to recycle early in the upcoming breeding season. 

You can read more by clicking here.

Rural Women Leaders Feed State Legislators

State lawmakers received a "taste of the country" April 23 during the annual Oklahoma Farm Bureau Farm City Festival at the Capitol. The event is sponsored by the OFB Leadership Team, consisting of rural women leaders from throughout the state.

The rural leaders use the Capitol's first floor rotunda area to set out a spread of freshly prepared food, much of it home baked. There were trays of fresh vegetables, ham, turkey and beef, deviled eggs, fruit, cookies and brownies.

"This is a way to say thanks to our legislators for working hard on rural issues," said Kitty Beavers, Duncan, Okla., and chairperson of the OFB Leadership Team.   

Beavers said the event also provides a unique opportunity to lobby the legislators.

"We host the event at the Capitol so our leaders can spend time visiting with the lawmakers." 

Click here for more.
 

USDA Renews Historic Agreement with Dairy Industry to Increase Sustainability

USDA has renewed a historic agreement with U.S. dairy producers to accelerate the adoption of innovative waste-to-energy projects and energy efficiency improvements on U.S. dairy farms. With an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2009 - U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy will continue research that helps dairy farmers improve the sustainability of their operations. He says the research will also support the industry as it strives for the long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25-percent by the year 2020. Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and Dairy Management CEO Thomas Gallagher says dairy farmers and the dairy industry are very happy USDA is entering into the next MOU with the Innovation Center. He says they are all interested in sustainable agriculture and producing good food responsibly - while bolstering an important rural economy. He says the new MOU lays out the roadmap for more improvements - which is good for dairy, good for the economy and good for consumers.
 

 USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service has provided 257-million dollars in funding since 2009 - helping more than six-thousand dairy farmers plan and implement conservation practices to improve sustainability. This support has resulted in 354 on-farm and in-plant energy audits - as well as 19 conservation innovation grants for dairy-related projects during the past three years.

To learn more about the Innovation Center for US Dairy- click here. 

This N That- Brrrrrrrrr, Express Grass Time Sale and the Oklahoma FFA- Grow Like That Radio Campaign

Wednesday morning temperatures were brutal on the 2013 winter wheat crop- and pretty rough on winter canola in some areas as well- with record lows being set in multiple locations around the state.  And the fifteen degree reading in Boise City was the coldest temperature ever for this late in the season.  We have a couple of graphs for you to check out that shows the level of cold that rolled across Oklahoma on Wednesday morning- plus some comments from Alan Crone from the News on 6 aboutt he next weather making system that will hit southern Oklahoma on Friday- plus some early thoughts on yet another system coming the middle of next week. Click here to check out the record low temp graphics and conversation about the upcoming weather systems.

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Express Ranches Grass Time Sale is set for Friday (tomorrow), April 26th starting at 11:00 AM central time.  The Sale will feature the following:
133 Angus Bulls
127 Registered Angus Spring Calving Pairs
65 Recently A-I'd Commercial Angus Replacement Females
88 Fall Commercial Heifers

For information- Call Express Ranches at (405) 350-0044 (Local) or (800) 664-3977 (Toll-Free)- or click here for the Express Website and details on the sale (scroll down the list of sales to the bottom for the Grass Time info)- including an online sale catalog, videos of the bulls and a sale supplement.

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Finally, we have been featuring seveal former Oklahoma FFA members and how the organization helped them prepare to be successful in life. We have a total of five sixty second radio spots we are airing on the Radio Oklahoma Network- and we now have them compiled into one YouTube video for you to listen to.  The video includes the radio announcements that feature Harry Birdwell, Monica Wilke, Josh Breechen, Keith Kisling and Cortney Cowley.  Click here for our RON YouTube featuring these great stories that have a common theme- the value of the FFA experience. If you like them-