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 brand new website!

And we are proud to have P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy as 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.

We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network weekdays- if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it- click here for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays on RON.

If you have received this email by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here.

In the case of the Lesser Prairie Chicken, you can't just take a few of the birds to abandoned areas- and get them interested in going forth and populating. For other upland and endangered species, scientists were able to repopulate abandoned but suitable habitat using methods that increase reproduction. The problem for this species is not an attack on the reproduction process, necessarily, it is the disappearance of suitable habitat that has caused their numbers to dwindle. Therefore, the only way to restore the population is to restore the habitat where they can live.

If a species is considered endangered- that means nothing that man has done in the area of development can be grandfathered- that species becomes the factor where all existing development and all future development will be judged on how a regulator believes it will impact the bird. That could have a chilling effect on economic development in the five states affected.

Click on the link below for a very good read on what was said last week in Woodward at the Ranch Conversations Meeting that was held- sponsored by the the High Plains R C and D.
Our thanks to Crystal Young of the Oklahoma state office of the NRCS for the article that we have posted on our website.

Click here for more on the possible impact the Lesser Prairie Chicken could have on life in Red Carpet Country

Our first series of reports on Canola TV are a look at how winter canola arrived on the scene here in Oklahoma, with the story told by the key individual who championed canola as a tremendous rotational crop for winter wheat here in the southern plains- Dr. Tom Peeper of OSU.

Today's Canola TV report has Dr. Peeper telling the story of how he added an extra duty to his job of winter wheat weed specialist- that duty was to become the number one promoter of winter canola in the region. Click on the LINK below to see our first video package for our new Canola TV effort coming several times a month here in 2011.

Click here for Part One of our Three Part Series on Canola TV with Tom Peeper of OSU.

Aside from winter wheat, which is suffering continued immediate stress, there is plenty of time to receive moisture for normal spring growth of pasture and hay. However, in another 30 days or so, the lack of moisture will have an abrupt and severe effect very quickly. Hopefully, rains will come and this article will not be needed. In fact, it often seems that an article on drought management has a similar effect as washing the car and provokes prompt arrival of rain. If that be the case this time, so much the better.

Nevertheless, while no one wants to talk about drought until there is no choice, the key to drought management is to plan ahead while there is still the maximum amount of management flexibility. Droughts that start at different times of the year vary considerably in how much and how fast the drought impacts are felt. A spring drought is probably the worst possible drought scenario for several reasons. First, a drought that preempts or greatly delays initial forage growth often results in forage quantity and quality issues that are not recovered for the entire grazing season. Secondly, many producers will finish the winter with limited hay reserves and when combined with the lack of standing forage, means that drought impacts are felt much sooner and more severely. Finally, both fall and spring calving cows are lactating and spring calving cows, especially, are more nutritionally vulnerable in the spring and early summer period. Lack of forage quantity and quality can quickly result in impacts on the current calf crop and compromise rebreeding performance with potential impacts on next year's calf crop.

Click here to read more of this analysis of what the "D" word may mean to the Oklahoma cattle industry- courtesy of Derrell Peel.

Board members will get their first glimpse of the new campaign during their two-day business meeting Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. To make sure that delegates to the annual industry meeting are the first audience to see the campaign before it is introduced to the general public in April, the board's Wednesday session will be closed. The board's Thursday session will be open to the public.

Click here to read more about the branding efforts for the pork business- following up on what proved to be a very successful and long running campaign- the "Other White Meat."

Click here for more on the National Pork Board and their meetings this week at the National Pork Forum in Phoenix.

Some experts in US Beef Trade overseas believe that once we get the Chinese market open, they could quickly become one of our largest, if not the largest outlet for US beef.

The now former USDA Undersecretary Jim Miller spent eleven days early in 2011 negotiating a deal- and he and his team fell short. Not, by much, but short of a successful deal. Now, the US Beef Industry is concerned that with the departure of Miller as well as some of the most knowledgeable negotiators in the USTR's office, the Obama Administration will have a difficult job of picking up where the negotiations were left.

Where we are and where we are headed in getting China to allow US Beef back into their country is the subject of our Beef Buzz- a regular feature heard across the region on great radio stations that are a part of the Radio Oklahoma Network. You can also hear the current and previous Beef Buzz reports by clicking on the Beef Buzz button on the left hand column of any page on www.OklahomaFarmReport.Com.

Click here for this latest Beef Buzz as we look at the prospects for trade with China as it relates to getting them to buy our beef.

"It is critical to ensure that the voices of U.S. producers are heard through this rulemaking process," said NFU President Roger Johnson. "The proposed rule is essentially a Farmer and Rancher Bill of Rights. It puts teeth into the Packers and Stockyards Act and ensures U.S. farmers and ranchers can compete in a fair and open market."

NFU contends that the livestock marketing system is broke and has taken a toll on rural America. The number of U.S. beef and hog operations has been rapidly declining over the last 30 years. In 1980, there were 660,000 hog farms, while only 67,000 remain today. Thirty years ago there were 1.3 million beef cattle operations, but only 950,000 today. The GIPSA rule would prevent packers and processors from abusing their market power and would protect the rights of producers.

Click here to read the rest of the arguments advanced by NFU to staffers and others on Capitol Hill.

We are heading for Tampa and the 2011 Commodity Classic- including some early bird sessions planned by Bayer Crop Science for select members of the farm media. Opening speaker for the Bayer Ag Issues Forum that starts after lunch today is one of my favorite Secretaries of Agriculture- Clayton Yeutter. Yeutter was USDA Chief for George Herbert Bush- and was in office while I was President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters- so we got to know each other well- and I contend there probably has never been a smarter Ag Secretary ever- Yeutter had and has an amazing memory and mind.

We will have coverage the balance of this week from the joint meeting of the wheat, corn, sorghum and soybean associations. Be listening on our Radio Oklahoma Radio Network stations, be watching our website as well as this email for that coverage. I suspect we will hear the phrases "farm safety net" and "renewable fuels" more than once in the next few days- it promises to be an exciting meeting.

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

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.