PERSPECTIVE December 13, 2024
OKFB, ag groups request to submit amicus curiae brief in poultry case klahoma Farm Bureau teamed up with four fellow agricultural organizations to support poultry farmers in a case before the Oklahoma Supreme Court. OKFB joined the Poultry Federation, American Farmers and Ranchers, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and the Oklahoma Pork Council to request to submit an amicus curiae – or “friend of the court” – brief in support of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry’s appeal of a lawsuit brought by the Spring Creek Coalition against the agency for its regulation of poultry growers. In June 2024, the judge in Delaware County District Court issued an order supporting the coalition’s demands and took matters a step further, prohibiting ODAFF from granting the annual licenses to new or existing poultry feeding operations in the state until ODAFF implements a set of notice requirements and other obligations set forth by the court. The requirements
exceed the authority the legislature has granted to the agency. OKFB and the other agriculture groups believe the judge in this case acted not only as the judicial branch, but all three branches of government – dictating legislation and administrative rulemaking from the bench. The group believes the decision was a gross misappropriation of the three unique branches of government, and believes the policymaking process should be exclusive to the legislative branch. In the brief, the group urged the Oklahoma Supreme Court to consider the lower court’s overreach as well as the impact it will have on the hundreds of Oklahoma’s registered poultry feeding operations, the more than 26,000 jobs it creates and the families and communities they support. The Oklahoma Supreme Court will now consider whether to take up the case, send it to the Court of Civil Appeals or take other action.
Cotton County Farm Bureau member appointed to USDA agricultural air quality research task force
otton County Farm Bureau member Jimmy Kinder has been appointed to serve on the USDA’s Task Force on Agricultural Air Quality Research. The task force promotes USDA research efforts and identifies costeffective ways to improve air quality throughout agricultural production. Kinder farms and ranches in Cotton County with his wife Margaret Ann. He previously served as the Oklahoma Farm Bureau District 4 director and is currently the vice president of Cotton County Farm Bureau. Aside from his roles at Farm Bureau, Kinder has served as a member of the Soil Health Institute, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality board, Cotton County Rural Water District board and has served as the Cotton County Farm Services Agency chairman. He is one of 27 members who will have the opportunity to provide recommendations and discuss the correlation of agricultural production and air quality.