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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The drama was provided by the current Lt. Governor and the current Attorney General as Jari Askins defeated Drew Edmondson by less than 1500 votes in the Democratic primary, setting the stage for an Askins versus Fallin contest for this fall. It's safe to say that many in agriculture are pleased to see the current AG fail to win the party's nomination, as animal agriculture has been at odds with Edmondson over his lawsuit against the poultry industry in northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas- seeing that as a power and money grab with little regard for trying to improve water quality in the Illinois River watershed.

A word about these ladies- both have had excellent relations with farmers and ranchers across the state. It appears that the strategy of being everywhere- and especially at every farm, ranch and rural gathering you can think of- paid off for Askins. One of our computers last night was set up to watch Twitter- and the Askins team tweeted out county after county that Askins won over Edmondson. Some of those counties were outside the major metros and where the political consultants say that candidates need to pay attention to- but the Lt. Governor needed every vote she got in those rural counties to offset Edmondson- especially in Tulsa. The lesson to be learned by those in statewide races- ignore rural Oklahoma and you put your political wellbeing in harm's way!

Likewise- Mary Fallin is well known in the farm community because of her time as Lt. Governor. She, like Askins, understands the importance of agriculture in the state, and has worked well in recent years with farm groups on several issues in Washington, most notably the truck weight issue that OFB, AFR and OCA all have emphasized as an issue that needs to be addressed by Federal lawmakers.

Click on the LINK below for a single page recap of those state races- including those in the state house and senate. One state Senate race that will be of interest to those in the cattle industry- former President of the Osage County Cattlemen's Association Eddie Fields, who has been serving in the State House, is making a bid to become a State Senator, winning the Republican nomination in State Senate District 10 last night.

Click here for more on the State Races from the Oklahoma Primary of Tuesday evening.

"On Monday evening, July 26, we received the independent accountant's final report. We are committed to achieving accuracy in this report. Responsible use of the producer dollars and ensuring the financial firewall are critical. Where mistakes were made, we will correct them.
"A compliance review has been conducted every year of NCBA's 14-year existence. There has been a transparent as well as full reconciliation of expenses when warranted. Every time there is a review, there are lessons, and we consider those an opportunity to fine-tune our processes going forward.
"We agree with CBB's accounting firm, Clifton Gunderson LLP, and with CBB that written and specific guidelines are needed for all checkoff contractors. The accountant's inability to determine compliance on select items does not mean non-compliance. Rather, it is an indication that written guidelines are needed to achieve compliance.

"NCBA understands the importance of compliance with the financial firewall and accepts this responsibility without question. It's for this reason we keep separate bank accounts and our accounting and time keeping procedures are in accordance with and even exceed most industries' standards. We have more than 8,000 different coding options for accurately assigning time and expenses. We strive for accuracy and will continue to seek clarity on guidelines to ensure compliance."
There's more to the statement- and we invite you to jump to our website for balance of their comments- in which they do say they will be addressing a lot of the specifics this week in Denver at the Summer Cattle Industry Conference.

Click here for the rest of the NCBA statement regarding the handling of Beef Checkoff Monies.

The allegations mentioned above came from the American Soybean Association- and Bradshaw says USB is ready to put the differences between the two groups behind them and move forward in promoting US soybeans. The report indicates that during interviews - some ASA members even said they did not have any documentary evidence that USB was engaged in inappropriate activities.

Click on the LINK below to read the news release issued by the United Soybean Board, which includes a link to the full OIG report that is being referenced.

Click here for more on the review of the Soybean Checkoff that has been conducted by USDA.

On this past Saturday, a 30 foot breach opened at the top the Lake Delhi dam in Iowa. Disaster management officials evacuated some 1,200 people from below the structure after the dam began to fail. By Saturday afternoon, chunks of a two-lane county highway were breaking off in 15- and 30-foot blocks and washing away. Within minutes the lake was empty.
According to Lam, this tragedy should give Oklahoman's a stark reminder of why the continued support by the state and federal government for conservation is so important.

Lam and other conservation officials worry that if the state of Oklahoma has to make more major cuts in spending in Fiscal Year 2012- it may mean fewer conservation professionals that can help make sure disasters like the one in Iowa does not occur in Oklahoma. "It is imperative that our policy makers continue to support conservation work in Oklahoma, that includes continued funding from the state," Lam said. "We understand the need to cut funding this last year to help balance the state's budget during a crisis. We have to remember, however, that if this trend continues, we may face a situation where we won't be able to maintain the work force necessary to ensure the safety of our flood control dams, let alone continue all the other work we do to protect our state's water quality, conserve our soil and help protect our wildlife habitats. We have to make sure this doesn't happen not only if we want to protect our natural resources, but also if we want to insure the protection of the lives and property of all Oklahomans. This disaster in Iowa should drive that point home."

The discussion portion will include fish species identification and proper stocking rates in farm ponds and aquatic plant identification and control of aquatic vegetation. The group will tour several area ponds to demonstrate seining and talk about different pond inventory methods.

NRCS District Conservationist Russell Peterson says, "Most people don't have a farm pond just for fishing. The primary purpose of ponds in Noble County is usually for cattle or irrigation purposes. Properly managing a pond helps water quality no matter what the use is."

Click here for more details of this Pond Workshop planned for tomorrow in Perry.

Senator Chambliss says - mandatory reporting has proven to be a valuable tool for the livestock industry. Senator Lincoln says - Congress needs to act and approve this legislation quickly in order to maintain transparency and certainty in our livestock markets. This bill will guarantee transparency of the livestock marketing sector and help improve producers' ability to access fair market prices.

Senator Chuck Grassley is speaking out in response to the bill. Grassley said, - it's imperative that this law be extended before it expires or it's likely the packer interests will be playing loose with the numbers and independent producers will be left in the cold. Grassley added - transparency in the market place is critical for fair and accurate reporting.
Organizations in support of the legislation include American Farm Bureau Federation, American Meat Institute, American Sheep Industry Association, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, National Farmers Union, National Pork Producers Council, National Meat Association and the United States Cattleman's Association.

"This continued growth is a strong testament for our 'Right Product Right Acre' strategy," said Paul Schickler, president - Pioneer Hi-Bred. "Our focus on addressing individual grower needs is paying off." With its "Right Product Right Acre" strategy, Pioneer works with customers to match the best seed with their specific needs through a wide selection of innovative product choices and differentiated service before and after the sale. Its success has been building and is the result of a multiyear investment not only in research and development but also in the Pioneer sales force who can serve farmers locally.

Read more on this story by clicking on the LINK below.

Click here for more on the DuPont- Pioneer increase in market share for seed in several key crops.

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.