OKC West- The Buildings Are Gone- a Third of the Pens Need Work But Bill Barnhart Says They Will Sell Cattle Sooner Than You Think   

The OKC West Stockyards was in the direct path of the killer tornado that hit southern and eastern Canadian County on Friday evening. Reports from News9 Helicopter Pilot Jim Gardner early Saturday morning indicated that the main building on the property was badly damaged. That was confirmed by a conversation with Bill Barnhart, the General Manager of OKC West.


Barnhart told us that they "took it right in the mouth" from the tornado that came up from the southwest and killed several folks in and around their vehicles- but NO injuries to those associated with the Stockyards that were there on Friday night.


We talked with Barnhart on Sunday evening, who told us "it's an absolute mess. All of my buildings are gone. I've got about 65% of my pens are in good shape- the rest will need some repair." Starting Monday morning, they will be removing the debris. Barnhart says it appears that the main scale used in the sale barn survived okay, as did the auctioneer block- because of that he is considering throwing a tent up around the scale and block and selling cattle in a matter of just a few weeks- perhaps right after the Fourth of July. Barnhart cautions that will depend on what is found as the destroyed buildings are removed from the property.

We have two links to point you to- one is our story that we posted Sunday evening that includes the audio interview that we did with Barnhart- you can listen to Bill and I by clicking here.  We also have several pictures from Saturday morning that shows the damage that Bill speaks of- click here for the link to the pictures.

Defining Sustainable Beef: Truly a Global Effort 

Defining what constitutes sustainable beef production is not an easy task. Given the vast differences in climate, available forages and grains, water resources, management practices and labor from one beef producing region to another around the globe, a definition must be constructed carefully in order to fully communicate the principles of sustainability and sustainable practices.

Working as a committee within the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB), a group of representatives from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, and the United States met during April in Chicago, IL to begin work that will lead to GRSB's definition framework for sustainable beef; however more experts are needed.

According to Bryan Weech, a member of GRSB's Executive Committee and Director for Livestock at the World Wildlife Fund, "it is imperative that a full range of subject matter experts in the many areas of beef sustainability be involved in this process. We need to assure that all areas and points-of-view are represented so that the definition developed is as accurate and complete as possible." 

Click here to read more.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Calls Forecast for U.S. Agricultural Exports 'Promising'

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its fourth Outlook for U.S. Agriculture Trade in fiscal year 2013 today. USDA projects $139.5 billion in agricultural exports in FY 2013, which if realized would be a new record. Since 2009, U.S. agricultural exports have climbed from $96.3 billion in 2009 to the most-recent forecast of $139.5 billion.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement:

"Today's report is promising news that keeps American agriculture on track to continue the strongest period of exports in our nation's history. Agricultural exports are an important part of our economy, supporting more than one million jobs - and as a part of President Obama's National Export Initiative to double U.S. exports by the end of 2014, USDA has worked hard to open new markets for quality U.S. agricultural products. We've helped achieve new trade agreements with countries around the world, helped organic producers export more products through new equivalency agreements, broken down hundreds of unfair barriers to trade, and utilized trade promotion programs that have helped more than 1,000 U.S. businesses and organizations promote agricultural products abroad. Today, we're looking ahead to the next big achievements - particularly a Trans-Pacific Partnership with Asian nations, and a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union."

You can read more from Tom Vilsack by clicking here. 

Dairy Max Kicks Off Dairy Month with 'Give a Pint, Get a Pint' Blood Drive

June is Dairy Month and Susan Allen with Dairy MAX took the opportunity to visit with me about a number of activities lined up across Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.

"We have a lot of activities going on across our three-state region. This weekend we're kicking off Dairy Farmer Day at the Texas Rangers baseball game and milking a cow on the field and all kinds of fun things like that.

"In Oklahoma, we have seven field days this summer which is more than we've ever had, you know, judging contests for kids, very important for the dairy kids, the dairy farmers. A great time for them to get together. The kids learn something, learn some skills, and just enjoy being together. And then we have some blood drives going on here in Oklahoma-lots of very important things for June Dairy Month."

She said the major project is the "Give a pint, get a pint" blood drive that will happen on June 10th.

"You give a pint of blood and you get a pint of chocolate milk compliments of Highland Dairy. We've partnered with the Oklahoma Blood Institute and Highland Dairy to do this blood drive. Everyone that donates gets a milk t-shirt, the milk, a squeeze cow, recipes, all kinds of things. But, more importantly, you're helping our community. We always have a need to make sure our blood supply is up during the summer, but sometimes donations are down. So we're helping in June Dairy Month, on June 10th, at four metro Oklahoma Blood Institute locations to keep that blood supply up plus celebrate how dairy farmers regularly give back to their communities. They're good neighbors. They're good people. This is the kind of thing they do all the time."

Click here to listen to my interview with Susan or to read more about Dairy Month.

Fifteen Livestock Groups Urge Senate to Pass the Ban on Formula Contracts

Fifteen national and state livestock groups including R-CALF USA, sent a joint letter to U.S. Senators urging them to aggressively support the bipartisan Farm Bill amendment sponsored by Senators Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.). The amendment, Senate Amendment 982, would prohibit the largest meatpackers from using anticompetitive formula contracts to procure livestock from independent cattle and sheep feeders.

According to the group's letter, the amendment would end the meatpackers' practice of enticing cattle and sheep feeders to commit livestock under a formula contract that, while granting livestock sellers timely access to the marketplace, does not even include a negotiated base price. For this reason, the groups refer to anticompetitive formula contracts as un-priced contracts.

The numbers of cattle that have exited the price-discovery cash market in favor of formula contracts has skyrocketed during the past several years. According to national data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the volume of cattle sold in the price-discovery cash market shrank from 52% in 2005 to only 26% in 2012, while the volume of cattle procured under formula contracts increased from 33% to 55% during the same period. 

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

Glenn Selk Says It's Time to Take Another Look at Fall versus Spring Calving

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

As cow herd managers monitor the pasture conditions this spring and make decisions about rebuilding a depleted cow herd, some may wish to rethink the time of year that breeding and calving take place. New data from Tennessee on a fescue-based forage system gives us more information about the direct comparison between fall and spring calving.

In the April 2013 edition of the Professional Animal Scientist, they reported on nineteen years of data comparing fall and spring calving on an experiment station in that state. Over a span of 19 years, they had data from 478 spring-calving cows and 474 fall-calving cows. The fall calving cows weaned 193 more calves (over those 19 years ) than did the spring calving cows. The spring-born calves grew faster and had higher 205 weights, but the fall-calving herd had increased income because of greater number of calves and a reduced need for replacement heifers.

The endophyte-infected fescue may have been a factor in the summer breeding seasons that resulted in significantly fewer calves per cow over the 19 years. The wild type endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum) has been shown to reduce a cow's ability to regulate body temperature which would be an important trait in summer breeding seasons.

Farm Bill Do or Die Time- The Senate Resumes Work on 2013 Farm Bill Today

Keith Good at FarmPolicy.com quotes several sources this morning in offering an overview of what may be happening this week on the farm bill-  

From his daily blog-

"An update at the Senate Democrats Online indicated that, "The Senate will convene at 1:00 p.m. Central on Monday, June 3, 2013...Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of S.954, the Farm bill.

"At 4:30 pm Central, there will be up to 2 roll call votes in relation to the following: Moran amendment #987 (alfalfa) and Coons-Johanns #1079 (food aid) (possible voice vote)."

Erik Wasson reported on Saturday at The Hill Online that, "Senate Democrats and Republicans were unable to finalize an agreement on floor amendments to the $955 billion farm bill this week, leaving the work to be hashed out at the last minute.

"'We're still working with the minority for a time agreement and we'll have a clearer sense then on which amendments will be called up probably by Monday afternoon or evening,' a Democratic aide said late Friday.

"'All of this is still in the works,' a GOP aide emailed."

The Hill update noted that, "Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking member Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) are hoping to limit amendments to get the farm bill passed by the full Senate by the end of the coming week.

"They are also said to be seeking to avoid additional limitations on farm subsidy payments that could further complicate the eventual task of getting a compromise with the House."

All of this from Farm Policy.Com- click here to read his full Monday morning report.  

Meanwhile, we have heard from Chandler Goule- lobbyist for the National Farmers Union and he really paints the deal to limit the number of amendments and the ability for Senator Stabenow to get a bill done by the end of the week as crucial to getting a farm bill at all this year. Goule tells us that unless she can make everybody happy- that even a single Senator can object to not getting his or her amendment included in scheduled votes- and that could sink any chance of finishing the bill this week- which could mean delays by Eric Cantor in the House in giving Chairman Frank Lucas of Oklahoma time to run his version of the Farm Bill across the House Floor.  

Chandler Goule says it all starts with the Senate- if Stabenow can't get a deal to limit amendments- that could put us in a position where another one year extension could end up being the last option on the table.