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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday April 18, 2011
A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- No Dust Storms to Catch on TV- Just Wildfires
-- 2011 Oklahoma FFA Convention Preview- We Talk with State President
Emily Beanland
-- Canola TV- We talk varieties with Chad Godsey
-- Terrible Wildfires a Function of Too Much Rain
-- Meat Industry Pushes Back on Pew Funded Study Questioning Safety
of US Meat
-- From Last Week- President Obama signs 1099 repeal
-- Congressmen Lucas and Cole on the Road This Week at TownHall
Meetings
-- 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 website that features their grain, ports and seed
business! 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. | |
No Dust Storms to Catch on TV- Just Wildfires ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The wildfires
are terrible- check out our wildfire story further down for a bit of that-
but perhaps one of the big stories of spring here in Oklahoma and Texas is
the fact that we do NOT have duststorms covering everything with a film of
top soil for miles and miles. Conservation efforts born out of the
desperation of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s really have paid off in a
significant way. That was pointed out this past week as Conservation
Leaders were celebrating another Conservation Success Story in Oklahoma-
water quality improvements.
The dedicated work of farmers, ranchers and other landowners to control non-point source pollution in Oklahoma by using voluntary programs administered by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and local conservation districts is paying off according to new water quality numbers recently released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Recent analysis of nonpoint source pollution reduction numbers from across the nation shows that Oklahoma for the second year in a row ranks among the top five states in reducing nutrients from our streams and rivers and for the third year in a row ranks among the top ten states in nutrient reduction work. Senator Ron Justice (R-Chickasha), Chair of the Oklahoma State Senate Natural Resources Appropriations Sub-Committee says that "We should all take pride in this accomplishment. This shows what can happen when we work together to solve problems. When we respect folk's private property rights and when the State and Federal Governments give them the financial and technical assistance they need to make changes, we can accomplish great things. " Click on the LINK below for more information on the progress made in the state on lowering nutrient levels in key waterways in the state- and to hear comments from Clay Pope of the OACD on the comparison of how voluntary conservation efforts can make a difference in either soil erosion or in water quality improvement. Click here for more on the Oklahoma Conservation Success Story | |
2011 Oklahoma FFA Convention Preview- We Talk with State President Emily Beanland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2011 State
Convention of the Oklahoma FFA Association is coming up fast, with young
men and ladies wearing the Blue and Gold jacket from all 77 counties
converging on downtown Oklahoma City May 3rd and 4th.
Calling the convention to order in the Cox Convention Center will be Emily Beanland of Hollis, the 2010-2011 State President. Beanland is a sophomore at Oklahoma State University, and as is the tradition in the organization, is serving her second year as a state officer. We have both our video as seen on KWTV News9 on our webstory you can jump to below- as well as a longer audio conversation with Emily as we talk about her year as FFA President, the plans that have been made for the State Convention now just days away- and may be next for Emily after her days as State President are complete. Click on the LINK below- we also have the link in our story for all the convention info you need to know from the Oklahoma FFA website. | |
Canola TV- We talk varieties with Chad Godsey ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The final
segment of Canola TV from last week's OSU Canola Plot Tours that made a
total of 15 stops is with Dr. Chad Godsey, who talked with us about
varieties of canola available for the Southern Plains. There are now two
companies actively developing canola lines for farmers to be able to
consider- as well as some of the earlier publicly bred plant genetic
materials. It all adds up to more choice for those wanting to grow winter
canola.
Dr. Godsey discussed the varieties being grown in the various trials across the state with producers during the Plot Tour Stops- and we talked about what the highlights are this season as far as traits being seen and what a producer needs to be thinking about if he plans on growing canola next season. Canola TV is a service of PCOM- and you can see our visit with Chad Godsey by clicking on the LINK below. Click here for our latest Canola TV segment- talking canola varieties. | |
Terrible Wildfires a Function of Too Much Rain ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There have
been terrible wildfires in Oklahoma this spring- but none as bad and quite
as scary as several in Texas. We have heard that the one that was in the
Possum Kingdom Lake area of Texas had smoke drifting into Oklahoma in
recent days- and one in Rotan, Texas was also a major producer of smoke
into Lubbock and points farther away.
Lindsay Kennedy, who works for the National Sorghum Producers in Lubbock, has really been following the Texas wildfires in a blog that she writes. Her most recent posting is up and available to view- she went into the fire zone and got several pictures that remind you why you don't ignore warnings of fire danger. Lindsay points out in her blog that "It is important to mention that
the story of this wildfire begins before April 14 and even prior to the
drought that has taken a toll on Texas this year. It starts last year when
a wetter-than-normal summer promoted abundant vegetation growth in the
area. On the Fourth of July, more than 10 inches of rain fell in a short
period of time. We had knee-high grass in some parts of the ranch, and
everything looked much greener than the average summer in West
Texas. | |
Meat Industry Pushes Back on Pew Funded Study Questioning Safety of US Meat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A small study
is provoking a firestorm over the safety of US meat- the study found that
found nearly half of meat and poultry samples purchased at grocery stores
in five U.S. cities contained the Staphylococcus aureus
bacteria.Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples - 47 percent - were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those contaminated were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to the study published Friday in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study is designed to go after antibiotics being used in any form by animal agriculture- trying to show a link that makes their use unacceptable. For the study, researchers looked at 136 samples involving 80 brands of
beef, chicken, pork and turkey from 26 grocery stores in five cities
including Los Angeles, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Flagstaff, Ariz.,
and Washington, D.C. It was a study funded by the anti animal agriculture
group- the Pew Charitable Trust. Also in response- National Cattlemen's Beef Association Bill Donald issued the following statement- "U.S. cattlemen's top priority is to produce the safest, highest quality beef in the world. Cattlemen and women use multiple technologies to ensure the safety of their cattle and therefore the beef products. Calling into question the safety of U.S. beef without conclusive scientific evidence is careless and misleads consumers. Pew Charitable Trusts, an agenda-driven organization on this issue, funded this study, which concludes that its extremely small sample size was 'insufficient to accurately estimate prevalence rates' and that 'public health relevance of this finding is unclear.' The study's authors clearly call into question the validity of their own study.The bottom-line is U.S. beef is safe and is part of a healthy, well-balanced diet." Click here for the AMI news release with their reaction to the study | |
From Last Week- President Obama signs 1099 repeal ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The health
care law's "1099" provision, which agri-businesses and agricultural
producers said would create a red-tape nightmare, was repealed last
Thursday when President Obama signed H.R. 4. The House passed the repeal
in March as one of its first priorities. The bill was passed by the Senate
on April 5 on an 87-12 vote. President Obama supported repeal.
The 1099 reporting provision found its way, originally almost unnoticed, into the massive health care bill as a means of offsetting some of the bill's costs. It was only after the passage of the Affordable Care Act - commonly known as ObamaCare - that the full implications of the 1099 came to light. Had the provision not been repealed it would have required all businesses to report to the Internal Revenue Services all purchases of goods and services over $600 annually on a 1099 form. When the business and agricultural community realized the paperwork nightmare associated with the new 1099 reporting provision, bipartisan efforts began to seek the repeal. | |
Congressmen Lucas and Cole on the Road This Week at TownHall Meetings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Chairman
of the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank
Lucas, has scheduled Town Hall Meetings in four counties this week as the
Congress has now begun their Easter break. Congressman Lucas plans four of
these today and three tomorrow for this week- and then has several planned
for next week as well.
Congressman Tom Cole will also be traveling his district both this week
and next week with a total of eight Town Hall meetings planned- four this
week and four next week. We have these town hall meetings listed up on our website- click on the LINK below and scroll down to April and browse through the listings- you can find out when a Congressman may be near by. It's a great idea to be able to remind that lawmaker of the issues you have as your highest priority- person in a small group setting. Click here for the Calendar page found at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com | |
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. | |
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 $10.80
per bushel- as of the close of business yesterday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $11.10 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
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