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!

It is also great to have as an annual sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. W.B. Johnston is welcoming all fall crops this harvest. They have space to store your grain, and they look forward to serving you!! For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website that features their grain, ports and seed business!

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Actual production can deviate substantially from the August forecasts - but those forecasts provide important benchmarks for judging the eventual crop size. Darrel Good - Ag Economist at the University of Illinois - says Thursday's numbers are starting points from which the market evaluates the impact of subsequent weather and crop developments.

Good says the new corn forecast takes on additional importance this year. Inventories of old crop corn are expected to be relatively small - and demand for U.S. corn during the 2010-2011 market year is expected to be strong. For soybeans - Good says the size of the 2010 U.S. crop may have slightly less importance as South American producers will have an opportunity to adjust their planting decisions to the likely size of the U.S. crop.

Looking at what the USDA numbers may tell us about the 2010 cotton crop, Doane Ag Services reports "Pre-report estimates were released Tuesday and showed the average of analysts' production estimates at 18.62 million bales, up from 18.30 million in the July report. Exports were pegged at 14.41 million bales, up from 14.30 million in July, leaving stocks 330,000 million bales higher at 3.83 million. Despite these bearish numbers, investors continue to buy cotton. However, prices are much higher than current fundamentals indicate it should be, and if we encounter demand problems, if supply turns out to be excessive, or if investors just decide to sell all of a sudden we will likely see a fast retreat from these levels."

The folks at Johnston Grain have commentary on their website- click here to jump to their site and that analysis from Alan Brugler.

USMEF Chairman Jim Peterson says it's an important development for those advocating free trade - as the decision upholds the spirit and intent of NAFTA. Peterson is confident the market's performance will get better due to elimination of the duties. He says the resolution levels the playing field for all U.S. products entering Mexico and helps the U.S. regain momentum in its number one export market. Peterson points out that foreign markets are critical to the bottom line for cattle producers right now - so the resolution comes as very welcome news.

Click here to read more about the resolution of this long standing barrier for US beef into Mexico

Since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency has interpreted the act to exclude lawful pesticide applications regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) from National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. However, in January 2009, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that longstanding practice in The National Cotton Council of America, et al., v. United States Environmental Protection Agency. The court ruled the EPA did not have the authority under the CWA to exempt application of pesticides. Last year, Rep. Lucas joined several of his colleagues and supported a petition to the Supreme Court to hear the case, but the petition was rejected.
Ranking Member Lucas' bill would make clear that producers who are in compliance with the requirements of FIFRA do not need to obtain Clean Water Act permits.

This is companion legislation to the Senate measure unveiled last Friday in the Senate by Saxby Chambliss and Blanche Lincoln. Click on the LINK below to read more about the House measure- plus we have comments from Congressman Lucas on the battle to counteract this disruptive court ruling that could prove to be devastating to US agriculture.

Click here for more on the House bill introduced by Lucas and others on Pesticide Regs

Arnall tells us that wheat producers should consider making two applications of fertilizer- a preplant application early on and then a topdress as the crop begins to grow in the late winter/early spring to provide that shot of nitrogen when the wheat crop can use it to make protein in the grain.

He also preaches that right now you should be soil testing to know exactly what the nutritional needs are of every field you farm. For the 2011 winter wheat and winter canola crop- he says that this is essential. He adds that as you plant your crop- you should also consider doing nitrogen enriched strips to help you know exactly what is needed at that location for a topdress application early in the new year.

We also discussed liming fields and the longer term benefits that will bring in. A higher pH can help with nutrient utilization- as well as with the elongation of the time that some of our key herbicides- especially the Sulfonylurea class of chemicals. Click on the LINK below to jump to our web story- complete with a great interview with one of the rising stars in the OSU Division of Agriculture- Brian Arnall.

Click here to read more- get the link for the Nutrient management website at OSU and hear our conversation with Brian Arnall.

But the tide has turned this year. Kubicek writes to us in an email "The actual "certified" acres report will be released in the coming weeks after county FSA offices file late planted updates. The final number could exceed 20,000 acres- a 33%+ expansion reversing the downward trend of the past several years.
"Producers have been telling the industry "pay if they wanted them to play"; and shellers responded with attractive pre-plant contracts resulting in a sizable expansion across the state. Note the growth in Caddo County. Numerous producers planted for the first time in several years hopeful their "fresh" acres will provide excellent yields."

Mike adds that "Oklahoma has returned to its roots- as Spanish peanuts make up about 46% of the acreage being grown this year. Surprising is the Virginia acreage growth over the Runner acreage. However, with the release of the new high grading Red River Runner for production next year, Runner acres may expand quickly."

Kicking off the morning program is Dr. Ron Gill of Texas A&M who will demonstrate Stockmanship & Stewardship Cattle Handling. Later in the day, you will hear from Colin Woodall of NCBA on what's going on in Washington, Dr. Dan Thomson of K-State touting the idea of a National Animal Care Standards Board, Sally Northcutt who is now with the American Angus Association who will talk about DNA based selection tools and finally Dr. Derrell Peel of OSU- who will talk cattle market outlook.

Registration is $25- which includes lunch and information that will help the bottom line of your cattle operation. Click on the link below for more information- or you can call for more info at 580-224-6411.

We look forward to being there again here in 2010- and will be helping emcee the morning activities.

Click here for more information on the 20th Southern Plains Beef Sympsoium

The Youtube is a commercial from overseas that may not sell too many trucks- but it has harvested a lot of laughs.

Our thanks to the Farmers Guardian publication in the United Kingdom for Tweeting this overnight. Speaking of Twitter- follow us and you can keep up to date on farm news as we post it on our website through the day- and often when we are covering an agricultural meeting- we tweet from the meeting and you can either follow us directly on Twitter to get those updates- or go to our website and see the last four posts we have from whereever we are- our Twitter widget is on the right hand side of the page- scroll down below the weather. Our Twitter handle, by the way, is Ron_on_RON.

Click here for those Bulls grabbing the pickup for a "pickup"

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.