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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday February 14,
2011 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Big Iron
OnLine Auctions!
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-- Still Looking for a Decent Drink of Water for the 2011 Winter
Wheat Crop
-- Beef Exports Hit Record Levels in 2010- Eclipsing Four Billion
Dollars in Value
-- Oklahoma State Legislature Comes Back to Work After Taking Snow
Days
-- The Influence of Rising Commodity Prices on the Conservation
Reserve Program
-- J B Penn Says the Rising Food Demand is a Fundamental Shift as the
Middle Class of the World Grows
-- OSU Plant and Soil Sciences Extension Newsletter Has Hit the
Cyberspace Newsstands
-- 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 Big Iron Unreserved Online Auctions as one of our great sponsors of the daily Email. Their next auction is Wednesday, February 23 - 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. | |
Still Looking for a Decent Drink of Water for the 2011 Winter Wheat Crop ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma State
University Extension Small Grains Specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards says there
may have been some benefit from the snows of the last two weeks to
Oklahoma wheat farmers, but many producers in central, west central and
southwestern Oklahoma got little snowcover that stayed on the fields and
not blowing into the ditches. Wheat producers in almost all of Oklahoma
are still looking to the skies for relief in the form of a good rain over
the next three to four weeks.
Edwards says that the unusually bitter temperatures of this past week will test the winter hardiness of the wheat varieties we are growing in the state and that we may be able to tell as early as this week what damage may have occurred from the time below zero that many fields endured in the northern half of the state- especially with temperatures projected to be into the 70s sparking some wheat plant growth. He is encouraged by conversations he has had with farmers that have decided to apply nitrogen as a top dressing for the 2011. He says that for every dollar in nitrogen that you apply this spring- the market may reward you with as much as seven to eight dollars in return through improved yields and higher protein. Click on the LINK below for a complete read on our webstory and a chance to hear Jeff Edwards discuss the 2011 wheat crop for yourself. | |
Beef Exports Hit Record Levels in 2010- Eclipsing Four Billion Dollars in Value ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ December
statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export
Federation (USMEF) confirm that 2010 was the best year ever for U.S. beef
export value. A final total of $4.08 billion breaks the pre-BSE high from
2003 of $3.86 billion by more than 5 percent and exceeds the 2009 total by
nearly $1 billion. Total volume was 1.067 million metric tons, an increase
of 19 percent over 2009.
Pork export value posted the second-best year on record at $4.78 billion, falling just 2 percent short of the 2008 high and besting 2009 by more than 10 percent. Total volume was 1.918 million metric tons - an increase of 3 percent over the previous year. The global economic downturn of 2009 was particularly hard on beef
exports - not only for the United States, but for all exporting countries.
But despite an overall drop in global demand, U.S. beef maintained or
increased its market share in most key markets and was well-positioned for
a rebound in 2010. Click here for more of the details of both our beef and pork exports in 2010. | |
Oklahoma State Legislature Comes Back to Work After Taking Snow Days ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Oklahoma
State Legislature trudges back into Oklahoma City today- after taking a
couple of snow days last week. Both the Senate and House Ag Committees
will be meeting this week- with several bills of interest to farmers and
ranchers.
The Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Committee meets on this
Valentine's Day at 3:30 PM in Room 534 of the State Capitol Building.
Meanwhile the House Agriculture, Wildlife & Environment Committee
meets Wednesday morning at 9 AM in Room 432A- their agenda is a good bit
longer and includes several wildlife measures in addition to the ag
related bills at the top of the meeting: | |
The Influence of Rising Commodity Prices on the Conservation Reserve Program ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Economic
Research Service of the USDA issued a most interesting report about the
future of the Conservation Reserve Program- given the run up in farm gate
prices over the last couple of years. According to the report summary- "If
high prices become the norm, landowner interest in CRP may wane as they
weigh the expected returns to farming against the CRP payment,
particularly if CRP rental rates do not keep up with market rental rates.
This could lead to fewer acres being offered to the program, with a
commensurate drop in ecosystem services."
Using a computer simulation, the authors of this report demonstrate
that, in an era of elevated crop prices, maintaining the CRP's acreage,
and the environmental benefits it provides, will require higher program
payments. And that level of increase may not be enough, according to the study-
"Over the long term, to enroll acreage that would maintain the
environmental benefits currently provided by the program would require
roughly doubling CRP rental rates." Click here for more on the CRP study released by USDA on Friday afternoon. | |
J B Penn Says the Rising Food Demand is a Fundamental Shift as the Middle Class of the World Grows ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J.B. Penn,
chief economist with Deere & Company, credits rising incomes and
changes in dietary preferences of the growing middle class population in
developing countries as important drivers of demand for U.S. coarse
grains. Penn told those attending the U.S. Grains Council's 2011
International Marketing Conference and Annual Membership Meeting that
fast-growing world demand is keeping commodity prices high. He noted that
40 percent of the world's population now lives in countries with economies
that are growing at 8 percent annually. To listen to Dr. Penn's remarks to
the group- click
here for the audio of his presentation.
Penn contended that the world is undergoing a significant and sustainable shift in supply and demand. We are in the middle of a broad structural shift. People want to eat more and better. According to Penn, worldwide consumption is outpacing agricultural production, causing food prices to increase to historic highs. Pointing to Tunisia and Egypt, he said rising food costs can be a catalyst for uprising and protests to emerge over long-simmering social unrest. Penn said agriculture's challenge is to produce twice as much food in the next 40 years with the same resources as today. He said, the link between increased productivity and increased consumption is trade. Things like trade barriers, export restrictions and tariffs cause panic in world markets. Penn added, a rules-based trading system is critical for our industry to meet world demand. | |
OSU Plant and Soil Sciences Extension Newsletter Has Hit the Cyberspace Newsstands ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several
articles of interest are in the latest Plant and Soil Science Newsletter
from Oklahoma State University. For example, Jason Warren debates the pros
and cons of keeping terraces in a no till farming operation. He talks of
the efficiencies of not having to navigate the terraces year in and year
out- but concludes "Terraces are protective infrastructure that should be
maintained regardless of tillage, because they provide a layer of
protection from large rainfall events. We may not need them very often but
the next 20 year rain storm would certainly make us realize why they are
important if we decided to remove them."
Josh Bushong has good information on the timing of herbicide applications on canola, and there is a good update on the PASS Student Academy coming in June. Click on the LINK below to jump to our website and our story on the Newsletter- complete with the PDF that you can download. Great information- and the price is right. Click here for the latest PASS newsletter from Oklahoma State University's Division of Agriculture. | |
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 $10.10
per bushel- as of the close of trade on Thursday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $10.90 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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