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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday November 30,
2010 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Big Iron
OnLine Auctions!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- We Have Got to Rebuild the US Cow Herd- So Says Derrell Peel of
OSU
-- President Hears from Ag Groups on Estate Tax
-- Final Crop Weather Update of Season Shows Oklahoma Wheat Crop Fair
to Good
-- Maternal Calving Ease EPD is a "Must Read" for Mama Cow
Operators
-- Can Congressman Frank Lucas Pull Together a Coalition to Move Farm
Legislation in the Next Two Years?
-- EPA Announces RFS2 Requirements for 2011
-- Herefords in Native America Sale is This Saturday
-- 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, December 8- 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. | |
We Have Got to Rebuild the US Cow Herd- So Says Derrell Peel of OSU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Derrell
Peel, Extension Livestock Market Economist has several thoughts about
where we stand in the cattle business as we near the end of 2010. Here are
his latest comments in this first person commentary, courtesy of the
weekly Cow Calf Corner that he and Dr. Glenn Selk co-produce.
"A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article talking about the ability of the beef industry to continue current levels of beef production without rebuilding the herd. There are, of course, many factors that affect the situation and this article provides a bit more discussion of some of the many factors involved. It has been appropriately and correctly noted that some of the superlatives used by myself and others, such as the fact that the current beef cow herd is the smallest since 1963 are relevant only in a broad historical context. " Dr. Peel adds that "The beef cow herd in 2010 was about one million head smaller at 31.4 million head than it was in 1990 (32.5 million head). In the intervening years the herd increased to a cyclical peak of 35.2 million head in 1996 to an apparent cyclical low of 32.9 million head in 2004 before the market shocks since 2007 pushed the herd down to current levels. Beef production in 2010 is projected at 26.03 billion pounds, 15 percent higher than in 1990 (which had a larger beef cow herd), about equal to the level in 1996 at the recent cyclical peak in cattle numbers and within 3 percent of the all time annual beef production record of 26.8 billion pounds in 2000." Peel offers this key conclusion- ""The bottom line is that it will not
be possible to maintain beef production in coming years if we do not
rebuild the cow herd and it is also true that we will not be able to
rebuild the cow herd without reducing slaughter and beef production for at
least a two to three year period." Click here for the full analysis offered by Dr. Derrell Peel of OSU | |
President Hears from Ag Groups on Estate Tax ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thirty-one
agricultural organizations have come together in a letter to President
Obama to urge immediate, permanent and meaningful estate tax reform. The
groups support permanently increasing the exemption level to no less than
five-million dollars per person and reducing the top rate to no more than
35-percent. If Congress does not act before the end of the year - the
estate tax exemption will be one-million dollars with a top rate of
55-percent. This - according to the organizations - would have a
significantly negative impact on the ag industry.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association was one of the groups signing the letter. President Steve Foglesong says farmers and ranchers have faced uncertainty for far too long when it comes to planning ahead for the future of their estates. He says President Obama needs to force action on this. According to Foglesong - taxing farmers and ranchers out of business will have serious impact on all Americans. He says this is not a tax on the wealthy elite - but is a death warrant for small-to-medium sized family businesses. | |
Final Crop Weather Update of Season Shows Oklahoma Wheat Crop Fair to Good ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The final
Oklahoma Crop Weather Update for 2010 was issued on Monday afternoon- and
the folks at NASS report "Temperatures were unseasonably warm the first
half of last week with multiple record high temperatures matched or
exceeded in towns across Oklahoma. However, a predicted cold front came
just in time for a chilly holiday on Thursday. Wind advisories were put
out for Sunday and a few grass fires were reported in Creek County. The
western half of the state was without rainfall last week while the eastern
half received some rain, with the East Central district averaging the most
at 1.18 inches. The rain over the past few weeks has been light and most
of the state is still significantly below normal precipitation levels.
Both topsoil and subsoil moisture conditions were rated mostly in the
adequate range with 35 percent of topsoil and 48 percent of subsoil rated
short to very short."
For our 2011 Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop in Oklahoma- there was a very slight improvement in the condition of the crop. 85% of the Oklahoma wheat crop is called "fair to good" while 7% is rated excellent and only 8% is called poor to very poor. Our neighbors to the north and to the south both have a significantly higher poor to very poor reading- Texas with a 26% rating in those categories and Kansas at 25% poor to very poor. Kansas checks in with a 71% fair to good rating while Texas is an even 70%. Dryness in most of western Kansas, the Texas Panhandle and up into the Oklahoma Panhandle as well are concerns for crop watchers as we head into winter dormancy. Back to Oklahoma- For the spring planted crops- "harvest is virtually complete with the exception of cotton. Sorghum harvest reached 96 percent complete by Sunday, seven points ahead of normal and 12 points ahead of a year ago. The soybean harvest was almost complete by the end of the week. The cotton harvest was 81 percent complete by Sunday, 12 points ahead of the five-year average." | |
Maternal Calving Ease EPD is a "Must Read" for Mama Cow Operators ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ease of
calving is a trait that all cow-calf producers strive for in their
breeding programs. There's a generally under-utilized and fairly new tool
available to help producers meet that objective. Kansas State University
beef geneticist Dan Moser says that the conventional expected progeny
difference, or E-P-D, values continue to serve cow-calf producers well in
their genetic selection. The EPD that cow calf operators are probably most
familiar with is the "birth weight" EPD. There is also a "Calving Ease"
EPD that can help change your cow herd genetics when utilized.
However, a newer generation EPD that Dan Moser wants people to learn more about is the "Maternal Calving Ease" EPD. This number gives you an indicator of how easily the daughters of a bull will be able to calve. Moser says that for producers who want to keep heifers out of a particular sire- this number will be very useful in revealing how well those heifers may perform at calving time. We talk about this particular EPD with Dan Moser on today's Beef Buzz. The Beef Buzz is heard on great radio stations all across the state of Oklahoma- and we have an extensive audio library of previous Beef Buzz shows found on our website, OklahomaFarmReport.Com. Click on the Beef Buzz button on the left hand side of any page to look at previous Beef Buzz titles- click on that show and take a listen. Click on the LINK below for today's Beef Buzz with Dan Moser as we talk Calving Ease EPDS. Click here for our latest Beef Buzz with Dan Moser and the Maternal Calving Ease EPD. | |
Can Congressman Frank Lucas Pull Together a Coalition to Move Farm Legislation in the Next Two Years? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A lot of years
ago, he was on the OSU staff in Stillwater. Today (and for a lot of
years), he holds court in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee. Dr.
Daryll Ray has penned an interesting commentary on the hurdles ahead in
writing farm policy in 2011 and 2012. We have his full commentary on our
website at the LINK below- but we wanted to share a couple of the
highlights in our morning email with you.
First, Dr. Ray says the pace of writing the next farm bill slowed down when the Republicans won the house which makes Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas the almost certain Chairman of the House Ag Committee in the new year. The outgoing Chairman, Collin Peterson of Minnesota, had talked non stop in the last couple of years about writing the next farm bill in 2011. Lucas has spoken of not pulling the trigger early- but rather pull the bill together in 2012. Dr. Ray points out that ""In addition to Lucas' desire to move slowly on writing a new farm bill, as a result of the election, at least 20 of the 46 members of the House Ag Committee will be new, both to the House and the Committee. The new members will face a steep learning curve in order to become conversant in the arcane details of the farm bill and the many programs it encompasses. If for no other reason than that, it would be unrealistic to expect to see legislation move quickly through the committee." He also raises the concept that Congressman Lucas may be more partisan
than Peterson has been- and wonders in his commentary " How this will play
out as he tries to fashion the kind of coalition that is needed to pass a
farm bill is yet to be determined." | |
EPA Announces RFS2 Requirements for 2011 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced its Renewable Fuels
Standard (RFS2) requirements for 2011. The final requirements fall in line
with the agency's proposed rule from earlier in the year. The total RFS2 requirement for 2011 will remain at 13.95 billion gallons. Of this amount, 12.6 billion gallons will be starch-based ethanol. The remaining 1.35 billion gallons will be a combination of biodiesel and other advanced biofuels, including a 6.6 million gallon requirement specifically for cellulosic biofuels which is lower than original targets established when the RFS2 became law. Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen says the reduced standard for cellulosic biofuels reflects the difficulties cellulosic biofuel technologies have encountered in obtaining capital for full commercialization. But that's why he believes EPA should have kept ambitious cellulosic biofuel targets - to stimulate the investment needed to finish commercialization. Here's Dineen's full statement as released by the RFA: "The RFS was designed in part to ensure the evolution of America's biofuels industry is successful. By reducing the standard for cellulosic biofuels, EPA is accurately reflecting the difficulties cellulosic biofuel technologies have encountered in obtaining the capital needed to fully commercialize. However, being aware of this fact, EPA should have been and must be careful to keep cellulosic biofuel targets ambitious so as to stimulate the kind of investment these technologies need to finish commercialization." | |
Herefords in Native America Sale is This Saturday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In conjunction
with the 2010 annual meeting of the Oklahoma Hereford Association,
Herefords in Native America Sale will be happening this Saturday, December
4, 2010 at High Noon. Sale location will be at the Brooks Cattle Company
Sale Facility, Marietta, Oklahoma.
Among the animals that have been consigned by some of the premiere
Hereford breeders in the state- Selling will be 175 Head: Click on the LINK below for more information about the gathering of Hereford breeders and the 2010 Herefords in Native America sale. | |
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 $8.50 per
bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are
$9.35 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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