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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday August 10, 2010
A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Big Iron
OnLine Auctions!
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-- Congressman Lucas Wonders if White House Can Push Through Ag
Disaster Request of Blanche Lincoln
-- Heat and Hoppers Hurt
-- Conservation Stewardship Program A Hit with Oklahoma
Landowners
-- Oklahoma Summer Grazing Issues and Winter Grazing Prospects
-- Bar S Foods, with Four Oklahoma Facilities, Sold to Mexican
Company
-- National Animal ID Rules Starting to Gel
-- Gearing Up for This Week's Big Iron Sale
-- 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 welcome Big Iron Unreserved Online Auctions as our newest sponsor of the daily Email. Their next auction is Wednesday, August 11- featuring Low Hour, Farmer Owned Equipment. Click here for their website to learn more about their Online Farm Equipment Auctions. 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. | |
Congressman Lucas Wonders if White House Can Push Through Ag Disaster Request of Blanche Lincoln ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As we reported
last week- The White House has promised Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln
that they can move money around and come up with $1.5 billion in disaster
aid that will include 210 million dollars for Arkansas farmers- money that
could arrive just days ahead of the November general elections.
Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas, the ranking minority member of the House Ag Committee, says that he agrees with the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Colin Peterson of Minnesota, that there is no way for them administratively to move this amount of money around within USDA without major problems. He calls it a reaction to Senator Lincoln in dire need of help to win reelection this fall in Arkansas. At the same time, he adds that if the White House forces this through- it will provide some much needed help for Oklahoma farmers because of a variety of weather related disasters from the last couple of years. We talk about this and several other subjects with the Congressman- click on the LINK below to jump over to the audio conversation we had with Congressman Lucas as he was headed to one of his Town Hall meetings on Monday. Click here for our visit with the top Republican of the House Ag Committee- Congressman Frank Lucas | |
Heat and Hoppers Hurt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to
the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update- The week began with heat
advisories across the state and the high temperatures for the week
occurring on Monday. Triple digit temperatures continued most of the week
as did the heat advisories and excessive heat warnings. The average high
temperatures for the week for all nine districts ranged from 97 to 100
degrees with heat indices much higher. As the heat continued so did the
need for rainfall with the state averaging only 0.38 inches of rain. The
highest rainfall for the state was 0.84 inches in the Southeast district.
Field crops and pastures were starting to show signs of stress as a result
of the hot and dry weather while grasshopper infestations further depleted
available pasture. Topsoil and subsoil conditions were rated mostly in the
adequate to short range. Topsoil rated very short increased by 13 points
to 21 percent while 11 percent of subsoil was rated very short, up three
points from the previous week. There were 6.5 days suitable for field
work.
Looking at our spring planted crops- "Despite the extreme heat and lack of precipitation most of the state's row crops were rated in the good to fair range. Ninety-two percent of corn reached the dough stage by week's end, 12 points ahead of the five-year average. Corn dented reached 65 percent complete, 21 points up from the previous week, while 19 percent of corn had matured. Sorghum headed reached 73 percent complete, 28 points ahead of the five-year average. Sorghum coloring reached 21 percent complete, six points ahead of normal. Soybeans in the blooming stage were at 75 percent by week's end, a ten point increase from the week earlier, and seven points ahead of the five-year average. Soybeans setting pods reached 36 percent complete, a ten point increase from the week prior, but four points behind the five-year average. Peanuts pegging reached 93 percent complete by week's end, and 55 percent of the plants were setting pods, 12 points below normal. Cotton squaring was virtually complete by Sunday, nine points ahead of the five-year average. Sixty-six percent of the cotton crop was setting bolls by week's end, 15 points ahead of normal." Nationally, the latest Crop Progress Report shows the corn and soybean crop ratings are pretty well unchanged from a week ago- cotton crop conditions slipped by one percentage point compared to last week and the milo crop ratings slipped the most- falling three percentage points from last week. Pasture conditions also fell by three percentage points this week- now at 57% in good to excellent condition compared to 60% at this point last week. It appears Nebraska's pasture ratings are the best inthe US- with 91% of their pastures rated good to excellent, while Virginia is suffering the most with a 67% poor to very poor rating. Click here for the complete Oklahoma Crop Weather Update- as issued by NASS on Monday afternoon. | |
Conservation Stewardship Program A Hit with Oklahoma Landowners ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new federal
conservation program designed to reward producers based on their
management of the natural resources on their land has proven popular with
Oklahoma landowners according to Trey Lam, president of the Oklahoma
Association of Conservation Districts.
"If the numbers of applications for a program and the total acres enrolled are any indication of support, Oklahoma landowners have embraced the new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)," Lam said. "Our state not only was among the top in the nation in applications for CSP, but we are also among the top states in the total number of acres enrolled in this new initiative. When you consider that CSP is a new program that approaches both farm support and conservation policy from a different perspective, I think that speaks volumes for the interest for this type of program among Oklahoma farmers and ranchers." Oklahoma ranks seventh in the nation for the new Conservation Stewardship Program, both in contracts signed and dollars committed during the first ranking period, according to information on the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service website. Of nearly $145 million obligated in 10,630 contracts nationwide, $7,531,213 are obligated in 462 contracts in Oklahoma. Nearly 550,000 acres were contracted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) with producers qualifying for, on average, $17.67 per acre. Read more about Oklahoma's buy in on the CSP program in the 2010 signup. | |
Oklahoma Summer Grazing Issues and Winter Grazing Prospects ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OSU Livestock
Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel offers his thoughts about pasture- now
and later. "A string of 100 degree days in August have proven once again
how quickly Oklahoma summer can reduce an unusually wet July to typically
dry late summer conditions. The good news is that ample moisture in the
first half of the year have resulted in abundant forage production for
grazing and hay. For most producers, the management challenges for the
remainder of summer are not a lack of forage quantity but the rapidly
deteriorating forage quality. The same is true in other regions as
generally abundant forage quantity is losing quality rapidly with
widespread heat across much of the southern half of the country. The other
good news is that while forage is drying out rapidly, there are no
widespread drought conditions anywhere in the country according to any of
the broad based drought measures. At this late date, emerging drought
conditions are likely to be short lived going into the fall. Of course
there is no guarantee of fall moisture!
"All of this raises questions of how it might impact the timing of both cattle marketings and demand in the fall. For cow-calf producers the situation is still probably better than average in terms of forage availability and I don't see current conditions leading to the need to wean and sell calves (or cull cows) earlier than usual. Summer stockers likewise have forage available but will see typical late summer decreases in performance unless strategic protein supplement is offered. A crucial question arises about the intentions of wheat stocker producers this fall. Mother Nature will determine how early wheat can be planted based on moisture and soil temperature. Assuming that the possibility exists, how interested are wheat producers are in pursing early grazing? The wheat market is currently very volatile and could lead to more interest in wheat grain. There are some tradeoffs in early planted wheat in which grazing value that must be evaluated against grain yield reduction and increased risk of weed problems that result in steeper foreign matter and dockage discounts. "On the cattle side, strong stocker demand, especially early in the fall, could make stocker calves pricey relative to the budget realities. In the big picture, the 2010 calf crop is down another 1.2 percent from last year. Moreover, the estimated feeder supply on July 1 was down 2.6 percent year over year, on the heels of large feedlot placements in May and June. The bottom line is that stocker numbers will be tight in the second half of the year and could get even tighter if corn prices are low enough to keep feedlots aggressively placing cattle this fall. Stocker producers want to avoid chasing stocker cattle at prices they may not be able to live with come sale time. Paying too much for the stocker calves, in effect, makes the wheat pasture actually worth less than originally anticipated." | |
Bar S Foods, with Four Oklahoma Facilities, Sold to Mexican Company ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mexican
industrial and food processing conglomerate Alfa SAB said Monday it has
acquired U.S. meat packer Bar-S Foods Co. for an undisclosed amount. The
purchase of Bar-S Foods, which had sales of $535 million last year and
employs 1,600 people, was done through the U.S. subsidiary of Alfa's food
processing unit Sigma, the company said in a filing with the Mexican Stock
Exchange.
Bar-S Foods is a privately held company that processes and markets processed meats throughout the United States. The company operates three production plants and one distribution center in Oklahoma. Its product line includes franks, lunchmeats, bacon, dinner sausages and corn dogs, all sold under the Bar-S brand. The locations in Oklahoma include production plants in Altus, Clinton and Lawton- and a Distribution center in Elk City. Bar-S Foods Co. began operations in 1981 following the acquisition of facilities, brand names, and other assets of the Cudahy Company- so they have a pedigree that stretches back to one of the historic old line companies in the meat packing business. Click here for the Bar S website and more details about the company's operation. | |
National Animal ID Rules Starting to Gel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National
Animal Identification System - begun in 2004 - aimed to pinpoint an
animal's location within 48 hours of a disease being discovered. But the
voluntary program got less than a 40-percent participation rate among
farmers and ranchers and was discontinued by USDA. Now Federal officials
are drafting regulations that would require farmers to identify animals
that move across state lines. The aim is to make it easier for officials
to trace brucellosis, tuberculosis and other diseases to a particular
group of animals, location and time. The new rules are expected to be
implemented in 2013.
Under the proposal - states will have authority to decide how to track livestock moving within their own borders - but they will be accountable to the federal government for the system they choose. David Morris of USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says accountability standards would be created to make sure the state systems are working. The aim is to make the regulations flexible - but also to develop and maintain standards. Besides dealing only in interstate commerce - the new federal regulation would also require animals to have a certificate of health from a veterinarian - with some yet-undefined exceptions. Official animal identification tags could come from three places: the National Uniform Ear Tagging System utilized by programs such as brucellosis prevention; the 15-digit international standard numbering system; or a numbering system compatible with USDA's National Scrapie Eradication Program for sheep and goats. | |
Gearing Up for This Week's Big Iron Sale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tomorrow,
Wednesday August 11 is the next Big Iron online equipment auction. The Big
Iron August 11th unreserved auction will feature 217 items
including:- 2008 John Deere 9770 STS Combine - low hour machine - John Deere 7800 Tractor - 2004 John Deere 1890, 1910 No-Till Air Seeder (36') - 2008 Mahindra 3215 4WD Compact Tractor, 123 Hours Showing, - 2006 Delta 24X6 Horse Trailer - 2006 Ford Explorer, 55428 Miles, 4.6 Liter V8 Gas Engine, Eddie Bauer Edition, 4X4 Oklahoma area listings from the last Big Iron auction
included: As always this auction is only online and is unreserved so the highest bidder is the new owner! The auction begins to close out at 10am on Wednesday the 11th. Check out all the listings on the LINK to Big Iron below and register to bid today. | |
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 $8.40 per
bushel, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are
$8.45 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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