Frank Lucas Evaluates 2013 House Farm Bill Defeat; Plots Course for Future Passage 

Congressman Frank Lucas, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, has had a few days to digest the defeat of the 2013 Farm Bill last week. It was the first time in history that a farm bill has been rejected when brought to the House floor. 

"That doesn't mean that the process is over with. That doesn't mean that the reforms that were included in the bill, whether it's the commodity title or nutrition or conservation, aren't important, relevant and won't ultimately become law, it just means on that day, on that bill, at that moment that Mr. Peterson and I could not persuade a simple majority-218 of our colleagues-to vote with us."

Lucas said that the bill that ultimately was voted on had been subjected to hundreds of amendments in committee and on the House floor. The major sticking point, he said, probably had to do with the fact that the bill embodied $40 billion in cuts to the long-term, mandated spending. It was the first spending reform measure of its size and scope to ever make it to the floor. It would have returned some discretion to the states in how they verified the eligibility of food stamp recipients.

"The ultimate thing that made it impossible on that day to pass a bill dealt with the food stamp issues, the nutrition issues. My liberal colleagues could apparently only accept so much reform. I think they would have voted for a bill that would have cut $20 billion out of the nutrition title through reforms. I think they were prepared to address testing and a variety of other things. But, when you put all that together, it was too much for my liberal friends to support and there was a revolt among the Democrats.

"But, also in all fairness, I cannot criticize the Democrats exclusively because 61 of my Republican colleagues who voted for every one of those major reforms on food stamps wouldn't vote for the final bill. And that's even more amazing."

Lucas says he is considering many possible options for getting a farm bill passed through the House and into a conference committee. He said he has to work with the rules committee on these options, he has to work with the majority leadership and, for any bill to gain sufficient votes for passage, he has to work with the Democrats.

Click here to read more or to listen to my full interview with Congressman Lucas.  

And- thanks to Keith Good at FarmPolicy.Com, we now have an unofficial transcript if you care to read through the remarks by Chairman Lucas- click here to check that out.

NCGA President Expresses Need for Public's Acceptance of Biotechnology 

Increasing demand for major crops and the use of biotechnology in agriculture was the topic during today's American Association for the Advancement of Science's Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Lecture. National Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson answered questions as part of a panel after the lecture, with representatives from the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

"The continued use of biotechnology in agriculture is a key component to food security," Johnson said. "However, we need to greatly improve the public's acceptance of biotechnology. Agriculture needs to lead the conversation on this important topic and provide education on the advancements of the industry. Consumers should be able to make decisions based on science and facts, not fearmongering."

You can read more by clicking here.  

Glenn Selk Asks: Can We Select Cattle to Reduce Pinkeye Incidence?

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

Pinkeye has long been a costly nuisance to cattle producers. Eye infections sometimes lead to partial or complete blindness in one or both eyes. Reduced beef production in the form of lowered weight gain, milk production, body condition, and eventually even poorer reproduction can result from eye infections and lesions. One of the culprits that initiates and spreads eye problems between herds and among herdmates is "Pinkeye" or more properly called Infectious Bovine Keratoconjnctivits. An excellent Oklahoma State University fact sheet about the prevention and treatment of "Pinkeye" is available online.

Iowa State University animal scientists analyzed field data from ISU herds and cooperator herds in 2003 through 2005. They sought to estimate the genetic measurements that could aid in the selection of cattle resistant to Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), commonly known as pinkeye.    They found a decrease in weaning weight of 30 pounds per calf infected with pinkeye. The analysis of the field data revealed an estimate of 0.11 for heritability of resistance to pinkeye. This estimate is considered to be of low heritability, which indicates that only slow progress can be made based on selection for IBK resistance. It does mean that, over time, if we select replacements from cows that are not prone to having eye problems (especially pinkeye) we would be able to very gradually reduce the incidence of pinkeye in our herds.   

To read more and to find a link to OSU's fact sheet, please click here.  

Oklahoma Forestry Conducting Inventory In Several Oklahoma Counties

What type of forest or woodlands are present in Atoka, Beaver, Cimarron, Coal and Texas counties? What tree species? Is our forest healthy?

These and many other questions will be answered as a Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) crew from Oklahoma Forestry Services begins collecting data on plots across the state this month. Foresters began this important data collection in 2009. Each subsequent year, foresters continue gathering information about the amount of land under forest cover, the type of forests and tree species that are present, tree size, invasive species and forest health issues.

"Healthy forests and woodlands provide Oklahoma with many valuable goods and services," said State Forester George Geissler. "We are collecting information about our forests in all 77 counties which will improve our planning and management strategies and ensure our citizens receive the greatest benefit possible."

Click here for more of this story.   

Southwest Oklahoma Cotton Crop Off to a Dry Start

Randy Boman and Jerry Goodson of the OSU Southwest Oklahoma Research Center in Altus offer a crop update in the latest Cotton Comments newsletter:

The 2013 Oklahoma cotton crop is off to a tough start in many places. The bad news is that for the month of May, Altus's normal rainfall is 4.81 inches, but we received only 1.29 inches in 2013. Thus far in June we have obtained only 1.35 inches of precipitation, compared to the normal of 4.32. Rainfall has generally been considerably better east of Altus. Dryland areas have encountered spotty thunderstorms which have resulted in a mosaic of variable stands from excellent to poor across the southwestern corner of the state. Rainfall at Altus remains subpar with only 8.2 inches of rainfall received thus far in 2013, compared to the 30-year normal of over 15 inches. Higher rainfall amounts have been noted closer to the Oklahoma City area. May and June are critical months for stand establishment. The struggles of our growers with respect to stand establishment in many areas have been significant. In addition, Altus has experienced 6 days of 100 or greater - 4 in May, and 5 thus far in June. During May, Altus also experienced 6 days in May and 3 days in June (through the 24th) with wind gusts over 40 mph. A total of 20 days in May and 16 days in June (through the 24th) brought wind gusts greater than 30 mph. Planter adjustment for many growers during that period was difficult at best. Seedling disease issues in most areas have not been noted in the 2013 crop. From May 1 thru June 24, cotton DD60 heat unit accumulation totaled 906, about 19% above normal for that time period. Lugert-Altus Reservoir is about 15% of capacity. Even though we have had some rainfall in the watershed, there has not been enough inflow to improve the situation. June is an important runoff month and we have thus far not observed much inflow.

You can read more of this story by clicking here.  

Early-Born Calves are Better Later, Research Shows

Rick Funston, University of Nebraska, says the earlier a calf is born in the season, the better its potential.

"We've looked at a lot of historical looking at the influence of calving period on subsequent steer feedlot performance. Obviously, older calves are heavier at weaning. They're heavier going into the feedlot and they're heavier at harvest. But also one interesting thing that we found is that those calves born in the first cycle actually grade better."

It's not just feedlot success that matters, the cow herd stands to benefit from these early-born calves, too.

"The other thing we've seen on the female side is those calves, the heifer calves that are born in the first cycle, they are obviously heavier at weaning, they're heavier at breeding, there's more cycling prior to the breeding season. They conceive earlier. They calve earlier their first time and they also breed back better.

"So this event of having a lot of animals born in the early part of your calving season drives the whole system."

Click here for more or to watch a video version of this story.  

This N That- Joe Glauber Admits Winners and Losers with RFS, Superior Selling Friday and Midday Oklahoma Now on the Radio 

The Renewable Fuel Standard which has mandated the use of ethanol to blend with gasoline is popular in major corn growing areas, but much less so in livestock production circles. Now, a USDA official had given credence to the livestock industry crying foul over the unlevel playing field they contend faces anyone buying livestock feed in this country.


USDA Chief Economist Dr. Joe Glauber told a Congressional panel on Wednesday that the RFS does pick winners and losers. Grain farmers win with higher grain prices because of the RFS, but those higher grain prices make it tougher for livestock producers to stay profitable. Click here to hear Dr.Glauber's comments. 

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For those of you that have pasture available, you may want to check out this Friday's Superior Video Auction- they have quite a few calves and stockers from the southeast that may fit well with your operation.  A total of 28,000  will be sold- and we are told that includes the following numbers from the southeast-

Louisiana Cattle
855 yearlings
5130 calves
50 Bred heifers
Total 6,035

Georgia and Alabama - 500 head

Texas
5143 yearlings
2211 Calves
79 breeding stock

Total 7433

They will also have 1015 Holsteins as well- for more information, click here or call Superior at 1-800-422-2117.  The link here is for their front page- and you will notice that the catalog is now available to review- check it out. 

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We have radio reports on more than 40 radio stations across the state (and in the Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, Kansas and Missouri) and we are thankful for the great support you have given us down through the years on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network.

This week- we added to our radio efforts by cranking up a new one four report that we are calling "Midday Oklahoma."  We hope to have a small radio network of four or five radio stations carrying this program that airs right now from 12:05 pm to 1:00 pm- but our program is being carried initially by KOAG, 1640 AM.  Click here to see the KOAG listening footprint- and we invite you to take a listen during the noon hour today and check out the latest farm and ranch news, ag weather, markets and more.  

We also have eleven other programs that are mostly five minutes each heard on KOAG from 7:00 am through 5:30 pm weekdays.  Give Midday Oklahoma a listen and lets us know what ya think. BTW- we will also have it streaming on the web in the near future.