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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!
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.
Our
Oklahoma Farm Report Team!!!!
Ron Hays,
Director of Farm Programming and Senior Editor and Writer
Carson Horn,
Associate Farm Director and Email Editor
Pam Arterburn,
Calendar and Template Manager
Dave Lanning,
Markets and Production
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Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News
Presented by
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news
update.
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 Featured
Story:
Beef Checkoff Successfully Targets Millennials
With Digital Marketing
One of the priorities of the Beef Checkoff is to use
funds for the purpose of advertising to a younger generation the
positive benefits of beef through the use of digital marketing.
Executive Director of the Oklahoma Beef Council, Heather Buckmaster,
says, "We feel like this digital marketing approach to
highlighting and targeting that millennial generation born between
1980-2000 is really where we need to be with your beef check-off
dollars."
This digital marketing approach is producing significant numbers in
regards to how many people it is reaching. Buckmaster shares that the beefitswhatsfordinner.com website
has received 5.7 million page views over the past year. "People
were coming to our website, they were spending time on it, and we
were providing them with the appropriate content that they were
looking for." The website also offers recipes featuring beef
that received over 1 million views. "The other thing we've done
that has been really unique for us is on YouTube we have some great
videos and last year we had over 23 million views on those
videos." The Beef Checkoff also boasts an impressive Facebook
page with over 900,000 fans.
Buckmaster says the Oklahoma Beef Council will also be taking part in
a five state campaign this summer. This campaign targets five states
including California, Florida, New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.
"If you look at this group it represents 33% of U.S. population,
104 million people", she says. "One of the reasons that we
do this in Oklahoma is because we recognize as a board of directors
that we only represent about 1.2% of the U.S. popluation so we really
want to be apart of helping to drive our check-off dollars into those
areas that they will make the most difference."
"As we look forward into the future with this kind of campaign,
I think we just get better and better. We find more ways to target
the consumer, we have greater learnings."
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Sponsor Spotlight
The presenting
sponsor of our daily email is the Oklahoma Farm Bureau - a
grassroots organization that has for its Mission Statement- Improving
the Lives of Rural Oklahomans." Farm Bureau, as the
state's largest general farm organization, is active at the State
Capitol fighting for the best interests of its members and working
with other groups to make certain that the interests of rural
Oklahoma are protected. Click here for their
website to learn more about the organization and how it can benefit
you to be a part of Farm Bureau.
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Oklahoma Land
Commissioners Provide Record Distribution to State Schools
The
Commissioners of the Land Office (CLO) announced Friday it made a
record distribution to Oklahoma's public schools during the 2016
fiscal year, which ended June 30.
K-12 public schools received a total of $102.2 million, which
surpasses the 2015 fiscal year total by $5 million. That set an
all-time annual high for the CLO.
Higher education beneficiaries received $700,000 more in the 2016
fiscal year than a year ago.
Total funds distributed to common and higher education by the CLO
equaled $134.4 million.
Harry Birdwell,
secretary of the CLO, announced the news to commissioners earlier
this week.
"Given all the negative factors in our state and national
economies, these results are timely and encouraging," Birdwell
said. "With lower oil and gas prices, reduced interest in
mineral leasing, lower agriculture commodity prices, low interest
rates, and volatile stock prices, the results would not be expected
to be positive. However, the commissioners and the agency staff have
successfully grown our trust funds, diversified our investment
portfolio, and converted land and mineral assets to higher use over
the last several years. Since Governor
Fallin was elected, our trust funds have grown by
$650 million."
Click
here to read more about the CLO distribution.
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Producers Urged to Guard
Herd From Heat Stress This Summer
Most areas of Oklahoma experience 70 or more days each
year with temperatures that exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit, providing
ample reason for cattle producers to guard against heat stress in
their herds.
Earl Ward,
Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Northeast District
livestock specialist, reminds producers that cattle's upper critical
temperature is not based off of the ambient temperature alone but
also the humidity and evaporation rate.
"Humidity is an additional stress that intensifies ambient
temperature problems by making body heat dissipation more
difficult," he said. "In other words, it can be tough to
cool off in Oklahoma during the summer, for people and cattle."
High humidity contributes to the likelihood of heat stroke or
prostration because water evaporation from the oral and nasal
cavities is decreased, in spite of rapid panting, a heat regulatory
device in cattle.
"Although cattle sweat, the primary mechanism they have to remove
internal heat is by panting to increase evapotranspiration, which is
accomplished much more efficiently in low humidity
environments," Ward said.
Click
here to learn more about the signs and effects of heat stress in
cattle.
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Oklahoma Flood Control
Network Continues to Function Despite Hard Conditions in 2015
Oklahoma's
flood control network of 2,107 small watershed dams continues to
function despite heavy rains and damage to many structures sustained
during the spring of 2015.
Flood control dams prevented an estimated $33.9 and $15.7 million in
flood damage in the months of April and May respectively according to
the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Water Resources
Office in Oklahoma. Prevented damage is an estimate of damage that
would have occurred were the dams not in place. The calculation does
not include potential loss of economic activity such as a result of
closed businesses or washed out roads. It also does not place a
dollar value on potential loss of life.
In total, flood control dams in Oklahoma have prevented an estimated
$64.3 million in damage through May. On average, the dams prevent $91
million in damage annually and prevented $280 million in damage in
2015.
Click
here to learn more about the value that flood control dams have
provided to Oklahomans.
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Sponsor
Spotlight
We are happy to
have the Oklahoma
Cattlemen's Association as a part of our great lineup
of email sponsors. They do a tremendous job of representing cattle
producers at the state capitol as well as in our nation's capitol.
They seek to educate OCA members on the latest production techniques
for maximum profitability and to communicate with the public on
issues of importance to the beef industry. Click here for
their website to learn more about the OCA.
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Making
More With Less - MU's Jerry Taylor Discusses Feed Efficiency
Research
Feed efficiency is an important factor in the
profitability and sustainability of the beef cattle industry, and Dr. Jerry Taylor,
professor of genetics and animal sciences at the University of
Missouri, is leading a project that looks at producing more beef with
fewer feed inputs.
The National Program for Genetic Improvement of Feed
Efficiency in Beef Cattle is funded by the USDA and looks at genetic
improvement, nutritional manipulation of the diet and metagenomics in
cattle. Metagenomics specifically looks at the efficiencies and
inefficiencies of the different microbes in an animal's rumen.
Taylor says his team's research is also looking at the
relationship between increased feed efficiency and decreased
greenhouse gas emissions in cattle.
"There was less output from these animals and so
less impact on global warming and the environment," he says.
"So from everywhere you want to look at feed efficiency, it's
important.
"It's important to the cost of production, the
profitability of producers and it's also important to us as a
community because of the impact on greenhouse gases on the
environment."
Dr.
Taylor is featured on the Beef Buzz- click
here to read more and hear his comments about this research
project.
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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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Alpha the Bull- Can a
Clone Change the Way We Produce Beef?
Scientists at West
Texas A&M University announced last week the
results of a collaborative research project on cattle cloning and
beef efficiency that has been in the works since 2012. Researchers
successfully cloned a bull (Alpha) from the carcass of a steer that
graded Prime, Yield Grade 1, as well as three heifers (Gammas 1, 2
and 3) from one heifer carcass that graded the same. According to the
scientists, such a rating is only achieved by about 0.03 percent of
all beef carcasses.
Scientists bred the clones through embryo transfer, and the 13
resulting offspring are the first bovine offspring ever produced by
cattle from two cloned carcasses. The results of the study analyzed
the carcasses of seven of these offspring that were harvested. All
seven steers produced a yield grade of 1 or 2 and all had a quality
grade of Choice or higher. Collectively compared to the industry
average, the clones' offspring have 16 percent less trim fat, 9
percent more ribeye area and 45 percent more marbling.
The next step for WTAMU is to compare the Alpha bull to top AI sires
from the Angus, Simmental and Charolais breeds. They've exposed 1,300
cows and expect for the calves to be treated generically, right
through the feedyard. At that point, I guess we will see how Alpha
gets along in the real world.
To read more about the brave new cattle world that Alpha the Bull
could well be a part of- click
or tap here.
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This
Week- A Call to Action by the Corn Growers to push the
Roberts-Stabenow Bill Through
It's not just the National Corn Growers- but a whole
host of Ag Groups and others in the Food Industry are contacting
their Senators and telling them to vote in favor of the
Roberts-Stabenow GMO Labeling Compromise this week.
As we were putting the finishing touches on this
morning's email- here's what the National Corn Growers were sending
to their members:
"The National
Corn Growers Association urges all farmers to contact
their senators and ask for their support of the Roberts-Stabenow
agreement on GMO labeling. An important vote on this legislation
is scheduled for Wednesday of next week. It is imperative that
all those desiring a common-sense, federal solution to the growing
threat of a patchwork of state labeling laws act now to ensure swift
passage.
"The Roberts-Stabenow agreement brings continuity
to the marketplace, ensuring that consumers have the access to
product information they deserve without stigmatizing this safe,
proven technology valued by American farmers.
"The need for Congressional action is real and
urgent. State labeling mandates threaten to confuse consumers, drive
up costs and significantly complicate the jobs of American farmers.
- A
patchwork of differing state labeling laws, each with their own
requirements and exemptions, will increase consumer uncertainty,
not resolve it, and be unworkable for America's food producers.
- Some
food companies fearful of having to navigate a patchwork of
state mandates have already reformulated their products away
from GMO ingredients. If Congress does not act, more can be
expected to do so and farmers could lose access to a safe,
proven technology they rely on."
A cloture vote
is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon in the US Senate- assuming the
proponents of the measure get at least 60 votes- which is expected- a
final vote for passage will soon follow.
Then- the
pressure will be on the House to consider the measure before Congress
leaves town the end of next week for really much of the rest of the
summer.
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God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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Oklahoma Farm Bureau is Proud to be the
Presenting Sponsor of the Ron Hays Daily Farm and Ranch News Email
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