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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Friday April 22, 2011
A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- Easter Holiday Weekend- and Earth Day
-- Cattle on Feed Numbers Continue to Run Significantly Above a Year
Ago
-- Kim Anderson Talking Canola Price Outlook on SUNUP This
Weekend
-- The Million Dollar Question- How Much Can a Rain Help Oklahoma's
Wheat Crop at This Point in the Season?
-- Great Advocate for Agriculture- Miss America!
-- Noble Hands Out $12,000 in Junior Beef Excellence Program
-- Thinking About the Miracle of Easter
-- 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 a longstanding 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. | |
Easter Holiday Weekend- and Earth Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a
special day for millions of people. First, it is Good Friday and
Christians around the world know what that means- and we invite you to
check out our Easter thoughts further down in the email. But, today is
also Earth Day. This year, Earth Day's theme is "A Billion Acts of Green",
a people-powered campaign to generate a billion acts of environmental
service and advocacy. One group that lives that out every day are the pork
producers across the nation, who practice environmental service
instinctively- every day. Still, producers continue to seek ways to
improve their overall sustainability to benefit their animals, their
neighbors, their local community and consumers worldwide.
Randy Spronk, a farrow-to-finish pork producer from Edgerton, Minnesota, who serves on the National Pork Board's Environmental Committee, points out that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency - pork production contributes only one-third of one percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, every pound of pork produced in the United States today has a smaller carbon footprint than it used to have 20 years ago. This is due to improved production methods. As the pork industry plays its part to feed an ever-growing world population, the Pork Checkoff is developing new tools to help producers become more sustainable. A new carbon footprint calculator is in final stages of development that will help producers identify areas on their farms where they can become more efficient and potentially reduce their carbon footprint. This tool is expected to be launched at World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa in June. | |
Cattle on Feed Numbers Continue to Run Significantly Above a Year Ago ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Department
of Agriculture's Cattle on Feed report, released Thursday, indicates the
number of cattle and calves on feed for slaughter in the United States for
feedlots with capacity of one-thousand or more head totaled 11.3-million
head on April 1, 2011. That is five-percent above the April 1, 2010
number. The inventory included 7.12-million steers and steer calves, up
seven percent from the previous year. This group accounted for 63 percent
of the total inventory. Heifers and heifer calves accounted for
4.10-million head, up two percent from 2010.
According to USDA, placements in feedlots during March totaled
1.92-million, three percent above 2010. Net placements were 1.87-million
head. During March, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600
pounds were 380-thousand; 600-699 pounds were 360-thousand; 700-799 pounds
were 588-thousand and 800 pounds and greater were 590-thousand head.
While all categories, On-Feed, Placements and Marketings, showed increases, there seemed to be no surprises from the pre-report estimates. Our own Ed Richards talked with Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities, who offers a complete analysis of the report and what it could mean when trading resumes Monday morning. Click on the LINK below to jump to our Cattle on Feed story- a link to the full report and a chance to hear Tom's analysis. | |
Kim Anderson Talking Canola Price Outlook on SUNUP This Weekend ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With over a
hundred thousand acres of canola planted in Oklahoma last fall, farmers
are not just growing a rotational crop for wheat, they are also looking at
a crop that can make them some money- and OSU Extension Grain Marketing
Economist Dr. Kim Anderson says that he sees a stable, strong market for
canola, based on demand for oilseed crops domestically and
internationally. Anderson told Lyndall Stout for the upcoming SUNUP
program that will air this Saturday on OETA that what farmers are really
interested in is a crop that can provide a profitable return on their
investment- and winter canola seems to fit that bill.
Dr. Anderson also talked briefly about the current wheat market, which he continues to regard as high- and said with all of the uncertainty regarding production, this is a year to not pull the trigger on marketing any more of the crop until harvest. You can see Kim Anderson with Lyndall Stout on this weekend's SUNUP- or you can get the audio version of a sneak peak by clicking on the LINK below. We also have the full rundown of the entire SUNUP program for this Saturday- go to our story with Kim and see that lineup as well. Click here for the latest on Canola marketing ideas and a look at the SUNUP lineup for this Saturday | |
The Million Dollar Question- How Much Can a Rain Help Oklahoma's Wheat Crop at This Point in the Season? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mike Schulte,
CEO of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, says that there are still unknowns
that will be playing out about the 2011 Oklahoma Wheat Crop. One thing
that is not an unknown is the fate of most of the wheat that was planted
last fall in southwestern Oklahoma. That wheat got little to no rain after
planting- and the majority of those fields are being "zeroed out" by crop
insurance adjusters. If they have some forage standing, farmers are either
baling those fields or have turned cattle out on them to salvage
something. Other farmers are praying for a rain this weekend, which might
help them get a spring planted crop into the ground.
Further north- the crop needs a large drink of water as well. With the chances of rain in the forecast for this weekend for the first time in weeks- farmers are hoping their farm will receive a good dose of rain. Schulte says that the question then becomes for the wheat fields that are much shorter than normal and that have already headed- will a rain help those wheat plants fill those heads with kernels? Click on the LINK below to hear our conversation with Mike Schulte- and you can also tune in to the Saturday morning news as seen on KWTV News9 for the video version of our visit with Mike in the weekly In the Field Segment that we do around 6:40 AM. | |
Great Advocate for Agriculture- Miss America! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Animal-rights
activists may have met their match in Nebraska's Teresa Scanlan, crowned
Miss America 2011 at 18, the contest's youngest-ever winner.In a Fox News opinion article on "Why All Americans Have a Stake In the Success of Our Farmers and Ranchers," Miss Scanlan writes that back home in Gering, Nebraska, "This time of year, farmers plant seeds in hopes for Mother Nature's cooperation and a successful harvest. Ranchers help birth the next generation of their herds and hope for fair market prices. And workers at the local sugar plant catch their breath after a busy winter and hope for a bumper crop this fall so they can do it all over again." The reigning Miss America tells non farmers that "This year's crop has the potential to be the most valuable in U.S. history- so whether we live in New York's Manhattan or Manhattan, Kansas, we should all be rooting for a good growing season." She adds that "Increased U.S. production would also help ease the political instability and tensions aided by food shortages in other parts of the world." The new Miss America has energized several groups that she has mentioned since becoming Miss America- including the National Farmers Union, US Cattlemen's Association and the The Hand that Feeds America. Our friends at Agri-Pulse have a great picture of Teresa with reps of these groups in front of the Washington, DC restaurant Founding Farmers- plus links to the Op-Ed she did for Fox and the national interview that she did recently with Fox News- click on the LINK below to experience the excitement that Miss America is generating on behalf of farmers and ranchers. | |
Noble Hands Out $12,000 in Junior Beef Excellence Program ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Samuel
Roberts Noble Foundation announced the winners of the 2011 Junior Beef
Excellence Program and Live Animal Evaluation during a special awards
program last week at the Southern Oklahoma Technology Center in
Ardmore.Fifty-three students entered 60 steers in this year's event, which highlights the carcass merit of steers shown at junior livestock shows in eight southern Oklahoma counties. The top 10 entries were awarded a total of $12,500 as part of the annual contest. Ben Ivory, Marlow 4-H, entered this year's champion steer. As the 1st
place finisher, Ivory earned $2,500 and a custom winner's jacket.
Click on the LINK below to see the list of the top winners at this year's Junior Beef Excellence Challenge- the link will take you to the Blue Green Gazette section of our website and the Noble Story is the top of the current featured stories. | |
Thinking About the Miracle of Easter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Max
Lucado writes, "Computers are legalists, impersonal pragmatists. Push a
button and get a response. Learn the system and get a printout. Computers
are heartless creatures. Don't expect any compassion from your lap top.
They don't call it a hard disk for nothing.
As we think of the event that we commemorate this Sunday- Resurrection Sunday, I am glad that God didn't provide a computerized system of Christian faith for the world. I am also thankful that in His divine wisdom and sovereignty, God provided salvation that is real, touchable, and full of emotion. Aren't you glad that when Jesus died on the cross, through faith, He becomes a personal, living Savior to all who trust Him? That's the real beauty of Easter- that Jesus Christ, the Victor, has
conquered sin and death and lives today as our Savior. No codes to
memorize. No data to enter. No buttons to push. Nothing like that. He is a
living Savior who, through His resurrection, offers life and light to all
who turn to Him in faith. So instead of pushing buttons and staring at
meaningless screens, we serve a risen Savior who lives in us and through
us. | |
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 $11.30
per bushel- as of the close of business yesterday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $11.45 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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