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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday February 19,
2008! A
service of National Livestock Credit, American Farmers and Ranchers &
Midwest Farm Shows
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-- Greetings from China!
-- Truck Weight Measure Promoted by State Ag Secretary Terry
Peach
-- When it comes to a Farm Bill Deal- It's all about the money,
honey!
-- Texas Cattle Feeders & Other Lone Star State Groups File
"Friend of the Court" Brief Challenging Drew Edmondson
-- Growers Get Status Update of Biotechnology in Wheat
-- The Fallout Over the Downer Cow Video Continues with Huge Ground
Beef Recall This Past Weekend...
-- Random China Thoughts- all in English!
Howdy Neighbors! Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are proud to have National Livestock Credit Corporation as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. National Livestock Credit Corporation works diligently to provide unsurpassed service to their customers in the area of livestock financing. Check out the National Livestock Family of Services website by clicking here We are also proud to have American Farmers and Ranchers Mutual
Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click
here to go to their NEW AFR web site to learn more about their efforts
to serve rural America! If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here. | |
Greetings from China! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's just
after 6:00 AM in Oklahoma on Tuesday- but the 19th is about over here in
Beijing- and it's been a good full day for Class 13 of the Oklahoma
Agricultural Leadership Program. One of the highlights of a trip to China
is walking on the Great Wall of China- and the class got up early to roll
out into the countryside to do just that- on a relatively mild morning.
The afternoon provided the first real glimpse into agriculture here in the most populated country in the world- as we heard from the top USDA official in China, William Westman , the Minister-Counselor for Agricultural Affairs of USDA's Foreign Ag Service. We talked about both China's farm production, with Westman telling the OALP group that the Communist leaders in this country "are concerned about losing control of the ongoing battle to feed their people every day." He adds that it is not just having 1.3 billion mouths to feed everyday- but that it all relates back to keeping their society stable. Jorge Sanchez, one of the ag attaches under Westman in the country summed it up this way- "the Government knows that the key to stability is to "maintain peace in China- by keeping food in people's stomach's and keep them quiet." After our embassy trip was over, I sat down with Tim Bartram- a class 13 member and Executive Director of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association to talk about what he has seen and heard thus far- and what he feels he has gotten out of the class as he and his classmates near the end of their two year program. | |
Truck Weight Measure Promoted by State Ag Secretary Terry Peach ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We caught up
with State Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach at this past weekend's
American Farmers and Ranchers Convention in Oklahoma City- and he told us
that at the NASDA meeting in Washington earlier this month- he was able to
champion the increase in truck weights that farmers can drive without the
need for a commercial license and other regulations. The NASDA is the
National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, and Peach
brought up the legislation in a committee that he chairs, the Rural
Development Committee- it passed unanimously out of that committee and
then passed without dissent by the full group.
We also talked state legislative issues with Secretary Peach- and he updated us on the progress of the construction of a new state of the art testing lab for the ODA- he also indicated that he has had some very constructive meetings for Legislative leadership about the lawmakers providing the funding needed- about $2.5 million, for new equipment for when the lab is ready and open. Peach expects the lab will be up and ready to go around the end of this year- late November or early December. We also talked with Terry about what I like to call the "mood of the ship" which is what he perceives as the attitude he sees right now in Oklahoma farm and ranch country. You can listen to his answer and our entire conversation with Secretary Peach by following the link provided below. Click here to listen to Ron and Secretary Peach talk agriculture. | |
When it comes to a Farm Bill Deal- It's all about the money, honey! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With Monday
being President's Day- it remained on the quiet side of things in the
negotiations between the House, the Senate and the Administration. You may
recall that this past week, we saw the House Ag Committee Leadership get a
blessing from the White House on a framework with spending of six billion
dollars over the budget baseline for a ten year bill. Farm Groups and the
Senate were horrified with that number- and called for $12.3 to $12.5
billion worth of spending over the budget baseline over that same ten year
period- saying the lower level was too tough on the Commodity Title of the
bill.
Negotiations are ongoing and there is no final agreement. However, three separate sources have confirmed that the House made a counter-offer to the Senate during the last 12-24 hours that would allow for between $9-10 billion in farm bill funding above the baseline. About $6 billion of that is being described as "new" funds and $3.5 billion of that amount would be directly related to timing shifts. There are some indications that House and Senate Ag Committee leaders may hold a closed door briefing with the farm groups as early as today- Tuesday- even with Congress officially out of town for the President's Day recess. | |
Texas Cattle Feeders & Other Lone Star State Groups File "Friend of the Court" Brief Challenging Drew Edmondson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Friend Of
The Court Brief Filed By TCFA and other agriculture organizations asks a
federal court to deny the Oklahoma attorney general's request for a
preliminary injunction to stop poultry producers from spreading chicken
litter on land in the Illinois River watershed. The brief argues that the
attorney general's effort amounts to attempting "regulation through
litigation" and represents "a perilous departure from established
principles of agricultural regulation historically undertaken by
legislatures and regulatory authorities."
A hearing is scheduled this week. Joining TCFA in filing the brief: Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Pork Producers Association and Texas Association of Dairymen. | |
Growers Get Status Update of Biotechnology in Wheat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One highlight
of last week's wheat meetings in Washington, D.C., was a very thorough and
thought- provoking presentation from Dr. William Wilson of North Dakota
State University on the status of biotechnology, or genetic modification
(GM), as it relates to wheat.
The presentation, given at a joint meeting of the NAWG and U.S. Wheat Boards of Directors and available on NAWG's Web site, provided a number of key take-aways of crucial importance to the wheat industry, including: There have been substantial negative shifts in the wheat supply curve
in both the United States and Canada meaning that at a given price
producers will supply less wheat, and prices will have to be higher to get
the same planted acreage. Here's a link to Dr. Wilson's presentation from the NAWG winter board meeting... | |
The Fallout Over the Downer Cow Video Continues with Huge Ground Beef Recall This Past Weekend... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S.
Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered a class II recall of
143-million pounds of beef products produced since February 1, 2006, by
Hallmark/Westland Meat Company. The Department has been investigating the
company since an animal rights group released video depicting inhumane
treatment of livestock at the establishment. In a statement, USDA said all
cattle processed by the plant passed antemortem inspection. However, when
some cattle later became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, the
plant should have summoned the inspector again, and it did not do so. USDA
officials stressed the plant did not comply with inspection procedures,
but food safety was not at issue.
Bo Reagan with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association adds "We support USDA's recall as a precautionary measure. At the same time, we can say with confidence that the beef supply is safe. We have multiple interlocking safeguards in place in every beef processing plant in America so that if one is bypassed, the other systems continue to ensure the product we serve our families remains safe. The ban on non-ambulatory or 'downer' cattle is one of many steps in a robust system to produce safe beef, but it is not the only step taken to ensure the safety of the beef supply. The beef we eat is safe because there are multiple safety hurdles before it arrives at our grocery stores or restaurants." Meanwhile, the US Meat Export Federation says they are monitoriing the reaction internationally to what they call a proactive enforcement of a cattle handling issue. USMEF spokesman Jim Herlihy told Meatingplace.Com that "we understand that situations like this can trigger emotional responses in markets that are not fully aware of the overlapping safeguards that are in place in the United States, so USMEF will continue to closely monitor reactions among our trading partners." | |
Random China Thoughts- all in English! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just a few
brief thoughts this evening Chinese time and early Tuesday morning
Oklahoma time- as some of you know, this is my second time to China- the
first being with Class One of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program back in
1984. It's truly amazing how different Beijing looks today versus 24 years
ago.
It's true what you have read about smog in this city- it's pervasive. There are also lots of people, a lot more personal cars than when I was last here- still a lot of bicycles and an amazing number of cranes dotting the landscape. Beijing has transformed from a drab dull capital of the most populated nation on earth to a dynamic brightly lit megacity- it doesn't hurt that everywhere we look- we see decorations from the just concluded Chinese New Year celebration. The American influences are here- they were not in 1984- examples include KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks and Coca Cola. I thought it was interesting that there are a lot of billboards around- and I have yet to see any of them touting the virtues of this government as we saw back in the 1980s- one that I remember called on families to honor the "One child per family" policy that began in 1978- no billboards for that and other government policy- just billboards selling stuff. We will have more random thoughts and other reports from our China experience over the next few days- and I have linked out website page spotlighting China coverage at www.OklahomaFarmReport.Com Click here for our OALP in China page- a part of WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, American Farmers and Ranchers Mutual Insurance and National Livestock Creditfor their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked at the top of the email- check them out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis! We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe. | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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