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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Very little rain was received in Harper County- except for a couple of tenths of rain in the southeastern corner of the county- and no rain received in the three Panhandle counties. However, Woods, Woodward, Ellis, Major and Alfalfa Counties all got from a half inch to more than two inches of rain in some of Ellis County. Well, many wheat fields needed more- at least some precipitation came into this area that has been the driest areas of the Oklahoma wheat belt.

More rain seems to be in the cards for Friday- later in the day and that night- the heaviest of this could be everywhere in the state except for the northwestern counties. After that, a drier pattern may be setting up for next week.

Click on the link below of the Oklahoma Mesonet page of current precipitation- I have linked you to the rainfall amounts of the last 24 hours across the state.

Click here for the real time Mesonet Rainfall Accumulations from the last 24 hours.

The Deputy Secretary will also be meeting in a closed to the media session with Oklahoma agricultural leaders- and later in the day, after lunch in Shawnee with school children, will be meeting with tribal leaders about conservation and other issues.

Click on the link below for our story on the Deputy Secretary's visit- and we hope to be able to spend a few minutes with the Secretary later in the day to get an overview of the things discussed in meetings with Oklahoma ag leaders and officials.

Click here for more on our story about Kathleen Merrigan in Oklahoma on this Thursday

Cattle will eat just about anything that looks interesting in the pasture, cautions Doug Maxey, Okmulgee County Extension director and agricultural educator.
"Producers are going to have to pick up as much debris from their pastures as possible," Maxey said. "This can be a painstaking, labor-intensive process given the potential amount of small debris."

Dr. Gene Parker, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service veterinarian and area food animal quality and health specialist, said a single piece of wire consumed by a bull, cow, heifer or calf can drop down into the reticulum, the first stomach, where it potentially can pierce the heart.
Other problems sometimes associated with "hardware" disease are the shutting down of the rumen, depression, acute pain and decreased milk production.
"Cattle producers may want to use rumen magnets if there appears to be a significant amount of metal debris in pastures," Parker said. "A rumen magnet may be a health-care investment well worth the money."

Click here to read more about how to deal with the Debris that may have blown into your field from the storms of this week.

The bill provides that farmers would no longer be subject to mandatory pollution compliance obligations. But, they would be eligible to participate in a new multi-billion dollar revenue stream through a domestic offset program. That program encourages farmers to reduce emissions.
In addressing the pricing of carbon, the bill sets a floor of 12-dollars, but provides for an annual inflation rate increase of 3 percent. When the price hits 25-dollars then the price inflation increase rises by 5 percent annually. The bill keeps states from implementing mandatory greenhouse gas reduction program.

In a joint news release the Senators said - our approach sets an achievable national pollution reduction target and refunds the money raised right back to American consumers and American businesses. They point out - this is not a plan that enriches Wall Street speculators. And this is certainly not a plan to grow the government. It is a plan that creates jobs and sets us on a course toward energy independence and economic resurgence.

Click here to see the News Release from the Joe Lieberman Senate Website.

Meanwhile Farm Bureau's Bob Stallman says to hold the phone- he sees problems with the bill. Stallman says, - as with other climate change bills, we have concerns about the economic impact on farmers and ranchers because of potentially higher fertilizer and energy costs. We do not want to see farmers driven out of business due to additional regulation and the potential for higher input costs. Agriculture also could be forced to shrink due to land moving out of production into trees to sequester carbon. Click here for the AFBF release and full statement in response to the proposal.

Meanwhile the National Corn Growers want time to study the bill- and perhaps see which way the wind blows on perception of this bill- before supporting or opposing the measure. National Corn Growers Association President Darrin Ihnen says, " NCGA could not support the Waxman-Markey bill on the House side due to the potential adverse economic impacts on corn growers. In light of that, we will once again conduct an analysis of the new Senate version of climate legislation before taking a position on the Kerry-Lieberman proposal. NCGA will also wait for the official analysis from the Environmental Protection Agency in the coming weeks."

It's disappointing to me that the panels are loaded with corn belt policy experts- and that the plains states are not represented by anyone from OSU, K-State, Texas or even Nebraska. One former OSU professor is on the second panel- Dr. Darryl Ray, who now calls the University of Tennessee home.

Click on the link below to listen to the whole day of academia telling the lawmakers about the good, bad and ugly of rural and farm policy in this country. The hearing today is planned for the main hearing room of the House Ag Committee, 1300 Longworth so audio and video should be available.

Click here for the House Ag Committee website-and the page on Audio/Video for their hearings.

Meanwhile, OKC West in El Reno had another good sized run of cattle- and higher money for yearling steers as they sold steady to a dollar higher. Calves were lightly tested in this week's sale at this Canadian County market that had a total run of 9,483. Five to six hundred pound steers sold from $126 to $139.50, while the seven to eight hundred pound yearlings cleared from $114.75 to $119. Click here for the complete report from OKC West as compiled by our USDA Market News Reporters.

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.