PERSPECTIVE OKLAHOMA FARM BUREAU
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April 5, 2013
YF&R Legislative Day
YF&R members visit the Oklahoma Capitol March 19, as part of their annual legislative day. Participants had the opportunity to hear an update from OFB’s public policy division and visit with their legislators. Pictured with the group are OFB State Director Tom Buchanan and Sen. Larry Boggs, former OFB State Director.
OFB members experience southeast Oklahoma during commodity tour OFB members ventured to Oklahoma’s “Little Dixie” March 25-27 to learn more about the area’s diverse agricultural industry and historical significance during the 2013 OFB Commodity Tour. The first stop on the tour was in McAlester, where members visited the McAlester State Penitentiary and learned about the prison’s farm and dairy facilities. Then it was on to the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, where Col. Timothy Beckner discussed the plant’s purpose within the Armed Services. The plant not only constructs ammunition, but also demilitarizes weapons and ammo. OFB Director Tom Buchanan and Don Faulkner of Talihina met tour members at Sardis Lake to discuss water issues. Faulkner discussed the history of the lake and its relationship with Oklahoma City, while also
presenting southeast Oklahoma’s perspective on the state’s water issues. Buchanan, who also serves on the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, offered information on OFB and OWRB policies. Day two kicked off at the Oklahoma State University Kiamichi Forestry Research Station outside of Idabel. Staff members from OSU and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry talked about several forestry management research initiatives, including genetics programs, seed production and industry relations. After a tour of the auction yard at Brinkley’s Auction in Idabel, participants visited a forested area near Broken Bow, where Weyerhaeuser, a national forestry products company, is currently harvesting lumber. (See Commodity Tour, page 4)
Oklahoma Farm Bureau praises Gov. Fallin for signing horse legislation The state’s largest farm organization wants Gov. Fallin to know they appreciate her strength and courage in signing HB 1999 into law. OFB, along Gov. Mary Fallin with other agricultural organizations, has supported the legislation throughout the legislative session. “Oklahoma Farm Bureau would like to thank Gov. Fallin for listening to the people of Oklahoma and farmers and ranchers across the state on this issue,” said OFB President Mike Spradling. “We sincerely appreciate Gov. Fallin for standing with and supporting the agricultural industry in Oklahoma. With the signing of this bill, there will now be a solution to the challenge of unwanted, abandoned and neglected horses in Oklahoma.” Gov. Fallin announced the signing of HB 1999 through a press release and released a statement on the issue of horse abandonment and neglect. “These animals traveled long distances, in potentially inhumane circumstances, only to meet their end in foreign processing plants that do not face the same level of regulation or scrutiny that American plants would,” said Fallin. “Those of us who care about the wellbeing of horses – and we all should – cannot be satisfied with a status quo that encourages abuse and neglect, or that rewards the potentially inhumane slaughter of animals in foreign countries.”