December 31, 2010

PERSPECTIVE OKLAHOMA FARM BUREAU

Farm Bureau joins inaugural food drive Oklahoma Farm Bureau is partnering with Governor-elect Mary Fallin in her inaugural “Feeding Oklahoma” Food Drive.

From now until January 10, Farm Bureau offices in each county across the state will serve as designated drop-off locations for donations during the food drive.

“Oklahoma Farm Bureau is pleased to assist Governor-elect Fallin in her inaugural food drive,” said OFB President Mike Spradling. “Farmers and ranchers produce an abundance of safe and affordable food.

It is unacceptable for any man, woman or child to go to bed hungry in this nation.”

The “Feeding Oklahoma” food drive is another important opportunity, like OFB’s recent “Farmers Fighting Hunger” campaign, for the farm organization to continue its ongoing effort to fight hunger in the state.

“We are inspired by the governor-elect’s action and motivated to continue to help fight hunger in Oklahoma,” said Monica Wilke, OFB & affiliated companies (See Inaugural food drive, page 2)

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December 31, 2010

Oklahoma farmer featured on America’s Heartland

Videographer Jim Scott with the America’s Heartland TV show captures footage of a sesame plant.

February 21-22, 2011

OFB is planning leadership conference Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s 2011 Leadership Conference will be held Feb. 2122 from at the Marriott Hotel at 3233 Northwest Expressway in Oklahoma City.

Room reservations can be made by calling 405-842-6633. The deadline for reservation is February 7. The room rate is $109, plus taxes.

The two-day leadership conference will include a variety of speakers and sessions, a legislative reception, legislative awards and a banquet with entertainment.

Watch for more details in future issues of Perspective.

Leadership Conference

2011

Sesame production on the Kinder farm in Cotton County was featured in a recent episode of America’s Heartland, a magazine-style, halfhour television series. The “field to plate” story, taped in late September, includes video footage shot at Kinder’s farm as well as an interview with Cotton County Farm Bureau President Jimmy Wayne Kinder, who was growing his first crop of sesame at the time.

The segment is now available for viewing on the America’s Heartland website at http://www.americasheartland.org/ episodes/episode_616/sesame_seeds.htm.

Although sesame dates back thousands of years, it has only been grown in U.S. since the 1950s. While most of the sesame grown in the world is still hand-harvested, new advances in technology have resulted in a non-shattering varieties, which can be harvested with a combine.

Also a wheat and canola producer, Kinder already has the right equipment. As (See Oklahoma farmer, page 3)

Member Benefits • Clear Value Hearing - Offers members a free initial hearing test and annual retests, free hearing aid adjustments, and much more.

Contact your county Farm Bureau for more.

• Air Evac Lifeteam – Offers members a reduced annual fee for emergency air service.

Applications available at county offices.

OFB will highlight a few benefits in each issue of Perspective as a reminder of the savings available to OFB members.

Find a complete list of savings online at www.okfarmbureau.org.

OFB Calendar AFBF Annual Meeting January 9-12, 2011 • Atlanta, GA Contact: Melisa Neal, 405-523-2475 National Leadership/YF&R Conference February 3-8, 2011 • Orlando, FL Contact: Chris Kidd, 580-228-4001 State Legislature Convenes February 7, 2011 • State Capitol Contact: Tyler Norvell, 405-523-2402

Inaugural food drive... (continued from page 1) executive director.

County Farm Bureaus will be collecting non-perishable food donations and will deliver those donations to the food bank located within their county. All food donations will remain in the counties in which they are collected.

The “Feeding Oklahoma” food drive is in partnership with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, which service community soup kitchens, food banks and shelters in all 77 counties. For more, visit www.feedoklahoma.org.

Lucas welcomes new GOP House Ag Committee members House Agriculture Committee Chairmanelect Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) recently issued a statement congratulating the 16 new Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee for the 112th Congress.

“I am pleased to welcome our new members to the Agriculture Committee. They represent a broad slice of the country and will bring that perspective as we address the issues facing production agriculture and rural economies.

The work of our committee affects the lives of every American. We must work to ensure that there is proper oversight of the administration, that rural America has opportunities for job growth, and that our farmers and ranchers have

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Online Monitor the latest Farm Bureau and agricultural news and information online at www.okfarmbureau.org.

Currently online: • County Connection – Each county office in Oklahoma has its own unique flavor, created by the mix of its active members. Visit the County Connection page for information on each county Farm Bureau in the state.

• Member Savings – Visit OFB’s Web site for a complete list of partners offering various discounts to Farm Bureau members. The savings guide includes discount information, plus links to partner Web sites.

www.okfarmbureau.org 2

the necessary tools and certainty they need to provide us with a safe, affordable and abundant food, fiber, feed and fuel supply,” Lucas said.

The new Republican members on the Agriculture Committee are Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Renee Elmers of North Carolina, Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, Bob Gibbs of Ohio, Chris Gibson of New York, Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, Randy Hultgren of Illinois, Reid Ribble of Wisconsin, Martha Roby of Alabama, Bobby Schilling of Illinois, Austin Scott of Georgia, Steve Southerland of Florida, Marlin Stutzman of Tennessee and Scott Tipton of Colorado.

President Obama to sign food safety bill Both the House and Senate have approved the food safety bill, which grants the Food and Drug Administration greater authority over food production. At press time, the bill was awaiting President Barack Obama’s expected signature.

The measure is designed to change the mission of FDA to preventing food-borne illnesses rather than just reacting after an outbreak occurs.

Food manufacturers will be required to examine their processing systems and identify ways that food products can become contaminated. They must develop detailed plans to keep that from happening. Companies must share those plans with FDA and provide the agency with records, including product test results and other data.

Rep. Lankford named to transportation committee Republican members have been named to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee that will be chaired by Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.).

Oklahoma’s newly elected 5th District Congressman James Lankford will be one of them.

The committee will deal with a number of transportation issues vital to Farm Bureau, and Mica plans to complete work on the highway bill by August.

At press time, Democrats had yet to name Transportation and Infrastructure Committee members for the new Congress in 2011, although Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) was elected by fellow House Democrats as ranking Democrat on the committee.

AgChat to hold training before convention The AgChat Foundation, a volunteer group of farmers and ranchers involved in social media advocacy for agriculture, has announced it will conduct an afternoon, hands-on, social media training seminar in Atlanta, Saturday, Jan. 8—one day prior to the start of the AFBF annual meeting.

Social media training is a major pillar of the AgChat Foundation, according to Farm Bureau member Ray Prock, a California dairy farmer and officer on the AgChat board. “The concept is to take advantage of the opportunity of having so many good ‘agvocates’ (agricultural advocates) gathered in one place, broaden the Foundation’s reach and further empower farmers to increase social media skills and knowledge,” Prock said.

The training seminar includes a threehour, hands-on session that will cover blogging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube video production, relationship building, and other areas related to social media and consumer engagement. For more information contact Prock via e-mail at info@agchat.org.

Access the website at http://agchat.org/.

Oklahoma farmer featured on America’s Heartland...

Congressman James Lankford

Roberts may be ranking member of Ag Committee Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) is expected to move into the ranking member spot on the Senate Agriculture Committee as reports, at press time, indicate that Sen. Saxby Chambliss (RGa.) will take over as ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said recently that was his understanding of what was happening, according to a blog posting by DTN reporter Chris Clayton.

“All I can tell you is late last week Pat Roberts told me he was going to be the ranking [member]. I think that’s going to be very good for Midwestern agriculture,” Grassley said. “I’d say that you know when you have people from the South totally in agriculture sometimes I think Midwestern interests get left out. In this particular case I think Pat Roberts reinforces the Midwestern interests at the agricultural table, very much so.”

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) will chair the panel in the 112th Congress.

(continued from page 1) for the right weather, he said Oklahoma’s climate is just about perfect for the crop.

“We’re able to grow this here because it loves the hot weather; doesn’t need much moisture,” Kinder said. “And so that really fits in to where we are today.”

The right climate, combined with strong demand and an established market, have Kinder excited about the crop’s potential.

Sponsored by the American Farm Bureau Federation and Monsanto since 2005, America’s Heartland is well into its sixth season. This nationally-distributed, Emmyaward winning television program is the most prominent offering of positive stories about American agriculture weekly on air, and daily online. America’s Heartland has given hundreds of farm and ranch families across all 50 states the opportunity – in their own words – to share the diverse story of agriculture with consumers.

Jimmy Wayne Kinder, center, visited with an America’s Heartland video crew during taping for a segment on sesame. The feature aired recently and can be viewed on the America’s Heartland website at www.americasheartland.org.

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Estate tax relief signed into law President Barack Obama recently signed into law H.R. 4853, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. The new law sets for two years an estate tax rate exemption of $5 million with a maximum rate of 35 percent that was pushed by Farm Bureau.

In addition to estate tax relief, the new law continues a number of other tax provisions supported by Farm Bureau. It extends for two years until 2012 lower capital gains tax rates for all taxpayers and lower income tax rates for all taxpayers.

The law extends for two years until 2012 tax incentives for biodiesel. It extends until 2011 tax incentives for ethanol and the tariff on imported ethanol. It also extends until 2011 the alternative fuels credit fuel tax credit for liquid fuels derived from biomass and other sources.

“Credit for this win goes to Farm Bureau members, who told their estate tax stories and contacted their members of Congress. Congratulations and thank you to state and county Farm Bureaus for their work to help Farm Bureau achieve this success,” said Patricia Wolff, American Farm Bureau Federation tax specialist.

JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR – Garvin County Farm Bureau President Dale Schauer, left, presented OFB’s Journalist of the Year Award to Jeff Schulz, Garvin County News Star, during the county’s recent Christmas party. Schulz was honored at the county gathering as he was unable to attend the OFB Annual Meeting in November.

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Committee assignments have been announced Oklahoma House Speaker Kris Steele has announced committee assignments for the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions.

“Although Oklahoma faces significant challenges this year, I am confident the members of the House are more than up to the task,” said Steele, R-Shawnee.

“I appreciate each member’s willingness to serve and, after careful consideration, believe we have matched members to committees in a way that will best utilize each legislator’s gifts and talents.”

One committee the Oklahoma Farm Bureau will be working closely with is the Agriculture, Wildlife & Environment Committee. Members include: Phil Richardson, R-Minco, Chair Todd Russ, R-Cordell, Vice-Chair John Bennett, R-Sallisaw Lisa Billy, R-Purcell Dennis Casey, R-Morrison John Enns, R-Enid Rusty Farley, R-Broken Haworth Tommy Hardin, R-Madill Mike Jackson, R-Enid Tom Newell, R-Seminole Charles Ortega, R-Altus Leslie Osborn, R-Tuttle Mike Sanders, R-Kingfisher Steve Vaughan, R-Ponca City Larry Glenn, D-Miami Steve Kouplen, D-Beggs James Lockhart, D-Heavener R. C. Pruett, D-Antlers Brian Renegar, D-McAlester Jerry Shoemake, D-Morris For a full list of House assignments, visit http://www.okhouse.gov/.