Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news

A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS Futures!

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 just concluded Southern Plains Farm Show 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.

Rain Falls in Oklahoma- but Most of the Wheat Crop Can't Buy a Drop

Wheat producers in Grant and Kay Counties received rain on Friday evening- in and around some severe weather that featured hail and high winds. Don Schieber, current chairman of US Wheat Associates, tells us that at his place- they got hail and almost three inches of rain. The Mesonet indicates about 8 tenths of an inch fell in Grant County in Medford.

A lot of southeastern one fourth of Oklahoma got rain as well from Friday night through early this morning. Several locations from the Red River all the way up to Sallisaw got an inch or more of the precious wet stuff.

Unfortunately, most of the Oklahoma hard red winter wheat crop got zero precipitation from this system- and there seems to be only a limited chance to see rain at all this week. The stories shared with us at the Southern Plains Farm Show over the weekend were mostly negative when it came to wheat crop prospects for 2011- especially if rain does not show up this week.

Click on the LINK below to see the four day precipitation map for the state- to see who got the rains of the weekend- this courtesy from the Oklahoma Mesonet.

Click here for the rainfall map for Oklahoma from April 8 through this morning- April 11.

Canola Field Tours Happening Today Through Thursday

We have our latest segment up and available on Canola TV- a service of PCOM- as we talked with Heath Sanders of PCOM about the condition of the 2011 Winter canola crop when we caught up with him at the Southern Plains Farm Show. Sanders tells us that the 2011 winter canola crop is hanging on better than wheat at this point. Sanders says he has looked at a lot of canola fields over the last week- and that compared to wheat fields nearby, the canola fields seem to be handling the stress of extremely dry weather better than the 2011 wheat crop.

Sanders says that most canola fields have reached the blooming stage- and that is what producers will see this week at 15 stops over four days during the 2011 Winter Canola Field Tours. Sanders says that he and several OSU specialists will discuss the status of the 2011 crop- and will spend about an hour at each location to discuss pest control, varieties, fertility, harvesting, and marketing.

Click on the LINK below to see this latest Canola TV segment talking about current crop conditions and these field tours that will be happening all over western Oklahoma.

Click here for your Canola TV update with Heath Sanders of PCOM.

USDA Funds Blender Pump Installations

USDA is issuing a rule to clarify the definition of renewable energy systems to include flexible fuel pumps, sometimes referred to as "blender pumps". Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says this action will permit Americans to purchase domestically produced renewable transportation fuels as it will provide fuel station owners with incentives to install flexible fuel pumps. Vilsack believes that flex-fuel pumps will give Americans a choice to purchase domestically produced renewable transportation fuels.

There are approximately 2,350 fueling stations that offer E85 of the more than 167,800 stations nationwide. The Obama administration has set a goal of installing 10-thousand flexible fuel pumps nationwide within 5 years.

Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, says this change - will go a long way toward providing American drivers across the nation with more choice at the pump. Dinneen points out - ethanol, whether E10 or mid-levels blends and E85 for flex-fuel vehicles, helps lower the cost of a gallon of gasoline, reduces this nation's dependence upon foreign oil, and supports American jobs with an American-made product.
According to the renewable fuels industry leader, the goal of installing blender pumps from coast-to-coast teamed up with incentives to invest and innovate the next generation of advanced ethanol send a powerful signal as to how strong President Obama, Secretary Vilsack and the American ethanol industry is commitment to reducing by one-third this nation's dependency upon foreign oil by 2025.

Click here for more details of this announcement from Ag Secretary Vilsack on Friday

Rick Davis Named to OSU Board of Regents by Governor Mary Fallin

Governor Mary Fallin announced Friday that she will appoint Ricky Joe Davis to the Board of Regents for the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges (OSU/A&M). Davis, a resident of Guthrie, will replace Regent Fred Boettcher of Ponca City, who is resigning effective May 1. Davis will be serving out the remainder of Boettcher's unexpired term. His appointment is effective May 2, 2011 and expires April 4, 2016. This appointment requires Senate confirmation.

Davis has served as the managing general partner for Davis Farms since 1983. Davis Farms is a 5500 acre wheat, beef and dairy operation in Logan County. He has also served as the general partner at Dimmitt Farms, a hay production business, since 2006.

Davis was state President of the Oklahoma FFA back in 1980-81- and at one time served as the President of the Guthrie Public Schools' Board of Education. He graduated from OSU with a degree in ag economics.

Click here for more on a farmer being named to the OSU Board of Regents by Governor Fallin.

Steve Calhoun and Brook Strader Named as Master Agronomists at Oklahoma State University

Grady County's Steve Calhoun, a third-generation farmer-rancher, has been named a 2011 Master Agronomist by Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

"Steve Calhoun has been a cooperating partner with division scientists and OSU Cooperative Extension specialists and educators for decades, helping to make official OSU agronomic recommendations for the area as accurate as humanly possible," said Dave Porter, head of the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Click here for more on Steve Calhoun being selected for this honor by OSU.

OSU has also named Homestead farmer Brook Strader a 2011 Master Agronomist. Strader has worked with a number of division scientists and OSU Cooperative Extension specialists and educators during the past 20 years, providing his land, labor, machinery and expertise to research efforts designed to improve agricultural practices for producers throughout northwestern Oklahoma.

"Brook was a leading pioneer for no-till production systems and crop rotation in Major and Blaine counties," said Dave Porter, head of the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. "He has provided significant resources for replicated grain sorghum hybrid trials for the last seven years."

Click here for the rest of the story on Brook Strader and his tremendous help he has provided to crop producers across the state through his work with the University in providing a location for field trails in his area.

Grain Stocks Will Stay Tight- Latest Government Report Offers More Confirmation

USDA's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, released on this past Friday morning contained hardly any changes for corn and soybean supply and usage but also did little to shed any new light on last week's surprising Grains Stocks estimates. According to Steve Meyer and Len Steiner in their Daily Livestock Report from the CME, the reports from USDA on Friday only confirm that available stocks of feed grains are tight and that won't change the balance of this year.

Ethanol usage goes to five billion bushels for this marketing year and the slight reduction in corn for feed will be made up by soft red winter wheat that will be available to be fed to livestock after this year's harvest.

Currently, ag futures prices are bouncing around in record territory- and Meyer and Steiner do not see much price relief for those that are buying grains to feed to livestock.

Click here for their full report from this morning- as electronically published by the CME.

Congrats to Ann Brower of Anadarko- Winner of the Preifert Round Pen

We pulled Ann's name from the hopper to receive the Preifert Round Pen that was used by Scott Daily for this twice a day horse training sessions at this year's Southern Plains Farm Show. Thanks to the many wonderful folks who stopped by, visited a bit and signed up for our Saturday afternoon drawing.

Even with farmers and ranchers facing a drought that continues to stretch out in front of us with no end in sight- there were good Friday and Saturday crowds at this year's event- and many exhibitors seemed pleased with the results of event as they talked with clients or potential clients.

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers and KIS Futures 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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

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 $10.25 per bushel- as of the close of trade on Thursday, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $11.40 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:
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.

God Bless! You can reach us at the following: