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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Friday December 17,
2010 A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- Bill preventing big tax hikes heads to Obama- Including Estate Tax
Deal
-- What Did GIPSA Know About Eastern Livestock- and When Did They
Know It?
-- Dryness Worries Here at the End of 2010 Will Carry Over Into
2011
-- Once We Hit 2011- Start Thinking About Topdressing Your 2011 Wheat
Crop- Dr. Jeff Edwards
-- China Agrees to Talk About Leting US Beef Back In Officially-
USMEF Applauds
-- Groups Are Reacting to the Estate Tax and Etanol Credit Win in the
GOP-Obama Tax Package
-- This Weekend- We Talk to Heather Buckmaster and Also to Max and
the Big O
-- 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 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 a longstanding sponsor on our daily email
Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across
Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. One of the great success stories
of the Johnston brand is Wrangler Bermudagrass- the most widely planted
true cold-tolerant seeded forage bermudagrass in the United States. For
more on Johnston Enterprises- click
here for their website that features their grain, ports and seed
business! 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. | |
Bill preventing big tax hikes heads to Obama- Including Estate Tax Deal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Despite a lot
of grumbling, the US House approved the Senate version of the GOP-Obama
tax package late last night- which for agriculture means an extension of
the biodiesel and ethanol tax credits- and most importantly- a two year
Estate Tax deal that prevents the tax rate from going from zero right now
to 55% January first.
In a remarkable show of bipartisanship, the House gave final approval to the measure just before midnight Thursday, overcoming an attempt by rebellious Democrats who wanted to impose a higher estate tax than the one Obama agreed to. The vote was 277-148, with each party contributing an almost identical number of votes in favor (the Democrats, 139 and the Republicans, 138). We reported to you yesterday that ag groups were holding their breath- and urging House members to stay the course on the Estate Tax provision. Liberal Democrats were especially unhappy with the Estate tax numbers, according to Colin Woodall with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Woodall says it's amazing that "we are on the verge of a two year Estate Tax fix that includes a five million dollar per person exemption, indexed for inflation and with stepped up basis included. The tax rate for estates that exceed that threshold is 35%. " Click here for that webstory of yesterday- summing up the hopes of the farm and ranch community. You can click below for more details from overnight from the vote that now send this tax package to the White House. Click here for more on the passage in the House of the GOP-Obama Tax Deal. | |
What Did GIPSA Know About Eastern Livestock- and When Did They Know It? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National
Cattlemen's Beef Association is calling on the House and Senate Ag
Committees to encourage USDA to be more open about the role of GIPSA in
dealing with Eastern Livestock and the hot checks they have sent cattle
producers in as many as 30 states. Total pricetag to those left holding
these hot checks may exceed $130 million.
Colin Woodall of the NCBA's Washington office says they want to know what GIPSA knew about Eastern and when they knew it. He's hopeful that the new Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma lawmaker Frank Lucas, can help in getting that information out of USDA. We talk with Woodall on today's Beef Buzz about Eastern Livestock- including GIPSA's role in this mess, what help there might be like shor tterm low interest loans for producers holding hot checks and the need for a livestock expert to be a part of the bankruptcy proceedings. Click on the LINK below to jump to our Buzz. | |
Dryness Worries Here at the End of 2010 Will Carry Over Into 2011 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma State
University Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson says that weather
factors here in the US as well as Australia are driving the wheat market
as we end 2010. He tells Lyndall Stout on this week's SUNUP that the
dryness here in the western part of the Hard Red Winter wheat is a concern
as we end 2010 and look into 2011. The wet conditions in Australia is
hurting the quality of their wheat and that's playing into recent wheat
price strength as well.
Dr. Anderson adds that the bidding war for acres between corn,
soybeans, cotton and spring wheat continues- and that he thinks that corn
really needs to "buy" three to nine million more acres in 2011 so that
keeps a floor under all of our commodities- at least for now. You can see Lyndall talking with Kim on this weekend's SUNUP on OETA- or you can click right now on the LINK below to hear their conversation- and we also have details of this weekend's SUNUP in our webstory below. | |
Once We Hit 2011- Start Thinking About Topdressing Your 2011 Wheat Crop- Dr. Jeff Edwards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While things
are dry in portions of the Hard Red Winter Wheat belt, much of Oklahoma's
wheat crop is in fair to good condition- and Dr. Jeff Edwards of Oklahoma
State University says that the crop is going into winter dormancy in
decent shape. With the exception of the western Oklahoma panhandle, much
of the Oklahoma crop got some timely rains in late October and early
November, setting us up for dormancy.
We talk about current conditions with Dr. Edwards- as well as the need to perform several best management practices now to harvest a good quality and clean crop next June. At the top of the list, plan on topdressing your wheat to have adequate fertility getting to the wheat plant. That does tow things- Edwards says that gives you a chance to maximize yield potential of the newer genetics like Duster- and it also will help the wheat plant produce grain kernels with adequate levels of protein. Click on the LINK below and go to our webstory where you can hear our conversation with Dr. Jeff Edwards- his message for wheat producers- topdress in 2011! Click here for our conversation on wheat crop conditions and the need to topdress with Jeff Edwards | |
China Agrees to Talk About Leting US Beef Back In Officially- USMEF Applauds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The US Meat
Export Federation offered the following statement with word the Mainland
China is willing to talk about accepting US Beef back into their country
once again. "The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) is pleased to learn
of the progress made during the recent session of the U.S.-China Joint
Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) on several significant trade
issues. In particular, the announcement that technical discussions on
re-opening the Chinese market to U.S. beef will resume early next year is
very encouraging news for the nation's beef industry.
"When the market closed in 2003, China was just beginning to show its potential as a major destination for U.S. beef. Obviously, China's economy has grown remarkably since that time and so have the opportunities for high-quality beef products. If the United States regains access to the Chinese market early next year, we estimate that 2011 beef exports will be in the range of $200 million. This would rank China among the top ten global markets for U.S. beef, with tremendous potential for future growth. "USMEF is appreciative of the efforts put forth by all U.S. agencies on this matter, and we look forward to working closely with the U.S. government and other beef industry groups to secure the prompt resumption of exports to this critical market. | |
Groups Are Reacting to the Estate Tax and Etanol Credit Win in the GOP-Obama Tax Package ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As we have
wrapped up this Email this morning- several groups are issuing statements
about last night's House vote on the GOP-Obama tax deal. The American Farm
Bureau says ""Securing meaningful estate tax reform for farm and ranch
families has been a top priority for Farm Bureau. We are pleased the House
left intact the estate tax provision that provides a $5 million exemption
and maximum rate of 35 percent. Other tax provisions included in the
legislation, which are important for farmers and ranchers, include lower
capital gains and income taxes and tax incentives for renewable fuels."
The Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers also have released an early morning statement. "While ranching families still need the estate tax to permanently go away, this legislation provides better levels than we had in 2009 and prevents this tax from jumping to 55 percent on January 1," said Dave Scott, rancher and president of the TSCRA. "The U.S. Congress heard the concerns of ranchers on the estate tax and we would like to thank all of those who voted for this legislation," Scott said. One more that we saw just a few minutes ago comes from the Renewable Fuels Association and Bob Dinneen. "House members have struck a blow to the oil status quo and extended important tax policies that will allow America's ethanol industry to grow and evolve. Domestic ethanol production helps create jobs and economic opportunity in often overlooked rural communities. Domestic ethanol production reduces America's tab to petro-dictators across the globe. There is no alternative to gasoline available today that can match ethanol's energy security and economic benefits. Extending these important incentives creates the necessary space for meaningful discussion of energy tax policy reform to occur. American ethanol producers are committed to responsible reform of ethanol tax policy, but urge Congress to take this opportunity to reform all energy tax policy." | |
This Weekend- We Talk to Heather Buckmaster and Also to Max and the Big O ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This Saturday
morning on In the Field on News9- KWTV in Oklahoma City- we talk with
Heather Buckmaster of the Oklahoma Beef Council about one of the
big success stories of 2010 for the beef cattle business in the US- our
exports. The Oklahoma Beef Council is excited about the explosion in
export growth this year- and have invested extra dollars into two projects
in South Korea and Taiwan. We talk with Heather about this during our In
the Field segment on Saturday morning around 6:40 AM on News9 in Oklahoma
City.
Meanwhile, we have recorded a segment with Orion Samuelson and Max Armstrong that will be a part of this weekend's "This Week in Agribusiness." This is seen several times during the weekend and early next week on RFD TV. We have talked with this dynamic duo in the past- but this time we did it via video Skype- so it's radio with pictures of me with my mouth moving! We talk about the condition of the wheat crop around here, the excitement of having Frank Lucas as the next Chairman of the House Ag Committee and current cattle prices. Check your listings on RFD for the times of their show. | |
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 $9.45 per
bushel- as of the close of business yesterday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $10.20 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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