perspective okfb aug7 web

Perspective Oklahoma Farm Bureau

www.okfarmbureau.org

Aug. 7, 2015

OKFB women donate to State Question 777 campaign Left: OKFB Women’s Leadership Committee Chairman Kitty Beavers (left) and WLC Coordinator Marcia Irvin (far right) present a $10,000 check to OKFB President Tom Buchanan for the State Question 777 campaign. OKFB WLC is one of the first groups to donate to the campaign.

SQ777 is a state constitutional amendment to protect Oklahoma’s farmers and ranchers by creating additional constitutional protections they currently lack and need. The state question will appear on the general election ballot in November 2016. For more information, visit www.

OklahomaRightToFarm.com.

IHG, AT&T offer new savings to OKFB members s summer comes to a close, Oklahoma Farm Bureau is proud to announce two new member benefit offers, adding to a long list of exclusive savings for OKFB members.

InterContinental Hotel Group and AT&T are now offering special discounts for all OKFB members.

IHG, a new member benefit partner, offers a 10 percent discount at more than 1,400 participating IHG brand hotels including InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites®, EVEN™ Hotels and HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts.

IHG’s nine hotel brands include some of the best-known and most popular in the

world with a portfolio covering everything from luxurious, upscale hotels in the world’s major cities and resorts to reliable family-oriented hotels offering great service and value. IHG has more guest rooms than any other hotel company in the world.

Joining IHG Rewards Club allows OKFB members to earn points when staying at any IHG hotel. The points can be used for reward nights, travel, merchandise and more. To save on a hotel, use corporate code 100334603.

OKFB members can sign up and save on AT&T wireless phone coverage that blankets Oklahoma with blazing 4G LTE speed. Save up to 10 percent on qualifying services from AT&T wireless. When visiting a local AT&T store, provide proof

of eligibility with an OKFB membership card. If purchasing online, visit www.att. com/wireless/oklahomafarm. Mention FAN: 29405.

For more information about OKFB’s member benefit programs, contact Jennie Bruning by calling the home office at 405-523-2300.

August Area Meeting Dates District 1 Aug. 17 • 12 p.m.

Hunny’s Barbecue in Guymon Aug. 17 • 6 p.m.

Northwest Inn (The Grill) in Woodward District 2 Aug. 20 • 11:30 a.m.

Kiowa County Farm Bureau in Hobart District 3 Aug. 20 • 6:30 p.m.

Canadian County Farm Bureau in El Reno

District 4 Aug. 13 • 11:30 a.m.

Stephens County Farm Bureau in Duncan

District 7 Aug. 11 • 6:30 p.m.

Garfield County Fairgrounds in Enid

District 5 Aug. 18 • 12 p.m.

Pete’s Place in Krebbs

District 8 Aug. 18 • 6 p.m.

Aldridge Hotel in Ada

District 6 Aug. 10 • 6:30 p.m.

JL’s Barbecue in Pryor

District 9 Aug. 13 • 6:30 p.m.

Creek County Fairgrounds in Kellyville

Milliman joins OKFB as northeast field representative age Milliman recently joined the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Field Services Division as the northeast field representative. Milliman started with OKFB on July 31.

In his new position, Milliman will assist 13 Farm Bureau county offices and boards in northeast Oklahoma including Adair, Cherokee, Craig, Delaware, Mayes, Muskogee, Nowata, Okmulgee, Ottawa, Rogers, Sequoyah, Tulsa and Wagoner counties.

“I have always had a passion for agriculture,” Milliman said. “I have been a Farm Bureau member and county board member for several years. I like what Farm Bureau does for farmers and ranchers and

Gage Milliman

am looking forward to being a part of that success.”

A native of Newton, Illinois, Milliman received a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Southern Illinois University.

For the past nine years, he has worked for Oklahoma State University Extension.

Milliman grew up on a corn, soybean, wheat and hay farm in south central Illinois.

He currently raises Charolais cattle with his wife, Trista, and son, Henry.

He enjoys raising cattle, riding horses, baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Milliman can be reached by email at Gage.Milliman@okfb.org.

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Online Like ‘Yes on 777’ on Facebook

Eradicating Oklahoma’s feral hogs

State Question 777, or the Right to Farm, will appear on the general election ballot in November 2016. Stay ahead of the game by liking Yes on 777 on Facebook. The page will share breaking news and information about the Yes on 777 campaign.

facebook

twitter

2 | perspective

pinterest

instagram

flickr

wordpress

Feral hogs continually create problems for agriculturalists and landowners in Oklahoma. In a recent article by OKFB, Josh Gaskamp, range and wildlife consultant for the Noble Foundation, discusses the steps Oklahomans must take to control and eliminate feral hogs from the state’s landscape.

soundcloud

youtube

www.okfarmbureau.org

Government agencies gone rogue

By Marla Peek OKFB Director of Regulatory Affairs hile you are baling hay, getting ready for fall planting and college football, the state legislature is taking a break (they work February through May).

However, state agencies are busy drafting rules for the upcoming legislative session.

Rules are important to Farm Bureau members because rules are law!

In state government, rules are written primarily to implement the laws the Legislature passed. Sometimes, rules are written to address a problem an agency or its constituents have. Two things make a winning formula for good rules. One is that the agency should have excellent stakeholder (bureaucrats love that word) input into drafting the rules. Second, the agency should stick to the facts (the written statute passed by the Legislature or Congress) and only draft the minimum language that accomplishes the goal. For rulemaking, less is best.

Occasionally, an agency goes rogue.

It forgets it serves the people, not the other way around. Agencies have a lot of power because they are the experts on what they do. They also can have a lot of power because as part of the executive branch, their board members may service multiple terms that are multiple years long.

For example, the term for a director on the Oklahoma Water Resources board is seven years! Fortunately, we currently have an excellent panel of board members on the OWRB board. Agency boards are an

essential part of our government’s system of checks and balances. Agency boards are sometimes responsive to constituents when the agency itself is not. Boards can influence their agency to listen to its constituents and act accordingly. Proposed state agency rules must go through an agency hearing, and then be approved by that agency’s board before they are sent to the Legislature for review and approval.

In 2015, the OWRB proposed a wetlands water quality standards rule. Because of concerns by Farm Bureau and many other organizations, the agency withdrew the rule for consideration.

OKFB is currently serving on a wetlands stakeholder subgroup, made up of state agencies and interested organizations.

The subgroup is developing a wetlands definition, which may be promulgated by the OWRB as a rule in 2017. This is an excellent example of an agency working well with its constituents. The people spoke and the agency listened, creating a good outcome.

Federal government, on the other hand, is a whole other matter. The federal rulemaking system can go terribly awry. Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t have a board of directors, just long-term stubborn employee bureaucrats pushing an environmental overreach agenda. If ever there was a

perfect example of a rogue agency abusing their power, it is the EPA. The best example of bad rulemaking is the proposed Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, rule, which purportedly was promulgated by the EPA jointly with the Army Corps of Engineers.

As it happens, that was not to be the case.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe learned recently the Corps did not receive the draft final WOTUS rule until EPA submitted it to interagency review. The process to develop the rule greatly limited the Corps input. As Farm Bureau members know, EPA succeeded in their WOTUS rulemaking, making it one of the biggest agency private property rights power grabs in history. Now, only Congress can force EPA to re-write it.

— Marla Peek Again, rules are important and OKFB members’ input into them is critical. Agencies need to know how their rules affect real people. There is nothing that gets an agency board’s respect and attention more than a member of the public standing up and telling them how a proposed rule will affect them.

Because of OKFB’s grassroots policy and its thousands of members, OKFB has a strong reputation with agency boards making us one of the most successful organizations around. So, thank you members! Here’s hoping you make a lot of hay, fall planting goes well, and everyone has a terrific football season.

OKFB has a strong reputation with agency boards making us one of the most successful organizations around.

Member Benefits

Calendar

Office Depot

August Area Meetings Aug. 10-20 Contact: Holly Carroll 405-523-2307

It’s almost time to head back to school! Need to stock up on supplies?

Use your OKFB membership to save on school supplies at Office Depot.

Visit the member benefits page on our website for details on how to save on office and school supplies.

www.okfarmbureau.org/benefits

YF&R State Fair Livestock Judging Sept. 18 Contact: Holly Carroll 405-523-2307 Resolutions Deadline Oct. 9 Contact: Tasha Duncan 405-530-2681

oklahoma farm bureau | 3

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

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

STAFF DIRECTORY

Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 131 Okla. City, OK.

Executive Director Monica Wilke 405-523-2303 VP of Public Policy and Media Relations John Collison 405-523-2539 Directors of Corporate Communications Sam Knipp 405-523-2347 Dustin Mielke 405-530-2640 Communications Specialist Hannah Nemecek 405-523-2346

State Question 777 website, social media live

he Yes on State Question 777, Oklahoma’s Right to Farm, website is now live online at www.

OklahomaRightToFarm.com.

The website serves as a central location for all information regarding the SQ 777 campaign. Users can sign up to volunteer, register to vote and find campaign event dates. The new site also includes frequently asked questions, videos, testimonials and social media links.

Oklahoma Farm Bureau members are

encouraged to share the website and social media links on their personal social media platforms. Members also can refer to the website when sharing SQ 777 with friends, family and other interested individuals.

Follow the Yes on SQ 777 campaign by liking Yes on 777 on Facebook and following @YesOn777 on Twitter and Instagram.

SQ 777, or the Right to Farm, is a state constitutional amendment to protect Oklahoma’s family farmers and ranchers

from unreasonable government interference and attacks by out-of-state special interests.

SQ 777 will appear on the November 2016 general election ballot. If approved by voters, farmers and ranchers will have additional constitutional protections they currently lack and need. Right to Farm will assist Oklahoma farmers and ranchers in defending themselves.

For more information, visit www.OklahomaRightToFarm.com.

The OKFB Women’s Leadership Committee meets in the home office July 28 to plan events and activities for the upcoming months. During the meeting, the WLC nailed down details for its state WLC conference being held in October this year.

4 | perspective