|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Wednesday December 8,
2010 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Smithfield Being Proactive in Dealing With HSUS Video Attack
-- Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas Announces His Six Subcommittee
Chairs for House Ag Committee in New Year
-- House Speaker Kris Steele Releases Committee Assignments for
2011-2012
-- Food Safety Bill Going to President
-- Bayer Crop Science Steps Up Commitment in Wheat Breeding with End
of the Year Purchase
-- Grass to Grid Sale Set for December 30th in Beaver
-- 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 great 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. | |
Smithfield Being Proactive in Dealing With HSUS Video Attack ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smithfield
Foods Inc. fired three employees last late week for violating the
company's animal welfare policies, according to statements posted on a
special website set up by the company that is their response to the Humane
Society of the US.
The website was established to update events related to an undercover investigation by the Humane Society of the United States, the results of which were released last week; an ongoing audit of the company's animal welfare policies; and actions taken as a result of the probe. Two employees were fired on Dec. 16, and a third --- their supervisor --- was fired on Friday. No further information has been made available about the employees or the violations. In addition- the website includes a statement from Dr. Temple Grandin in regards to what the HSUS video showed from the Murphy Brown facility this fall. Dr. Grandin says "Captive bolt shooting of the sows was not effective because she was showing obvious signs of rhythmic breathing after she was thrown in the dumpster. Animals with rhythemic breathing may still be sensible. The employees behaved in a professional manner but they did not know that an animal showing any sign of return to sensibility must never be put in a dumpster. Failure of the captive bolt to render the sow insensible may have been due to either damp cartidges or lack of maintenance. Training of employees needs to be improved." Click on the LINK below to read more about this story- and to hear the statement from Dennis Treacy of Smithfield Foods in regards to their response to the HSUS attack. | |
Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas Announces His Six Subcommittee Chairs for House Ag Committee in New Year ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chairman-elect
Frank Lucas of Oklahoma named six members to serve as Subcommittee
Chairmen of the House Agriculture Commitee and also released the complete
Republican roster for the 112th Congress. Additionally, Rep. Lucas
announced that Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia will serve as Vice Chairman
of the full committee.
Subcommittee Chairs include Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-5):
Conservation, Energy, and Forestry; Click on the LINK below for our full webstory on this announcement- we have details of the jurisdiction of each of the Subcommittees- and we have the full list now of the 26 Republican members of the House Ag Committee- 10 returning members and 16 freshman who will be first time members. Click here for more on the House Ag Committee Subcommittee slots for 2011. | |
House Speaker Kris Steele Releases Committee Assignments for 2011-2012 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have the
full listing of the Oklahoma State House Committees that were released on
Tuesday afternoon by House Speaker for the coming two years- Kris Steele.
We had earlier published the names of the Committee Chairs and Vice
Chairs- and this fleshes out who is on what Committee in the coming state
legislative session.
The full list of members for the House Agriculture, Wildlife &
Environment Committee includes Phil Richardson, R-Minco, Chair Last year's Chair of the House Ag Committee was Don Armes of Faxon- he now moves up the ladder to Chair the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources & Regulatory Services- helping as vice chair is Lesley Osborn of Tuttle. Also on that Committee which controls the purse strings for the Department of Agriculture (among other things) are John Enns, R-Enid; Rusty Farley, R-Haworth; Dan Kirby, R-Tulsa; Skye McNiel, R-Bristow; Charles Ortega, R-Altus; Phil Richardson, R-Minco; Brian Renegar, D-McAlester; Jerry Shoemake, D-Morris and Purcy Walker, D-Elk City. | |
Food Safety Bill Going to President ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congress has
been very busy during this lame-duck session. Perhaps accomplishing more
work than was expected prior to the November Elections. One measure that
came back from the dead was the so called Food Safety Bill. By a vote of
215 to 144, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Food Safety
Modernization Act Tuesday afternoon, enacting large-scale changes to the
nation's food safety system. The legislation now goes to the President for
his signature.
United Fresh Produce Association Senior Vice President of Public Policy Robert Guenther says - the legislation ensures a number of important provisions that we have long supported, including implementation of preventive controls for production and processing of specific fruits and vegetables when shown necessary by a risk-based, scientific analysis by FDA. However, Guenther believes the good in this bill is still accompanied by the bad, and still contains an amendment that threatens the health and well-being of a nation of consumers by exempting some producers and processors based only on the size of their business, their geographic location, or to whom they sell their products. The so called Tester Amendment exempts smaller, more localized operators from much of the Federal regulation in this measure- those operators will be subject to state rules and regs. | |
Bayer Crop Science Steps Up Commitment in Wheat Breeding with End of the Year Purchase ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bayer
CropScience announced on Tuesday the acquisition of the wheat breeding
programs from two Ukrainian breeding companies, SORT and EUROSORT, based
in Mironivka close to the capital Kiev. With this agreement, Bayer
CropScience will gain access to outstanding wheat lines with excellent
winter hardiness and drought tolerance. Bayer CropScience has already
established wheat-breeding programs at the premises of the renowned
Mironivka-Institute.
"Wheat is a strategic crop for Bayer CropScience and as part of its investment plans the company is putting significant resources into research and development to raise productivity of wheat cropping. The acquisition of this germplasm pool will significantly enhance our wheat breeding efforts globally," said Hartmut van Lengerich, Head of Crop Strategy Cereals, Oilseeds & Sugar Beet at Bayer CropScience. Click on the LINK below to read more about the move by Bayer Crop Science- as the German company jockies with both Syngenta and Monsanto for a place in the future of wheat breeding for farmers on a global basis. Click here for more on the move by Bayer Crop Science to buy wheat breeding assets in the Ukraine. | |
Grass to Grid Sale Set for December 30th in Beaver ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Grass to
Grid Customer Appreciation Female Sale is coming up next Thursday,
December 30, 2010, starting at 12 noon at the Beaver River Livestock
Auction in Beaver, Oklahoma. Selling will be 800 Commercial Bred Cows,
Bred Heifers and Open Heifers. The entire offering carries the service of
GCC Genetics or Grass to Grid Bulls.
Ranches represented in the Grass to Grid Female Sale include: A Cross
Ranch - Hammon, Ok The Grass to Grid Sale will be offering eye appealing, practical cattle
that will be functional for all types of commercial operations. These
females are bred for moderation and consistency. Take advantage of this
opportunity to purchase proven genetics, bred to generate profit. | |
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 $9.85 per
bushel, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are
$10.55 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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
