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
The debate over the Right to Farm is heating up:
At the end of West 550 Road in Mayes County, the Courtney family has been on the land since 1933. Logan Courtney is a member of the fourth generation, who said SQ 777 can help him continue that legacy [KTUL].
Looking at SQ 777 (letter to the editor):
SQ777 is meant to protect the ability of farmers and ranchers to use improved agricultural technology and procedures and continue to use accepted farming and ranching practices [McAlester News-Capital].
FEDERAL
Trade leaders want momentum toward US-EU pact:
With the 15th round of TTIP talks this week in New York, the lawmakers want to see more progress in several critical areas and they urged U.S. trade officials to emphasize to the EU that any pact must earn the support of Congress [The Hill].
Farm income seen flat in 2017:
Net farm income is likely to be flat next year despite an increase in government payments but should improve somewhat in the following two years, according to a new analysis [Agri-Pulse].
Bees were just added to the U.S. endangered-species list for the first time:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday determined that seven species of yellow-faced bees, all native to Hawaii, should be protected under the Endangered Species Act [Washington Post].
STATE
Arkansas, Oklahoma governors discuss wind energy project:
But the two governors disagreed on a controversial transmission line project that is designed to move wind energy from the Oklahoma Panhandle to western Tennessee. Fallin, the 2016 chairman of the commission, said she supports the $2.5 billion Plains & Eastern Clean Line transmission project, for which construction is scheduled to start next year [Journal Record].
Bridges at center of Oklahoma transportation plans:
In 2004, 1,168 of the state’s 6,800 highway bridges were rated as structurally deficient. That number now stands at 321, which are all set for replacement or repair by the end of the decade. However, the pace of improvement will slow because of the state’s ongoing revenue shortfall [The Oklahoman].
MISCELLANEOUS
Yearning to be great again, rural Iowa turns to Trump:
The suffering rural economy, particularly in farm-dependent communities, has Iowa voters turning to Donald Trump [Des Moines Register].
A farming revolution, minus factories:
The New York Times receives feedback from Jayson Lusk’s recent opinion piece entitled “Why Industrial Farms are Good for the Environment” [New York Times].
GMOs are a necessity – for farmers and the environment (opinion):
The rapidly growing global population and warming climate will make agricultural innovations a necessity, not a luxury. In my view, the next two decades will bring even more innovations than the past two [Wall Street Journal].
