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- and their IPHONE App, which provides all electronic futures quotes is available at the App Store- click here for the KIS Futures App for your Iphone.

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.

And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the recent Tulsa Farm Show.. Click here for the Midwest Farm Show main website to learn more about their lineup of shows around the country, including the Southern Plains Farm Show April 7-9, 2011 in Oklahoma City.

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.

Dr. Kensinger says that the Department understands that the industry they serve is ever changing- and the help that OSU can provide to the industry needs to keep up with the times.

One area that the department has identified is in the area of animal well being and animal behavior. In 2010, the Oklahoma Beef Council gave a $250,000 gift to the University to help establish an endowment to help pay for a position that will be named in honor of Dr. Temple Grandin, who is a world renowed in the area of animal well being and animal handling. Dr. Kensinger says that the proposed position concept has been submitted to the Dean of the Division of Agriculture at OSU, and that he is hopeful the additional resources to go along with the Beef Council gift will be secured in the near future.

Click on the LINK below to read more about our conversation with Dr. Kensinger- as well as to hear our conversation with him as well.

Click here for our conversation with the OSU Animal Science Department head- Dr. Ron Kensinger

Quoting Thomas Jefferson who once called agriculture this nation's "wisest pursuit," the House Ag Committee Chairman says "Frankly, as the Agriculture Committee prepares to write the 2012 Farm Bill, we need your help in getting the attention of my colleagues who may not be on the committee, who may not be from the countryside, and who may not know just how important American agriculture is to our country.

"We need a corps of citizen activists who care about the future of production agriculture and rural America. We need folks who are ready to tell the story of how agriculture continues to be our wisest pursuit."

You can hear his entire statement by clicking on the LINK below.

Click here to jump to this week's audio statement from Oklahoma Lawmaker Frank Lucas

On the Earth Policy website, Brown says that "China's decision to import vast quantities of soybeans led to a restructuring of agriculture in the western hemisphere, the only region that could respond to such a massive demand. The United States now has more land in soybeans than in wheat. Brazil has more land in soybeans than in all grains combined. Argentina, with twice as much land in soybeans as in grain, is fast becoming a soybean monoculture. For the hemisphere as a whole, there is now more land in soybeans than in either wheat or corn." China imports almost 60% of the soybeans that are traded in the global marketplace.

"For China, the handwriting is on the wall. It will almost certainly have to turn to the outside world for grain to avoid politically destabilizing food price rises. To import massive quantities of grain, China will necessarily draw heavily on the United States, far and away the world's largest grain exporter. To be dependent on imported grain, much of it from the United States, will be China's worst nightmare come true.

"For U.S. consumers, China's worst nightmare could become ours. If China enters the U.S. grain market big time, as now seems inevitable, American consumers will find themselves competing with 1.4 billion Chinese consumers with fast-rising incomes for the U.S. grain harvest, driving up food prices.

Brown concludes his overview of where China stands today and where it may be in the next few years when it comes to needing feed grains- "For Americans, who live in a country that has been the world's breadbasket for more than half a century, a country that has never known food shortages or runaway food prices, the world is about to change. Like it or not, we are going to be sharing our grain harvest with the Chinese, no matter how much it raises our food prices."

Click here to read the full article from Lester Brown on China and his belief that they are soon to enter the global feed grain market in a HUGE way.

Mike Spradling is the eighth President of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and is a Tulsa County farmer-rancher. "Mike is very much aware of the concerns and issues faced by Oklahoma producers and related agribusiness operators, which has played a significant role in the guidance he has provided over the years as a member of our dean's advisory council, helping us ensure that division programs remain relevant and focused on high-priority needs," said Robert E. Whitson, DASNR vice president, dean and director. Click here to read more about Mike and his selection as a DASNR Champion.

Terry Detrick of the American Farmers & Ranchers has also been named as a DASNR Champion. "Terry has worked tirelessly to support agriculture and rural America at the state, regional and national levels," said Robert E. Whitson, DASNR vice president, dean and director. "He has engaged in numerous economic development projects throughout our state and has actively promoted alternative agricultural enterprises such as renewable energy crops."

"This award is one that I will cherish; my only wish is that I could divide it in pieces to share with all the people who have enabled me to be involved and who assisted along the way," said Detrick, who with his son Brad operates a 2,800-acre diversified farm and ranch operation in the Ames, Drummond and Lahoma communities.
Click here for more on Terry Detrick named as a DASNR Champion by OSU.

The third and final DASNR Champion selected in this charter group for this award goes to Ron Hays of the Radio Oklahoma Network. "Ron Hays' many accomplishments in Oklahoma media have been second to none in the past 30 years," said Robert E. Whitson, DASNR vice president, dean and director. "He has been and continues to be one of our state's most passionate voices and advocates for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers, rural communities and agribusinesses."
Click here to read more about our selection as a DASNR Champion by the Division of Ag and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

The Little River Conservation District is one of the five largest districts in the state, encompassing nearly one million acres. The district provides both rental equipment and custom services for its customers. It also has the largest Wetland Reserve Program area in the state and has restored over 14,000 acres of wetlands. The district provides assistance with maintenance by brushhogging the levees surrounding the WRP sites and two sites, the Red Slough and the Grassy Slough, have been nationally recognized for their habitat restoration. The district offers assistance to landowners through its conservation cost-share program and also has one of the most diverse education programs, sponsoring and providing funds for scholarships for land, forestry and speech contests held each year. The district also owns and operates a 266-acre demonstration farm used for tours, fertilizer comparisons, establishing new grasses, beaver management, pecan tree management, no-till pasture seeding and most recently, experimenting with tree trunk insecticide application.

You can read more about the other Conservation Day honorees by clicking on the LINK below.

Click here for more on this week's honroees at the Conservation Day Celebration at the State Capitol

Secretary Vilsack said - this action by the government of Chile will provide Chilean consumers with greater access to safe, high-quality U.S. beef. These negotiations were based on a mutual respect for international, science-based standards. Meanwhile U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said - the commitment of Chile and the United States to work together to promote science-based trade rules while providing our consumers with safe and wholesome foods is a win-win for both countries.

The United States exported approximately 6.2-million dollars in beef and beef products to Chile in 2010. World-wide, U.S. farm exports, including beef and beef products, reached an all-time high of 115.8-billion dollars in calendar year 2010.

Secondly, this is a special award because of the tremendous people I have enjoyed working with down through the years at OSU. From Bob Reisback to Bob Totusek to Bob Terry to Joe Williams to Glenn Selk to Kim Anderson and on and on- the people on campus in Stillwater and the extension folks out across the state are second to none. Again- I am humbled by this honor because I am receiving it because I have had a chance to work with all of these incredible people since the late 1970s.

Finally, I am humbled because of so many of you that read this daily email and encourage me regularly as we cover farm and ranch news and markets and events locally as well as on a state and national level. It's our desire to give you solid information that can help you succeed on your farm or ranch- in your agribusiness or in your position that is related some way to the production of food and fiber for this country and the world.
Everyday is different- and it often feels like we are drinking from a fire hose as events and news stories demand our attention- but we take a deep breath each morning and jump in- hoping what we bring to the surface will be of importance to you.
Thanks for your interest in what we do. You will never know how much we value the many friendships that we have made in our business down through the years.

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.