We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network weekdays- if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it- click here for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays on RON.
Let's Check the Markets!
Today's First Look:
mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Each afternoon we are posting a recap of that day's markets as analyzed by Justin Lewis of KIS futures- click here for the report posted yesterday afternoon around 3:30 PM.
Okla Cash Grain:
Futures Wrap:
Feeder Cattle Recap:
Slaughter Cattle Recap:
TCFA Feedlot Recap:
Our Oklahoma Farm Report Team!!!!
Ron Hays, Senior Farm Director and Editor
Carson Horn, Associate Farm Director and Editor Pam Arterburn, Calendar and Template Manager Dave Lanning, Markets and Production Macey Mueller, E-mail and Web Writer
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Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News
Presented by 
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
Monday, August 1, 2016
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
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 Featured Story:President Obama Signs S 764- Preempting Vermont's GMO Labeling Law and Starting Clock on USDA to Write National GMO Labeling Plan
Without fanfare, President Barack Obama signed into law S.764, the bill that cleared the Senate and the House over the past two months that directs the USDA to create a rule for mandatory disclosure and labeling for foods with ingredients from genetically engineered crops. The White House announced that the President had signed a total of 20 bills on Friday, including the GMO Labeling Bill. There was no statement about the measure except for a brief description of the new law - "S. 764, which directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a national mandatory bioengineered food disclosure standard."
After the House passed a voluntary version of this proposal a year ago, Senate Democrats refused to accept their language- and it took months of negotiating by Senate Ag Committee Chairman Pat Roberts with his ranking minority member, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, to come to the language that quickly cleared the Senate in June and then the House earlier in July. The measure will preempt the Vermont state law on labeling of food containing ingredients produced with GMO crops- and will also override other states which were working on their own version of labeling in recent months. The signing of the bill into law starts a two year clock on USDA to write and implement a new national standard on labeling.
Opponents of the Labeling Bill were furious- and did a petition campaign on the White House website, gathering over a hundred thousand signatures asking President Obama to veto the measure, but those efforts were seen as too little, too late as the President had earlier signaled to Senate and House leaders he would sign the compromise bill.
Click here to read praises from several national agricultural organizations- among them the American Farm Bureau, the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association.
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Sponsor Spotlight
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FoodDemocracyNow Vows Legal Challenge to GMO Labeling Law
One group that is clearly angry over the decision by President Barack Obama to sign the GMO Labeling Bill into law is FoodDemocracyNow. The following statement was released by their Executive Director, Dave Murphy.
"By signing into law S. 764 President Obama has written a blank check to Monsanto and Big Food while betraying his 2007 promise while running for the White House. Attorneys for FoodDemocracyNow! will be mounting a legal challenge in the coming weeks for this law's numerous legal problems including its infringement on the 14th amendment of the Constitution that guarantees "equal protection for all."
"Among the law's failures is the glaring discrimination against the elderly, the poor, and anyone without a smart phone. The unenforceable labeling system the law mandates are defined by QR codes, a 1-800 number and anyone with a smart phone. The discriminatory nature of the bill will deny the elderly, poor - many minorities, rural Americans and even some religious groups' (e.g. the Amish) access to basic information about their food, leaving behind nearly a third of all Americans that do not own or can't afford or choose not to use (on religious grounds) this modern technology.
"According to Pew Research Center, only 64% of Americans own a smartphone, while only 52% of rural Americans, 50% of low- income people and 27% of seniors own smartphones.
"This means that of the 46.2 million elderly people in the United States more than 33 million elderly Americans won't be able to find out what's in their food.
"This law denies that basic right to tens of millions of Americans and creates a permanent digital divide between the haves and have-nots. Americans deserve better than this.
"Beyond these legal obstacles is the real possible threat to the future of organic standards with the language regarding consistency between the definitions of bioengineered and the Organic Food Production Act of 1990. Under a future USDA Secretary these rules could be interpreted in a way that eliminates the organic prohibition of GMOs and biotechnology.
"By signing this bill, President Obama has endangered the organic industry to the real threat of being forced to re-define its entire ethical production standards, which clearly prohibit GMO technology."
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Lawmakers Demand Answers from USFWS Director Dan Ashe Regarding His Intent on Possibly Relisting Lesser Prairie Chicken
Last Thursday, Kansas Congressman Kevin Yoder and thirteen of his House colleagues sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe expressing concerns over recent statements made regarding the potential re-listing of the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act. Three members of the Oklahoma Congressional delegation, Congressmen Frank Lucas, Tom Cole and Markwayne Mullin, were among the lawmakers who signed the letter with the Kansas lawmaker.Earlier this month, USFWS fulfilled a court ruling that had vacated its ESA listing decision by officially removing the LPC from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Following the decision, the agency issued a press release stating that they were in the process of "undertaking a new status review to determine whether listing is again warranted." And that news release quoted Director Ashe as saying "Responding to this court ruling by removing the bird from the Federal List does not mean we are walking away from efforts to conserve the lesser prairie-chicken. Far from it. We are undertaking a new status review to determine whether listing is again warranted, and we will continue to work with our state partners and others on efforts to protect vital habitat and ensure this flagship of the prairies survives well into the future.""These statements from Fish & Wildlife have confirmed our suspicions," Representative Yoder said. "The Administration remains committed to this misguided effort to save a bird that already saw its population increase over the last few years due to local efforts. My amendment to prevent the Administration from reopening its efforts and protect farmers and ranchers from unwanted government overreach passed the Appropriations Committee unanimously. Congress' intent on this issue is clear, and we're working to make sure Fish & Wildlife respects that."In an effort to prevent USFWS from disregarding clear congressional intent, the letter clarifies the language included in the House-passed version of the FY2017 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill that expressly prohibits USFWS from attempting to re-list the LPC under any ESA designation over the next year.
Click here to read the complete letter sent to Director Ashe.
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Farmers Gather to Kick the Dirt at Whirlwind No-Till Expo in Leedey, OK
More than 130 farmers and members of the soil conscious community gathered in Leedey, Oklahoma to attend the Whirlwind No-Till Expo, hosted by Jimmy Emmons and sponsored by No-Till on the Plains. I caught up with their executive director, Steve Swaffar, at the one day No Till Expo and talked with him about the increasing interest in Soil Health and all that entails."The people that come to our conference are those that are concerned about soil health, they want to make that a priority on their farm," Swaffar said. "We try to showcase in the field what we teach people about in the cold part of the year."Swaffar says that no-till is by no means a new concept. He explained it was a very common practice that farmers' grandfathers and great-grandfathers regularly used and that people are now having to relearn what was once known. He claims no-till practices not only provide natural weed control and wildlife habitat, but farmers can also expect to enjoy more profitability with their crops, producing better yields from healthier soil. Listen to my conversation with Steve Swaffar at the No-Till on the Plains event.
By the way- check out our Monday morning farm news as heard on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network- we feature comments from Jimmy Emmons of Leedey this morning- and we will have a writeup on that interview in tomorrow's email.!
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Sponsor Spotlight
Midwest Farm Shows is our longest running sponsor of the daily email- and they say thanks to all of you who participated in their 2016 Oklahoma City Farm Show.
Up next will be the Tulsa Farm Show in December 2016- the dates are December 8th, 9th and 10th. Now is the ideal time to contact Ron Bormaster at 507-437-7969 and book space at the 2016 Tulsa Farm Show. To learn more about the Tulsa Farm Show, click here.
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NCBA's Jennifer Houston Talks Benefits of Beef Checkoff and NCBA Policy Division Working Together
National Cattlemen's Beef Association leader Jennifer Houston has a unique perspective on the organization's impact on the cattle industry. She currently serves as chair of the NCBA Policy Division and has also served as chairman of the Federation of State Beef Councils.She says this experience has been especially helpful when working on issues like dietary guidelines and the World Cancer Report. Armed with checkoff-funded research, policy leaders and staff members are more effective when talking with decision makers."If we didn't have the checkoff dollars funding the background research, we couldn't have done that," she says. "We were able to go to work in D.C. and on the news media - both checkoff and policy people were involved on this - and say there's no substantial science to back this up and amazingly enough, it seemed like the American consumer agreed with us."As chair of the Policy Division, Houston has worked to encourage the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and has worked closely with other beef industry leaders to address market volatility issues with the CME."As a livestock market owner, we see volatility in the futures day to day," she says. "I think we've done a good job at NCBA about starting the work with CME to figure out what some answers are. It's not an easy question and it doesn't have easy answers."Listen to Houston talk more about the her role as NCBA Policy Division Chair on today's Beef Buzz.
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Want to Have the Latest Energy News Delivered to Your Inbox Daily?
Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains- Click here to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.
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OSU Researchers Among Those Monitoring Mosquitoes That Might Carry the Zika Virus
Amid ongoing global concern around Zika and an anticipated spike in international travel with the Olympics set to kickoff in Brazil Aug. 5, Oklahoma State University experts are continuing to monitor mosquito populations across the state.
Heat and recent rains, especially around urban and suburban areas such as Oklahoma City and Tulsa, have created favorable conditions for mosquito development, including the yellow fever (Aedes aegypi) and Asian tiger (Aedes albopictus) species, which both have been linked to the virus.
According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, as of July 28, there are 13 travel-associated cases of Zika in the state and no locally-acquired cases of the disease.
A limited presence of the yellow fever mosquito was discovered in Altus in late July through a collaborative surveillance project between the OSDH and OSU entomologists, including Bruce Noden, an OSU assistant professor, medical and veterinary entomology.
"The yellow fever mosquito is not commonly found in Oklahoma. Our data indicates only a very small presence of the species in isolated areas of the state," Noden said.
Click here to read more about ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of Zika.
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Superior Kicks Off Weeklong Video Royale, Canola Events and Last Call for County Committee Nominees
Click here for the August calendar which is starting to fill up with a variety of events- including three we call your attention to for this week- Superior's Video Royale kicks off this morning with a Video Sale originating out of Ft. Worth- starting at 8 AM central time- it will feature cattle from central, southern and southeastern states.(including here in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas) Then they take a travel day and set up shop for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Nevada for three more sale days- all told, 143,000 head of cattle are expected to be offered this week on the Superior Video auction being seen on Rural TV and on Superior Click to Bid. Com. Click here for the overview of the week long Video Royale sale. ********** There are two Canola educational events planned for this week by OSU extension- tomorrow in Lahoma and Thursday in Weatherford. The program starts at 9 AM both days and wraps up at noon- there will be a lunch provided by DeKalb Seeds at the end of the program. Click here for details from the OSU folks on these two canola events. *********** Today is the deadline to nominate eligible candidates to serve on local FSA county committees. Nominations must be submitted by the close of business this afternoon.
To be eligible to hold office as a county committee member, individuals must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and live in the local administrative area where they are running. A complete list of eligibility requirements, more information and nomination forms are available here.
All nominees must sign the nomination form FSA-669A. All nomination forms for the 2016 election must be postmarked or received in the local USDA Service Center by close of business on Aug. 1, 2016. Ballots will be mailed to eligible voters by Nov. 7 and are due back to the local USDA Service Centers on Dec. 5. The newly elected county committee members will take office Jan. 1, 2017.
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