Oklahoma Secretary of Environment Gary Sherrer Resigns as of Today  

Oklahoma Secretary of Environment Gary Sherrer today announced he would step down from his cabinet position by July 1, the end of this fiscal year. Sherrer, a former state representative and a senior administrator at Oklahoma State University, is known by his colleagues as a tireless advocate for Oklahoma's environmental wellbeing and for rural Oklahoma.

"Gary Sherrer is a strong voice for sensible, common-sense policies that have helped to protect Oklahoma's environment while also making room for job growth and economic development," said Governor Mary Fallin. "He has worked well with both Republicans and Democrats and was skilled at achieving consensus among people with diverse interests and agendas. Gary is also a born leader with a passion for service. Whether serving as a combat medic in Vietnam, an administrator at OSU, or a trusted voice in my cabinet, Gary has always been committed to helping others and making the world around him a better place."

During his time as a cabinet official, Sherrer lead the effort to broker a deal between Oklahoma and the state of Arkansas to protect the quality of the scenic rivers running through both states. In April 2013, Arkansas and Oklahoma signed a joint agreement calling for improved water quality and the creation of a new committee to oversee implementation.

You can read more of this story by clicking here.  

Terry Detrick Talks About the 2013 Wheat Harvest and Farm Bill Politics

American Farmers and Ranchers President Terry Detrick said Oklahoma wheat farmers have experienced a "Jekyll and Hyde" year-to borrow a phrase from OSU's Kim Anderson. Some had no crop and some had a bumper crop.   He spoke with me recently about this year's harvest and about where we go from here on the 2013 farm bill. 

"We probably had more of a crop than I expected to have with the late freezes," Detrick said.    "I do think the overall Oklahoma estimate probably will be exceeded, what we had earlier estimated."

He said the resilience of this year's crop amazed him, how it survived the late freezes and was able to produce far more than had been expected.

Turning to matters in Washington, Detrick said he was very disappointed to watch how the 2013 farm bill went down to defeat in the House of Representatives after it looked like it had a good chance of passing.

"I watched the proceedings on C-SPAN until ten o'clock or so the night before and I went to bed thinking, 'Boy, this will be smooth tomorrow.' And then, at the last minute, a few bombshells were dropped on some amendments that I think had not been expected-for sure not requested-and it caused enough deterioration that there were enough votes dropped off both sides of the aisle that they just couldn't get it passed. I guess that's the first time in farm bill history that the House of Representatives did not get theirs passed."

Click here to read more or to listen to our full conversation.

AND- we have added the video from Saturday morning when Detrick was our guest for our In the Field Segment- click here to take a look.

Acres of Corn Planted According to USDA Shocks Grain Trade 

USDA increased corn acres above its March estimate while pegging corn stocks at the low end of trade expectation. USDA expects record soybean acreage while estimating soybean stocks at historical lows. 

The first of the two reports released on Friday morning by USDA was the Plantings report- and it was truly a shocker. Corn planted area for all purposes in 2013 is estimated at 97.4 million acres, up slightly from last year. This represents the highest planted acreage in the United States since 1936 when an estimated 102 million acres were planted. Growers expect to harvest 89.1 million acres for grain, up 2 percent from last year. Traders had expected a little more than 95 million acres, based on pre-report guesses compiled.

All wheat planted area for 2013 is estimated at 56.5 million acres, up 1 percent from 2012. The 2013 winter wheat planted area, at 42.7 million acres, is 3 percent above last year and up 2 percent from the previous estimate. Of this total, about 29.4 million acres are Hard Red Winter, 9.96 million acres are Soft Red Winter, and 3.38 million acres are White Winter. Area planted to other spring wheat for 2013 is estimated at 12.3 million acres, up slightly from 2012. Of this total, about 11.7 million acres are Hard Red Spring wheat. The estimated Durum wheat planted area for 2013 is estimated at 1.54 million acres, down 28 percent from the previous year. 

All cotton planted area for 2013 is estimated at 10.3 million acres, 17 percent below last year. Upland area is estimated at 10.0 million acres, down 17 percent from 2012. American Pima area is estimated at 226,000 acres, down 5 percent from 2012. 

Click here to read more of this summary and to find links to both USDA reports issued Friday.  We also have a Rich Nelson of Allendale video with reaction to take a look at as well. 

President Tours Food Security Event in Dakar

President Barack Obama participated in the Feed the Future food security event in Dakar, Senegal, Friday. He met with farmers, innovators, and entrepreneurs whose new methods and technologies are improving the lives of smallholder farmers throughout West Africa.

A small "technology marketplace" was set up behind the president's hotel, with five booths arranged in a small grassy area between the hotel and the water. Each of the small booths in the marketplace highlighted technologies supported by the Feed the Future project.

 After touring the marketplace, Obama spoke for a few minutes, touting the success of the program and the effort to lift 50 million people from poverty within a decade. "I'm confident we're on our way."

He said in Africa incomes are rising, poverty is declining, but too many people still are hungry. Obama said he has made food security a priority, and by starting with small farmers, "it's not just a few who are benefiting from development, but everybody's benefiting."

Click here to read more.
 

Huelskamp Says Fish and Wildlife Service Will Delay Listing of Lesser Prairie Chicken; Inhofe Wants More Than Delay

Congressman Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) announced last week that the Fish and Wildife Service has granted his request to delay a final listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as an endangered species so it can solicit more scientific data. Huelskamp said FWS Director Daniel Ashe contacted his office this morning by letter.

Ashe wrote: "Thank you for your letter of June 21, 2013 ... requesting that the consider a six-month extension under the Endangered Species Act (Act) on the final listing determination for the lesser prairie-chicken. ... The Service will soon publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing a six-month extension of the final listing determination for the lesser prairie-chicken through March 30, 2014. Public comments received by the Service since the publication of the proposed rule have highlighted substantial scientific disagreement regarding the sufficiency or accuracy of the available data relevant to the listing proposal for the lesser prairie-chicken. Therefore, as the law allows, the Service is extending the final listing determination for six months in order to solicit additional data and information that will help to clarify these issues."

Senator Jim Inhofe regarded Ashe's actions as insufficient. 

"I am disappointed and frustrated that the Service is not providing Oklahoma with the maximum amount of time allowed under the law to demonstrate that a listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken is unwarranted," said Inhofe. "While it is appropriate for the Service to grant a six month extension to evaluate discrepancies in the science, it is inexcusable that the Service is not also willing to ask the courts to amend the Settlement Agreement, which it has done before, to ensure that all time allowed under federal law is provided for the LPC's consideration. The Service should be doing all it can under the law to ensure that the voluntary, state-driven conservation plan is approved so that states are allowed to effectively conserve the LPC."  (Click here for more from Senator Inhofe.)
 

You can read more of Congressman Huelskamp's statement by clicking here.
 

Chairwoman Stabenow Announces Hearing to Examine Smithfield Acquisition, Future Foreign Purchase

Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, will convene a hearing on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 2:30 p.m. ET in room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building on the pending purchase of Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer and processor, by Shuanghui International, a Chinese food company. The hearing, entitled "Smithfield and Beyond: Examining Foreign Purchases of American Food Companies," will examine the Smithfield purchase, the largest acquisition of an American company by a Chinese company in history. The hearing will also more broadly examine how the government review process of foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies addresses American food safety, protection of American technologies and intellectual property, and the effects of increased foreign ownership of the U.S. food supply.

Last week Stabenow, alongside a bipartisan group of members from the Senate Agriculture Committee, urged Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew in a letter to include both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration in the government review of the proposed purchase of Smithfield Foods. The Senators pressed for USDA and FDA involvement so that the oversight process includes experts on the American food supply and food safety. The letter also raised questions about potential future foreign acquisitions of American food companies such as those that will be considered in the hearing announced last week. Click here for a link to the letter.

Smithfield Foods CEO Larry Pope will be among the witnesses testifying. 

This N That- Superior Sale Results, Oklahoma Piggy Count and Stutzman Pushes for Farm Bill Split  

This past Friday's Superior Video Livestock Auction had a total of 28,000 head of cattle on offer- including several lots from Oklahoma that were sold via satellite and online.   

Yearling steers and heifers were $3-$7 higher than the Superior sale of two weeks ago with calves showing $5-$8 higher.   

Click here for the full rundown of the Superior Sale of June 28th- and it's not too early to be starting to look at the HUGE offering coming next week during their annual Week in the Rockies when 204,000 are expected to be sold.  Click here for the link on the Superior website of the Week in the Rockies details.

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As of June 1st, the U.S. swine inventory totaled 66.6-million head. That's on par with one-year ago - but up two-percent from March 2013. The breeding hog inventory was slightly higher than last year and up one-percent from the most recent quarter.

Oklahoma continues as it has for several years as the number eight hog production state in the country, based on the total hog and pig count of 2.31 million head.  The Oklahoma sow herd is the fifth largest in the United States, with 410,000 sows currently residents of our state.

To review the entire report from Friday afternoon- click here. 

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Ahead of the 4th of July recess - there was talk among House Republicans about splitting the farm bill into two measures. Several Congressmen who voted against the measure would like to split farm programs from nutrition programs. Indiana Representative Marlin Stutzman actually offered an amendment to the Rules Committee to split the FARRM Act apart - but it was ruled out of order. He said last week during the Republican Conference what has worked in the past didn't work.

The Chair of the House Ag Committee, Frank Lucas, is not on board with the idea.  Click here to read what Stutzman told his GOP Colleagues and also you can listen to what Chairman Lucas told us last week about this idea of pulling one of the legs of the three legged stool out of the Farm Bill.