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 the 2010 wheat harvest, Johnston has opened up four million bushels of additional storage space. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!

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For example, Cole saw a sophisticated liquid fertilizer cart that allows in row fertilization to take place just as the seed goes into the ground- meaning that the Kinder operation uses one third of the fertilizer they once used and they still get the same yields. Kinder told the Congressman that the piece of equipment was not cheap, but had paid for itself by the savings in the fertilizer bill. And, it offers the extra benefit of minimizing any runoff of nutrients into steams or water sources.

During the course of the day- we talked with the Congressman about several issues of importance to the farm community- including the regulatory frenzy that is coming from the EPA, led by Lisa Jackson. We also talk Estate Taxes and the outlook for the fall elections- and what that could mean in dealing with the Obama Administration the next couple of years.

Click on the LINK below to hear our full conversation with Congressman Cole as we stood with him out in one of the Kinder's Sesame fields.

Click here for our audio conversation with Congressman Tom Cole as we caught up with him in Cotton County.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is encouraged by the Obama Administration's recent announcement of its intention to press forward on Congressional ratification of the pending U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Currently, Korean tariffs are 40 percent on U.S. beef and 25 percent on most U.S. pork products. The FTA will phase out tariffs on U.S. beef over the course of 15 years, while tariffs would be eliminated on frozen and processed U.S. pork by 2014 and on chilled pork within 10 years.

We look at the need to move forward with the deal between the US and South Korea quickly- Keith Miller of Great Bend, Kansas is Chairman Elect of the USMEF and he joins us on the Beef Buzz. Click on the LINK below to jump to this report.

Click here for more on this Beef Buzz with Keith Miller as we talk about the urgency of finishing what we started with South Korea on a FTA.

"While we're certainly pleased to see the President once again emphasizing the issue of trade, so far, we haven't seen much in terms of results," said National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) President Steve Foglesong. "It's extremely unfortunate that our international competitors are moving forward on new trade deals while the U.S. continues to sit on the sidelines."

China, the only major market remaining completely closed to U.S. beef, has recently made beef trade deals with Canada and New Zealand. China represents one of the largest potential growth markets for the U.S. beef industry, worth in excess of $200 million.
"Over the past three years, and two administrations, we've seen little progress in opening the Chinese market to U.S. beef, despite the fact that this market is one of the top priorities for our industry," Foglesong continued. "It's time to stop talking, and start taking some action."

Click here for more from the NCBA News Release on this latest deal that China has cut with someone other than us for Beef .

The second most-used herbicide in the U.S., atrazine has been a mainstay in sorghum production for 50 years. It is safe, controls a broad range of weeds, and promotes soil-saving conservation-till agriculture. Because no product that so many are dependent upon has ever been banned, Coursey said the range is wide for suitable replacements, which have a variety of prices and application regimes.

"If atrazine is banned producers would also lose propazine, which is another important triazine herbicide for sorghum," said Gerald Simonsen, chairman of the National Sorghum Producers and sorghum grower in Ruskin, Neb. "Because there are fewer alternative herbicides available for sorghum, taking atrazine off the market would have a dramatic and costly impact on the U.S. sorghum industry."

EPA has reviewed nearly 6,000 studies before re-registering atrazine. In 2006, EPA finished an unprecedented 12-year review that found atrazine to be no threat to health or safety when used appropriately. However, in late 2009, EPA announced an additional, unplanned review of atrazine, citing a New York Times article that described claims from an anti-atrazine group. It was the first time in history EPA initiated a review process without citing sound science.
"Atrazine remains the most important herbicide used by sorghum farmers," said Tim Lust, NSP CEO. "The results from this study further confirm what we have always known to be true about atrazine."

Click here for the webpage where you can get the full report in PDF format.

"If we could get every farmer in this country to 85 percent revenue insurance that is affordable, we would go a long way in filling the holes of the current safety net," she said. "I know my rice farmers are working toward this goal, and I suspect farmers from other states are doing the same thing." Other lawmakers at the hearing applauded her words, but expanding coverage will prove more difficult if the USDA slashes funding. "[W]e remain concerned that the $6 billion in proposed cuts over the next ten years to the program reflected in the third draft of the SRA will severely constrain the CBO baseline for the farm bill," Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and others wrote in Friday's letter to the USDA. The letter noted additional objections to the latest draft of Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA), which the USDA released on June 10.

In addition to Lincoln and Chambliss, signers of the bipartisan letter include: Senators Sam Brownback (R-Kan.); Richard Burr (R-N.C.); Robert Casey (D-Pa.); Thad Cochran (R-Miss.); Mike Crapo (R-Idaho); Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); Charles Grassley (R-Iowa); James Inhofe (R-Okla.); Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); Ben Nelson (D-Neb.); Mark Pryor (D-Ark.); Jim Risch (R-Idaho); Pat Roberts (R-Kan.); and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Click here for more on this letter sent to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack on Crop Insurance

The James Beard Foundation hosts a variety of events with the intentions of educating, inspiring, entertaining and fostering appreciation for American cuisine. Dunham will be featured during a dinner event on July 15. "We are honored and humbled to be representing the Ranchers Club, the Atherton Hotel, the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration, the College of Human Environmental Sciences and OSU," Dunham said. "My team has been working diligently and passionately for the past two years to improve what we do here. This is a testament to them and their work."

"The event in New York is open to the public and OSU has tickets available," said David Davis, clinical instructor and general manager of the Atherton Hotel and Ranchers Club. "We are pleased to offer the tickets to the Beard House event as scholarship contributions." For more information about tickets for the July 15 dinner at Beard House, contact Jason Roberts at 405-744-7189.

Click here for more on this OSU Invasion of the Big Apple in the coming week.

Short version is that they met with a pair of doctors- who have looked at the MRIs and have decided that the cancer is growing again- and they have recommended another surgery of the head to remove as much of the tumor as they can.

They usually move fast when those kind of decisions are made at this world renowned cancer center- and they are for Jeff as they have scheduled him for surgery next Tuesday.
We have a LINK below of the Care Pages that Karen has been using to let people know of Jeff's situation. Posting on that site is one way to let them know you are thinking or praying for them- which means a whole lot to this family that has shown so much faith since this saga began last September.
Jeff Krehbiel is well known in the wheat industry in the US- having served on several committees within the National Association of Wheat Growers, is a Past president of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers and is currently a member of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission.

Click here for the Care Pages where you can sign up for updates on Jeff Krehbiel.

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. CASH CATTLE TRADE happened on Wednesday at mostly $92.50- details are here.