Blayne Arthur
From staff reports
Oklahoma lawmakers and the state’s top agriculture official had positive discussions during the recently concluded legislative session, state Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur said.
“Certainly, had some really good things in our perspective in regard to the medical marijuana industry, and making hopefully some better strides there,” Arthur said. “I think there is some good work being done and still lots of things that I think need to be addressed.”
Arthur made her comments at the American Simmental Association STYLE (SimGenetics Training for Young Leaders and Entrepreneurs) Conference earlier this month.
Another highlight of the legislative session, Arthur said, was the discussion of less regulation on ag producers.
“We want to pull back regulation on producers,” she said. “We want to let producers do business the way they need to do them. Very appreciative of the Legislature.”
The Legislature directed some additional dollars to the Emergency Drought Commission and expanded the commission for more representation across the state.
“Legislature was very good to agriculture this year, and we certainly always appreciate Governor Stitt’s support,” she said.
Although the state has received more rainfall in recent weeks, pond levels remain lower than many ranchers and farmers would prefer.
“We are just in June, so we need that moisture to hopefully keep coming,” Arthur said. “It gets hot here in the summers.”
There is no question that because of the severity of the drought, it will take a significant amount of rainfall for conditions to return to normal, she said.
Arthur also talked about progress involving the need for more large animal veterinarians.
“President (Kayse) Shrum at Oklahoma State University has really engaged on some of the challenges that we have with large animal practitioners,” Arthur said. “The Legislature was very generous and setting up that new entity and directing some significant dollars to help us really strengthen the College of Veterinary Medicine there at OSU, and my ultimate goal is to get as many large animal practitioners out those doors as we possibly can.”
Arthur, vice president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, said she will make a trip to Indonesia with the USDA later this year.
“Our goal and focus behind that is taking our ag products to the world,” she said. “We do live in this global market and want to make sure we are having good conversations with folks.”
In Arthur’s travels internationally and within the U.S., she said she has found that people love agricultural products that are produced in Oklahoma.
“We want to find those markets for them and do all we can,” Arthur said. “At the end of the day, we want producers to be profitable, and that is a big part of the discussion.”