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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday August 16, 2010
A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- A Full Day of Discussion About the GIPSA Rule- Not Many Minds Were
Changed
-- Still more of our coverage from the USDA-DOJ Workshop on
Competition
-- Meanwhile- In the Middle and Thinking About It- The American Farm
Bureau
-- Pasture Management, Timing in Sowing Wheat and More in Latest PASS
Newsletter
-- Help the Desperados buy steers in the Junior Livestock Auction at
the Tulsa State Fair!
-- Transportation weights and measures to be discussed in northeast
Oklahoma
-- Five Times Bigger Than the Human Genome- the Wheat Genome Code
Finally Cracked
-- 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. | |
A Full Day of Discussion About the GIPSA Rule- Not Many Minds Were Changed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's doubtful
that many minds were changed during the day long Workshop on Competition
that was hosted by USDA and DOJ. The only subject that came up with much
frequency besides the GIPSA rule was a periodic call for a ban on packer
ownership.
The passion runs hotter on the side that wants to see the Rule adopted, with probably few changes. Several times during the panel sessions- and especially during the public comment time-the applause was loud and often a few cheers broke out as proponents made a point popular with the crowd. The opponents of the GIPSA Rule were quieter- but still had their moments in pleading their case. We have multiple interviews on our website from Friday- here are a few of the highlights with some Oklahoma connections: The GIPSA rule- if implemented, could mean double trouble for Hitch
Enterprises- and we talked with Jason Hitch of Guymon about that impact on
their pork and beef operations. Click
here to jump to that story | |
Still more of our coverage from the USDA-DOJ Workshop on Competition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have the
opening statements of both US Secretary of Agriculture Tom
Vilsack as well as the Attorney General of the United States, Eric
Holder. Click on their names to jump to our story with the audio of
the respective cabinet officer.
Two of the bigger boosters heard at this Workshop for the GIPSA rule to be implemented pretty much as is included Bill Bullard of R-Calf USA, as well as one of the directors of the US Cattlemen Association, Allen Sents of Kansas- both Bullard and Sents were on the same page in the Hymnal- as they both contend that packers will not discontinue paying premiums for cattle and that the fear of litigation is being tremendously overblown by those who oppose this measure. Click on the name of these two men to go to our stories that has the audio of our conversation with them- this can offer you a first hand perspective of the populist school of thought that was a significant part of the Friday session. There are other stories on the website as well- and we would invite you to go to our main page and take a look at the other stories that we have posted from the Competition Workshop- both sides should realize that this is not a sprint- but a marathon that continues on to November 22 and perhaps a good bit beyond. | |
Meanwhile- In the Middle and Thinking About It- The American Farm Bureau ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back in June-
it didn't sound like a neutral position- as Bob Stallman, President of the
AFBF issued a statement praising GIPSA and USDA for the proposed rule.
Stallman was quoted as saying "The American Farm Bureau Federation is
pleased with the proposed rule issued today by the Agriculture
Department's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
(GIPSA) dealing with competition in the livestock and poultry industries."
Since that time, it has been very quiet on this issue at the large general farm organization- they did offer a thumbs up on the extension of time for people to file comments with the agency- "The American Farm Bureau Federation is pleased the Agriculture Department's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) has extended its comment period by 90 days on its Packers and Stockyards Act proposed rule. AFBF initially requested a 120-day extension to better analyze the economic and legal impacts of the rule on producers. The rule's regulatory changes will impact each operation differently. The impact of this rule on producers will vary depending on the type of animal produced on an operation, the ways the producer markets his or her product, and the location of a producer's operation relative to slaughter and processing facilities. Many other portions of the rule go beyond those issues clearly covered in Farm Bureau policy and will require additional analysis." Again these comments were attributed to Bob Stallman on July 26. The latest word we have gotten from AFBF comes from Tara Smith of their legislative staff. Smith told us in Ft. Collins that the organization had policy, marketing and legal teams all looking at the GIPSA proposal- and that it may take some time before they draft comments to submit to USDA . Click on the LINK below and jump to our story on this middle ground cautious approach being taken by Farm Bureau on this controversial marketing rule. | |
Pasture Management, Timing in Sowing Wheat and More in Latest PASS Newsletter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
Plant and Soil Sciences Extension Newsletter is now available at our
website- just click on the link below and you can check out several
outstanding updates for winter wheat planting season and more.
Among the stories to go and check out- Factors to consider when sowing wheat early | |
Help the Desperados buy steers in the Junior Livestock Auction at the Tulsa State Fair! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Buy a
Desperados T- shirt - not only will you get a really cool t-shirt, you'll
also get to show off your support for beef exhibitors and the hard work
and excellence required to make the sale at Tulsa. You might ask- who are the Desperados? Well, they are Supporters of agriculture, kids who show steers, hard work and family values. The cost of each shirt is $20. Thanks to Causley's Productions of Stillwater, OK and the Oklahoma Club Calf Association- $15 of each T-shirt goes directly towards the purchase of steers in the Tulsa sale. For pre-orders contact Erica Boyer by email at ericasg@hotmail.com or call 918-344-0622. Pre-orders can be picked up at the Beacon Hill Ranch stalls on the Hereford aisle at the TSF Open Show or from the Claremore FFA stalls at the TSF Junior Show. Shirts can also be mailed for an additional $5 per shirt. Click here for our webstory which has a PDF with a picture of what the shirts look like. | |
Transportation weights and measures to be discussed in northeast Oklahoma ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This coming
Thursday, September 2, State Representative Jerry McPeak will facilitate a
public meeting on the weights and measures issue that has been problematic
for farmers, ranchers, and businessmen in District 13, as well as all
across Oklahoma. He continues to hear great concerns about truck and
trailer weight limits in Oklahoma. Because of this he is hosting a meeting
to fully discuss this issue with ranchers and others in Oklahoma.
McPeak has invited and looks forward to having representatives from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in attendance with him. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Library Auditorium on the campus of Connors State College in Warner. Rep. McPeak would appreciate an RSVP for attendance. Feel free to call the Capitol office if you have questions or need further information. McPeak's number is 405-557-7302 | |
Five Times Bigger Than the Human Genome- the Wheat Genome Code Finally Cracked ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ British
scientists have decoded the genetic sequence of wheat. University of
Liverpool scientist Neil Hall, whose team cracked the code, said the
information could eventually help breeders of varieties of wheat better
identify genetic variations responsible for disease resistance, drought
tolerance and yield. Although the genetic sequence remains a rough draft,
and additional strains of wheat need to be analyzed for the work to be
useful, Hall predicted it wouldn't take long for his work to make an
impact in the field.
In response to this break-through, academia is excited. One academic in the field called the discovery "a landmark." Nick Talbot, a professor of biosciences at the University of Exeter, who wasn't involved in the research, says - the wheat genome is the holy grail of plant genomes. Talbot adds, - it's going to really revolutionize how we breed it. Hopefully the benefit of this work will come through in the next five years. Wheat is a relative latecomer to the world of genetic sequencing. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the date the human genome was laid bare. Other crops have had their genetic codes unscrambled within the past few years - rice in 2005, corn in 2009, and soybeans earlier this year. Hall explains, - the reason for the delay in analyzing wheat's genetic code is that the code is massive - far larger than corn or rice and five times the length of the one carried by humans. Click here to learn more about this genetic breakthru for the wheat industry | |
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 $7.85 per
bushel, 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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