Oklahomans Fighting the Hunger

Very little is more disheartening to an person dedicated to animals than a mistreated or abandoned animal. Seeing a kitten on the side of the road or a horse without enough to eat can send one into a telephoning frenzy looking for someone – who knows someone – to help.

Our colleagues and friends in the pork world feel the same way. Want proof? Be confident in this belief because okPORK joined hands with a group of like-minded organizations to support the Oklahoma Livestock Relief Coalition.

The responsibility to seize abused and neglected large animals and assure the humane care of the animals falls upon local law enforcement agencies. The mission of the OLRC is to provide a simple way to channel emergency financial support from private individuals and organizations to those local law enforcement agencies.

“I think that by coming together as a group we bring more attention to it,” said Carey Floyd, the OLRC spokesperson. “We make the public aware and we have provided a way for Oklahomans to give help right here.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin provided her stamp of approval to OLRC at a morning news conference on Monday, January 23. In addition to the governor, the Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Jim Reese, members of the partner organizations and the media gathered in the Blue Room at the Oklahoma State Capital.

 “We’ve had a tough summer,” Fallin said. “And it’s been hard on our farmers and ranchers. It’s a great example of the private sector coming together with law enforcement agencies to properly take care of animals.”

The OLRC agrees about the tough summer and drought, so much so they made it part of their mission statement when forming the coalition.

How much do you love animals?

The Oklahoma Livestock Relief Coalition is accepting monetary donations only.  Donations may be made through the Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Foundation, a 501(c)(3) at www.okvma.org  or send to OVMF, PO Box 14521, Oklahoma City, OK 73113.  Checks can be made payable to OLRC or OVMF.  For more information, please call (405)478–1002.

Learning from Mike Holmes and Steve Jobs

I blame my wife for my fascination with Mike Holmes and his TV shows Holmes Inspection and Holmes on Homes. I had never watched HGTV, but my wife is obsessed with it and she drug me into it.

I’m a technology addict. I love my iPhone and iPad. I believe they are history altering devices. That’s a big statement and it leads one to believe Steve Jobs must have been one of the most influential people of my lifetime.

 

I’m sure you’re asking what Mike Holmes and Steve Jobs have in common and why I’m writing about them in Sounds from the Sty. Here’s the simple answer – Steve Jobs believed and Mike Holmes believes that what you can’t see is every bit as important as what you can see.

In the book Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson’s biography of Jobs, Jobs relates a story and a work ethic his father instilled in him at a young age. Jobs took Isaacson to his childhood home in Mountain View, CA. Jobs said he had worked with his father to build a new fence at the home. Isaacson wrote Fifty years later the fence still surrounds the back and side yards of the house… As Jobs showed it off to me, he caressed the stockade panels and recalled a lesson that his father implanted deeply in him. It was important, his father said, to craft the backs of cabinets and fences properly, even though they were hidden. “He loved doing things right. He even cared about the look of the parts you couldn’t see.”

In his TV shows, Holmes visits families whose homes are falling apart – usually due to a contractor or renovator that chose to cut corners or not build the home to current building codes. Problems are always found hidden in the floors, ceilings, and walls of these homes. It is clear the work was “hidden” because no one would ever see it.

Holmes has a simple motto – “Do It Right.” Even if the homeowner will never see the work he does, it is important to Holmes to make sure everything is done right.

Today’s pork producers raise our hogs indoors – hidden from the public’s view. We know this is to provide better care for our animals, protect them from the elements and predators. However, the general public doesn’t know that and they don’t appear to be willing to just accept our word that we are doing it right.

It is time for all of us in the pork industry to learn from Steve Jobs and Mike Holmes to always Do It Right and make sure the animal care we provide in our barns is the same care we’d give if everyone could see in our barns. The public expects us to care about the things they can’t see.

Consider it a lesson from Mike Holmes and Steve Jobs.

We Have A Plan

Anyone who has traveled through downtown Oklahoma City lately knows that virtually all of downtown is undergoing some kind of road construction. Looking out my windows, the street to the east of us has lanes closed. Streets to the South – closed to through traffic. To the west – lanes closed. And those on the north? You guessed it, lanes closed.

Last week the City of Oklahoma City had a meeting to update businesses in our block on what the next phase of construction would hold for us. Needless to say, the reception the city officials got from the local businesses was not very friendly. And what’s the source of the aggravation? A complete lack of information about what’s going on.

I know that sounds ridiculous – an information meeting that doesn’t give out any information, but that’s what we had. When we see someone from City Hall on TV or in the paper, their quote is the same “We Have A Plan” every time. But if you ask about the plan, you just get told to trust them because they have a plan.

As I was walking to the office today, it dawned on me that today’s agriculture producers are in the same boat with the same message as the folks at City Hall.

When consumers ask us about what’s happening on our farms, we tell them we have a plan, science supports what we are doing, and they should just trust us. And then we are incredulous when consumers react just like we do when faced with City Hall. 

Consumers have asked us about what goes on in our barns and we respond with everything is OK. Trust us. Look at the science. What we haven’t done to date is to demonstrate we are listening to the consumer. I’m not saying we need to turn our agricultural practices on their ear, but we do at least need to acknowledge the questions and concerns our customers and consumers have.

Consumers want to know that we share their values. Once they know we have common values, then they are far more likely to just trust us. This means we need to have an honest dialogue with the people who buy our products about what they want from us. What do they need to know.

One thing is very clear to me. “We have a plan” and “trust us” simply won’t address the consumers’ questions and concerns anymore than it does when City Hall tells me the same thing about our road construction woes.

Was it all just a waste of time?

Just over a year ago I sat in a meeting room at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and listened to a representative of the South Korean government tell pork producers attending the 2010 World Pork Expo how important the free trade agreement between South Korea and the United States (KORUS FTA) was to both countries.

Fast forward 52 weeks and you have the South Korean Ambassador to the United States standing in the same room, giving a very similar speech to virtually the same audience.

Ambassador Han Duk-soo praised US pork producers and the National Pork Producers Council for efforts to pass the KORUS FTA. The ambassador even credited our industry with being willing to “take one for the team” and accept a two-year delay in implementation of the treaty provisions related to tariffs on pork going into South Korea.

After years of delay, it appeared the KORUS FTA might finally be headed to Congress for final approval. A look back at the archives of this blog will give you some of the history of KORUS FTA so I won’t go into all of it here. The last major development in KORUS FTA was a renegotiation of the agreement to address auto import/export issues. On December 3, 2010, the Obama administration announced the auto issues had been resolved and the agreement was finally ready for congressional approval. During his State of Union address, President Obama told the country the KORUS FTA (and the FTAs with Panama and Columbia) were important to the economic growth of the country and that they would be sent to Congress soon for approval. In April, during the NPPC legislative seminar, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk told pork producers all the trade agreements were being prepared for presentation to Congress.

Despite support in both the House and Senate for the KORUS FTA, despite presidential and administration assurances the FTA would be presented to Congress soon, it is now June 10, and there is still no movement on any of the pending FTAs. The administration is now insisting on additional funding for job retraining before it will send the FTAs to Congress.

Ambassador Han was very clear in his comments to producers on Thursday that time is running out on the KORUS agreement. South Korea is negotiating trade deals with many of our global competitors and some have already completed and implemented trade deals that will give them a decided advantage over US pork and the tariffs we pay to ship product into South Korea.

But perhaps the most important comment from the ambassador was a question. If the US is unable to ratify and implement a free trade agreement originally negotiated during the George W. Bush administration and renegotiated and agreed to during the Obama administration, will other countries soon decide that it is no longer worth the time and effort to negotiate trade agreements with the United States?

No one wants to invest significant amounts of time and money into the negotiation of any type of agreement without some assurances the agreement will eventually be implemented. The KORUS FTA – as well as the Panama and Columbia FTAs – took an incredible amount of time and effort on the part of both governments. Are we telling other countries around the world we are willing to talk about trade but not really willing to actually do anything about it?

In other words, was it all just a waste of time?

Planning to Fail

The old adage is failing to plan is planning to fail.

For months now, livestock producers across the country have been hounding USDA and Congress to do some planning for “what if” scenarios surrounding the 2011 and future years’ corn crops and the supplies we will carry forward for the coming years.

When I was in Washington, D.C., last month, I was encouraging our elected officials to look for an “off-ramp” or a “safety net” in case something goes dramatically wrong with this fall’s corn crop (or the crop that will be planted next year). Here is a prime example why I believe it is necessary to make plans now.

Surely you have all seen or read about the Army Corps of Engineers blowing up a levee in Missouri in an effort to save a town in Illinois. I won’t begin to debate the tradeoff between saving a town and flooding out 90 homes and 130,000 acres of farm land. There is no good answer to that debate.

However, I am willing to question the impact that decision will have on the corn supply. Let’s assume that only about two thirds of the 130,000 acres that were flooded were normally planted with corn. That would mean we lost about 80,000 acres of corn due to blowing up the levee. Those lost acres only represent a very small portion of the 92.2 million acres USDA is projecting to be planted. But I believe this is still a very significant number when supplies are already tight. To carry this thought a little further, let’s assume those 80,000 acres would have met USDA’s projected yield of 162 bushels per acre. In this scenario, the flooded out farmland would have produced almost 13 million bushels of corn. That’s enough corn to feed every sow in the state of Oklahoma for more than 514 days.

With a projected stocks-to-use ratio for corn under 5% for crop years that end this summer and next summer, there is simply no room for Mother Nature to be difficult. And planting for this year’s crop is already behind schedule due to cold, wet weather and now we are losing acres to flooding.

I know it’s not possible to plan for every possible situation. The flooding caused by blowing up the levee is one example of something you just can’t predict. But it is safe to plan on the weather creating havoc with crops somewhere in the country. Today, neither USDA nor Congress has any plan for what to do if Mother Nature fails to cooperate with our corn crop – and that’s planning to fail in my book.

Thanks Just Isn’t Always Enough

This afternoon I attended a reception honoring outgoing Oklahoma State Veterinarian Dr. Becky Brewer. After almost eight years as our state vet, Dr. Brewer is leaving to accept a position with USDA APHIS in Arkansas.

I have had many opportunities to work with Dr. Brewer over the past eight years and will miss her greatly. I know from my conversations with other livestock groups in Oklahoma, they will miss her as well.

Dr. Brewer provided tremendous leadership in the drafting of an emergency action plan for dealing with a disease outbreak. She recognized our industry is very mobile and extremely reliant on the ability to move animals out of and in to Oklahoma. She understood the economic consequences to our industry if we lost that ability to move animals. She encouraged and supported us as we worked on a draft plan for managing the crisis that could follow such an emergency.

She was also instrumental in helping us deal with the misconceptions that came with the H1N1 challenge in 2009. She led the charge to help draft a set of rules to track the movements of feral swine within our state. She embraced the expertise and knowledge that resides within the respective livestock organizations and producers across the state. She worked tirelessly to bring us together and keep us working together on projects that affected us all.

My congratulations go out to USDA and the state of Arkansas. You’re the real winners here. You are getting a great addition to your livestock community. Reach out to Dr. Brewer and welcome her with open arms. She’ll help do great things for your industry just as she did in Oklahoma.

It’s always tough to say goodbye to someone you respect and admire greatly. It’s even tougher when that person is your friend.

For Oklahoma’s pork producers, this is a tough goodbye. Dr. Brewer, you’ve been our protector and you’ve been our friend. Thanks isn’t enough, but it’s all we can say. We wish you all the best in your new venture.

Good luck and God speed.

Pork and Pasta Skillet Supper

Hey Pork Fans! Looking for something for dinner tonight? Or planning ahead for

this week?

Check out this recipe!

Pork and Pasta Skillet Supper

Times:

5 minutes prep, 15 minutes cook

Ingredients:

1 pound Ground Pork
1 medium onion, chopped
1 14 1/2-oz can pasta-ready tomatoes
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 small yellow summer squash, OR zucchini, sliced into half moons
1 1/2 cups penne pasta, hot cooked, OR other small paste shape

Cooking Directions:

Heat nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and onion; cook and stir until evenly browned. Stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook for 5 minutes. Stir in squash and pasta. Cook for 2-5 minutes or until heated through. Serves 4

Serving Suggestions:

This dish makes pantry staples into a quick weekday meal. Serve with a crisp green salad and French bread.

Nutrition:

Calories: 300 calories
Protein: 30 grams
Fat: 9 grams
Sodium: 400 milligrams
Cholesterol: 70 milligrams
Saturated Fat: 3 grams
Carbohydrates: 27 grams
Fiber: 4 grams

Thanks for stopping by recipe Sunday!

Click here for a printer-friendly copy 

Many ways to Be Inspired

Last week the National Pork Board introduced a new marketing campaign – Pork. Be Inspired. The focus of the campaign is to sell more pork by getting those who already like and use pork regularly to add just a little more to their everyday meal plans. There are a very large number of people who love to cook and experiment in the kitchen or on the grill. Be Inspired is a way to encourage those people to try something different with easy new recipes or create their own recipes.

While it is way too early to judge if Be Inspired will be an effective pork promotion campaign, I see many ways Be Inspired can fit more than just putting pork on more plates. As a producer association, OPC has worked for almost 10 years to promote our industry in addition to our product.

You’ve seen our television ads promoting the care our producers give our animals, the attention we give to the environment and the involvement of our producers in their local communities. I know from talking to our members they are inspired when they see an OPC television ad. It inspires pride in their industry and their efforts to prove We Care.

On Monday I had the opportunity to work the show ring at the Canadian County Junior Livestock Show Market Barrow Show. I saw good hogs and GREAT kids.

Next week, the Oklahoma Youth Expo kicks into high gear with a gilt show on Monday and Tuesday, swine showmanship on Wednesday, and the market barrow show on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (March 18-20).

If you’re tired of hearing about bad kids or kids that make poor decisions in life, then come out by the OYE and watch today’s young people and the leaders of tomorrow. Trust me. You’ll Be Inspired.

Not a Spectator Sport

 As we approach the start of the 2011 Oklahoma legislative session, I’m reminded of something I heard at Pork Forum several years ago. “Politics is not a spectator sport.”

The speaker was a logger from Montana and his message was we all need to get involved in the political process. He talked of the challenges the logging industry had faced and how he had struggled to keep the family logging business operating. He spoke of the threat to rural America from governmental regulations that did not make any sense. Things like re-introducing the grizzly bear to the lands around his home creating the “human – grizzly conflict zone.” 

As we look at the more than 2,000 pieces of legislation that have been introduced in Oklahoma for 2011, the sheer numbers are staggering. Every facet of your life and your business is addressed in at least one piece of legislation. The bills cover tax reform, tort reform, school consolidation, environmental regulations, open carry for gun owners, and much, much more.

OPC has introduced one bill this session – HB1957. Representative Skye McNiel is our author. The bill is another attempt on our part to address the 3-mile setbacks for obtaining water permits. This setback is a major limiting factor in the growth of our industry. We must get this setback changed if we are going to have any opportunities for growth in the future. 

We are still putting together the list of bills we will be following closely but we expect that list will contain more than 150 pieces of legislation. 

Over the next few weeks, we’ll give you a better look at the legislation at the Capitol that may impact you and your business. In the mean time, we encourage all of you to reach out to your legislator and let them know you are available to help answer questions they may have about your operations and how legislation may impact your farms. If you don’t know who your legislators are, call the OPC office and we’ll get you the contact information. 

If we are going to be successful at the capitol this year, we will need your help. Remember, this is not a spectator sport.

Finally, Good News from Washington

It’s been sometime since the adjective, “good,” has been used to describe anything from Washington. But, it’s my strong belief that if we are to disagree or rant and rave about our opinions, we must also praise items when they do come out in our favor.

In the past week, we’ve received promising news on three important issues for Oklahoma pork producers and the pork industry. First, an agreement had been reached with Koreans on the South Korea Free Trade Agreement. The new agreement is not perfect as it still does not address the issues surrounding beef trade and we agreed to push back the elimination of tariffs on pork for two years until January 2014. But, it is an agreement the administration has reached where both parties has agreed to move forward. Ultimately, I believe congress will ratify the FTA.

We’ve told you before, economist project this agreement is worth $10/head for pork producers. At a time when we are looking at higher costs, the prospect of more revenue – even if a few years away – is welcomed news.

The second bit of news was the senate failing to extend the blender’s tax credits and tariffs on imported ethanol. While congress could still act to extend, it is a sign that some members of congress are growing weary subsiding the corn-based ethanol industry. For livestock producers, whose largest input is corn this is good news.

Monday, the President announced an agreement with Republicans extending tax credits that included a compromise on estate tax. Unless this agreement is adopted, the estate tax will return Jan. 1 a maximum rate of 55 percent on estates worth more than $1 million. This compromise provides for an exemption on the first $5 million on a maximum rate of 35 percent.

Finally, and what may be the best news of all, today we received word that Frank Lucas will be the chair of the House Ag Committee. After the November elections, most expected Lucas to be the new chairman, and today those hopes became reality.

This is great news for agriculture in general and Oklahoma agriculture, specifically.