Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are proud to have KIS Futures as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for the free market quote page they provide us for our website or call them at 1-800-256-2555. When you call them- ask them about their brand new Iphone App which provides futures quotes for your Iphone.

We are also excited to have as one of our sponsors for the daily email Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, with 64 years of progress through producer ownership. Call Brandon Winters at 405-232-7555 for more information on the oilseed crops they handle, including sunflowers and canola- and remember they post closing market prices for canola and sunflowers on the PCOM website- go there by clicking here.

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Sanders believes that however you measure the 2010 crop- it proved to be a great year for canola. Acres were close to being doubled from 2009 to 2010, yields were excellent and Sanders tells us that producers are beginning to see the positive benefits of a canola rotation when they return a piece of ground back to wheat.
Looking ahead to the 2011 growing season, Sanders says that leaders within the industry believe that we could easily double the number of acres that will be grown to canola in Oklahoma this coming year compared to the 2010 crop. And that may be too conservative.

Click on the LINK below to jump to our interview with Heath Sanders about the 2010 Canola crop- and the prospects for 2011. AND- we have details of the 6th Annual Winter Canola Conference set for tomorrow at the Garfield County Fairgrounds in Enid.

Click here for more with Heath Sanders of PCOM as we talk ALL Things Canola.

Dr. Peel says that there was a lot of anxiety as we saw cash cattle prices slip from the May highs to the June lows in a rapid march to the downside- the same was true with wholesale beef prices. However, once we stabilized, it seems like there is enough demand to have helped turn our cash cattle prices up and keep them where closeouts allow most feedyards to make some money.

Click on the LINK below for our Monday Beef Buzz with Dr. Peel- The Beef Buzz is a feature program that is heard daily on great radio stations on the Radio Oklahoma Network- and you can check out all of our Beef Buzzes on our website- www.OklahomaFarmReport.Com- just click on the Beef Buzz button on the left hand side of any page.

Click here for the Beef Buzz with OSU's Dr. Derrell Peel

Ladd Hitch was a member of the prominent Oklahoma Panhandle family that has been involved in ranching and farming since the 1880s. He is considered to be the one who established the family feeding business. Hitch was among the first to believe that cattle feeding could succeed in the High Plains using locally produced feedstuffs rather than shipping animals out of state to be finished. From its small beginnings with a few pens in 1953, the Hitch family feeding business has grown to three separate yards with a capacity of 160,000 head. Two of his grandsons, Chris Hitch and Jason Hitch, currently head the family business, which also includes ranching, farming, a large pork operation and other interests.

Kenny Monfort is remembered for transforming his family's small farm in Colorado into a vast cattle feeding and beef-packing business. A key element of his accomplishments was his recognition of how to improve efficiencies within the industry by combining feeding with packing.

Richard McDonald, who retired from TCFA in 2006 following a 32-year career with the Association, received the Hall's new Industry Leadership Award. The honor is intended to salute the contributions of a non-cattle feeder to the industry.
McDonald joined the TCFA staff in 1974 as executive director, and in 1988 was appointed as chief executive of the association. Among his many victories on behalf of cattle feeders over the years, McDonald was instrumental in helping pass a number of tax-relief measures for cattlemen, obtaining clear title and prompt payment legislation for ag producers and worked closely with other beef organizations to develop coalitions to obtain important legislative victories in Austin and Washington, D.C.

While they have not updated and included details on the 2010 Selections- click here for the Cattle Feeders Hall of Fame Website.

The report underscores the National Cattlemen's Beef Association's position that it's time for the mature corn-based ethanol industry to stand on its own. "While we support the need to advance renewable and alternative sources of energy, an open and free market is the best driver of competition and innovation in all industries," said Kristina Butts, director of legislative affairs. "Favoring one segment of agriculture at the expense of another does not benefit agriculture as a whole or the consumers that ultimately purchase our products."

Meanwhile, the Renewable Fuel Association- an advocacy group for ethanol- says not so fast. In an email from the RFA- they report that "the RFA has fully digested the CBO report that came out on Wednesday. In that report, CBO relies on some questionable assumptions to make the tax credit for ethanol use seem wasteful. Additionally, CBO didn't provide any context in its report, such as comparing ethanol tax incentives with those that still support Big Oil's destruction of the environment." They have a response to the CBO report- which you can read by clicking here.

Click here for the CBO report on Ethanol subsidies.

An Oklahoma State University study shows reduced carcass merit for animals with lung lesions at harvest and a reduced carcass value due to fewer pounds and lower marbling scores. Cattle with active respiratory tract lesions had lower dressing percentage and marbling scores than those with inactive lesions. Equally as important, marbling score, fat thickness and hot carcass weight was reduced in cattle with any lesion as compared to cattle with no lesions. Decreased performance due to BRD can be an economic blow to producers and cattle feeders.

You can read more about the economic damage that BRD brings home to the ranch- and into the feedlot- just click on the LINK below.

Click here for more on research that shows the need to be proactive against BRD

At their recent annual conference held in Norman, the OSAE presented this award to the Executive Vice President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, Scott Dewald. This is the 18th year for the award to be given- and Dewald is the first agricultural Executive to be so honored.

Congrats to Scott for this recognition by the OSAE- an honor that reflect well on the honoree as well as on the business of agriculture here in our state.

To learn more about the OSAE- click here for their website.

Pricing saw large gains in KCBT wheat futures on Thursday, with the September contract up 33 14 cents, closing at $6.05 3/4. Contributing to the HRW wheat futures rally and record-breaking volume was declining production prospects out of Russia/Kazakhstan, which is reportedly seeing the worst drought in 130 years, KCBT traders said. Strength in French milling futures prices, as well as recent weakness in the U.S. Dollar, also added to the strength in the market.

Wheat futures volume traded thus far in July is at 311,032 contracts, which already exceeds the total of 299,156 contracts traded in all of July 2009. This active volume comes on the heels of a new all-time monthly volume record for HRW wheat futures in June, when 612,733 contracts were traded.

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.