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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday December 30,
2010 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- Terry Peach- A Man Leaving Things in Better Shape at the Oklahoma
Department of Agriculture
-- Death Tax Deal- One of the Big Five Beef Stories of 2010
-- Ag Disaster Declaration Granted for 72 of the 77 Oklahoma
Counties
-- WOW!!! $107 for Fats in Texas and Oklahoma Feedlots.
-- NCBA Congratulates USDA on Nutritional Labeling for Beef
Products
-- Iowa Farmland Value Hits Record $5,064 Per Acre
-- Oklahoma Farm Bureau Collecting Food for Mary Fallin Food
Drive
-- 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. 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. | |
Terry Peach- A Man Leaving Things in Better Shape at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You might ask-
better shape than what? I have worked with a multitude of Oklahoma State
Secretaries of Agriculture over my years of reporting on the radio here in
Oklahoma- and it's safe to say that Terry Peach has done an excellent job
of moving the ball forward on behalf of farmers and ranchers in our state
over the last eight years.
We had the chance to spend a few minutes with Terry on Wednesday as he counts down the last few days of the Brad Henry Governorship. When that ends- Secretary Peach will be headed back to Mooreland to think about his future. Terry deferred on speaking of any specific plans for his future- but just said he would be thinking about that in the early part of 2011. We have an extensive audio recording of our conversation with Secretary Peach on our website- we discussed 2010 in agriculture for the state- and we looked back over not just his years as Secretary Peach - but also his time before that as the State Director of the Farm Service Agency. Terry Peach has played a huge role in keeping agriculture in Oklahoma
on the same page- and standing together on a variety of issues. We
discussed with him about the regular ag group meetings held at the State
Ag Department building- and how they have shaped policy at the state and
even federal levels. Click here for our conversation with outgoing Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach. | |
Death Tax Deal- One of the Big Five Beef Stories of 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the Big
Beef stories of 2010 was one that came together in a most improbable way.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has been talking about the need
to fix the so called Death tax for more than a decade. They and the
American Farm Bureau led the agricultural charge for dealing with this
issue. About ten years ago- we saw Congress pass relief for the Estate Tax
that phased out federal estate taxes through the year 2009- eliminated
them in 2010- but allowed them to return with a vengeance in 2011 with
just a million dollar exemption and a very high 55% tax rate on everything
about that.
The improbable happened as the hour approached midnight on the year of no taxes on the death of a loved one. The GOP victory in November brought President Obama to the table- and he cut a deal with GOP Leadership on a variety of Bush tax cuts that were set to expire on December 31st- and the package included strong language that brought smiles to many who have worked on this issue over the last decade within the agricultural community. Click on the LINK below for the beef industry perspective on this Big Story with Colin Woodall, lead lobbyist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. We talked with him shortly after the GOP-Obama deal was announced that included this better than the 2009 exemption levels for the Estate Tax. Click here for our latest Beef Buzz on the Big Beef Stories of the year. | |
Ag Disaster Declaration Granted for 72 of the 77 Oklahoma Counties ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Governor Brad
Henry announced on Wednesday morning that federal aid is on the way to
farmers and ranchers in 72 Oklahoma counties who suffered damages because
of drought, extreme heat and high winds over a 12-month period beginning
in November of 2009. Initially, the only thing that farmers get from this
declaration is access to low interest loans- but it also puts farmers in
these counties in position to participate in the SURE program if their
individual losses qualify under the SURE criteria.
In a letter to the governor, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said loss assessments indicated there was sufficient damage to merit a primary disaster declaration in 58 counties. Under federal regulations, an additional 14 contiguous counties would qualify for aid as well. The only counties that will not receive aid under the federal designation are Craig, Kay, Nowata, Ottawa and Washington counties. Federal authorities said losses in those counties did not meet the threshold necessary to earn a disaster declaration. | |
WOW!!! $107 for Fats in Texas and Oklahoma Feedlots. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cash Cattle
trade happened on Wednesday again this week- and for the second week in a
row- the trend was up- sharply up. The Texas Cattle Feeders Association
reports in their daily recap of cattle prices that 17,612 cattle sold for
$107.00, three dollars up from last week and easily the high of the year.
In fact, the only prices that have been reported higher were a smaller
number of cattle in the fall of 2003 at $110.00. 2003 is significant
because that was the run up in prices that we saw because Canadian cattle
were being shut out of the export market at that point because of the
discovery of BSE in that country. On Christmas Eve of that year- we had
USDA Secretary Ann Veneman announce our first case of BSE- that Canadian
Dairy Cow found in Washington State. That was the end of the crazy high
prices of that fall in short order.
Market watchers say that tight supplies of market- ready cattle and higher beef prices encouraged the higher prices. We do understand that many of the sales yesterday were with a two week delivery clause. The normal delivery period is one week. Our link below breaks down the sales reported to TCFA by their member feedlots. TCFA has members in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. | |
NCBA Congratulates USDA on Nutritional Labeling for Beef Products ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National
Cattlemen's Beef Association Executive Director of Legislative Affairs
Kristina Butts issued the following statement on the final rule published
in the Federal Register on Dec. 29, 2010, titled "Nutrition Labeling of
Single-Ingredient Products or Chopped Meat and Poultry Products."
"NCBA supports nutrition labeling on beef products and is pleased to see USDA moving forward with this effort. According to comments submitted by NCBA, cattle producers support the inclusion of all nutrients found in beef being included on the label. We believe this information is helpful in educating the public on the important contribution beef makes to a healthy diet. While NCBA believes consumers have the right to know what nutrients are found in meat, we also realize retailers and others in the food-production chain will face significant new costs associated with this final rule. We wish USDA would have granted our request for an 18-24 month implementation period, and will continue our longstanding history of working with retailers, consumers and USDA on the implementation of the rule. Additionally, we are hopeful USDA will work with industry to find the least disruptive and most cost effective way to implement the rule." Click to jump to our webstory that has the rest of Kristina Butts' statement- as well as links to the USDA rule as published in the Federal Register- as well as details of what the NCBA told USDA in the comments they filed. Click here for more on the Cattle Industry Saying Good Job to USDA on Meat Labeling Rule | |
Iowa Farmland Value Hits Record $5,064 Per Acre ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The average
value of an acre of farmland in Iowa increased 15.9 percent in 2010,
according to an annual survey conducted by Iowa State University
Extension. Mike Duffy, ISU Extension economist who conducts the survey,
said the statewide average land value as of Nov. 1 this year was $5,064 an
acre, up $693 per acre from 2009. The 2010 survey shows a substantial increase in land values following a drop in 2009. "We need to watch the land values and be prudent, but I don't think we need to be overly pessimistic there will be a crash in values anytime soon," said Duffy. "The rate of increase in 2010 appears high, but it is half the yearly increases in 1973, 1974 and 1975." Duffy said it is important to remember the time span when evaluating
survey results. "This has been especially true the past few years when
corn and soybean prices have varied considerably. Monthly prices for corn
averaged 37 percent higher July to November this year compared to average
monthly prices from January through June. Soybean prices are 21 percent
higher over the same time span," Duffy said. Duffy said land values should remain strong at least for the next several months. Beyond that there is a fair degree of uncertainty with respect to whether land values can maintain their current levels. The volatility in corn and soybean prices and production costs lead to tremendous uncertainty and volatility in the land market, as historically reflected in the Iowa State survey. Land values were up 22 percent in 2007, down 2.2 percent in 2009 and up 15.9 percent in 2010. Since 2004, Iowa land values are up 93 percent. Click here for more from Iowa State Extension on this Land Value Modeling They Have Done for 2010. | |
Oklahoma Farm Bureau Collecting Food for Mary Fallin Food Drive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We'll have
more details tomorrow- but if you want to donate canned goods and other
perishables to the Governor Elect Mary Fallin Food Drive that she has
declared will be a part of her inauguration in early January- you can take
your food donations to any County Farm Bureau office in the state.
Oklahoma Farm Bureau is working with the Governor Elect to get Oklahomans
from all 77 counties involved in this part of the day that she will be
sworn in as our first female Governor.
Click here for more on the Food Drive efforts for Inauguration Day 2011. | |
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 $9.90 per
bushel, while the 2010 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
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