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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday October 5, 2010
A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Big Iron
OnLine Auctions!
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-- Lucas and Peterson Tell Vilsack- Do an Economic Analysis of GIPSA
Rule- Over a Hundred Lawmakers Join in Call
-- Meanwhile Temple Grandin Calls USDA Out on GIPSA Over Animal
Welfare Concerns
-- AND- Just in Case You Haven't Had Enough GIPSA- How About Some
Dueling Editorials?
-- Over Five Billion Dollars Flowing To US Agriculture From Uncle Sam
This Month
-- American Farm Bureau Calls on Congress to Solve Pesticide
Regulatory Nightmare Looming in 2011.
-- Dryness Slows the Planting of the 2011 Winter Wheat Crop
-- Some Twitter Thoughts This Morning- Plus a Tulsa State Fair
Reminder
-- 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, October 13- 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. | |
Lucas and Peterson Tell Vilsack- Do an Economic Analysis of GIPSA Rule- Over a Hundred Lawmakers Join in Call ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack received a
bipartisan letter today, Oct. 4, 2010, from 115 members of the U.S. House
of Representatives calling for a comprehensive economic analysis of a
propose rule on livestock and poultry marketing under the Packers and
Stockyards Act. The proposed rule, released by USDA's Grain Inspection,
Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) in June, was in response to
a request made by Congress. However, many elected leaders note that the
rule goes above and beyond the intent of Congress.
"In the 2008 Farm Bill, Congress directed the Department (USDA) to promulgate a discrete set of regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act. However, in doing so, GIPSA also included additional proposed regulations that greatly exceed the mandate of the Farm Bill," the House members penned. "Such a broad rule that extends so far beyond Congress' direction in the Farm Bill and that would precipitate major changes in livestock and poultry marketing requires a vigorous economic analysis. The analysis contained in the proposed rule fails to demonstrate the need for the rule, assess the impact of its implementation on the marketplace, or establish how the implementation of the rule would address the demonstrated need." The letter was led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.); Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), Livestock Subcommittee Chairman David Scott (D-Ga.) and Livestock Subcommittee Ranking Member Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas). Click on the LINK below for more on this letter- we have the full letter and signatures on our site linked to this story- and we have reaction from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association- pleased that this bi-partisan group is calling for more information from Uncle Sam on the GIPSA rule. | |
Meanwhile Temple Grandin Calls USDA Out on GIPSA Over Animal Welfare Concerns ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colorado State
University professor and world renowned animal welfare expert, Temple
Grandin, wrote USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack offering her concerns about the
well-being of livestock if the proposed rule requires packers to market
and sell livestock through dealers is implemented. Beyond stress to
livestock that would occur if this rule is implemented, Grandin is also
concerned that the proposed rule would complicate and compromise the
effectiveness of many established animal welfare-certification programs by
requiring another level of paperwork and recordkeeping to track the
additional transactions.
"As a scientist who has dedicated her life to improving livestock welfare, I am extremely alarmed that although this rule is concerned with marketing and competition, the department ultimately responsible for it - USDA - is also charged with enforcing the Humane Slaughter Act and apparently has paid so little attention to the animal welfare implications of this proposal," Grandin stated in the letter. We have been promised a copy of the Temple Grandin comments to USDA later this morning- go to our website to see her complete thoughts on this issue that she has raised to USDA. | |
AND- Just in Case You Haven't Had Enough GIPSA- How About Some Dueling Editorials? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the last
few days- we have received two editorial pieces from the two cattle
organizations that are exactly 180 degrees apart on the proposed marketing
rule that USDA has issued from the Grain Inspection, Packers and
Stockyards Administration- otherwise known as GIPSA. Comments on the rule
are now being accepted by USDA through the 22nd of November.
We have both of these thought pieces up on our website- one is from R-Calf CEO Bill Bullard who contends that GIPSA will benefit all cattle producers. Bullards claims that "the proposed GIPSA rule will help restore the integrity of the live-weight cash cattle market, and doing so will prevent further shrinkage of that market." He adds that "all cattle producers have a vested interest in ensuring that fed cattle are sold into a fully competitive market" and that the GIPSA Rule will deliver on that need. Meanwhile, Gregg Doud of the NCBA says that the problem with GIPSA is
that "this rule clearly attempts to provide the ability for that third
party to sue, solely based upon an allegation of a lack of fairness. To
the packer, and his lawyers, this threat of liability, litigation and risk
has a cost." It's that fear of litigation that will change the industry
and cause packers to offer only a single price for all cattle of any
quality on that one day. Doud contends that the GIPSA Rule could end many
value added opportunities for cattle producers who care enough to produce
a premium product- and he questions the "fairness" of that for cattle
producers who have received a premium for animals up to this
point. Click here for the for and against viewpoints on GIPSA from R-Calf and NCBA. | |
Over Five Billion Dollars Flowing To US Agriculture From Uncle Sam This Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that during this month, USDA will
distribute approximately $1.6 billion in annual Conservation Reserve
Program (CRP) rental payments and $3.8 billion in final 2010 direct
payments to America's farmers and ranchers. In addition, Oklahoma wheat
farmers who signed up for the ACRE program last summer continue to wait on
a dispersement of what could be a substantial payday from this new element
of farm policy that is a part of the 2008 farm law. There is still no word
on exactly when those dollars will flow from USDA.
Beginning today, producers holding 744,000 CRP contracts on 416,000
farms will receive an average of $52.56 per acre in CRP rental payments.
Producers earn an average of $3,955 per farm enrolled in CRP. Included in
the totals are 402,000 contracts (4.6 million acres) for continuous CRP
enrollments and 342,000 contracts (26.7 million acres) enrolled under
general CRP sign-ups. Beginning Oct. 12, final direct payments for the DCP and ACRE programs
will be made to more than 1.1 million producers enrolled in these
programs. Participants in DCP or ACRE had the option of receiving a 22
percent advance direct payment when the farm was enrolled or delaying the
direct payment until after the end of the fiscal year. ACRE revenue
payments are scheduled to be made at a later time. | |
American Farm Bureau Calls on Congress to Solve Pesticide Regulatory Nightmare Looming in 2011. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Consolidated,
bipartisan legislation offers the best hope of fixing a regulatory
nightmare created by a 2009 court ruling. That ruling overturned a key
exemption for pesticide use under the Clean Water Act, according to the
American Farm Bureau Federation.
The President of the nation's largest general farm organization, Bob Stallman says "The court set aside decades-worth of sound public policy on pesticide regulation. Right now there are three different bills to clear up this potential regulatory nightmare for farmers and ranchers. While each of the efforts is appreciated, we really need our lawmakers to come together in a unified effort." Stallman said he appreciates the recognition by lawmakers that a
congressional solution is needed. The latest effort is a bill introduced
on Sept. 30 by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson
(D-Minn.) The Peterson bill amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and
Rodenticide Act and the Clean Water Act to prohibit additional permits for
pesticides when applied consistent with FIFRA. | |
Dryness Slows the Planting of the 2011 Winter Wheat Crop ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
Oklahoma Crop Weather Update reports that "Beautiful fall weather was
enjoyed across Oklahoma last week, but the lack of precipitation caused
some delay in planting of wheat and other small grains. Only five of the
nine districts received measurable rainfall, with the average for the
state a mere 0.01 of an inch and the highest rainfall recorded for the
week only 0.13 of an inch in Erick. Average temperatures were mostly in
the low sixties, though the highs and lows ranged considerably. Topsoil
and subsoil moisture conditions were rated mostly in the adequate to short
range with 14 percent and 15 percent rated very short, respectively."
For Oklahoma- "Small grain planting continued last week, however, in some areas the lack of moisture has postponed planting. Wheat seedbed preparation was 90 percent complete by Sunday, and 50 percent of wheat was planted, a 20 point increase from the previous week, while 23 percent of wheat had emerged." Beyond Oklahoma- the Kansas wheat crop is now 45% planted (24% of their crop went into the ground last week alone!) while Texas has 54% of their crop now seeded. For our row planted crops- Harvest was underway for all row crops by
the end of the week. Ninety-two percent of corn was harvested by week's
end, 20 points ahead of the five-year average. Sorghum coloring reached 96
percent complete, and 65 percent of sorghum had matured by Sunday, 17
points ahead of normal. The sorghum harvest was 34 percent complete by
week's end, 12 points ahead of normal. Forty-eight percent of the soybean
crop had matured by Sunday, and 19 percent of the crop had been harvested.
Eighty-one percent of peanut plants had matured by week's end, 15 points
ahead of normal. Twenty-six percent of the peanut crop had been dug by
Sunday and 11 percent were combined. Cotton bolls opening reached 95
percent complete, 16 points ahead of normal, and 11 percent of cotton
acres were harvested by week's end, eight points ahead of the five-year
average." Click here for the October 4th Crop Progress Summary by USDA (national numbers broken down by state) | |
Some Twitter Thoughts This Morning- Plus a Tulsa State Fair Reminder ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seen on
Twitter- US Senator Charles Grassley offering some sarcasm about fugitive
dust during harvest in Iowa- Grassley tweets "Where is EPA when farmers
are combining and the fugitive dust is not staying on the farm of
origination?" He adds "EPA stands for END Production Agriculture!"
Also from Iowa- friend Michael Marlow of Monsanto who recently was transferred up there from Oklahoma reports that "Soybean harvest moving at high speed across north central Iowa. Many farmers are done and moving on to corn." Fellow farm broadcaster, friend and Tweeter Max Armstrong is talking about Proposition B in Missouri this morning- saying "Missouri farmers fear Prop B will destroy Missouri animal ag. Uphill battle? Animal welfare bunch has a $2.7 million war chest for ads." He adds in another tweet that TV ads are now hitting the airwaves in that state full of puppies that call for support of the measure. Moving on from Twitter to the 2010 Tulsa State Fair- a last call for the Commercial Cattle Grading Contest that is held in conjunction with the Tulsa State Fair tomorrow-Tuesday, October 6, 2010. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. with the school kicking off at 9:00 a.m. immediately following the school, the contest will be held. Awards will be given out to teams and individuals. Adults may also participate in this event. The school that is held will help demonstrate to students the numerical cattle grading system today. Helping contestants learn more about cattle grading will be Gary Bledsoe with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Dr. Fred Williams, Livestock Cattle Grading Specialist and Tina Colby with the USDA Livestock Market News office out of Oklahoma City. | |
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 $8.10 per
bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are
$8.60 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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