perspective032610

PERSPECTIVE OKLAHOMA FARM BUREAU

®

March 26, 2010

OFB to sponsor cattle sale during Farm Show

2 0 1 0 OFB legislation survives deadline

By Tyler Norvell, Director of State Affairs

The deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin has come and gone, which means a large majority of the bills introduced this legislative session are now dead. Many pieces of legislation supported by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau passed out of their house of origin during the deadline week.

Oklahoma Farm Bureau is teaming up with W-W Livestock Systems to sponsor the Herd Builder Private Treaty Sale during the 6th annual Southern Plains Farm Show, presented by Midwest Shows, Inc. The sale is set for April 15-17 at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City.

The sale, an expansion of the popular Bull Sale, will include all breeds - heifers, bred heifers, cow-calf pairs and more. Located in the Carriage Hall, the sale will be open to everyone attending the farm show for all three days of the show.

“Oklahoma Farm Bureau is excited to offer producers the opportunity to showcase all breeds of beef animals,” said Thad Doye, OFB vice president of Field Services. “Producers can choose to bring a group of animals, or one individual animal. This sale is a unique and great marketing opportunity for all producers of cattle.”

(See Cattle Sale, page 4)

YF&R announce Speech Contest winners Approximately 85 Oklahoma youth recently competed for $9,500 in savings bonds and scholarships during the 15th Annual Young Farmers and Ranchers Speech Contest, sponsored by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.

The contest was held March 15 at the OSU-OKC campus in Oklahoma City.

The YF&R Speech Contest was broken up into three age divisions: Junior, nine-12 years old; Intermediate, 13-15 years old;

and Senior, 16-18 years old. The youth gave speeches in three division categories, including Agricultural Production, Agriculture Policy, and Environment and Natural Resources. Speeches for the Junior Division were three to five minutes in length; five to eight minutes for the Intermediate and Senior divisions.

Participants of both contests were judged on speech presentation, content, response to (See Speech Contest, page 2)

Landowner Rights for W ind Energy Development SB 1787, by Sen. Mike Schulz and Rep. Fred Jordan, would prohibit the severance of wind rights from the surface owner. SB 1787 passed the Senate floor by a vote of 42 to 5.

Eminent Domain Passing the House by a vote of 88 to 6, HB 3053 by Rep. Pat Ownbey and Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield will now head to the Senate. This legislation would require that land taken by eminent domain and not used for intended purposes be offered back to the landowner for the original purchase price.

(See OFB legislation, page 2)

State YF&R Committee Chair Jennifer Cubbage, left, Vice Chair LaSheil Knowles, center, and Member Naomi Mayer registered FFA students for the 2010 YF&R Speech Contest March 15.

Member Benefits • Atwoods – Atwoods home, farm and

auto stores have in-store specials for OFB members. See their ad in each issue of Oklahoma Country for your coupon.

• EZ Ranch – Offers its profit and loss her

management software to OFB members at 15 percent off. www.ez-ranch.com, 1-888-EZ Ranch

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 Farm City Festival March 30 • State Capitol Contact: Marcia Irvin, 405-523-2405 OFB Commodity Tour March 31 - April 1 • Woodward Area Contact: Thad Doye, 405-523-2307 YF&R Legislative Day April 6 • State Capitol Contact: Marcia Irvin, 405-523-2405

OFB legislation.... (continued from page 1) Legislative Approval of Agency Rules HB 3311, by Rep. Scott Martin and Sen. John Sparks, seeks to require legislative approval of agency promulgated rules. By a vote of 69 to 3, this piece of legislation passed the House.

Update on Proposed Agency Rules of Interest to Agriculture Caddo County members Dean Smith and Dennis Slagell spoke to the House Administrative Rules and Agency Oversight Committee about the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s proposed new $50 annual fee for groundwater permit administration. OFB is opposed to the new fee, citing groundwater as private property. Both farmers utilize several irrigation wells. Smith said it would be an automatic $500 off his bottom line. Slagell spoke about the difficulty of getting water use reports completed in a timely manner when agricultural property is leased and there are multiple well locations. The $50 annual fee doubles if it is not submitted timely. He said there would be difficulty in explaining the fee to elderly absentee landowners, and expected those landowners would likely pass on the cost to the lessee. House members are considering filing a resolution to disapprove the proposed rule.

We will now begin to see bills assigned to committees in their opposite house of origin and expect many bills supported by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau to be heard in the coming weeks.

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

Currently online: • Member Benefits – There is more to your Farm Bureau membership than discounts at various businesses across the state. Learn about Accident Benefits, Farm Bureau Bank, OFB Reward Program and more on the “Members” page.

• Oklahoma Youth – Learn about OFB’s involvement with state youth through speech contests, scholarship programs, livestock judging contests, stock shows and premium sales, and more on OFB’s Web site under “Programs.”

www.okfarmbureau.org 2

Speech Contest... (continued from page 1) questions and general poise and appearance.

Farm Bureau presented plaques to the winners of each category in each age group.

Junior Division: First, second and third place winners of each category of the Junior Division received $400, $200 and $100 savings bonds, respectively.

Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Ansley Elliott of Tecumseh; second place, Bayli Hyde of Burlington; and third place, Will Shelby of Madill.

Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place, Hadley Griffith of Shawnee; second place, Mary Beth Maples of Ryan; and third place, Sydnee Gerken of Cashion.

Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Colton Budy of Alva, Jane Robertson of Edmond, and third place, Samantha Howe of Sulphur.

Intermediate Division: First, second and third place winners of the Intermediate Division received $500, $200 and $100 savings bonds, respectively.

Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Tyler Schnaithman of Garber; second place, Brandi Clark of Waurika; and third place, Annie Jo Gilbert of Tecumseh.

Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place, Maegan Yost of Kingfisher; second place, Cooper Morris of Caddo; and third place, Kelsie Williams of Gould.

Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Denton Lowe of Amber; second place, Jake Dye of Weleetka; and third place, Jacob Shires of Calera.

Senior Division: First, second and third place winners of the Senior Division received $1,000, $500 and $200 scholarships, respectively.

Winners in the Agriculture Production category were: First place, Tara Newton of Kingfisher; second place, Kaleigh Lynch of Tulsa; and third place, Samantha Smith of Burlington.

Winners in the Agriculture Policy category were: First place, McKenzie Walta of Kingfisher; second place, Dakota Miller of Blanchard; and third place, Amber Allen of Burlington.

Winners in the Environment & Natural Resources category were: First place, Steven Curry of Stratford; second place, Marty Jones of Ramona; and third place, Tyler Price of Laverne.

Grassroots opposition to climate bill is delivered to Senate The American Farm Bureau Federation’s successful, six-month campaign to oppose cap-and-trade climate change legislation, “Don’t CAP Our Future,” culminated March 10 when farm and ranch leaders from across the country presented key lawmakers, including Oklahoma Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, some of the 100,000 grassroots calls-to-action gathered in opposition to the issue.

(See Grassroots opposition, page 4)

2010 Legislative Meetings

Surrounded by thousands of signatures on petitions and a banner opposing climate change legislation are, from left, AFBF President Bob Stallman, Sen. Jim Inhofe, OFB President Mike Spradling and Sen. Tom Coburn.

Audrey Harmon is honored for promoting ag literacy

Comanche County leaders visited the State Capitol March 16. From left, are Benny Taylor, Wayne Kiser, Sen. Don Barrington, Damon Doye, Stuart Henderson, Don Hankins, Sen. Mike Schulz and OFB Director Tom Buchanan.

Sen. Earl Garrison spoke during Muskogee County’s Legislative Breakfast March 12 at the county office.

Sen. Ron Justice visited with Caddo County Farm Bureau Vice President Jeff Krehbiel following the county organization’s legislative dinner March 11 in Anadarko.

Noble County Farm Bureau member and Morrison Elementary School kindergarten teacher Audrey Harmon has been recognized by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture for her outstanding effort to promote agricultural literacy.

Harmon joins nine other teachers from across the nation, each receiving $1,500 scholarships to attend the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Baltimore, Maryland in June.

The Foundation, through the WhiteReinhardt Fund for Education, sponsored the ten scholarships in cooperation with the AFBF Women’s Leadership Committee.

At the conference, several hundred teachers will explore expanding student outreach through teaching about food, fiber and renewable fuels. Scholarship recipients were judged on past use of innovative programs to educate students about agriculture as well as future plans to implement information gained at the AITC conference in their own classrooms and share the information with other teachers.

The AITC conference brings together a diverse group of organizations and speakers to address how to improve agricultural (See Audrey Harmon, page 4)

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Published by Oklahoma Farm Bureau Postmaster: Send address corrections to: Perspective, P.O. B. 53332, OKC, OK 73152-3332

Oklahoma Farm Bureau 2501 N. Stiles Oklahoma City, OK 73105-3126

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Staff Directory Traci Morgan, 523-2346 Perspective/Online News Editor Sam Knipp, 523-2347 Vice President of Communications/PR Lori Kromer Peterson, 523-2539 Vice President of Public Policy Marla Peek, 523-2437 Director of Regulatory Affairs Tyler Norvell, 523-2402 Director of State Affairs

Grassroots opposition... (continued from page 3)

“Cap-and-trade provisions would create an energy shortage and ultimately reduce food production. That was the driving force behind the ‘Don’t CAP Our Future’ campaign,” AFBF President Bob Stallman said at an event on Capitol Hill.

Stallman, members of the AFBF Board and additional state Farm Bureau presidents and members, warmly thanked senators attending the event who have shown outstanding leadership in the battle against cap-and-trade legislation.

“On behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation board of directors, please accept my sincere appreciation,” Stallman said. “Thank you for your support of America’s farmers and ranchers and for your recognition of both the challenges that they face and their important contributions to our nation.”

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) was recognized

by Stallman for “leading the charge” against cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate.

A comprehensive approach was used for the campaign, including emails, online petitions, signed postcards from farmer and rancher members and social media outreach.

Recently, AFBF and several dozen other organizations sent a letter to the full Senate urging support for S.J. Res. 26, a resolution to disapprove the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Senators from “both sides of the aisle” have said throughout the climate change debate that this issue should be decided by Congress rather than EPA, the letter noted.

AFBF also sent a letter of support for a companion House measure.

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Cattle sale....... (continued from page 1)

Producers interested in offering animals for sale should contact Doye at 405-523-2307. A health certification by a licensed veterinarian must be provided for all animals. Animals must be delivered on April 14 from 3 to 6 p.m. Owners must be present through the sale and will be responsible for feeding, watering (water tub and water source will be provided), and stall upkeep. Fees for participation are: Bulls - $100; Heifers/Bred Heifers – $50; and Cow-Calf Pair – $75.

More information about sale animals will be posted at the Midwest Shows Web site, www.farmshowsusa.com, as details become available.

Audrey Harmon.... (continued from page 3)

education, showcase successful programs and offer educational materials. The Agriculture Department coordinates the AITC program with the goal of helping students gain a greater awareness of the role of agriculture in the economy and society.

Harmon was named the 2009 Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year in Oklahoma.

She also remains active in Farm Bureau.

The former state YF&R Committee member is a past winner at the state level of both the YF&R Discussion Meet and the YF&R Excellence in Agriculture Award. Harmon is married to OFB Field Representative Burton Harmon, and they have three boys – Benjamin, Aaron and Jared.

HEARING – Dean Smith, Caddo County, tells the House Administrative Rules and Agency Oversight Committee how he manages water resources on his western Oklahoma farm. The committee received comments on a $50 annual fee proposed by the Water Resources Board for groundwater permits to cover water rights administration.