Soybean, Corn, Sunflower and Canola Growers Press House on Farm Bill 

In a letter to lawmakers last week, the American Soybean Association (ASA), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), National Sunflower Association and the U.S. Canola Association urged the House of Representatives to quickly consider and pass H.R. 1947, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management ("FARRM") Act.

"Our organizations support many of the programs included in H.R. 1947, as reported by the Committee on Agriculture. The bill would consolidate conservation programs, reauthorize and fund agricultural research, energy, and export promotion programs, and make improvements in federal crop insurance. We strongly support these provisions, and ask that you oppose any amendments which would eliminate or weaken them," said the groups in the letter.

The groups noted, however, their concern with the bill's Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program option, which they argued would set high, fixed reference prices for program crops which, in some cases, exceed their historical prices and cost of production; and tie payments to producers to crops they grow in the current year, which could distort planting decisions and production if market prices fall below their support levels.

The bashing of the Price Loss Coverage has raised some eyebrows inside the Beltway- as it coincides with a report released at the end of last week by the Environmental Working Group that issues dire predictions of the PLC costing more than the current farm program- making that conclusion by lowballing farm price outlook well under what USDA and CBO have predicted- with the CBO predictions being the ones that official cost estimates are based upon. (Click here for our earlier story on the EWG sponsored study)

You can read more about the letter from the soybean and corn interests by clicking here.

In a separate letter, more than 50 national and regional trade associations representing agribusinesses expressed their support for crop insurance and opposition to amendments that will limit its effectiveness.  You can read more of that story by clicking here.

 

USDA Helps Farmers Deal With Climate Change 

Helping farmers and ranchers deal with climate change was the subject of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's speech at the National Press Club. Vilsack told journalists that USDA must work with farmers, ranchers, and foresters to help them adapt to climate change..

"First USDA will now establish seven new regional climate hubs. These hubs will enable us to carry out regionally appropriate climate change risk and vulnerability assessments, get the data out to the field more quickly. Practically, these hubs will deal out advice to our farmers and forest owners on ways in which they can reduce on their lands the risk of a changing climate."

Another effort will be for USDA agencies to give cover crop guidance based on local conditions to maximize the environmental benefits of farm land.

Click here for more.
 

Beef Checkoff Relaunches 'Beef. It's What's For Dinner.' Website

The checkoff's consumer-facing BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com has a new look and functionality to continue to help educate consumers on how to purchase, prepare and enjoy beef. With a more contemporary appearance through compelling beef imagery and simplified, interactive navigation and content, the website will engage visitors like never before.

There are four main sections of the site: Recipes, Butcher Counter, Cooking and Health. Recipes are the number one most visited pages on the website, which is why the redesign boasts enlarged beef photos and makes recipes the first thing consumers see. In the Recipes section, there are collections to help inspire consumers to cook beef during every season, holiday and mealtime occasion. Recipes provide a list of instructions, nutritional information, videos and give consumers the opportunity to email or print an interactive shopping list. The Butcher Counter educates consumers on how to buy the beef they're looking for with the Interactive Meat Case and a new infographic on Today's Beef Choices. The Cooking section helps consumers learn how to have the best beef eating experience with new infographics for each type of beef cooking method. The Health section helps educate consumers on the nutritional benefits of beef including a new infographic on Beef's 10 Essential Nutrients and what they do for your body as well as information about the Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet (BOLD) study and some lean beef 101 facts.

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

Farmer Turns to Cotton to Replace Frozen Wheat Loss

Like a lot of other Oklahoma farmers whose wheat was lost due to freeze damage, Ted Thomason planted more cotton to replace the wheat.

Thomason thought this year's wheat crop would be a good one, but a series of late spring freezes caught his wheat in the head-forming stage.

"The freezes left me without any wheat to harvest," Thomason said. "My crop insurance helped some. Needing to plant something that would make money, I planted 300 more acres of cotton. In total, I will have about 650 acres of cotton this year."

Other farmers like Thomason are selecting cotton for a money crop to grow following wheat freezing problems.

Farmers should remember June 20, 2013, is the final date to plant cotton protected crop insurance.

Click here to read more of this story.  

$20 Million NSF Award to Enhance Oklahoma Climate Variability Research

Scientists with Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (DASNR) will be working to advance understanding about how socio-ecological systems can adapt sustainably to climate variability.

The research endeavor is made possible as part of a five-year $20 million National Science Foundation (NSF) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

"Knowledge gained through the work of DASNR and other scientists associated with the initiative will be used to educate Oklahomans about the expected consequences of regional environmental change and help individuals develop solutions to related issues," said Jonathan Edelson, interim associate director of DASNR's statewide Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station (OAES) system.

DASNR collaborators include OSU agricultural economists Tracy Boyer, Jodi Campiche and Dave Shideler; OSU soil scientist Tyson Ochsner; and Sam Fuhlendorf, Duncan Wilson and Chris Zou of the OSU department of natural resource ecology and management.

You'll find the full story on our website.  Go there by clicking here.

Oklahoma Gold and SuperGold Cattle Programs Right on Schedule

Drought conditions gave way to significant rainfall over much of Oklahoma and surrounding regions this spring, leading some producers to wonder whether or not they need to alter their Oklahoma Gold and SuperGold cattle feeding programs.

"The short answer is no; cattle producers in Oklahoma and many areas of the region should be right on schedule for getting the most out of both programs," said Chris Richards, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension beef cattle nutrition specialist.

Lightweight calves that weigh about 400 pounds or less, or cattle with limited forage, should use the SuperGold program now. Animals weighing 600 pounds or more with adequate available forage should be on the Oklahoma Gold program in late June and no later than July 1. 

You can read more of this story by clicking here.  

Border to Border Thuderstorms Bring Harvest Halt

After good harvest progress much of last week- and at least some harvest continuing around rain showers over the weekend- a very general southern Kansas to northern Texas (and all of Oklahoma in between) storm has rumbled overnight across canola and wheat fields- putting a pretty much total halt to harvest.  There will probably be an exception or two- but this was a fairly solid line of rain storms that has rolled across the state bringing from a few tenths to as much as three or four inches at the top end. The Lake Carl Blackwell Mesonet site wins the most rain prize if you look back over a two day rainfall period, with over four inches of rain in the old gauge.

Click here for the latest rainfall map- and a look back to last week's Drought Monitor with our thinking on the likely prospect of more of the state leaving any drought designation behind- at least for a little while.