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For the second time in as many years, it appears that Senator Debbie Stabenow has shown she can bring it- at least when it comes to a five year farm bill. In a strong showing of support, the U.S. Senate voted 75-22 on yesterday morning to close off debate on amendments to the farm bill and move ahead to final debate on the legislation and one more vote that is expected for around 4:30 PM central time.

Thursday's cloture vote means that Stabenow and her ranking member, Thad Cochran, control the number of amendments warrant debate. Twenty-two Republicans joined 53 Democrats in voting for the bill. All 22 votes opposing the cloture vote were Republicans. 

And according to Politico, it got the attention of House Speaker John Boehner has reiterated the plan to debate the Farm Bill in the US House the week of June 17th. "I think is important for the House to work its will on the farm bill," Boehner told reporters Thursday. "I'm hopeful that we can pass a Farm Bill and get to conference with the Senate and resolve this issue for America's farmers and ranchers."  

You can read the entire Politico story by clicking here. 

Pam Johnson, President of the National Corn Growers, was one ag leader who quickly offered praise for the Senate vote- "The National Corn Growers Association is pleased to see the cloture vote on the farm bill received 75 votes, well over the 60 votes necessary to move the legislation forward. However, there is still important work that needs to be done. We urge the Senate to quickly take action and vote to pass the legislation."

As you might expect- not everyone is a happy camper.  For example- you have the Environmental Working Group.

Scott Faber, EWG's Senior Vice President for Government Affairs, said: "We are truly disappointed in the Senate leadership for its refusal to consider common-sense reforms to the bloated federal crop insurance program. We were confident that the Senate would have overwhelmingly supported reforms to limit crop insurance premium subsidies and windfall profits for the largest and most successful farm businesses and to make subsidies more transparent so taxpayers are no longer left in the dark. Such reforms to strengthen the crop insurance program would have made final passage of the farm bill more likely. We look forward to the adoption of these reforms in the House, when it takes up the bill later this month. " 

FSIS Proposes New Labeling Rules for Mechanically Tenderized Beef Products 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is proposing new requirements for labeling beef products that have been mechanically tenderized, including adding new cooking instructions, so that consumers can safely enjoy these products.

"Ensuring that consumers have effective tools and information is important in helping them protect their families against foodborne illness," said Under Secretary Elisabeth Hagen. "This proposed rule would enhance food safety by providing clear labeling of mechanically-tenderized beef products and outlining new cooking instructions so that consumers and restaurants can safely prepare these products."

To increase tenderness, some cuts of beef go through a process known as mechanical tenderization, during which they are pierced by needles or sharp blades in order to break up muscle fibers. Research has shown that this process may transfer pathogens present on the outside of the cut to the interior. Because of the possible presence of pathogens in the interior of the product, mechanically tenderized beef products may pose a greater threat to public health than intact beef products, if they are not cooked properly.

You can read more by clicking here. 

Selling versus Storing: Kim Anderson Looks at Options for This Year's Wheat Harvest

With harvest approaching, the store-versus-sell question is big on producers' minds. In this week's preview to Saturday's SUNUP show, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson says the correct answer is: "Yes."

"Given the volatility in the market and that we can't predict prices, I think they need to sell some at harvest and then store some to sell later in the crop year and probably have it sold by January 1. I think this year, the price situation, that we should probably sell a higher percentage at harvest than we normally sell."

He said current prices at Oklahoma elevators are in the $7.20 to $7.40 range, which is 80 cents to one dollar more than the five-year average. For that reason, Anderson said, it makes sense for producers to consider selling more of their crop at harvest time rather than later in the year.

You can catch Lyndall Stout's full interview with Kim Anderson and see the full lineup for this weekend's SUNUP show by clicking here.
 

Conservation Compliance Coupled to Crop Insurance in House Measure; Three Groups React with Thumbs Up

A House measure introduced Thursday by Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., would re-link conservation compliance with crop insurance premium assistance.  The measure mirrors a provision in the Senate Agriculture Committee's version of the Farm Bill which makes producers ineligible for crop insurance premium subsidies if they drain wetlands or fail to use a conservation plan on vulnerable land. 

If adopted, H.R. 2260, The Crop Insurance Accountability Act of 2013, would require farmers who receive crop insurance subsidies to carry out basic conservation measures on their farms. Unlike traditional farm subsidies, crop insurance recipients are not required to adopt environmental protections in exchange for taxpayer support.

EPA, CBF Reach Agreement Related to Animal Agriculture in Chesapeake Bay Watershed

In a 2010 settlement agreement to a lawsuit brought by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and partners, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed, among other things, to promulgate a new national Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) rule to address pollution discharges from livestock and poultry farms.

CBF and EPA today announced the details of a new agreement which arises from the 2010 settlement of CBF's lawsuit.

The U.S. poultry industry released the following statement in response to the agreement:

"The National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association support EPA's collection of more data to verify the efficacy of the current regulatory program rather than developing further regulations that are not needed. This will help to assure that no false assumptions are made about the potential contribution of livestock and production to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay."

Click here to read more of the poultry producers' statement.

GreenSeeker Developer Takes Home Legacy Award

The 2012 PrecisionAg.com Legacy Award has been awarded to Oklahoma State University's Dr. William "Bill" Raun, a Regents Professor and Endowed Walter R. Sitlington Chair in Agriculture in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Oklahoma State University.

The PrecisionAg Awards of Excellence are sponsored annually by the PrecisionAg Institute.

Dr. Raun is a project leader in nutrient management, annually having 10 graduate students working in a variety of precision agriculture research projects, and some of his new work includes the development of pocket sensors, alternative planters for third world farmers, by-plant N fertilization equipment and algorithms, corn leaf orientation, international collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on a variety of projects and improved nitrogen use efficiency in crops worldwide.

According to his nominator and colleague, Dr. Brian Arnall, Raun was also among the first in the OSU community to invest heavily in the development and implementation of ground-based optical sensors. This investment led Raun and members of his team to develop the revolutionary crop sensor Greenseeker, which is enjoying increased adoption across the ag industry. In developing GreenSeeker, Raun worked with a cross-discipline group comprised of agronomist, mechanical engineers, and electrical engineers. According to Arnall, it was this collaboration that allowed for such a rapid development of the technology.

You can read the full story by clicking here. 

This N That- Helping Wheat Farmers Saturday, Sutphin Sale Monday and Wheat Harvest Update from PGI

We are being told that a grassroots volunteer effort has been organized for Saturday morning in the Union City area of Canadian County to help wheat farmers just ahead of harvest- after many wheat fields in that area were littered by the monster EF5 tornado of just a week ago.  

According to the Minco-Union City Times, "Hundreds of volunteers will meet in Union City at the Archer Pressure Pumping facility just north of the S.H. 152 and U.S. Hwy 81 intersection tomorrow at 8 a.m. to clean debris from wheat fields in the area. Organizers say the debris will cause problems for farmers and their combines with the harvest approaching. Those who want to help are encouraged to bring leather gloves and to wear steel toe shoes."  

I'm planning on being down there- maybe I'll see you there as well.

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The Sutphin Cattle Company of southeast Colorado is planning a fall calving herd dispersion this coming Monday at the Jordan Stockyards in Caddo, Oklahoma. (that is just north of Durant in southeastern Oklahoma) Sale time is 11 am central time.

Offering includes:

70 Fall-Calving Registered Angus cows

100 Fall-Calving Registered ALL BLACK & ALL POLLED Lim-Flex cows

80 Commercial Spring-Calving Angus and Angus-Cross two-to-four-year-olds with outstanding calves at side 

For more details- click here for our listing on the OklahomaFarmReport website- or you can call John Sutphin at 719-940-3729.

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We got the Thursday evening harvest report from Mark Hodges at Plains Grains last night (that's why we call it a Thursday evening report I guess) and Mark estimates that Texas has now harvested 20% of their wheat crop and Oklahoma has harvested just one percent of our state's 2013 crop.  

Regarding Oklahoma- Mark writes "While several elevators in Oklahoma continue to receive grain, much of that is coming from across the border in Texas. Currently harvest in Oklahoma (estimated 1% cut) has been limited to the southwestern corner of the state and very sporadic in nature. Early yields are reportedly between 15 bu/ac (1.0 mt/ha) and 20 bu/ac (1.3 mt/ha). 54% of the Oklahoma crop is rated poor to very poor with 60% of the crop at soft dough stage compared to the 5-year average of 93% by this date."

Click here for Mark's full report.