Featured Story:

The 2013 Farm Bill debate continued on the floor of the US Senate yesterday- and an amendment offered by Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe was defeated- Inhofe wanting to end the federal SNAP program and give the money to states as a block grant to provide those same services of feeding poor people- Inhofe's proposal lost 36 in favor- 60 opposed.

Crop Insurance issues are next up to be debated- and Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow offered a strong statement yesterday on the value of crop insurance and pitched the concept that is in the Senate Ag Committee bill that conservation compliance would be attached to crop insurance. Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers Union, supports conservation compliance- with NFU being one of about 32 farm and conservation groups that are involved in a deal regarding conservation compliance for crop insurance. Click here for the text of a letter that Johnson and NFU have sent to Congress on their priorities as the bill is debated on the floor of the Senate.

This "deal" will be tested on the floor of the Senate- perhaps in votes planned for later today- as several Senators continue to champion the idea that farmers have too sweet of an arrangement with the federal government paying for about 62 cents of every dollar for premiums to crop insurance. One amendment that has been offered by Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Tom Coburn would would reduce premium subsidies for higher income farmers. Click here for a video of Senator Durbin on the Senate floor this week.

With several amendments introduced that would weaken crop insurance in one way or another- Chairwoman Stabenow responded by pointing out that while 2012 was one of the worst drought years on record, Congress did not have to approve an ad hoc disaster assistance package "because crop insurance works." Click here to read her full statement.

At this point- Senator Stabenow has said she would like to get a final vote on the farm bill this week- that may be very difficult to accomplish.

The Latest Food Scandal You Have Heard Almost Nothing About- Horsemeat Mixed Into Hamburger 

One of the featured speakers at the 29th International Alltech Symposium in Lexington, Kentucky, was Dr. Patrick Wall from University College in Dublin, Ireland. He spoke about food scandals in general and, in particular, about the recent horsemeat scandal roiling Europe. Horsemeat has been found in beef patties and products labeled as 100-percent beef. 

I spoke with Wall after his presentation and he said the main driver of the scandal has been economic.

"Horsemeat is much cheaper than beef and so this was a case of food fraud where people were substituting horsemeat for beef.

"Unscrupulous dealers started to switch horsemeat for beef and it's not routine in the meat sector to DNA test raw ingredients to make sure if you buy ground beef-you assume you're buying ground beef-and if there was horse mixed in it, you wouldn't pick it up.

One of the food testing agencies began doing DNA testing when consumers began asking why beef patty prices were so cheap-about the same price as a can of cat food. The testing confirmed the patties contained horsemeat and consumers in countries where horses are companion animals exploded in outrage. 

Wall said the reaction would probably be the same in the United States.

He said food distributors learned their reputations were only as good as their least honest supplier, and that companies are nearly powerless against misinformation disseminated on social media.

You can listen to more from Dr. Wall or read more of this story by clicking here.
 

Producers Should Examine Pastures for Post-Tornado Debris, Freking Says

Insulation and building debris from severe storm events such as the May 19-20 tornadoes that struck Oklahoma can litter pastures, causing potentially significant negative effects on livestock health and an agricultural operation's economic bottom line.

Brian Freking, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension area livestock specialist, cautions cattle will eat just about anything that looks interesting in the pasture, underscoring the importance of livestock owners to examine their pastures for debris.

"Picking up debris from their pastures can be a painstaking, labor-intensive process given the potential amount of small debris," he said. "Obviously, people come first, but when a producer gets a moment, he or she needs to walk their pastures; it just needs to be done, and as quickly as possible."

Insulation can cause bloat, impaction and gastro-intestinal problems when consumed, including possible hemorrhaging of the rumen and irritation to the lining of the digestive tract. Cattle may ingest nails, pieces of wire and other small pieces of metal. "Hardware" disease, a disease of cattle ingesting foreign bodies such as described above, can be a result. 

Click here for more.
 

USDA, State Ag Groups, Tyson Offer Assistance to Tornado Victims

Following the devastating effects of tornadoes this week, USDA is offering assistance to those in need. USDA offers many programs that can provide assistance to landowners, farmers, ranchers and producers during disasters. No Presidential or Secretarial declarations are required for the provision of much of this assistance.

Three disaster programs are currently available to farmers and ranchers (and private forest land owners) through the Farm Service Agency. They are: Emergency Designation (low-interest) loans, the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP), and the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP).

Up to two-thirds of the counties in the United States have been designated as disaster areas in each of the past several years. Producers may apply for low-interest emergency (EM) loans in counties named as primary or contiguous under a disaster designation. For more information, contact your nearest USDA service center or any USDA state office.  Click here to read more and to find a link to more information on federal disaster programs.

Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese has compiled a list of resources and Oklahoma agricultural groups who are assisting in tornado relief efforts.  Click here for more.

Tyson Foods is also supporting clean up efforts by sending its "Meals that Matter" to the affected areas.  Read more by clicking here. 

Daryll Ray Asks, 'Do Opponents of Crop Insurance Oppose Farm Programs in General?'

Daryll E. Ray, the Director of University of Tennesse's Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, writes in the latest Policy Pennings Newsletter:

The 2013 drought across a wide swath of the US corn belt has resulted in high insurance payments, both for farmers who faced a lower yields than they expected at planting and for farmers who had a modest or better crop but received payments because they took out revenue insurance with a harvest-time price option. The resulting high costs to the US government have resulted in a chorus of opponents to crop insurance.

As we listen to those voices, it is important to listen to the nuances in the arguments they make because they are not all the same.

At the one pole, we have those who are opposed to any type of crop insurance simply because they oppose all farm programs-some of them even go so far as to call for the elimination of the United States Department of Agriculture. But even among this group there are some differences. Some are opposed to farm programs on economic grounds, arguing that the free market is better at allocating resources than government policy. Others in this group simply want to shrink the size of government because they see the government as the problem.

Others oppose crop insurance and crop-specific payments to farmers because they would like to see the money that is going to crop insurance and other areas switched to an area about which they are passionate-usually the environment.

Click here for more analysis from Daryll Ray.  
 

Grandevo Bioinsecticide Removes Bee Warning from Label

Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (MBI), has received U.S. EPA approval to delete the bee toxicity warning statement from its Grandevo® Bioinsecticide label following a review. The removal of the toxicity statement is supported by third-party field evaluations that show Grandevo has no increased mortality or detrimental effects to honeybees. The key study was conducted in central North Carolina during the summer of 2012. The month-long hive study compared the mortality rates of Grandevo versus a known toxic pesticide reference treatment and a water treatment control.

Grandevo, a cross-spectrum bioinsecticide, is effective in controlling chewing and sucking insects, as well as mites. It works through oral toxicity, reduced reproduction, and repellency. While tested extensively to understand its effects on non-target organisms, including lab studies with bees, prior to its EPA registration in 2012, Grandevo was not required to be field tested with honeybees. Dr. Tim Johnson, Global Head of Product Development with MBI explains, "With the growing concern about the hazards many insecticides pose to bees and bee colonies, it was extremely important to do this field study. We can now reassure growers that Grandevo will not harm honeybees and can provide critically needed pest control throughout the growing season, including when bees are active."

You can read more of this story by clicking here.  

KIS Futures Moves Operations to Oklahoma National Stockyards

Oklahoma City-based KIS Futures has moved its commodity futures brokerage to the Oklahoma National Stockyards.

Justin Lewis, vice president of KIS, said, "We are excited about our new location and being more accessible to our cattle customers when they attend Monday's auction or when visiting Stockyards City. Our new trading room is large enough to conduct trading operations for our five brokers, Lane Broadbent, Harlan Coit, Steven Grantham, Tom Puckett, and me. Our new location also provides a room large enough to conduct our risk-management hedging seminars."

Lane Broadbent, president of KIS Futures, said, "Many years ago KIS had a branch office at the Stockyards, but our main office was always located near Lake Hefner and Britton Road in Oklahoma City. However, since 70 percent of our commodities business comes from cattle futures and options hedging, it made sense that we move our full operations to the Stockyards."

KIS Futures was founded in 1988 and is Oklahoma's largest commodity futures brokerage.