~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday March 1, 2011
A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- The Lesser Prairie Chicken Could Shut Northwestern Oklahoma
Down
-- Introducing Canola TV- A Service of PCOM
-- Time to Discuss the Dreaded D Word- Drought
-- National Pork Board Rolling Out New Branding Program for Pork
Industry This Week at National Pork Industry Forum
-- US Beef Industry Officials Hoping Obama Team will Finish Beef
Export Deal with China
-- NFU Touts the Benefits of GIPSA Rule on Capitol Hill
-- Bits and Pieces-
-- 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 brand new 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. | |
The Lesser Prairie Chicken Could Shut Northwestern Oklahoma Down ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a decade
of talk that the population numbers of the Lesser Prairie Chicken are
"low"- it appears that the Federal Government may try to reorder life in
portions of five states in an attempt to force the bird to repopulate to
more acceptable numbers that will satisfy the regulators.One of those regulators is Biologist Ken Collins of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who announced in Woodward this past week that the agency has received partial funding to begin the process that will determine whether the bird is listed as threatened, endangered or the consideration for listing is withdrawn all together. The proposed rule is estimated to take 18 months to complete, the whole process likely to take over two years. 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. | |
Introducing Canola TV- A Service of PCOM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are pleased
to present a new feature here on OklahomaFarmReport.Com- Canola TV. Canola
TV is a service of PCOM, and will feature regular updates about winter
canola production here in the state of Oklahoma.
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. | |
Time to Discuss the Dreaded D Word- Drought ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to
Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell
Peel, it's time to talk about the dreaded D-word: drought. Moisture
shortages continue to develop in the Southern Plains and the time for
spring green-up is rapidly approaching. In Oklahoma, despite significant
rain in some areas last week and two February snow storms, winter moisture
totals remain well below normal. All of the state is 80 percent or less of
winter precipitation and much of the western half of the state is 40
percent or less of average winter precipitation.By the way- the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update is out from the NASS folks- this a summary for the month of February- and it reflects the dryness concerns- showing the wheat crop condition at 42% poor to very poor in the state, with pasture and range conditions 44% in the same range of poor to very poor. Click here to see the full report as released yesterday afternoon. 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. | |
National Pork Board Rolling Out New Branding Program for Pork Industry This Week at National Pork Industry Forum ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Details of a
new branding initiative and consumer marketing campaign for pork will be
unveiled to pork producers attending the National Pork Industry Forum in
Phoenix, Ariz., on Friday. The unveiling will highlight four days of
activities for members of the National Pork Board, which, through the Pork
Checkoff, is charged with building consumer demand for pork. Oklahoma has
one of the sixteen national board seats- being held by Wathina Luthi of
Gage, Oklahoma. In addition, Board President Gene Nemechek is with Tyson's
in northwest Arkansas, and has responsibilties with several of their herds
in Oklahoma.
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." | |
US Beef Industry Officials Hoping Obama Team will Finish Beef Export Deal with China ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The US Beef
industry continues to wait on the US and Chinese governments to conclude
an arrangement that will result in US beef being allowed back into
Mainland China through the front door for the first time since the
discovery of the Canadian dairy cow with BSE in the United States.
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. 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. | |
NFU Touts the Benefits of GIPSA Rule on Capitol Hill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National
Farmers Union (NFU) held briefings today for U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Agriculture and U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee members and
their staff on the Grain Inspection and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA)
proposed rule. The panel was comprised of livestock producers from across
the country and moderated by NFU Vice President of Government Relations
Chandler Goule.
"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. | |
Bits and Pieces- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We reported to
you yesterday that the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association was meeting
with state lawmakers who were promoting HB 1292- which would have
prevented anyone who had more off farm/ranch income than on farm/ranch
income to lose their Farm Sales Tax Exemption. Scott Dewald says
that after meetings on Monday- the author agreed to back down and the
Committee Chairman involved decided not to allow the bill to be heard.
This latest effort to eliminate this small bit of tax relief for farmers
and ranchers has been derailed. Our thanks to Scott Dewald for keeping us
in the loop on that piece of legislation.
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. | |
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 $9.75 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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|