As we hit the last few days of the session we need to look back at the beginning to see what went wrong. Understand when I say wrong, I am referring to a session that saw nothing but crazy politics. From the very beginning, the session got off to a slow start when Rep. T.W. Shannon stepped down as Speaker of the House to pursue the open U.S. Senate seat. With the dominos that fell, it threw the House into turmoil. Leaders of committees fell and were replaced by loyal members to the new speaker, Rep. Jeff Hickman. Bill authors […]

The American Farm Bureau Federation has produced a new series of videos and launched a website to help farmers, landowners and other stakeholders better understand the provisions of the 2014 farm bill. Featured content includes videos on key commodity program and crop insurance provisions of the farm bill. “We have distilled down a massive and complex piece of legislation—the 2014 farm bill—into several ‘bite-size’ pieces, with the goal of helping farmers and managers understand how it will affect their farms,” said John Anderson, deputy chief economist with AFBF. “Now that safety net and risk management tools important in crop planning […]

As we enter the final few weeks of the legislative session, it will soon be time to start reflecting on what this session has brought us. Before we do that, I would like to take a larger view to look at what term limits have brought us. With term limits now in full effect, the paradigm shift that has taken place at the Capitol is in full view. Where legislators used to be older men, now we see a mix of members who are 20- and 30-somethings. Where members used to stay and serve 20, 30 and even 50 years, […]

Oklahoma Farm Bureau thanks the Oklahoma Senate for passing HJR 1006, known as the right to farm resolution, with a vote of 44-3. The resolution would allow Oklahoma voters in November to vote on a constitutional amendment protecting the rights of the state’s farmers and ranchers to produce food, fuel and fiber. The resolution will next go to conference committee. “We appreciate the work of Sen. Eddie Fields and his fellow senators for passing right to farm in the senate,” said Tom Buchanan, OKFB president. “We urge the conference committee to pass the bill and allow Oklahoma voters the opportunity […]

The following article is an opinion piece written by OKFB President Tom Buchanan that was used in The Journal Record regarding the listing of the lesser prairie chicken.  Oklahoma Farm Bureau members are disappointed with a March 27 announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species. This was done under a sue-and-settle-induced deadline involving the Endangered Species Act. The premature and indefensible decision unduly harms landowners and business interests in Oklahoma and circumvents ESA procedures that are required by statute. For the past several years, the farm bureau has been […]

What is all the fuss over this water issue about? Is it the haves verses the have nots? Is it Oklahoma verses Texas? Maybe it’s the water consumers verses the water viewers? Is it east verses west? As I talk to each of you around the state, I hear many different stories about what we should do with our water. That’s right, I said it. The surface water in the state belongs to all the people of Oklahoma. The reason it belongs to you and me, and not just a handful of people, is because we have each paid for […]

As you return from your spring break, know that things are going well at the Oklahoma Capitol. We passed our Right to Farm amendment, authored by Rep. Scott Biggs, out of the house on March 11. This bill passed 84 to 6, and we want to thanks Rep. Biggs for all the work he did to get that bill though the house.  It is now onto the senate, where we hope to have the bill passed quickly and onto the vote of the people in November. If you have been listening to our Attorney General Scott Pruitt lately, then you […]