House Narrowly Passes Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act- Next Step is Conference 

The House has narrowly passed the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013- the Nutrition piece of the House Farm Bill puzzle. The final called vote was 217 to 210.

Managing the bill on the House floor was the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Frank Lucas, the Third District Congressman for Oklahoma. Lucas, in his concluding remarks ahead of the vote told his colleagues that "it should not be this hard to pass a bill to make sure that consumers in this country and around the world have enough to eat. It shouldn't be this hard- but everything seems to be hard these days. So, let's do the hard things, let's get our work done, let's go to conference, let's put a final bill together. Let's fulfill our responsibilities."

The 109-page "Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act" would make several changes to the SNAP program such as ending "categorical eligibility" and allowing states to set work-related requirements to receive benefits.

The current plan is for the House to couple the nutrition bill with its "farm-only" bill and send the package to conference with the comprehensive Senate-passed farm bill. With the passage of HR 3102, the next thing to happen will be the appointment of conferees to negotiate with the Senate. The Senate appointed their conferees earlier in the summer.  Our Top Ag Story on the website this morning includes statements from Lucas, Collin Peterson, Debbie Stabenow and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack- plus audio from the final pitch made by Chairman Lucas on the floor on Thursday- click here to read and to listen. 

Lucas is expected to chair the Conference Committee with the Senate. He will be working with the Chairwoman of the Senate Ag Committee, Debbie Stabenow, who offered the following comment following the passage of HR 3102:

"We have never before seen this kind of partisanship injected into a Farm Bill. Not only does this House bill represent a shameful attempt to kick millions of families in need off of food assistance, it's also a monumental waste of time. The bill will never pass the Senate, and will never be signed by the President."

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American Soybean Association President Danny Murphy was quick to call on both chambers of Congress "to work across party lines to craft a bill that addresses the needs of both farmers and consumers."  You can read more of his comments by clicking here.)

National Cattlemen's Beef Association President Scott George urge Congress to take action quickly to complete the farm bill process. 

"Passage of the farm bill is the top priority as set by our membership and we will continue to work with Congress to pass a farm bill that meets the needs of cattle producers and guarantees certainty for rural America."  (Click here for more of his comments.)

Congress Must Finish a Farm Bill This Year, Stallman Says 

The farm bill is an economic stimulus bill that creates jobs and helps small businesses and rural communities every year, according to American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman. Congress can-and must-finish a farm bill this year, Stallman said in remarks presented to the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City.

"It's obvious that we will not have a new farm bill in place by the time the current one expires, about two weeks from now," Stallman said. "The only extension Farm Bureau supports is a five-year extension that looks a lot like the new farm bill that is working its way through Congress," he added.

Although many political pundits in Washington and around the countryside are skeptical about the odds for passage of a farm bill in 2013, Stallman is optimistic.
 

You can read more of this article by clicking here.

Potential for Inflation Could Bring Buyers to Grains, Anderson Says

In his preview of this weekend's SUNUP program, OSU Extension Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson tells host Lyndall Stout that the markets have been relatively dead recently.

"Prices have been grinding lower for both corn and wheat especially over the last two or three weeks. At the end of this week, wheat prices were substantially higher. You know the market's been dead when a 10-cent to a 15-cent price rally gets the market excited.

"I think part of the reason may be because the Fed announced it's going to extend the QE program of buying bonds. That has the potential to cause inflation. And when you have the potential for inflation, buyers tend to come to commodities and that may be happening here."

He says that export demand is 38 percent above a year ago also contributes to a price rally and the market may hold that. 

You can read more or listen to Kim Anderson's analysis by clicking here. 

High-Quality Beef Premiums Here to Stay

Marbling is important say those who are buying your cattle.

"We buy all of our cattle on a value-based system," says Brian Bertelsen, director of field operations for U.S. Premium Beef. "And that system is set up to attract and reward high-quality cattle, meaning high quality grade. In other words, high-marbling cattle."

Around 75 percent of the cattle coming to their plant are black-hided. And, of those Angus-based animals, 43 percent made the Certified Angus Beef brand in a recent quarter. Another 21 percent qualified for US Premium Beef's premium brand.

This isn't just a passing trend, Bertelsen says. The past four years have seen record-high quality grade premiums.

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

Chinese Ag Leaders Sign Commitments to Buy $2.8 Billion Worth of U.S. Soy

As China's appetite for soy products continues to grow, it's leaning on U.S. soybean farmers to help meet demand - in one recent case, to the tune of $2.8 billion.

During the recent U.S. Soy Global Trade Exchange, Chinese agricultural leaders signed agreements to buy approximately $2.8 billion worth of U.S. soy. The delegation signed 13 contracts with U.S. exporters.

"These contracts speak to U.S. soybean farmers' work to produce high-quality soybeans," says Jim Stillman, chairman of the United Soybean Board (USB), which co-sponsored the Exchange with the American Soybean Association (ASA). "The U.S. soy industry is committed to meeting the demands of our customers, and we are doing that by growing the best crops we can," says Stillman, a soybean farmer from Emmetsburg, Iowa.

You'll find more of this story on our web page by clicking here.

 

The Positive Associative Effect of High-Protein Supplements

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

For the first time in a couple of years, the eastern two-thirds of Oklahoma has substantial standing forage in many pastures as we go into fall. In addition as you drive across much of Oklahoma this fall you see many big round bales of hay stored for winter feed. The quality of this hay will vary a great deal. Frankly some of the hay that is being stored will also be less than ideal in protein content. The standing forage will be decreasing in protein content as it matures and is frosted later in the fall.   The micro-organisms in the rumen of beef cows and replacement heifers require readily available protein to multiply and exist in large enough quantities to digest the cellulose in low quality roughages. Protein supplementation of low-quality, low protein forages results in a "positive associative effect". 

This "positive associative effect" occurs as supplemental protein available to the "bugs" in the rumen allows them to grow, multiply, and digest the forage more completely and more rapidly. Therefore the cow gets more out of the hay she consumes, she digests it more quickly and is ready to eat more hay in a shorter period of time. Data from Oklahoma State University illustrates this. The prairie hay used in this study was less than 5% crude protein. When the ration was supplemented with 1.75 lbs of cottonseed meal, retention time of the forage was reduced 32% which resulted in an increase in feed intake of 27%. Because hay intake was increased, the animal has a better chance of meeting both the protein and energy requirement without supplementing other feeds. Because retention time was decreased, one could postulate the protein supplementation in this situation also increased digestibility of the hay.  

Click here for more from Glenn Selk. 

 

This N That: Rain Rolls Across Oklahoma, This Week in Agri-Business, Our In the Field Guest and the Heart of America Farm Show Kicking Off

Rainfall totals are rather spotty from this latest round of rain and thunderstorms that have pushed up from Texas and from the west. In looking at the two day rainfall map on the Mesonet, we see four or five islands across Oklahoma that have received larger amounts of rain- one to two inches for the most part- with the rest of the state measuring rainfall in the tenths of an inch.   

Totals will continue to increase in southeastern Oklahoma today, with cooler air and sunshine expected this afternoon and into the weekend.  

If you take into consideration the five day rainfall map - the rainfall amounts are adequate to ensure moisture for planting both winter wheat and winter canola as soon as the fields are dry enough to support a tractor pulling a grain drill.  It's likely that this weekend and into next week a lot of acres of both crops will be put into the ground by Oklahoma farmers.

Click here for both of these maps as of 6 AM Friday morning.

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Yours truly will be the guest of Orion Samuelson on "This Week in Agribusiness" that is seen on RFD-TV several times over the weekend.  

We talk about the rise of canola in the southern plains, winter wheat seeding and pasture conditions for our cattle with the "Big O"- click here for details of the show and when it airs.

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Heather Buckmaster of the Oklahoma Beef Council is our guest this weekend for our In the Field segment as seen on KWTV, News9 in Oklahoma City.  We are talking about the Millenial generation with the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Beef Council- and how Beef Checkoff monies are being used to reach this generation of 80 million that range in age from 13 to 33.   

We will have the video replay later in the weekend up on our website as well as on our APP- watch it live or check it out later as we have it posted.

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The first ever Heart of America Farm Show is set to kick off this morning at 9:00 AM at the Tulsa RV Ranch just south of Tulsa in Beggs- we will be hosting and presenting two seminars at the event- one today at 1:00 PM and the second on Saturday at twelve noon.  Joining me during my time on stage will be Gant Mourer of OSU's Animal Science Department- Gant will be talking about value added opportunities for cattle producers.

The show itself runs today through Sunday- admission is free and it looks to be a great show.  Click here for their website to learn more details of what else will be going on at the Heart of America Farm Show.