Property and Water Rights Are Top of Mind for New Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan 

Members of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau at their recent convention elected Tom Buchanan to be their organization's new president. Buchanan has a long history in agriculture and with water issues impacting southwestern Oklahoma. This week, Tom got away from the snow in Jackson County and  we talked with him about priorities he sees out into the new year. (You can hear the whole interview by clicking here. Buchanan will also appear on this Saturday's "In the Field" segment on News 9 about 6:40 a.m.)

"I'm a native of southwest Oklahoma, primarily a beef producer with certainly winter wheat. I'm from the Altus area and if you live in the Altus area, then you are involved in cotton, too, so I have some irrigated cotton. In addition to that, I manage the Lugert-Altus irrigation district, the only irrigation district in Oklahoma, so my agriculture background is truly rooted in southwest Oklahoma and the commodities that we raise there."

Buchanan said he got involved with Farm Bureau early on-as many rural residents do-with insurance. As time went on he saw the value of the Farm Bureau's work as an advocate for rural Oklahomans and he became more deeply involved in the activities of the Farm Bureau Federation.

"I'm a firm believer that rural Oklahoma needs a voice, that Oklahoma agriculture needs a proponent out there and Oklahoma Farm Bureau is the one that can do that for Oklahoma agriculture and rural Oklahoma."

Buchanan says that as president he sees his role as taking the pulse of rural Oklahoma and then helping to set the goals and direction of the board. He said it is also very important for all agriculture groups to work together as the state becomes more urbanized.

"We all have the same needs and that is to be able to have private property rights protected. We should be able to access our natural resources and then have the ability to get those products to market.  

"We're certainly always concerned when regulations start up. We all have common cause and common need and because of our dwindling numbers, it's incumbent that we all work together.   And I'm proud to say we have in the past and I'm looking forward to doing that in the future."

Kim Anderson Demystifies Peanut Marketing on this Week's SUNUP Program 

Marketing peanuts has always been somewhat of a mystery, especially for those not familiar with the crop. Oklahoma State University Extension Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson takes a look at the process and its pitfalls in his preview to this week's SUNUP program.

Anderson tells host Lyndall Stout that practically all peanuts in the state of Oklahoma and Texas are placed under government loan. The loan rate sets the foundation for the crop's price.

"That loan rate, somewhere around $355 a ton, is the base price or the minimum price that producers will receive.

"Shellers offer producers an option contract that says the producer will put the peanuts under loan, the producer will receive, say, $355 a ton for the peanuts at that time. When the sheller needs the peanuts they pay the producer the difference between the market price and the loan rate and assume the loan. So the producer keeps the loan money. The shellers assume the loan and take care of that and they give them additional money between, essentially, the loan rate and the market price."

This is where it gets difficult, Anderson says, because the shellers don't have any one central place to determine what the market price is. They talk to brokers and processors to see what they are paying for peanuts and then they also look at the export market. 

Listen to more from Kim Anderson by clicking here. 

Effective Communication Crucial to Dispel Myths About Beef Production, 'Bovi Diva' Says 

The beef industry often finds itself under attack from activists claiming the industry is environmentally unsustainable. Jude Capper of Bozeman, Montana, refutes that accusation. She says that cattle producers have got to be a part of telling the positive story of their industry. Dr. Capper is an animal scientist and has traveled widely and spoken about the myths that many people hold about cattle production. She was a guest speaker a few weeks ago on campus at Kansas State University in Manhattan.

"The conventional beef industry has been sustainable and will continue to be because we know now far better how to treat our cattle, how to feed them, how to breed them, how to care for them every single day. So, what that means over the last 30 years or so is that we use 12 percent less water per pound of beef, we use 33 percent less land per pound of beef and the carbon footprint per pound has come down 16 percent which is a huge achievement on behalf of the industry."

She says that cattle producers can be proud of the fact-and should be ready to inform consumers-that beef is well-positioned to feed an ever-growing world population. 

Click here for the latest Beef Buzz with 'Bovi Diva' Dr. Jude Capper. 

European Commission Proposes Tripling Spending to Support Ag Exports

While the U.S. Congress continues to debate budget cuts, the European Commission has proposed more than tripling its spending in the international marketplace to support the export of EU agricultural and agri-food sector products.

"Enjoy, it's from Europe" is the slogan for the proposed expanded export initiative that "aims to help the sector's professionals break into international markets and make consumers more aware of the efforts made by European farmers to provide quality products, based on a genuine strategy established at European level," according to EU media reports.

The proposal, which will be submitted to the European Parliament for its review, would boost European aid for agricultural exports progressively from €61 million ($82.5 million) in the 2013 budget to €200 million ($270.5 million) in 2020.

"In a world in which consumers are increasingly aware of the safety, quality and sustainability of food production methods, European farmers and small- or medium-sized enterprises are in a position of strength," said European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Ciolos.

Click here to read more of this story.

This N That- Thanksgiving Schedule, Noble Tax Seminar and Big Iron

A quick reminder that with tomorrow being our 2013 edition of Thanksgiving here in the US, markets are closed, government offices are closed, most stores are closed(well- they used to be closed) and it's a wonderful day for families to gather, love on one another and eat, eat, eat.  And- to be thankful.   

As a result, we will not have an EMAIL either Thursday or Friday- our next edition will be next Monday- December 2nd.   

Our radio programs will continue to be heard on some stations on Thursday and our full network on Friday- with the commodity markets open for a half day of trading.

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Many tax benefits important to agricultural producers were permanently extended in legislation passed on Jan. 1, 2013.


To provide farmers and ranchers in the Southern Great Plains the latest information in preparation for tax season, The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation will host a free seminar, "Managing Taxes for Agricultural Producers."


The seminar will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013, at the Noble Foundation Kruse Auditorium in Ardmore.

Click here for more details.

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Big Iron has their regular Wednesday auction running today- closing begins at 10 AM central time for the first items.  270 items are up for grabs today- including a good looking tractor consigned by Custer County District 3- Click here to review all of the items today and to perhaps look ahead to next week's sale, which has a lot more stuff consigned for the first sale of December.

Remember- you can always touch base with Mike Wolfe of Big Iron for how you can best use the Big Iron way of buying and selling farm equipment and more for your operation.  His number is 580-320-2718.

The Farmer Gives Thanks- Make Our Hearts Big Enough to Receive Thy Bounty in Constant Thanksgiving 

There's small book that was written by a gentleman by the name of Samuel Guard- who was an agricultural journalist back in the 1900s- starting with a magazine called the Breeders Gazette in 1912.  Along the way- he was Information Director for the American Farm Bureau, the voice of the National Barn Dance heard on Chicago radio station WLS in the 1920s and later bought the magazine he first worked for and became it's editor.  

Guard compiled a group of prayers that stretch over the course of a year- and called them "The Farmer Gives Thanks." I have read some of these at various times of the year on the radio across Oklahoma down through the years since 1977- and wanted to share with you one of the Thanksgiving prayers as we get into the "Turkey Day" mode.

"Lord of harvest, Keeper of our feedlots and our fields, we thank thee for a turkey that is fat.

"We thank thee for bread with butter on it.

"We wish we could echo in these poor words the glorious autumn song of praise  that rises from our frosted, browning stalks of corn, bent with ears of gold.

"Accept the fragrance of red clover in yon mow as burnt incense rising from the holy earthen altar of this here stock farm.

"Help us to be humble, just, and kind as thy servant said- specially kind to those creatures over whom thous gave us original dominion, which we have subdued and fattened and multiplied and milked according to thy direction.

"Make us good shepherds to them as thou art the Good Shepherd to us.

"Bless all thine own children about this board, or absent from it.

"And make our hearts big enough to receive thy bounty in constant thanksgiving.

"Amen."

To you and yours- Jan and I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving- and we pray that you will stop- as we will- and thank the Father who provided us a Savior for every good gift that He has provided from His bounty over the last year.