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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Wednesday August 4,
2010 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- Federation of State Beef Councils Send Letter to Secretary Tom
Vilsack on the Future Structure of the Federation
-- Three Keys to a Better Wheat Crop in 2011- Advice from Dr. Jeff
Edwards
-- Reid Dumps Efforts to Pass Energy Bill in August- Ethanol Backers
Are Sad
-- Input Costs for Farmers Fall in 2009 for the First Time in
Decades
-- The Cattle Cycle- Not What She Used to Be
-- Next USDA, DOJ Livestock Workshop at Colorado State
-- New Class of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program in Place
-- Let's Check the Markets!
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. If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here. | |
Federation of State Beef Councils Send Letter to Secretary Tom Vilsack on the Future Structure of the Federation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Federation
of State Beef Councils have gone on record in their desire to keep their
ties with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association while becoming more
independent of the NCBA and their policy division. The Federation adopted
a resolution at their recent Summer Cattle Industry Conference in Denver.
The Federation has also drafted a letter that has been sent to Secretary
of Agriculture Tom Vilsack that includes a copy of the resolution- and
stating that they intend to offer him specifics soon that will detail the
Federation plan to seek independence from NCBA without severing ties that
could hurt the efforts to execute national and state programs to promote
beef in coordination with one another.
The letter to Vilsack also asked that "the voice of the Federation be
heard and honored accordingly." This most recent debate over where the Federation of State Beef Councils should be housed began when the NCBA started their review of their governance- and they had proposed an even closer relationship of the Federation under their umbrella, without changing the financial firewall which they say has been and is adequate. Groups outside the circle that NCBA has drawn around itself (inside the circle is the Federation as well as their Policy arm) have cried foul- saying that their members pay checkoff dollars as well- and that too cozy of a relationship between NCBA and the Federation is a bad deal for the majority of cattle producers that are outside the circle. Several groups wrote Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack asking him to weigh in- the Cattlemen's Beef Board's Executive Committee voted to call for complete separation of the entities- and the full Beef Board rejected that move by their officers- reversing that call for separation. Through all of this- nothing has been heard from the Federation until this past week when they gathered in Denver. Now, they are on the record to stay in a relationship to utilize checkoff money- but keep the independence as to how they will spend their portion of the checkoff they commit to spend in a common pot of money with the State Beef Councils that choose to participate. | |
Three Keys to a Better Wheat Crop in 2011- Advice from Dr. Jeff Edwards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Within the
next month, some wheat producers will begin putting the 2011 wheat crop
into the ground. Many of the early fields that will be planted are
destined to be grazed by cattle- and might be grazed out next spring
depending on the plans of the owner/operator of the property. But, if
wheat prices should happen to stay high through the winter, it would
encourage a lot of people to pull those cattle and shoot for a grain
harvest as well.
OSU Extension wheat specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards was one of those speaking at the Tuesday Bayer Crop Science Oklahoma Innovations meeting- and he told those gathered that he sees three key things that wheat producers need to be doing now to be ready for the planting season. Those keys include selecting one or more of the newer varieties of wheat available in the southern plains- and definitely get away from Jagger and Jagalene. Edwards says that if your variety has been around longer than four or five years- it will pay you to make a change to newer varieties like Duster or Billings from OSU- or perhaps Jackpot from Agri-Pro. Second, plan on how to stop or minimize weed problems as the crop grows and finally, take time now to get a good soil test for all of your fields- and follow the recommendations of fertilizing for at least an average crop. | |
Reid Dumps Efforts to Pass Energy Bill in August- Ethanol Backers Are Sad ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National Corn
Growers Association First Vice President Bart Schott released the
following statement regarding Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's
announcement that the Senate will not consider energy legislation before
the Senate adjourns this week for its August recess:
"NCGA is disappointed that the Senate will not consider an energy package until at least September. However, we are hopeful this will allow for future discussions on how ethanol can contribute to our nation's energy policy and our energy security in a broader energy package. NCGA urges Congress to include an extension of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit as they consider energy legislation when they return in the fall. "The U.S. ethanol industry supports nearly 400,000 Americans across the
nation. In the past year alone, ethanol added more than $50 billion to the
national Gross Domestic Product and displaced the need for more than 360
million barrels of imported oil, valued at $16 billion. This is one of
many reasons Congress should extend VEETC which is set to expire at the
end of 2010. If VEETC is allowed to expire, it will result in a 38 percent
reduction in ethanol production volume. | |
Input Costs for Farmers Fall in 2009 for the First Time in Decades ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to
the Farm Production Expenditures 2009 summary released by USDA's National
Agricultural Statistics Service Tuesday - U.S. farm production expenses
decreased by almost 20-billion dollars last year for the first time in
nearly 25 years. A main contributing factor to the decrease in overall
expenses was the fall of petroleum prices - which led to lower fuel,
fertilizer and ag chemicals costs. The report shows farmers and ranchers
spent 12.4-billion dollars - 22.5-percent less than in 2008 - on fuels
last year.
All major categories in farm expenses decreased - including average feed costs, costs for farm services and costs for fertilizer, lime and soil conditioners. The estimates in the summary are based on results of the nationwide Agricultural Resource Management Survey - which is done every year by NASS. Click on the LINK below for the full report from the NASS section of the USDA website. Click here for the complete report from USDA issued on Tuesday. | |
The Cattle Cycle- Not What She Used to Be ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The so called
"cattle cycle" used to be a major factor in the rise and fall of cattle
prices and profitability in the beef cattle business. But, starting in the
mid to late 1990s, it has gradually become less of a factor in determining
where the fortunes of cattle producers are headed.
We talk about the impact of the cattle cycle today with Dr. Jim Robb, now with Co-Bank out of Denver. Robb believes that we are still seeing the cycle- although many other outside influences have acted as shock factors that have shaped demand and dictated price and profit potential for cattle producers. We explore that as we wrap up our conversation with Jim Robb on our mid week Beef Buzz- click here for this Beef Buzz with Dr. Jim Robb. We didn't include the Beef Buzz in yesterday's email- but you can click here to catch it as well- that was the second of three parts with Jim Robb as we discussed beef demand thus far in 2010 | |
Next USDA, DOJ Livestock Workshop at Colorado State ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The
Agriculture Department and Justice Department announced earlier this week
details for their next public workshop - this one in Fort Collins,
Colorado on the 27th of August. The workshops were designed to promote
dialogue among those interested and foster learning in regard to
agriculture competition and regulatory issues. The upcoming workshop will
focus on examining competition in the livestock industry.
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will begin the workshop and participate in a roundtable discussion with Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Christine Varney. Those attending the workshop will be able to give public testimony and panels will feature ranchers, academics, processors and other industry representatives. We will be in Ft. Collins and will be covering this workshop and the preliminary events of the night before that several groups are planning. One group that is making big plans to use the workshop as a focal point
to achieve their goal of getting the GIPSA Marketing Rules implemented
intact is R-Calf USA. "This historic opportunity is unprecedented because
the invitation extended to all of Rural America is not for the purpose of
exploring whether there has been a loss of competition in the U.S. cattle
industry, but instead these two Cabinet members will hold this workshop to
help them determine if it is the will of Rural Americans that immediate,
aggressive action be taken to restore competition to the U.S. cattle
industry - a cornerstone of Rural America's economic well-being," said
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. Click here to register for the workshop in Ft. Collins on August 27 | |
New Class of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program in Place ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Class XV of
the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Program has been selected. The number
of applications were down slightly but the quality of individuals is still
high. During Seminar 1 in Stillwater, there will be a Welcome Dinner for
the new class. It will be held on Wednesday August 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the
Wes Watkins Center Exhibit Hall at OSU. If you would like to attend to
support these rising leaders, please contact Kelly Vierling in the OALP
office at 405-744-5132 with your reservation by Wednesday August 11.
Ag and rural leaders that have been selected for the 15th class of the
OALP include: Orlin Nichols Jr., Beggs | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers, KIS Futures and Big Iron Online Auctions for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis- FREE! 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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We've had
requests to include Canola prices for your convenience here- and we will
be doing so on a regular basis. Current cash price for Canola is $8.25 per
bushel- as of the close of trade on Tuesday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $8.25 per bushel- delivered to
local participating elevators that are working with PCOM.
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: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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