State Ag Secretary Reflects on 2013, Outlines Priorities for 2014 

Looking back on 2013, Jim Reese, secretary of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, says producers in the state had a pretty good year. He spoke  with me this week and will appear on this weekend's "In the Field" segment on News 9 at approximately 6:40 AM Saturday as a part of the KWTV News9 Saturday morning news block. 

"The majority of the state has received a lot of rain. It's been such a contrast to 2011 and 2012. There are still pockets of the state, particularly in the southwest and some west that are still dry, but across the state, if you take our hay crop, it was two-and-a-half times the last couple of years. Commodity prices have been good. Crops were good. So, as a whole, the state of agriculture has been very good in 2013."

Looking forward, Reese says his office has several priorities. Topping his list is consumer education.

"We have to have people comfortable with all of the food we produce. Everybody eats. One hundred percent of the population eats. They have to be comfortable with all of the production methods and food safety efforts that Oklahoma producers put into their products."

Reese says his office is anxiously awaiting the passage of the federal farm bill because it greatly impacts the operations of his department in the areas of food, feed and fertilizer safety and consumer protection.

"The biggest thing about the farm bill people are concerned with is how it affects the producers themselves and I can relate to that, but it certainly affects our agency because we do a lot of things for the federal government, thankfully."

Click here to read more of Secretary Reese's comments or to listen to our full conversation.  

U.S. Agriculture Considering Opposition To TPP Deal 

A coalition of agricultural organizations led by the National Pork Producers Council is likely to oppose a final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement if it includes Japan but that country doesn't agree to comprehensive trade liberalization, including elimination of tariffs on virtually all U.S. agricultural products.

In a letter sent this week to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, the 17 groups said the unwillingness of Japanese negotiators to present a comprehensive offer on agricultural products is threatening to undermine the trade talks.

Japan is demanding special treatment for its agriculture sector, including exclusion from the agreement of certain "sensitive" products.

The TPP is a regional trade negotiation that includes the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, which account for nearly 40 percent of global GDP. 

Click here to read more and to find a link to the coalition's letter. 

Service Announces Proposed Amendment to the Oklahoma CCAA for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is announcing the Notice of Availability (NOA) for a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for the lesser prairie-chicken. Public comments will be accepted on the proposed amendment through January 21, 2014.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) has applied for an amendment to their existing CCAA, to increase enrollment from 200,000 acres to 400,000 acres by 2037 throughout the 14 Oklahoma Counties covered by the CCAA. Approval and implementation of the amended CCAA will extend a landscape-level conservation program ultimately resulting in an increase in the number of lesser prairie-chickens on the ground.

You can read more of this story by clicking here. 

U.S., Brazil Agree on Path Forward to Enhance Bilateral Beef Trade

The United States Department of Agriculture and the Brazil Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food made a joint statement this week:

The United States and Brazil are two of the world's largest agricultural producers and exporters. Over the last 20 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply (MAPA) have collaborated on many agriculture issues and currently have some 100 agricultural cooperative activities. As global leaders in the use of innovative agricultural production technologies, both countries share a keen interest in exploring further agricultural cooperation.

Both Brazil and the United States maintain a strong commitment to science-based rulemaking. USDA and MAPA recently agreed to a path forward to amend rules that currently limit bilateral beef trade. Bilateral trade of all beef and beef products could occur once each exporting country meets the importing country's equivalence and technical requirements for animal health and food safety.  

OSU Food Demand Survey Shows Consumers Willing to Pay More for Hamburger- Less for Chicken

U.S. consumers in December say that they are willing to pay more for hamburger, but less for steak, chicken breast, pork chops, deli ham and chicken wings, according to Oklahoma State University's monthly Food Demand Survey (FooDS) released earlier this week on December 17. The study's author is Dr. Jayson Lusk, who sits in the Willard Sparks Endowed Chair in the Department of Ag Economics at OSU.


The survey showed consumers willing to pay $4.20 per pound for hamburger, up from $3.97 a month ago. However, consumers were only willing to pay $4.52 per pound for chicken breast, down from $5.03 a month ago. They were willing to pay $3.61 per pound for pork chops, down from $3.75 last month. The Willingness to Pay (WTP) for Chicken breast and chicken wings fell to the lowest levels since the survey was started in May. Although WTP for steak fell only 4.32% from November to December, it too fell to the lowest level seen since FooDS started.

The monthly survey also tracks the concerns and values that consumers hold dear as they make their meat buying decisions. Click here to read more about the December numbers- we also have a link to a PDF produced by Dr. Lusk that offers more insight into the December FooDS report. 

Weekend Precip May Assist Drought-Stricken Areas, Gary McManus Says  

The latest Drought Monitor shows dry conditions on the increase in parts of Oklahoma, but Associate State Climatologist Gary McManus says forecast weekend precipitation is coming at a very opportune time. 

"Totals are looking generous, and more importantly, generous in all the right places," he says. 

The amount of the state in drought really didn't increase much (from 38.32% in D1-D4 last week to 38.65% this week), but the amount in that D2-Severe drought category went from 11% to 14%. McManus says that's nothing major, but it is still an intensification which isn't easy to do during the cool season. 

The driest location in Oklahoma where we find Exceptional Drought lies in a portion of Harmon County and most of Jackson and Tillman Counties.

We have the latest graphics on our Drought status- click here to check them out.

As for the winter storm heading our way- it is already unfolding in Kansas as we send this email out on this Friday morning- portions of I-70 up around Topeka is starting to show some slick spots- and it will likely become slicker as the day goes on.

For Oklahoma- this NWS graphic from the Norman office- click here- shows that we have got moisture headed our way- and a lot of the state could be dealing with at least some ice- what we are hearing from the Tulsa NWS office is that our eastern counties (eastern third of the state) will be facing more of a rain event that is not frozen.  The Panhandle has a winter storm watch for late tonight and into Saturday- not as much moisture seems to be in the cards for that area. 

Bottom Line- a lot of Oklahoma will be wet on Saturday as folks try to move around on the last weekend before Christmas.  

This N That- Final Superior Sale of Year, OALP Alums and Last Call for Ipad Mini Winner 

The final Superior Livestock Video Auction of the year is getting underway at 8:00 AM central time today- just over 10,000 head to be sold.

Click here for the details of today's sale that is originating from Ft. Worth and can be seen on RFD-TV as well as online.

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If you are a alum of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program- I want to put my OALP Advisory Council Chairman's Hat on for a moment- and remind you that now is the time to write that check of support for OALP as 2013 rapidly winds down.  For every dollar you give- that will help satisfy the match that the program has from the Noble Foundation, which means your dollar turns into two dollars to support the leadership development.

Director Edmond Bonjour tells us in an email to alums "For those of your who still wish to contribute toward the challenge grant, all contributions must be postmarked by December 31, made payable to the OSU Foundation with OALP in the memo line, and sent to: OALP, 321 Wes Watkins Center, Stillwater, OK 74078."

If you want to contact the OSU Foundation directly- tell them when you get them on the phone that you want your donation to go to Fund 21-35700- the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Fund. Their number is 1-800-622-4678.

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Last call for the young lady from Nowata that we announced as the winner of the Ipad Mini- Mary Presley of Nowata has until noon today to call me at 405-473-6144.  If Mary calls- we will ship here the Ipad Mini that we are giving away from our signups that came in at the Tulsa Farm Show.