From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 7:27 AM
To: Hays, Ron
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
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Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Wednesday December 29, 2010
A service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
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-- One of the Big Five Beef Stories of 2010- Fighting Over the GIPSA Rule for the Marketing of Livestock
-- Heath Sanders Believes Canola Crop in Good Shape as Winter Weather Arrives
-- Latest Number We Are Seeing in South Korean FMD Outbreak- 523,000 Head of Livestock Culled
-- Pat Roberts of Kansas will be Ranking Minority Member on Senate Ag Committee in New Congress
-- No Till on the Plains Conference Coming in January- Early Bird Discount Ends Friday
-- 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 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 an annual 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!

And we are proud to have P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy as one of our regular sponsors of our daily email update. P & K is the premiere John Deere dealer in Oklahoma, with ten locations to serve you, and the P & K team are excited about their new Wind Power program, as they offer Endurance Wind Power wind turbines. Click here for more from the P&K website.

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One of the Big Five Beef Stories of 2010- Fighting Over the GIPSA Rule for the Marketing of Livestock
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Perhaps the biggest beef industry story of the year is the firestorm created by Dudley Butler at GIPSA with his proposal to radically change the way livestock is marketed in the United States. The so called GIPSA rule surfaced in June, 2010 and immediately created a furor over a relatively short comment period- and a lack of economic analysis that was tied to these proposed rule changes.

Many livestock groups immediately embraced the proposal- saying it should be enacted as is and as quickly as possible to save the independent livestock producer from ruin. Many livestock organizations expressed surprise at the sweeping nature of the rules- and called for more time to review the rules and submit comments. Congress joined in that call in July and USDA issued an extension for the comment period in a news release- pushing the window for comments open from August 22 to November 22 of this year.

We offer a bit of the flavor of the debate from June through November regarding the GIPSA rule on today's Beef Buzz. That includes comments from the USDA-DOJ workshop held in Ft. Collins in late August. With the comment period now ended- US Secretary Tom Vilsack has bowed to industry pressure and has called for an economic analysis of the rule by Chief Economist for USDA- Joe Glauber. That will push any final decision on what the GIPSA Marketing Rule might look like well into 2011.

Click on the LINK below- we have our overview from today's Beef Buzz- but we have also linked at least a dozen stories from June through November that reflects our coverage of the GIPSA rule- pro and con.

Click here for our Beef Buzz look at one of the Big Five Beef Stories of the Year- the GIPSA Rule


Heath Sanders Believes Canola Crop in Good Shape as Winter Weather Arrives
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The 2011 Winter Canola Crop is off to a good start, based on comments that Heath Sanders made to us this past week as we sat down with this Oilseed Agronomist that now works for PCOM. Sanders started with OSU Extension as a canola specialist, based in Enid- and earlier this year made the move to the PCOM team as they try to increase the Canola IQ in the wheat farmer population in the southern plains.

Sanders believes that we have somewhere between 100,000 and 125,000 acres of canola planted here as 2010 ends- those acres to be harvested this coming June of 2011. He tells us that every time that he goes down the road in the western half of the state of Oklahoma- be comes upon another field of canola that he was not previously aware of. Farmers very interested in canola this summer, even as wheat prices were jumping higher, because of the need to find a way to break the cycle of weed problems in wheat fields across the region. Those weeds have given wheat producers major headaches in the form of dockage and foreign material discounts when they sold wheat from the 2010 harvest.

Click on the LINK below to be able to listen to our full conversation with Heath Sanders- as talk about this past year's crop, the 2011 crop now in the ground- what needs to be done to make sure the crop stays in good shape over the winter months and what grower meetings are planned for early 2011.

Click here to jump to our webstory with Heath Sanders where you can hear our conversation with this canola specialist.


Latest Number We Are Seeing in South Korean FMD Outbreak- 523,000 Head of Livestock Culled
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The numbers are all over the place- but in searching the various stories that are coming out of South Korea- the government has upped their response level as high as it can go to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in that nation. To this point- their efforts have done little to keep the disease from spreading- both hog and cattle farms have been hit hard.

A report from the China Daily indicates "A total of "470,000 animals, including 59,000 cattle, 403,000 pigs and some sheep and deer, have been culled so far," Yoo Jeong-bok, Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said." and the latest article we have found from the Korean Times reports "Some 523,000 cows and pigs have been slaughtered and buried so far, and losses are estimated to total 450 billion won." That figures to over $400 million dollars of losses and rising.
At least 60 farms and locations adjacent to those farms have been impacted. All 85 livestock markets in that country are closed.

South Korea has also decided to use what could be called the nuclear option with FMD- vaccination. That same China Daily report indicates "The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, meanwhile, said it has expanded areas that will be given animal vaccines to control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. Vaccines will be administered in 12 regions across the country from the initial five announced last week.
"In a desperate attempt to curtail the spread of the disease, the government launched vaccinations last week, risking a longer export ban from overseas.
"It takes longer for a country that launches vaccinations to regain disease-free status from the World Organization for Animal Health than when the disease is curbed solely by culling."

Click here for our compilation of the latest from several sources on the FMD situation in Korea.


Pat Roberts of Kansas will be Ranking Minority Member on Senate Ag Committee in New Congress
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Sen. Pat Roberts (R, KS), one of the most ag-savvy veteran members of the Senate having served as chair of the House Agriculture Committee during his tenure in that chamber, will become the new ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee when the 112th Congress begins in January, 2011. Roberts will sit opposite Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) who takes the chair of the committee with the defeat of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D, AR).

Roberts' move to ranking member was precipitated when current ranking member Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R, GA) opted to take the ranking slot on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Roberts' expertise and farm bill experience will be critical as Congress moves to rewrite federal farm programs over the next two years, particularly with Rep. Frank Lucas (R, OK) chairing the House Ag panel. Committee membership has yet to be finalized by Senate leadership.


No Till on the Plains Conference Coming in January- Early Bird Discount Ends Friday
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The 2011 No Till on the Plains Winter Conference will be happening in Salina, Kansas January 25 and 26. We have details of the event on our Calendar page of our website- we have the LINK at the bottom of this story. The key right now is that you can save money by registering before the end of business on Friday- as that will save you $15 for the full registration.

One new feature for 2001 is the Industry Morning Marketplace - hands-on schools and presentations provided by Sponsors and Exhibitors on Tuesday, Jan. 25 from 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.
The event planners are kicking off the conference at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25 with a candid one-on-one discussion with the co-founder of Apple Computer Inc, Steve Wozniak. It's quite an opportunity as you can gain insights on technology and innovation from the man who changed the world!!

We have more details on our calendar page for the No Till on the Plains Conference- go and check things out.

Click here for more on the winter conference of the No Till on the Plains Conference.


Grass to Grid Sale Set for December 30th in Beaver
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The Grass to Grid Customer Appreciation Female Sale is coming up tomorrow, 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
Bourquin Cattle Company - Follett, TX;
CDS Cattle Company- Darrouzett, TX;
Duke Ranch - Darrouzett, TX;
ETR Cattle Company - Poteau, OK;
Falcon Ridge Ranch - Follett, TX;
JE Ranch Foundation - Blanchard, OK;
GCC Griswold Cattle - Stillwater, OK;
Jake Franke Cattle - College Station, TX;
Star Ranch - Dupree, SD;
and Al Tiemann - Gothwaite, TX

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.

For sale information contact: John Griswold (405) 780-3300 or Jeff Bourquin (806) 886-3145.


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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Let's Check the Markets!
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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 $10.00 per bushel- as of the close of business yesterday, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $10.65 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:
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler- analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day-
Ron on RON Markets as heard on K101 mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's market.
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- As Reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture. <
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Finally, Here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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