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All four species of the market animals that are the heart of the "World's Largest Junior Livestock Show" were showing on Wednesday- and will continue on Thursday morning as the 2013 edition of the event roars toward tonight and a tremendous celebration of dozens of scholarship award winners, the red carpet arrival of the young men and ladies who will show for the Grand Champions of the market animal division and the selection of those Grand Champions- the animals that will lead off the Sale of Champions that happens tomorrow- Friday- at 4 PM.

We have the market barrow results through last night as we email you this morning- click here for the six breed champions and the reserves that have been picked thus far.  The others will be added to our Blue Green Gazette section of our website as they come to us from the media team at the OYE.  Click here for the Blue Green Gazette web section to keep up with our latest posts.

We talked yesterday with Dr. Clint Rusk- head of the Animal Science Department at Oklahoma State University as the OSU day festivities were winding down on Wednesday afternoon. You can hear our visit with Clint about OSU's involvement with OYE- how he sees OYE as a key part of the animal agriculture industry in the state and more- click here to jump to our website and take a listen.

Be sure and check our updates on the Blue Green Gazette through the day and this evening as the show moves quickly to a conclusion by sunset tonight.  We will be featuring the Grand Champions from the 2013 show tomorrow morning in our daily email.

Ag Committee Approves Bipartisan Legislation to Tweak Dodd-Frank Act 

The House Agriculture Committee approved seven legislative proposals amending Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The bills are the culmination of the committee's oversight efforts of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as it writes rules for Dodd-Frank. All but one of the bills advanced on a voice vote. H.R. 992, the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act, was approved by a vote of 31-14.

"I appreciate the bipartisan leadership of my colleagues on the bills that advanced today. Our effort is to ensure that America's job creators - our farmers, ranchers, small businesses, government utilities, and manufacturers - are not overburdened by financial regulations. Without these important changes, regulations could deter businesses from hedging against risk, which is contrary to the purpose of financial regulatory reform," said Chairman Frank Lucas.

Among the bills approved were: 

H.R. 634, the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act, ensures that end-users can continue to use derivatives to manage business risks without being subject to costly margin requirements.

H.R. 677, the Inter-Affiliate Swap Clarification Act, ensures that transactions between affiliates within a single corporate group are not regulated as swaps. 

Click here to see more.

 

 Preserving Genetics of Utmost Importance During Drought

Headed into its third year of extreme drought in northeast Kansas, Barb Downey of the Downey Ranch says they have compiled some solid strategies for dealing with Mother Nature.

"As a cow-calf operation, our primary interest is in, A) preserving our resources and making sure we have that grass in a good state to recover when we do start getting rain and our second priority is preserving that cow herd and preserving that genetic investment we've worked so hard to make over the last many years."

In an effort to keep as many mature cows as possible, she says, last fall they weaned calves three months earlier than usual.

"What that does is remove pressure on the grass; the cow's energy demands go down by about a third. Her grazing pressure does indeed go down and, of course, her water consumption goes down."

You can read more or watch the video version of this story by clicking here

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Last Year's Peanuts Need to Move Out to Make Way for This Year's Crop, Tyron Spearman Says

Attendees at last week's Peanut Expo at Quartz Mountain heard from Tyron Spearman, editor of the Peanut Farmer Magazine and the Peanut Newsletter, that 2012 was a pretty good growing season nationally as well as here in Oklahoma. He said high yields have left the industry with a problem as planting season approaches. The problem is trying to get this year's surplus moved out ahead of next year's crop.

"We are moving as fast as we can. Shellers are operating at capacity right now. The export market is bumped up and stepping up and buying peanuts, not only in Europe, but also in China which is the first time we've been able to tap that market."

Spearman believes that Oklahoma peanut farmers have a good chance to get decent contracts for the 2013 growing season.

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

 

New Waterway Bill Addresses Critical Needs

The recently introduced Waterways are Vital for the Economy, Energy, Efficiency and Environment Act of 2013 (WAVE 4) will address the critical needs of the inland waterways system, create American jobs, foster growth in U.S. exports and continue to encourage the economic benefits that the nation's waterways generate, according to Farm Bureau.

"Construction, dredging and repairs to our locks and dams will help ensure the reliability of the most affordable, energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable mode of transporting agricultural products," said American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman.

Forty-one states, including all states east of the Mississippi River and 16 state capitols, are served by commercially navigable waterways. Further, more than 60 percent of America's grain exports and many other important commodities such as fuel, coal and agricultural inputs also move through the U.S. inland waterway system.

Reps. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) are original sponsors of the bill.

 

Avoiding Body Condition Loss Critical for Maximum Rebreeding Efficiency

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

Cows in many Midwestern herds are calving in marginal body condition. Short hay and standing forage supplies as well as expensive supplemental feeds, are partially to blame. Unfortunately, this is a season where maintaining or gaining body condition on spring calving cows is really quite difficult. Warm season grasses have not yet begun to grow. Dormant grass (what little is left) is a low quality feed. Cows cannot, or will not, consume a large amount of standing dormant grass at this time year. If the only supplement being fed is a self-fed, self-limited protein source, the cows may become very deficient in energy. Remember, the instructions that accompany these self-fed supplements. They are to be fed along with free choice access to adequate quality forages.   

There is another factor that compounds the problem.   A small amount of winter annual grasses may begin to grow in native pastures. These are the first tastes of green grass many cows have seen since last summer. The cows may try to forage these high moisture, low energy density grasses, in lieu of more energy dense hays or cubes. The sad result is the loss of body condition in early lactation beef cows just before the breeding season is about to begin.   

Body condition at the time of calving is the most important factor affecting rebreeding performance of normally managed beef cows. 

Click here for more. 

Cattle Raisers Convention Set to Kick Off in Ft. Worth

The 2013 Cattle Raisers Convention, which includes the best cattle industry expo to be found in the southwest on an annual basis, is ready to go Friday through Sunday at the Ft. Worth Convention center. This is the annual meeting of the Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers- who have most of their members in Texas but also have membership in Oklahoma and are active in our state in cattle theft prevention and apprehension work.

The lineup of speakers continues to grow- one recent addition announced by the TSCRA is House Ag Committee Sub Committee Chairman Mike Conaway from Midland, Texas.

"Texas is synonymous with cattle country, and the cattle industry provides an important way of life for many Texans. Our ranchers are impacted by many issues coming out of Washington, including immigration, the pending farm bill and the sequester," Conaway said. "I look forward to speaking about these and other crucial issues at the Cattle Raisers Convention."

Conaway is a member of the House Agriculture Committee where he chairs the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.

Other speakers that are lined up to address the Cattle Raisers Convention include Kevin Good with CattleFax and Evelyn Browning-Garriss (in case you missed her at the Texoma Cattlemen's Conference last week in Ardmore) as she will be addressing long term weather predictors.

If you are just interested in the Trade Show- you can get a one day pass to the trade show for $10.

We will be heading to Ft. Worth on Saturday to cover portions of the 2013 event- we look forward to seeing some of you there.

Click here for the Convention webpage for more details about last minute registration onsite and a look at all of the details of this year's program.