Featured Story:

"Right now, that equation is not there." Those are the words of the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Congressman Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, with his explanation of where the House is on pulling together a deal on the left behind Nutrition title from the 2013 Farm Bill.   Lucas told us in a Wednesday conversation that he will continue to work on finding 218 votes that will pledge to support a Nutrition title into next week, before turning his attention to working directly with the Senate Ag Committee leadership in attempting to crafting a Conference Report that can pass both the US House and the US Senate.


Lucas admits without specific language from the House on Nutrition that it will be difficult to push a winning deal across the finish line- but adds he is totally committed to getting a deal finished with Senator Debbie Stabenow- and that he is hopeful that those pushed for a thin slice of one policy or another within the farm bill- but then did not support the overriding bill have learned their lesson and will stand with him and other Conference Committee members in promoting passage of the final product. 

We also talked about the negotiations over the Commodity Title as well as his reasoning on why Permanent Law needs to be changed.  You can hear our full conversation with Chairman Lucas by clicking here.

OKC West Stockyards Reopens After May 31 Tornado Destruction   

Just 53 days ago, OKC West was destroyed by the EF5 tornado that tore through El Reno. Today the facility reopened and got back to selling cattle.

The new permanent sale barn that housed today's sale is the same blueprint as before but had to be completely rebuilt. Aside from one shed, all of the buildings were destroyed in the storm. A majority of the pens were in good shape while the rest needed repair. Only about 160 cattle were on the property when the tornado moved through.

While the storm left the stockyards unable to conduct business, OKC West Manager Bill Barnhart knew his customers still needed to sell their cattle. One of his first calls after the storm was to his good friend Jerry Nine. Nine is Manager of the Woodward Livestock Auction in Woodward.

Barnhart and Nine worked out a deal for cattle bound for OKC West to be redirected to the Woodward Livestock Auction until repairs were made.  "I told Jerry I'd send him my crew and to be sure to take care of my customers," said Barnhart.  Knowing the challenge his friend was facing, Nine not only took care of Barnhart's customers but also returned the commission from the sale of OKC West cattle. 

USDA reports that 6,121 cattle were sold at OKC West yesterday- click here for the auction report and read more about how Jerry Nine and his Woodward Livestock Market helped OKC West and their customers over the past couple of months by clicking here.
     

Beef Variety Meats- Worth Their Weight in Gold Overseas (Almost)

By any name, variety meat is gold to the U.S. beef industry. Total U.S. beef exports in 2012 set a new record at $5.51 billion. Beef offal represented 12.8 percent ($703.1 million) of that. It also accounted for 28.4 percent of the total volume of beef exports (321,772 metric tons or 709.4 million pounds). And virtually 100 percent of the U.S. livestock herd is represented in variety meat exports - some part of every animal is sold to international customers.


"Demand for both large and small intestines would tank without the international market," said Jerry Wiggs, export salesman for Greater Omaha Packing Company Inc. "We are selling large intestines to South Korea or Koreans who recently moved to the U.S. And just recently we resumed selling small intestines to Mexico (where they had been banned since BSE was found in the U.S. in late 2003). Without those countries, the markets for those products would basically disappear."


The same can be said for many beef variety meat items. More than 90 percent of U.S.-produced beef tongues are exported, primarily to customers in Northern Asia and Mexico. Buyers in the Middle East, South America and Russia (when the Russian market is open) buy more than 9 out of 10 U.S. beef livers, hearts and kidneys. And consumers in Mexico and Southeast Asia consume more than 75 percent of U.S. beef stomachs. 

Click here to read more about the value of the so called "Drop Credit" that includes the variety meats found in a beef carcass- it provides a very significant part of the value of the beef carcass that translates into the price received for that critter- and that value is enhanced when we are able to sell these cuts internationally.

Poultry Industry Leader Attacks RFS in Congressional Hearing

National Chicken Council (NCC) Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Bill Roenigk told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power today that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), at least for conventional biofuels, is broken beyond repair, and that it is imperative at this time for Congress to take a critical, hard look at the RFS.

"I commend the Energy and Commerce Committee for taking up the important task of holding hearings on the RFS and its impacts on the economy," said Roenigk. "As Subcommittee Chairman Whitfield noted in the announcement about today's hearing the 'RFS is a broad and complex statute... now is the time to take an in-depth look at the RFS and compare our original expectation for the program with the actual experience.'" 

"Since 2007, all chicken producers, at times, have struggled financially," Roenigk stated in his testimony Wednesday. "Some have struggled longer and more severely than others. The business disruptions directly impact the over 25,000 family farmers who grow the chickens, and the more than 300,000 employees directly working for the chicken companies. Since October 2006 through this month, July 2013, poultry and egg producers have had to bear the burden of higher feed costs totaling over $50 billion." 

Click here to read more- we have links to a "White Paper" that the National Chicken Council has produced on the subject as well as the testimony of Roenigk as presented on Wednesday. 

In Support of Ethanol- Corn Grower President Pam Johnson Testifies on Capitol Hill 

On Wednesday, National Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson spoke on the impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard on the agricultural sector before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power.  Other witness panels focused on fuel production and fuel sale and use.

"The Renewable Fuel Standard is doing exactly what it was intended to do," Johnson said during her testimony.  "It has positively impacted the agriculture sector by creating jobs and promoting rural development, reducing greenhouse gases and allowing our nation to grow our energy at home."

Johnson stated the ethanol industry has created opportunity in rural America allowing her two sons and a growing number of young farmers to be able to return to the farm after college.  She also pointed to benefits to rural communities because of the RFS.  Her community in rural Iowa has been able to build a new fire station, remodel the hospital and hire additional teachers because of the economic activity created by the local ethanol industry.

Members on the committee have stated they are using this hearing to determine whether to reform, or even repeal, the RFS.  NCGA continues to stress the importance of farmers meeting with their representatives during the August recess and telling personal stories on the benefits of the RFS.

U.S. Senators Propose Measure to Stop EPA from Disclosing Livestock Producers' Personal Information (NCBA Says Hooray!)

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly have introduced legislation to protect livestock and poultry farmers from having personal information released by the Environmental Protection Agency. The bill stems from the release of the personal information of more than 80-thousand livestock and poultry owners from across the country to three activist groups. Grassley's office notes the EPA disclosed information on people in Iowa owning as few as one pig and an individual who owned 12 horses.   

The Farmer Identity Protection Act (S. 1343) comes in response to the EPA's release of livestock and poultry producers' names and other personal information to three radical environmental groups through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in February and again in April. The release divulged names, addresses, geographic coordinates and in some cases telephone numbers and email addresses of over 80,000 producers in 29 states.

One group has offered a quick reaction to the move by the two lawmakers. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association offered their gratitude to the Senators for their efforts:

"Livestock producers are grateful to Sens. Grassley and Donnelly for introducing this legislation," according to National Cattlemen's Beef Association's Past President and Pilger, Neb., cattle feeder J.D. Alexander. "Unlike other businesses, cattlemen and women live, work and raise their families on their operations. We have a reasonable expectation of privacy on our private property and there is no conceivable reason for the EPA to release this type of information."   

Click here to read more about this measure as well as the full statement released by the NCBA.

This N That- OCA Getting Underway, Superior Video Royale and More Rain (This is July???) 

The 61st Annual Convention and Trade Show of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association kicks off this afternoon and evening at the Reed Center in Midwest City- this annual gathering of the state's cattle industry runs today through midday Saturday.  

Featured events include the opening reception in the Trade Show this evening, the opening General Session featuring keynoter Forrest Roberts of the NCBA, the OSU-OCA Cattlemen's College on Friday afternoon and the annual Market Outlook held on Saturday morning- this year featuring Dr. Derrell Peel of OSU.

Click here for more details- and we look forward to seeing you at this year's OCA/OCW/OJCA meeting!

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Superior Livestock has a week long sales event called their Video Royale planned starting this coming Monday, July 29th.  The folks at Superior tell us they ended up with 159,000 head for "Video Royale XXI" and it will be four days (Monday and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).  Monday's auction will be broadcast from Superior's office and studio in Fort Worth, Texas. They will not have an auction on Tuesday (allowing the crew to travel to Winnemucca).  The auction on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be broadcast from the Winnemucca Convention Center in Winnemucca, Nevada. 

For more information about this outstanding group of cattle that will be available for sale on RFD-TV and also on the Superior to Bid website, click here.  You can also call the Superior offices in Ft. Worth at 1-800-422-2117.  

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As we wrap up this morning's email- we are watching the radar on our News9 Weather App- and it's great to see more rain in the western counties of our state- rain falling west of Elk City and on down towards Altus as we write. Click here for the current radar available on the News9 website- and click here for the impressive rainfall amounts- especially in eastern Oklahoma- that we have had since Sunday night.   

Ahead- excellent chances of rain in northwestern and north central Oklahoma seem to be on tap this evening into Friday morning- this an area that can really use the moisture- we'll be watching and updating you as these rains help us put a further dent in the drought across the state.