TOP HEADLINES
Oklahoma Ag Secretary Jim Reese delivers brief on feral hog problem:
As the feral hog situation in Oklahoma continues to grow and fester among members of the rural and agricultural communities, Farm Director Ron Hays sat down with Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese to discuss measures being taken by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture to combat these pests that have become rampant across the state [Oklahoma Farm Report].
Okla. AG: Prepare for ‘regulatory rollback’ under Trump:
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt (R) on Sunday predicted that Donald Trump‘s administration will severely limit the influence of Washington in the coming years [The Hill].
FEDERAL
Five things to know about Trump’s infrastructure plan:
Republican and Democratic lawmakers frustrated by the lack of significant federal transportation spending are hopeful they can work with Trump on a bill, making it one of the few bipartisan issues that could see action next year [The Hill].
Torrey resigns from Trump transition, EPA picks emerge:
Michael Torrey, who was advising President-elect Donald Trump on setting up his administration at the Agriculture Department, has resigned from the transition team because of the five-year lobbying ban [Agri-Pulse].
Trump’s trade, immigration proposals mixed bag for west Texas agriculture:
Farmers and their supporters can only speculate who Trump will appoint to replace Tom Vilsack as secretary of agriculture. They certainly like the idea, though, of a new set of eyes and ears on their request to list cottonseed in the 2014 farm bill [Lubbock Online].
‘We’d better have a good door:’ Colorado farmers depend on immigrants to feed the country:
As President-Elect Donald Trump vows to crack down on immigration in an attempt to save jobs for Americans, some Colorado farmers are left wondering who will man the fields. “The idea that many other Americans will do the kind of work that a (local farmer) will need to have done — it’s a dream,” said Dave Eckhart, Colorado Corn President. “It’s a myth. They won’t do it” [The Tribune].
Appeals court rejects lawsuit against California egg law:
Six states lacked the legal right to challenge a California law that prohibits the sale off eggs from chickens that are not raised in accordance with strict space requirements, a federal appeals court said Thursday [AP].
Circuit court nixes Hawaiian counties’ GE bans:
Hawaiian counties that sought to ban genetically engineered crops or impose conditions on the use of pesticides have lost in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that state and federal laws pre-empt local ordinances [Agri-Pulse].
MISCELLANEOUS
Warm, dry winter spells drought for much of Oklahoma, forecasters predict:
Just months after summer rains gave way to one of the state’s driest autumns on record, extreme drought crept back into Oklahoma last week. Forecasters say it isn’t likely to leave anytime soon [The Oklahoman].
