Oklahoma Farm Bureau has announced the organization’s priority issues for the 2021 state legislative session as set forth by its grassroots farm and ranch members. The top issues for Farm Bureau members across all 77 counties include expanding rural broadband internet access, protecting landowners from property tax increases, safeguarding the state agriculture sales tax exemption, increasing access to quality health care in rural communities, securing improved funding for roads and bridges, and ensuring support for Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service. “After a challenging year for Oklahoma agriculture producers, Oklahoma Farm Bureau is eager to bring the voice of our grassroots farm […]

Though the global pandemic may pose some challenges to the way Oklahoma Farm Bureau typically engages with the state legislature, OKFB members still can – and should – play an important part in our work to speak for farmers, ranchers and rural Oklahomans at the state Capitol this year. Though working with state lawmakers this year is likely to look different than normal, members can remain active and involved in the policymaking process by using some of agriculture’s trademark innovation and creativity. Below are four ideas for safely and effectively advocating for agriculture in the upcoming legislative session. 1. Sign […]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced additional assistance through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. The new assistance includes expanded eligibility for certain commodities and producers established in the recently passed relief package, as well as updated payments for producers who were eligible under previous iterations of the program. Producers may submit new applications or modify existing applications through the USDA Farm Service Agency between Jan. 19 and Feb. 26, 2021. Expanded CFAP 2 eligibility Contract producers of swine, broilers, laying hens, chicken eggs and turkeys who suffered a drop in revenue in 2020 as compared to their 2019 revenue because […]

Five Oklahoma Farm Bureau members joined farmer and rancher delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 102nd Annual Convention in adopting grassroots policies to guide the organization’s work in 2021. Delegates from Oklahoma included Rodd Moesel, OKFB president; Monte Tucker, District Two Director and Roger Mills County Farm Bureau member; James Fuser, District Six Director and Ottawa County Farm Bureau member; Karen Dodson, Women’s Leadership Committee member and Caddo County Farm Bureau member; and Cody Goodknight, Young Farmers & Ranchers chair and Comanche County Farm Bureau member. “I love this part of it, that we get to set policy for what […]

Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Rodd Moesel recently hosted Congresswoman-elect Stephanie Bice for a conversation on her preparations to serve Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District in Congress. Elected on Nov. 3, she will be sworn into the 117th United States Congress on Jan. 3, 2021. Below, read five things we learned from our visit with Bice. 1. She has ties to agriculture.  Although Bice did not grow up on a farm or ranch, she is not too far removed from the agriculture industry. Her husband’s family continues to farm near the Okarche area in central Oklahoma. Through her conversations with family, she […]

Oklahoma Farm Bureau encourages its members to attend one of the Oklahoma Legislature’s redistricting town hall meetings to be held across the state in the coming weeks. Every 10 years, the state Legislature is constitutionally required to redraw legislative and congressional district boundaries using the latest U.S. Census data. Farm Bureau members, who worked diligently over the past year to promote census participation in rural areas across the state, now have the opportunity to share their perspectives on the redrawing of legislative and congressional district lines. “The redistricting process only happens every 10 years, which means it’s important that rural […]

As Oklahoma voters cast ballots for president, Congress and other state and local elections, they will also be charged with deciding the fate of two state questions. Below, OKFB has compiled information on each of the state questions, including ballot titles, constitutional language, and how each coincides with the organization’s grassroots policy. State Question 805 Opposed by Oklahoma Farm Bureau State Question 805 originated as an initiative petition that was placed on the ballot after receiving nearly 250,000 signatures of Oklahomans. The measure would amend the Oklahoma Constitution to prevent a person’s former non-violent felony convictions from being used to […]