Agriculture Economy Enters 2025 With Weak Forecast
The agricultural economy in Oklahoma and beyond enters the new year a little sluggish. An Ag Finance Update from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City shows farm income and loan repayment rates are weak.
Persistently high input costs and lower commodity prices have impacted farm incomes, making it harder for people to repay loans.
The Ag Finance Update collects results from across the country.
Cortney Cowley is the senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
“It’s really across everywhere, but particularly in those regions that I would consider more concentrated in crop production," said Cowley.
That includes much of the Midwest and Great Plains. But because Oklahoma is big in cattle production, the declines were smaller compared to other more crop-centric regions.
She says one reason for the slowdown is while the U.S. economy is strong, there’s been a slowdown in the global economy..
She also noted the report found the average interest rates on farm loans lowered slightly.
This is important because ag lenders are responding to changing interest rates, and while the size of loans is increasing, the costs of that debt are decreasing.
Representatives Selected For Oklahoma House Leadership Roles
As the New Year starts, so too does the lawmaking.
We are one month away from Oklahoma’s 60th legislative session.
Oklahoma’s House Republican majority last fall chose House Speaker Kyle Hilbert to lead them; he’s the youngest to ever do it at 30 years old.
And with a chamber to manage that’s twice as large as the State Senate, Hilbert has opted to redesign the House Committee system in a way he says will make policy discussions more like that of the state budget.
Hilbert released a full list of House committees and chair appointments in mid-December.
The house will have 8 committees and 31 sub-committees, each with a selected chair and vice-chair.
Lawton Republican Trey Caldwell will lead House Appropriations and Grove Republican Josh West will serve as majority floor leader.
Muscogee Nation and Oklahoma Extend Tobacco Tax Compact
The Muscogee Nation and Oklahoma have agreed to extend a tobacco tax compact for three months.
The deal reached Thursday between Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will allow more time to negotiate a long-term compact.
Under the extension, the Muscogee Nation agrees to refrain from licensing or establishing new retail tobacco outlets. This does not include renewing existing tobacco retail licenses, and the motor vehicle compact is a different matter and will be dealt with separately.
In a statement, Hill emphasized the importance of a new tobacco compact that ensures sovereign jurisdiction and is fair for both parties.
This compact agreement is set to expire on March 31.
Governor’s Office Pushes Back on Reporting of High School Graduation Requirement Change Idea
The governor’s office is pushing back on comments it says were taken out of context from an Oklahoma City news station story about potential changes to high school graduation requirements.
Fox 25 News interviewed Gov. Kevin Stitt for the story.
"I want every kid ready for a career. And so I’m thinking about even making it a requirement to graduate from Oklahoma high schools — you’ve gotta either be accepted to college, you have to be accepted into a career tech or you have to be going into the army, you have to have some kind of plan post-graduation to go get a great job," Stitt said in the interview with Fox 25.
The story sparked widespread concern on social media. But the governor’s office told StateImpact the comments were taken out of context from a broader discussion, and Stitt “in no way suggested that kids who don’t go to college would be mandated to serve in the military.” It says there is no plan or legislation at this point for a policy change. Fox 25 did not return a request for comment.
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