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With the 2014 November General Elections now behind us- we are now into a lame duck session of the old Congress, which includes several members who lost in the just completed election. Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, says there are usually high hopes that several significant issues can be dealt with in the limited venue of a lame duck session. The reality is that few votes are actually taken and that means little can come out of this final work of the old Congress, ahead of when the GOP becomes the majority party in early 2015.

Stallman is hopeful that a tax extenders package can get through the House and Senate and offer an answer to farmers and ranchers wanting to know what the tax rules will be on end of the year purchases of equipment.  

On Big Data- AFBF announced early Thursday morning that they were a part of an agreement with several players in the Precision Ag world regarding the ownership and stewardship of the bushels and bushels of data being collected down on the farm or ranch.  

Stallman believes "The principles released today provide a measure of needed certainty to farmers regarding the protection of their data."  Others that signed onto the agreement include American Soybean Association, Beck's Hybrids, Dow AgroSciences LLC, DuPont Pioneer, John Deere, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, Raven Industries, The Climate Corporation - a division of Monsanto, and USA Rice Federation.    

You can hear and read  Stallman's comments about the Lame Duck, Big Data and more by clicking or tapping here.

Kim Sez- Wheat Rally Probably an Underlying Demand Reaction 

Over the last few market days, we have seen the Kansas City Hard Red Winter Wheat market slip below support levels that OSU Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson discussed a week ago on the weekly SUNUP TV that is produced by the Ag Communications folks at OSU.

In this weekend's market update- again that that will be seen on OETA on the SUNUP show- Dr. Anderson says that wheat did slip down to $5.65 a bushel, basis the KC December contract- but then showed strength and has since rallied now back to $6 and just above.   

The question is why- and it was asked by SUNUP host  Lyndall Stout.  Anderson says you can't really point to any single factor- but rather just a feeling of better demand for wheat domestically and internationally.   

The good Doctor also talked current price ranges that corn and soybeans are now in- and how the market has behaved since the Monday Crop Production and WASDE reports.  

You can wait til Saturday and watch Dr. Anderson and Stout go outside where its cold and talk current price trends- or you can click here and check out his comments now as the markets wrap up the current week of trading.

Soy Exports Top Thirty Billion Dollars in 2013-2014 Marketing Year 

U.S. soybean farmers continue to provide their international customers with reliable, quality products, and those customers have once again rewarded them with big purchases. In the 2013/2014 marketing year, the United States exported over 2 billion bushels of U.S. soy, valued at more than $30 billion.


The year got off to a fast start, exceeding the predicted export numbers in early 2014 and finishing strong with record-size crops starting to come out of the fields. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the 2013/2014 export total includes more than 1.6 billion bushels of whole U.S. soybeans, meal from 484 million bushels of U.S. soybeans and oil from 161 million bushels. This total represents 62 percent of U.S. soybean production from last year.

Check out our top customers here in all three categories of sales of soy- soybeans, Soy Meal and Soy Oil.

Rabo Agrifinance Looks at Flour Milling Business in New Report 

The Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) group has finalized a new report, "Ag Focus - Grist for the Mills: New Opportunities in the U.S. Flour Milling Sector."

The author of the report is Stephen Nicholson, Vice President for Food and Agribusiness Research and Advisory for Rabo Agrifinance. We talked with Nicholson at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters annual meeting in Kansas City yesterday about the report- you can listen (and read more) by clicking here.  There is also an excellent nine page summary of the report that we have available as a PDF download on our website in that story.

According to the report, the recent merger of Horizon Milling and ConAgra Milling to form Ardent Mills has created the largest structural change in the history of the U.S. flour milling industry. Major drivers of consolidation in the U.S. flour milling sector are:
 
* changes in consumer preferences
* consolidation in the bakery sector
* the drive to cut costs through improvements in efficiencies
* changing business strategies. 

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Hitting Road Gear at the 2014 State Convention in Tulsa

About a thousand members of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau are expected to gather at their 2014 State Convention underway in Tulsa.  The theme for 2014 is Farming Our Future. 

The Young Farmers and Ranchers have helped kick off the annual get together with a new contest designed for High Schoolers- a Discussion Meet Competition.  

It was won by Seth McLaughlin of Edmond. The high school discussion meet allows high school students to participate in an event that promotes basic discussion skills, develops an understanding of agricultural issues and explores how groups can pool knowledge to solve problems. This event is designed to build crucial skills to aid in analyzing problems and deciding solutions to best meet one's needs.

Click here to learn more about the contest and who the other finalists were. 

Later today, opening general session will feature remarks from Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.  

YF&R awards will be presented this evening.  On Saturday, the delegates will work on their policy positions for the coming year- then Saturday evening, convention goers will be entertained by the Peterson Brothers of YouTube fame- and also learn who the 2014 Farm Family of the Year will be.

Sunday- the convention will be wrapping up with their vespers program that will feature Oklahoma's new Senator Elect, James Lankford.

You can take a look at their complete lineup of events at this year's meeting- click here for the agenda. 

Don't Debate the Politics of Climate Change- Deal With It

Chuck Abbott is a long time ag journalist who is now working for a non profit group called the Food and Environment Reporting Network- and in his Thursday summary of farm news items had an interesting look at the Climate Change debate from a Land Grant perspective.

"Farmers are far less likely than scientists to say climate change is occurring and that people are a driving force in it, says a study by Purdue and Iowa State universities. It says 66 percent of corn growers say they believe climate change is occurring and 8 percent say human activity is the main cause. By comparison, 90 percent of scientists say climate change is occurring and half say humans are the primary reason.  

Statement from Elanco on Lawsuits Against FDA Over Ractopamine  

About a week ago, two different lawsuits were filed by a total of six different groups against the Food and Drug Administration over their oversight of Ractopamine.  The groups included the HSUS, the United Farm Workers, The Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Center for Food Safety, the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club. Here's a link to our coverage of those lawsuits from Friday, November 7- the lawsuits basically were saying FDA had not performed an adequate environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act.

While the maker of ractopamine, Elanco, was not named in these lawsuits- we still thought they probably had an opinion about what these groups were doing and what they were saying about this product which is fed to animals in the final days of their lives before they are harvested- and while it took them a few days to get back to us- they have offered a short statement that we wanted to share with you-

"We are aware of the two complaints filed November 6 by several groups against the U.S. FDA concerning ractopamine.  

"The U.S. FDA approved ractopamine nearly 15 years ago and we remain confident in its safety and the U.S. FDA's thorough approval process that evaluates human food safety, animal safety and environmental safety.  Our products are manufactured from ingredients that can be found in nature, including raspberry ketones. Ractopamine is widely used by farmers in the United States, Canada, Australia and many other countries around the world. Its human food safety has been affirmed by 30 regulatory authorities globally using their stringent safety criteria - as well as by Codex, the international human food safety standards body, which has adopted standards for pork and beef. More than 300 studies also affirm ractopamine as being safe. Since its introduction in 1999, there have been no confirmed adverse human health reports related to the consumption of meat products from animals fed ractopamine."