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 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.

This comes on top of a very long time of little or no rain. Gary McManus of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey tells us that it has now been 123 days since our Mesonet site at Grandfield has recorded 0.10 inches of rainfall in a single day. In fact, they have only had 0.3 inches in the last 120 days, dating back to November 16, 2010. Here's a map showing the number of days since we last had at least a quarter of an inch of rain.
Over the last 120 days, southwestern Oklahoma has had an average of 0.77 inches of rainfall (-4.96 inches below normal, 13% of normal) to rank as the 2nd driest such period since 1921 for that part of the state.

No one in the state is anywhere close to normal rainfall in recent months. The eastern third of Oklahoma has had 55% to 58% of normal rainfall in the last 120 days- while west central Oklahoma stands at 21% of normal in the same timeframe. Click here to see a weather map showing the percentage of normal rainfall across the state in the last four months.

Gary sums up our "dire straits" of a rainfall situation pretty well- "To put it bluntly, things are serious in the western one-half of Oklahoma. *IF* we don't get rain soon out in that part of the state, expect a brief green-up that will take advantage of the available soil moisture, then a rapid decline to dormant/dead vegetation once that resource is gone. Keep in mind that the soil moisture will also be depleted thanks to increasing daylight hours and temperatures. In turn, that will mean a prolonged wildfire season."

In a recent editorial penned by Senator Coburn- the Senator contends that "Ethanol distorts and manipulates the economy by increasing the price of food and energy." (Click here to read the full op-ed on the subject from Tom Coburn)

In response, the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy and the National Corn Growers Association are urging the defeat of the amendment. But, if this amendment is pursued, RFA recommends that Coburn also offer an amendment that would eliminate subsidies to oil companies posting tens of billions of dollars in profit quarterly.
Last December, Congress extended the tax incentive for ethanol use, providing the kind of stability that investors and markets demand. According to RFA, reneging on that stability just four months after voting to provide it is the kind of job-killing, innovation-stalling policy that will keep America addicted to foreign oil.

You can hear comments from Senator Tom Coburn on this push to eliminate VEETC- he was a featured part of our morning farm news on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and a link to today's farm news is below.

Click here to jump to our podcast of today's farm news which features comments with Senator Tom Coburn.

For the past couple of years, Chelsie Livingston of the Seiling FFA Chapter has donated her show pig to the local food pantry if it does not qualify for any premium sales. When the Seiling Chapter Advisor Ben Fisher heard that the Diamond Hats had organized a food drive in cooperation with the office of Governor Mary Fallin for those coming to the Oklahoma Youth Expo, their chapter decided they would try to find corporate sponsors to pay for the processing and donate six pigs from the Seiling FFA to the Food Drive.

Click on the LINK below for more on this story- and remember- if you are going to the Oklahoma Youth Expo in the next few days- be sure to grab a sack full of canned goods and bring them to help fill the trailer!

Click here for more on the efforts of Chelsie Livingston and her fellow Seiling FFA members to feed fellow Oklahomans.

Dozens of state lawmakers took a break from work at the state capitol and traveled to State Fair Park to meet some of their young constituents and their families and show their choice of a steer, lamb or pig in the celebrity competition. It's not so much to have a serious competition as it is to play show and tell with the lawmakers about the value of keeping the appropriation that helps fund the annual "world's largest junior livestock show."

Click on the link below for more on the show- and for a link to our pictures on FLICKR- we have lots from the Legislative Showmanship contest of last night.

Click here for our coverage of the Legislative Night Actitivies of the OYE

Any producer who is a resident of Oklahoma and has paid all assessments due may be considered as a delegate candidate and/or participate in the election. All eligible producers are encouraged to bring with them a sales receipt proving that hogs were sold in their name and the Checkoff deducted.

If you are interested in being a candidate, please prepare a short (1/2 page) biography telling about yourself and send it to the Oklahoma Pork Council, ATTN: Election Committee, One North Hudson, Suite 900, Oklahoma City, OK 73102 to arrive by March 17, 2011. Nominations will also be accepted from the floor.

For more information, contact the Oklahoma Pork Council. Telephone: 888-SAY-PORK (729-7675) or 405-232-3781.

The Stockman & Stewardship session teaches handling methods that improve gathering, penning, chute work, and hauling. Much emphasis is placed on ways to increase cattle performance by reducing handling stress, and interactive discussions show how cattlemen can actually shape consumer's perception of beef. Other sessions will be led by educators, specialists and researchers from OSU's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Topics will focus on the importance of animal husbandry, the economics of good fly control, how safety and consistency promote profitability and tips for preventing anaplasmosis of robbing a cattle operation of profits.

Registration is $20 for the first family member and $10 for each additional family member. To register call the Pittsburg County extension office at 918-423-4120. Registration is ending this week- so call and be a part of this event.
If you can make this meeting- we would urge you to do so- Ron Gill is world class when it comes to livestock handling training- you be glad you attended.

According to Allendale's Rich Nelson, February Placements are expected to be 3.0% larger than last year. This represents seven months in a row of higher placements. This should be the last month of higher placements for some time. Availability of calves and feeders is a problem and it will get even worse. February placements were higher as cattle feeders scrambled to replace profitable outgoing cattle. February marketed cattle left the feedlot with $140 per head profits. Cattle placed in February will be marketed from July through October.

Allendale anticipates a Marketing total 4.1% larger than February of 2010. Slaughter levels will go from slightly higher than last year this spring then balloon to sharply higher in the summer.

The Allendale folks are predicting total Cattle on Feed as of March 1 will be 5.9% larger than last year- one of the bigger numbers we may see this year.

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.