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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday May 3, 2010
A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- Rust Becoming Worrisome in Parts of the Oklahoma Wheat Belt
-- First Two House Ag Field Hearings Done- Committee Travels on to
California for Monday Hearing
-- Oklahoma FFA Claims Three National Risk Management Essay Contest
Winners
-- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Says It Will Implement Additional Beef
Safety Measures- Battling E Coli 0157H7
-- Oklahoma Farm Bureau Asks the Question- How Are Things?
-- 59th Annual National Land and Range Judging Contest Digs In This
Week in Central Oklahoma
-- This and That- Congrats To the Norvell Family, Off to DC and Wheat
Touring
-- Let's Check the Markets!
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! It is also great to have as an annual sponsor on our daily email
Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across
Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. For more on Johnston
Enterprises- click
here for their website! If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here. | |
Rust Becoming Worrisome in Parts of the Oklahoma Wheat Belt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OSU Plant
Disease guru Dr. Bob Hunger says that we are seeing more and more rust in
wheat fields around the state- here's his report that he provided us this
past Friday morning:"Plots, trials and fields around Stillwater reveal wheat to be in early flowering to early berry formation. This was true of wheat I've visited over the last week from Stillwater down through central OK over to southwestern OK (Granite, OK area). Wheat looked excellent between Stillwater to Granite. Prevalence and severity of stripe and leaf rust vary from location to location. For example, stripe rust in the mid/lower canopy in the variety demo at Stillwater is starting to become inactive and is being replaced by leaf rust on the mid/upper leaves. However, most flag leaves are still clean. In contrast, Dr. Brett Carver indicated to me yesterday that susceptible entries in breeder plots at Marshall (about 35 miles west of Stillwater) had a high incidence and severity of stripe rust. On my trip to Granite, OK (about 150 miles west and slightly south of OKC) on 27-28-Apr, I saw little stripe or leaf rust in the variety demo just west of Oklahoma City, but stripe rust was severe on Jagger and Jagalene at Granite and light to intermediate on other Jagger derivatives such as Overley, Fuller and OK Bullet. On other varieties such as Endurance, Duster, Fannin, and Doans, stripe rust was light. Leaf rust was sparse in the Granite area but appeared to be starting to replace the stripe rust. "By contrast, Dr. David Worrall (Agripro wheat breeder, Vernon, TX) reported that stripe rust had defoliated Jagger, Jagalene and derivatives in the Vernon area, and that although it had taken about a week longer, stripe rust on many other varieties also was greatly increasing. My take on this is that although the stripe rust pathogen has adapted to the resistance in Jagger and Jagalene, there is some other resistance factor in related varieties that is delaying the development of stripe rust. Resistance in other varieties such as Endurance and Duster, which is not related to Jagger, is reacting similarly as we have seen in the past. Perhaps the level of protection provided by these and other varieties will lessen the affects of stripe rust as temperatures begin to warm and stripe rust is replaced by leaf rust to which many of the other varieties should be resistant. Finally, Roger Gribble (Area Extension Agronomist - northwestern OK) indicated to me yesterday that across northwestern OK stripe rust is prevalent in Jagger/Jagalene/Fuller but sparse in other varieties. "The only other disease I've seen this past week with widespread
incidence is barley yellow dwarf (BYD). Many fields show areas with flag
leaf discoloration consistent with BYD. However, there usually was no or
only little stunting associated with this discoloration indicating that
infection most likely occurred in the spring rather than in the
fall." Dr. Hunger also provides the latest updates from several other states as well. Click on the link below to check on reports from Arkansas, Kansas and Nebraska. Click here for more on the wheat disease situation across the Southern Plains Wheat Belt | |
First Two House Ag Field Hearings Done- Committee Travels on to California for Monday Hearing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Saturday,
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson held a field
hearing in Nampa, Idaho to review U.S. agriculture policy as the Committee
begins the process of writing the 2012 Farm Bill. This is the second in a
series of hearings scheduled across the country to consider new ideas
regarding Federal food and farm policy. Six Members of Congress attended
Saturday's hearing and heard testimony from ten witnesses on a variety of
farm policy issues. Still to come on this current trip are stops on Monday
in Fresno, California and on Tuesday in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
"We must make sure that our producers are equipped with an adequate safety net to provide Americans with the food and fiber they need," said Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Frank Lucas of Oklahoma. "As we travel throughout the nation, the feedback we receive from our producers will give us a good sense of how current farm bill programs work in practice and what improvements need to be made." Details of both the Des Moines, Iowa and Nampa, Idaho meetings are on our website- click on the link below to see details of these first meetings by the Committee. They seem to be focusing on hearing from farmers and others from within that immediate geographic area- in both cases, it appears they heard from just Iowa and just Idaho producers in these first two hearings. The California witness list is just from that state, while the Tuesday hearing in Cheyenne, Wyoming will have folks from both Wyoming and Colorado as witnesses- of course Cheyenne is right on the state line. Click here for the link to details about the upcoming Fresno hearing later today- on Monday May 3. There is an audio/video link available at House Ag Committee website that you can go to with this link. Click here for details from the first two field hearings by the House Ag Committee. | |
Oklahoma FFA Claims Three National Risk Management Essay Contest Winners ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's three
out of ten total that were awarded by the US Department of Agriculture's
Risk Management Agency. RMA Cooperated with the National FFA Organization
to encourage students to enter. Each student submitted an essay on the
topic of "Risk Management Strategies Used in a Supervised Agricultural
Experience." The students that were the national winners included:
Amanda Aycock, Elm City, North Carolina; member of Hunt FFA Each winner and his or her FFA advisor receive an all-expenses-paid
trip to Washington, D.C. This week- on May 5-9, 2010 where they will meet
with USDA officials and be presented with their awards. The winners will
also have lunch with USDA staff in the Secretary's Dining Room and visit
with their legislators. | |
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Says It Will Implement Additional Beef Safety Measures- Battling E Coli 0157H7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to a
Wal-Mart news release, the new process control standards and goals are
additions to a food safety program that already requires ground beef
suppliers to test for E. coli O157:H7 and achieve prevention-based
certification against one of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)
internationally recognized standards."In light of recent beef recalls, we determined it was prudent to require an additional layer of protection for our customers," Wal-Mart's Vice President for Food Safety Frank Yiannas said. The new program requires Walmart and Sam's Club beef suppliers to implement controls that would significantly reduce potential contamination levels and validate that the measures they've implemented are effective through specialized testing. Suppliers who do not operate meat plants must be in compliance with the new standard by June 2011. For beef plant suppliers there is a two-step approach with the first step to be completed by June 2011 and the second by June 2012. Walmart and Sam's Club will work closely with beef suppliers to ensure that the new requirement is implemented without additional cost to customers. Wal-Mart said the protocol has been reviewed with numerous stakeholders
including consumer groups, regulators, academicians, beef suppliers, and
industry associations. In the corporation's news release, Dr. James
Marsden of Kansas State University said, "Walmart has taken steps to
provide its customers with the safest possible beef products. Consumers
across the United States will benefit greatly from this timely food safety
initiative." Click here for the full news release from Walmart's Corporate Headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. | |
Oklahoma Farm Bureau Asks the Question- How Are Things? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An informal
survey of participants at the Oklahoma City Farm Show (April 15-17) and
the Oklahoma FFA Convention (April 27-28) revealed most are concerned
about too much government involvement in agriculture. The survey was
conducted when participants visited the Farm Bureau booth during the
events. The survey was composed of three questions: What are the critical
farm issues today?; Are you doing anything different on your farm this
spring?; and What is the biggest challenge for your business today?
Almost half of all farm show participants surveyed said they are concerned about too much government control . "Everything from the government health care plan to energy costs to environmental regulations, is causing a strain on the family farm," said Glen Patterson of Keota. The high cost of inputs also drew a large percentage of responses. "The biggest challenge to my farm today is rising fuel costs," said John Pfeiffer of Mulhall. At the FFA convention, 47 percent said they are concerned about
government regulations and the prospect of higher taxes. Also drawing
attention were animal welfare, public misunderstanding of agriculture and
the availability of land for young farmers. "The biggest challenge is an
uninformed public about agriculture," said Chacey Schoeppel, Fairview FFA.
"They (public) don't understand the link between the producer and the
consumer." | |
59th Annual National Land and Range Judging Contest Digs In This Week in Central Oklahoma ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Approximately
1,000 teenagers from across the nation will come to Oklahoma City this
week, as they have the first week of May for over five decades, to compete
in a national educational competition. The National Land and Range Judging
Contest, a three-day event that stresses soil and plant science, land
management and conservation, begins for the 59th year on Tuesday, May 4.
After two days of opportunity to visit practice sites, the event will
culminate on Thursday, May 6, with the contest at a site whose location is
kept secret until that morning, followed in the evening by an awards
banquet at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
The teens, 4-H and FFA members, qualify for the national event by placing among the top five teams at contests in their home states, according to contest co-chairman Trey Lam. Lam is president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, one of the contest's principal sponsors. He says the teens match their skills in judging the adaptability of the land for various purposes including farming, range management and home development. He notes the skills the teens apply at the contest involve principles they can apply in career fields like environmental and agricultural management, natural resource conservation, homebuilding and construction. Lam notes the idea of a land judging contest was invented by three Oklahoma conservationists in 1942. They decided which soil qualities could be judged and developed score cards to test skills. The idea caught on and Oklahoma City has been hosting the national contest since 1952. As soon as the contestants arrive they will go to a practice site near Oklahoma City where numerous pits have been dug to give them a chance to analyze and learn more about Oklahoma soil conditions. Contestants also have the opportunity to examine Oklahoma range conditions for livestock grazing and wildlife management purposes. The actual contest sites will remain secret until just before each contest, so no one has an unfair advantage. Lam says contestants will gather at the Biltmore Hotel to register, receive procedural instructions and await disclosure of the official contest sites. Coaches and contestants will then travel in a caravan to the site that is a tract of land in or near the greater metro area. The Land Judging Contest and the Homesite Evaluation Contest will begin at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, followed by the Range Judging contest at 9:30 a.m. It looks like Gary England and Travis Meyer are being cooperative in weather for the event- as it looks dry up to Thursday- and right now- only a slight chance of storms on Thursday. That should make good digging conditions for the guests from across the country who will checking the dirt and hoping they become one of the winners at this year's event. By the way, I notice they are honoring our good friend Wadell Altom, who retired at the end of this last year from the Noble Foundation. That's a great choice for the 2010 honoree. | |
This and That- Congrats To the Norvell Family, Off to DC and Wheat Touring ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A big Huge
Congratulations to Tyler and Beth Norvell who welcome Miss Madilyn Rose
Norvell to their family- she arrived on Saturday and all are well.
Courtesy of the miracle of Facebook- here's
the link to see the newest member of this agricultural family- Mama
Beth is a key staffer for the Oklahoma Youth Expo and Daddy Tyler is
lobbyist for the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.
We have packed our bags and will be jetting eastward to Disneyland on the Potomac for our annual National Association of Farm Broadcasters Washington Watch- looking forward to catching up with a couple of dozen of my colleagues from around the country and will be doing lots of interviews with key farm group leaders and lobbyists, USDA officials and members of Congress. We will be Tweeting from this event, so check us on on Twitter- as well as updates on our website, on the Radio Oklahoma Network, Facebook- search the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network, News9 and News on 6 on Video Skype early mornings (between 5 and 5:30 AM) as well as right here in this daily email. (Whew- that makes me tired when I write out how many different ways we are touching people with our farm and ranch news information.) One thing that we won't be at in person will the annual Oklahoma Wheat Crop Tour Report that happens later this week as a part of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association spring meeting. We will have reports from that meeting for you- again on many of those outlets I mentioned above. Check them out. We also are planning on having some reports from Mike Schulte from the Kansas HRW Wheat Crop Tour that also will be happening this week. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, AFR and KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis! 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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We've had
requests to include Canola prices for your convenience here- and we will
be doing so on a regular basis. Current cash price for Canola is $7.55 per
bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are
$7.55 per bushel- delivered to local participating elevators that are
working with PCOM.
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: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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