OKAgPolicy Today is a morning email containing the day’s top agriculture and policy headlines. The inclusion of a particular story does not equal an endorsement. Subscribe to the email here.
TOP HEADLINES
Battle over Right to Farm heats up:
The fight over a state question to enshrine the rights of farmers and ranchers in the state constitution is heating up [Tulsa World].
Protect our farms:
Family farmers and ranchers simply are asking Oklahoma voters to let them continue doing what they have always done – produce a safe and affordable food supply [Oklahoma Country].
Obama signs historic GMO labeling bill:
President Barack Obama quietly signed into law legislation that prevents states from requiring on-package labeling of genetically modified ingredients, capping an historic win for farm groups, food companies and the biotech industry [Agri-Pulse].
ELECTIONS
Trump leads in state, poll finds, but neither candidate is popular:
Donald Trump isn’t in any danger of losing Oklahoma, but it isn’t because voters here are overly fond of the real estate mogul [The Oklahoman].
Polls show support for education tax, sentencing reform initiatives:
But voters appear somewhat divided on two questions related to farming practices and changes to the state constitution. SQ 777, known as Right to Farm, received 53 percent support with another 25 percent saying they did not know enough about the issue or were undecided, which was the highest level of undecided voters of the state questions polled [The Oklahoman].
Libertarians in Oklahoma have 15 candidates on Nov. 8 ballot:
Amid the noise of state and national elections, the Libertarian Party is having a banner year [The Oklahoman].
MISCELLANEOUS
Fear sells, why you shouldn’t buy it when it comes to GMOs (opinion):
The unintended consequence of spreading this fear makes it harder to achieve a sustainable future for my children because a valuable tool is being wrongly demonized [Forbes].
Anti-GMO activist admits GMO labeling was never his goal:
Labeling GMOs was never the end goal for us. It was a tactic. When enough people avoid GMOs, food companies rush to eliminate them. Labeling can speed up that tipping point—but only if consumers are motivated to use labels to avoid GMOs [Food Science Institute].
GRDA, NEO A&M College announce partnership for pecan orchards, cattle grazing:
A joint educational and business venture between the Grand River Dam Authority and NEO A&M College not only will beef up the school’s agricultural studies department but also become a revenue stream for the school [Tulsa World].
