Ross Wilson Urges Cattle Producers to File Comments NOW on Mandatory COOL Rule 

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service released its revised rule regarding COOL March 8. This action is in response to the World Trade Organization's ruling last year that COOL violated U.S. obligations under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. The WTO set May 23, 2013 as the date by which the United States needed to come into compliance with the ruling or Canada and Mexico would be allowed to retaliate. It appears that the USDA is proposing changes that impact how product is supposed to be labeled. The deadline for public comments to the proposed rule is midnight eastern time on Thursday, April 11, 2013.

We have discussed the M-COOL proposal with Ross Wilson, the President and CEO of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association in our latest Beef Buzz.  Click here to listen to that conversation or to get a look at the new labeling requirements.

TCFA and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association oppose the new rule.  They maintain that there is no regulatory fix that can be put in place to bring the current COOL rule into compliance with the WTO obligation or that will satisfy our top two trading partners: Mexico and Canada.  

They have written a suggested letter that producers can personalize to make comments to the USDA about the proposed labeling changes.  You find that letter on our website by clicking here.   

Oklahoma Landowners, NRCS Partner to Improve Lesser Prairie-Chicken Habitat 

With the help of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, farmers and ranchers are doing their part to voluntarily protect and improve habitat for an iconic western bird while improving the land and their operations.

The lesser prairie-chicken was thought to be extinct after the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and its population declined significantly during droughts in the 1950s and early 1990s.

Farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma have worked with NRCS to improve more than 64,000 acres of lesser prairie-chicken habitat since 2010, using the agency's financial and technical assistance.

Producers in the chicken's five-state territory of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas have improved nearly 1 million acres of habitat through the initiative.

Click here to read more. 

Gore Science Teacher Kim Pearson Honored as State's 'Ag Classroom Teacher of the Year'

The 2013 Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year found out that she had won the honor several weeks ago when the Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom coordinators traveled to Gore to surprise Kim Pearson with the news. While she found out at that time about the honor, the formal presentation of various prizes that go with the title were presented this past week at the 2013 Ag Day at the State Capitol.


Pearson teaches middle school and high school science. In addition to her work in the classroom, Kim has been instrumental in organizing an Ag Day in her hometown, an event that has received attention from Oklahoma Horizon TV. Pearson has been called "an Ag in the Classroom pioneer".

I spoke with Pearson during Ag Day activities at the state capitol.  She said there are so many opportunities to incorporate agriculture in her day to day science lessons.

"If we're talking about DNA, we will go out to a pecan orchard and pick up some pecans because every pecan has its own fingerprint just like a human. If we're talking about chemistry, we may be looking at leavening products and how to make cornbread. We make our own cornmeal. We go get our own corn out of the field and bring it and shuck it and shell it. Then we grind it before we do that. Those are some of the different things I try to bring into the classroom."

You can read more or listen to our full conversation by clicking here.

 

Crop Insurance Industry Releases 'Crop Insurance: Just the Facts'

As crop insurers prepare for the Farm Bill and funding deliberations in the future, National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) has released a detailed question-and-answer resource laying out the facts about crop insurance and dispelling some of the most common arguments against crop insurance put forth by its critics.

"Crop insurance is the single most important risk management tool available to farmers today, and the public needs to understand why it is so valuable, how it benefits taxpayers and how it helps maintain a stable agriculture for the benefit of consumers," said Tom Zacharias, president of NCIS.

"Crop Insurance: Just the Facts" is housed in a new tab on the Crop Insurance Keeps America Growing website page "About Crop Insurance" where it will be a continuously updated, convenient and accurate resource for industry, farmers and consumers. "This resource will provide a much-needed explanation on the value and need for crop insurance," said Zacharias. 

Click here for more of this story and a link to the "Crop Insurance: Just the Facts" resource.

 

Enrollment Now Open for OSU Cow/Calf Boot Camp

Dave Sparks, DVM, Oklahoma State University Area Food Animal Quality and Health Specialist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter: 

Are you an experienced beef producer who would like to increase the management and profitability of your operation but can't go back to school to do so? Are you a newcomer to the industry trying to figure out if this business is right for you?   If you answered yes to either question OSU Extension may have the answer for you. This spring the 4th OSU Cow/Calf Boot Camp will be held on April 22, 23, and 24, 2013, in Tishomingo.

This three-day school is open to the first 50 to enroll. These 50 students will work with approximately 20 OSU extension specialists, animal scientists, and veterinarians in a variety of teaching formats. These include hands on workshops with live cattle, production management slide shows, small group table exercises, a ranch visit, and a pasture tour.  

Click here to read more and to find a link information on how to apply. 

 

R-CALF Leader Furious Over OIG Report on Beef Checkoff- Calls Report  'Absurd, Incomplete and Trivial'

In a formal complaint sent Friday to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Inspector General Phyllis Fong, R-CALF USA's Chief Executive Officer Bill Bullard charged that the audit report released last week by the USDA Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning the beef checkoff program is a "colossal whitewash of monumental proportions."

Bullard wasted no time in using extreme language to express his anger regarding the OIG report- calling it an "absurd, incomplete, and trivial report." Click here for a link to the full letter that was transmitted to Vilsack and Fong.

"The OIG report exemplifies the despicable cronyism that pervades the relationship between the USDA and the meatpacker lobby, which latter group is represented in the OIG report by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). The findings and conclusions contained in the scant, 17-page OIG report are incongruent and render both USDA and the OIG untrustworthy and without credibility," R-CALF USA wrote in its complaint.

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

 

This N That- Big Iron Auction, Latest on Rainfall and Alltech Extends Registration for International Symposium

The regular Wednesday closing for Big Iron is just a few hours away as we write this email this morning- and it's a big auction today that will see the first three items close at 10 AM central time- a total of 584 items are listed in this week's sale.

Click here to jump over to the Big Iron website and check out the wide variety of agricultural items on the virtual auction block this morning. 

If you would like to visit with the Big Iron Rep for Oklahoma, North Texas, western Arkansas and much of New Mexico- call Mike Wolfe at 580-320-2718. Mike ccan walk you through how you can buy or sell items with ease on Big Iron.

**********

Rainfall totals have already topped an inch in several locations west of I-35 from this rain making system that has also arrived with much colder temperatures.  Central Oklahoma was in the upper 70s as the front arrived Tuesday afternoon- and this morning, readings are at or just above freezing. 

As of 5:25- Medford, Acem, Apache, Walters, Ninnekah and Grandfield had all received an inch or more of rainfall- with Grandfield the Rain Lotto winner with an inch and a half of precipitation.

Click here for a snapshot as of early this morning of rainfall to that point- with the system no where close to being done- and we have a link in our webstory that gets you to the real time Mesonet rainfall page as well.

**********

Finally- one of the better meetings we attended last year was the International Symposium put on by Alltech- it's an annual event and their 2013 version is set for May in Lexington, Ky.  Early registration was set to close shortly- but they have extended the discounted registration window out to April 25th.  Click here to learn more about the 2013 Alltech International Symposium- May 19022.