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
State Supreme Court will determine constitutionality of SQ777:
Parties to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state question that would grant constitutional protections to farmers and ranchers and agricultural practices are in an appeal pending before the Oklahoma Supreme Court [Muskogee Phoenix].
For ‘Right to Farm’:
We have adapted our farming and ranching practices to take advantage of new opportunities. State Question 777, Oklahoma’s Right to Farm, will protect our ability to continue to use these technologies to provide better food, fuel and fiber to all Oklahomans [The Oklahoman].
How eggs became a victory for the animal welfare movement:
In recent years, there has been a veritable revolution in public attention to eggs and the chickens that produce them. In the past two years, nearly 200 U.S. companies – including every major grocery and fast-food chain – that together buy half of the 7 billion eggs laid monthly have pledged to use only cage-free eggs by 2025 [Washington Post].
STATE
Oklahoma downturn now longer than Great Recession:
Oklahoma’s tax collections were down for the 17th month in a row during July — largely due to depressed energy prices and ill-timed tax cuts — extending a losing streak that’s lasted longer than the nation’s Great Recession [AP].
Rural poverty: ‘A way of life’ for numerous Oklahomans:
Rural areas always tend to be poorer than urban or suburban communities, with 14.2 percent of the rural U.S. population living in poverty compared to 11.6 percent of the urban population, according to Oklahoma Policy’s research [Tulsa World].
The never-ending battle over selection of state’s most powerful judges:
Anti-abortion laws. A Ten Commandments monument at the State Capitol. An overhaul of the workers’ compensation system. Controversial rejections of all or parts of these legislative actions by the Oklahoma Supreme Court – coupled with a push by national and state conservative groups – have led to a steady march of bills over the past decade that would alter the process for choosing state Supreme Court and Appeals courts justices [Oklahoma Watch].
FEDERAL
No trade? No kidding:
You know it’s a presidential election year when the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues late summer press releases where nearly half the ink touts the Obama’s Administration’s past ag successes even as it announces actual news [Lincoln Journal-Star].
Government loan program runs dry, putting squeeze on farmers:
In agricultural communities across the country, financial worries are growing as quickly as farmers’ unprofitable crops. They’re suffering from the worst agricultural slump in more than a decade — and a major source of federal assistance has run dry [NBC News].
MISCELLANEOUS
Iowa farmers ripped out prairie; now some hope it can save them:
Most growers say prairie is a nuisance that can choke crops. But not Smith. He is proud of the three acres he planted in the middle of one of the most productive farms in the county. He was there to show it off, not spray it [Washington Post].
Why Big Pharma wants to switch billions of farm animals to vaccines from antibiotics:
A sparkling and sprawling 48,000-square-foot two-story structure, decorated with artwork of animals etched onto interior glass walls, recently opened its doors 23 miles outside Indianapolis with one sole purpose: to keep the globe’s 70 billion farm animals healthy. That increasingly means less reliance on antibiotics for animals [Bloomberg].
