Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are pleased to have American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click here to go to their AFR web site to learn more about their efforts to serve rural America!

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The western Panhandle got less rainfall- about 6 tenths of an inch in Cimarron County- slightly more than one inch in Texas County and then upwards of an inch and a half in Beaver County. It was very disappointing to those in Woods and Alfalfa Counties, who are still rather dry, after getting as little as three tenths of an inch of rain in the northern most parts of those two counties- up to over an inch as you move to the southern parts of Woods and Alfalfa Counties.

Most of the rest of the westen two thirds of the state got a gentle and substantial rain from Thursday night through this morning. Most locations seemed to get from one and a half inches of rain up to two and half inches- while Harmon County saw much of the county get in excess of three inches of rainfall.

Click on the link below for the 5 day precip totals from the Oklahoma Mesonet (this captures rainfall totals even out in the Panhandle.) The rainfall we have received comes at a most opportune time for our fall planted wheat and canola crops- northern areas of the state especially needed the rain as a lot of farmers were telling me at the Southern Plains Farm Show that there wheat was starting to turn a shade of blue due to dry conditions. That should not be a problem as sunshine returns here this week and most wheat fields that were stressed should be green as can be after the rains of the weekend.

Click here for the Oklaoma Mesonet totals of rainfall from last Thursday through this morning.

Shirley tells us that his wheat was severely stressed by lack of moisture, so this inch of rain is enough to salvage his crop- and in fact turn it into an average or slightly better crop here in 2010.

We chatted with Joe while at the Fairgrounds over the weekend- and we have our conversation with him linked below. Click and take a listen.

Click here for more on one wheat farmers appreciation for the latest rainfall.

The measure amends the Oklahoma Veterinary Practice Act to legalize equine dentistry -- also known as horse teeth floating or the grinding down of horse teeth. Horsemen say they need the services because they can't find veterinarians who perform them. Horse teeth grow continuously and have to be filed down to avoid discomfort.

Oklahoma Farm Bureau was a major promoter of the measure, as was the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association. The groups that represent Veterinarians, including the Oklahoma Vet Medical Association, strongly opposed the measure on the fear that drugs used by Equine Dentists might fall into the hands of those that would misuse them. The Vet groups also remain very concerned about not providing a definition of "Animal Husbandry" within the bill.

We talked with Carol at the Southern Plains Farm Show on Saturday about this contest, and you can hear our quick visit with her by clicking on the Linkr below. She's already has won $5,000 for her regional win- and could win another $2,500 if she wins the National Title of America's Farmers Mom of the Year for 2010.

We have our conversation with Carol there- as well as the link direct to the Voting location as Carol competes with other regional winners for the right to be called the National Farm Mom of the Year. Carol is a recent graduate of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program- and you will be proud that she and her family are representing Oklahoma in this contest- click on the link to get to our story and our conversation with her- and then click on to get to the actual voting where you can support her with a vote.

Click here to learn more about Carol Cowan winning the Southwest Region America's Farm Mom of the Year Award.

Jacqueline reports "The laws are nothing new and it's been in the books for years but ranchers and farmers say law enforcement is cracking down on them. That was the purpose of a recent meeting, to get a better understanding of the fine print of the law and not everyone is happy."
"I was told some guys got fined $8,500 and got their rig impounded," Lake Newcomb said. Newcomb says its horror stories like these that drove him from Elk City when he learned folks were getting ticketed for not following the rules. "Literally we've been breaking the rules, but nobody knew were breaking the rules because we didn't know what the rules were," Newcomb said.

Click on the link below for more on this story from a meeting held Friday in Oklahoma City, attended by mostly horse industry folks, trying to learn more about this regulations. There is also a good overview of the rules that was published some time back by the Oklahoma DOT- Click here to jump to that to review the ins and outs of the state regs.

Click here for more on Jacqueline Sit Story about Truck Weight Laws That Have Caght the Attention of Some Oklahoma Livestock Operators.

The session could provide some clues as to what USDA has in mind for farm bill priorities and will certainly give Members a chance to share their thoughts on current and future farm policy and the path to passing the 2012 Bill. The hearing, which will reportedly be followed by multiple field hearings in May, makes good on House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson's (D-Minn.) oft-voiced plan to begin the 2012 Farm Bill process early.

Peterson has said in recent months that grower groups should already be evaluating the 2008 Farm Bill and forming policy suggestions for the next rewrite of farm policy, and he plans to have policy ready if a reconciliation process is undertaken next year.
We have a link for you to go to on the House Ag Committee website which should get you into their webcast of the event on Wednesday morning.

Click here for webcast details from the House Ag Committee Website on this Wednesday's Hearing with USDA's Tom Vilsack.

While the Horse Training Sessions were reduced to being able to show a video on Saturday- we still had lots of you that signed up for the Priefert Round Pen that we had a drawing for on Saturday afternoon. We spun the drum, and Scott Dailey pulled out the name of Shelly Oliphant of Freedom, Oklahoma as the lucky winner.

We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

Here are some links we will leave in place on an ongoing basis- Click on the name of the report to go to that link:
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler- analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day-
Ron on RON Markets as heard on K101 mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's market.
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- As Reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture. <
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Finally, Here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.