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Inhofe supports amendment to protect rural communities U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) recently announced his support for a revenue neutral amendment offered by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) that transfers $8 million to watershed and flooding prevention programs under H.R. 2112. The so-called ‘minibus’ appropriations act is expected to fund Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and related agencies for Fiscal Year 2012. The transferred funds will be taken from departmental administration funds used to support upper-level bureaucrats. "Oklahoma has more upstream flood
control dams than anywhere else in the country, and Sen. Moran’s amendment offers a needed solution to improving the nation’s watersheds and dams,” Inhofe said. “Rather than being used for bureaucrats in the agency, these funds will protect 1,532 county and highway bridges, while providing flood prevention for 20,541 farms and ranches in our state. It is clearly a safety and infrastructure issue that requires the repair of aging water dams well past their expected service life. Without this amendment, farms and ranches across the nation
are vulnerable to increased flooding that endangers livestock, grain and crops.” Officials from several state associations also applauded Sen. Moran’s efforts. “Oklahoma has more upstream flood control dams than any other state in the union,” said Clay Pope of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts. “In five years, 1,000 dams will be past design life and in need of repair. Without these funds, the lives and properties of Oklahomans will be put in jeopardy. These funds are critical to repairing these structures. ”
Poor peanut crop in South to drive up cost of peanut butter For those who love peanut butter, prepare to soon pay more for the popular snack. Peanut growers in the South did not have a very good crop this year, and as a result, rumors of higher peanut butter prices are “spreading.” Although there are peanut farmers in Oklahoma, much of the country’s peanut supply is grown in southern states such as Georgia and Alabama. Officials with the Georgia Peanut Commission report a low supply of peanuts left from the 2010 crop combined with poor market prices at planting and drought conditions are driving up the price of peanuts. “Out of the 33 years I have been working in the peanut industry, I’ve seen two other years worse than 2011,” said Dr. John Beasley, University of Georgia peanut agronomist. “Some areas in Georgia were very drought-stricken with fields yielding zero to 100 pounds. In a recent editorial written by Georgia Peanut Commission Chairman Armond
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Morris and Georgia Farm Bureau President the United States Department of AgriculZippy Duvall, the two peanut experts state ture reports peanut butter consumption has the tight supply and rules of supply and de- jumped 10 percent since 2008. Is peanut mand, not farmers, are to blame for higher butter worth the extra money? Consumer prices consumers could soon experience. trends will answer that question, but nutriTheir editorial states, “Some might tion experts say it is still a healthy snack! criticize farmers for not planting enough peanut acres, but farmers told peanut buyers in the spring that prices were not high enough to compete for cotton and corn acres, but buyers assumed there would be enough peanuts.” Peanut butter Now those buyers are havand jelly, ing to pay a heftier price for what peanuts they can find, anyone? and that is expected to be reflected in peanut butter prices later this fall. Large peanut butter companies such as Jif have reported it will increase its prices by 30 percent in November. At the same time,