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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday April 26, 2011
A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- Rains Arrive- But Not a Lot in Wheat Country
-- Nationally- Fretting About Corn Planting
-- Oklahoma Has Become a State of Feast or Famine for Rainfall-
Derrell Peel Weighs the Impact on the Cattle Industry
-- Senator Feinstein Promotes Repeal of Ethanol Subsidies
-- Dust Regulation Options Detailed by Staff of EPA to Administrator
Lisa Jackson
-- Hall-Coyote Hills Ranch Limousin Production Sale
-- Climate Change Experts Predict a 20% to 40% Decrease in Corn
Yields Because of a Warmer Climate
-- It's a Shoot Em Up!
-- 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 brand new 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. | |
Rains Arrive- But Not a Lot in Wheat Country ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
Oklahoma Crop Weather Update reflects some of the benefit of the rains
from the Easter Holiday weekend period- and the reality that where the
hard red winter wheat crop did receive rainfall, it may have come so late
in the maturation process- little benefit will be seen. "Most of the State
saw measurable precipitation with five of the nine districts receiving
over an inch of rainfall. The East Central district received the most with
over five inches of rain. The Panhandle, West Central, Southwest, and
North Central districts did receive some rain but are still in desperate
need of more. The moisture received last week will help reduce fire danger
around the State. Soil moisture conditions improved with the weekend
rains. Topsoil and subsoil moisture conditions were rated mostly very
short with 81 percent of topsoil and 87 percent of subsoil rated short to
very short. However, two percent of topsoil and one percent of subsoil
were rated surplus. Additional moisture is still needed to improve field
and crop conditions."
For the wheat crop- "Although the weekend rains were desperately
needed, it may be too late to benefit the wheat crop as conditions are
still dismal and yield potential has been severely limited. Wheat jointing
was 98 percent complete by Sunday, and wheat headed reached 66 percent
complete, 17 points ahead of normal." For our spring planted crops- "Seedbed preparations continued and producers welcomed the soaking rains over the weekend. Corn seedbeds prepared reached 94 percent complete with 67 percent of corn planted and 16 percent emerged by Sunday. Sorghum seedbed preparation reached 60 percent complete, 11 points ahead of the five-year average. Soybean seedbed preparation increased by six points to reach 49 percent complete, three points behind normal. Peanut seedbeds prepared reached 75 percent complete by week's end, eight points ahead of the five-year average. Cotton seedbed preparation was 63 percent complete by Sunday, 11 points behind normal." Click on the LINK below to review the complete report- including pasture conditions. The rains in the eastern half of the state will continue to improve pasture and range conditions in those counties over the next several weeks as we get some sunshine to help those fields take advantage of the rainfall. Click here for the Oklahoma Crop Weather Update from NASS of the USDA on Monday afternoon | |
Nationally- Fretting About Corn Planting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The national
focus- and worry- is all about the slowness of corn planting here in 2011.
Wet weather prevented farmers in many of the key corn producing states
from getting into the fields and resulted in just a two percentage point
improvement in corn planting as of Monday afternoon versus last week. We
now have 9% of the US corn crop planted- versus 46% planted by this point
last year and the five year average of 23%.
Iowa and Minnesota lead the list of states to worry about. Iowa would normally have 28% of the crop planted by now- this week they stand at just 3%. Minnesota effectively has not yet started planting corn because of the wet and cold conditions- normally they would have 22% planted by this date. John Sanow, an analyst for DTN, says that this week's weather forecast
"shows little relief in sight for producers, meaning planters will stay
idle" for several more days. | |
Oklahoma Has Become a State of Feast or Famine for Rainfall- Derrell Peel Weighs the Impact on the Cattle Industry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma is
increasingly becoming a tale of two states as moisture in the eastern half
of the state contrasts with continued severe drought conditions in the
western half of the state. Easter weekend rains set up farther west than
recent rains and many areas along and east of I-35 in Oklahoma received
significant rain. Much of the I-35 corridor received 1 to 2+ inches of
rain over the weekend. Some counties in eastern Oklahoma have had
significant flooding- especially in Adair County, where they had more than
10 inches of rain. However, many areas west of I-35, remain critically dry
impacting the current wheat crop, crop planting conditions and pasture and
hay production.
According to Oklahoma State Univesrity Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel, the good thing about this time of year is that moisture will have almost immediate benefits for those who receive rain. Producers who have held onto cattle can expect rapid increases in forage quantity and quality. Of course, starting with a forage deficit means that careful pasture management is needed to prevent overgrazing and pasture damage. Moreover, one rain does not eliminate the longer term moisture deficit and while the current rain buys critical time, it may not eliminate drought management needs depending on weather in the coming weeks. Click on the LINK below for the rest of Dr. Peel's current thoughts on the cattle marketplace and choices cattle producers here in our state have in front of them. Click here for more from OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Derrell Peel | |
Senator Feinstein Promotes Repeal of Ethanol Subsidies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Writing for
the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
of California draws parallels between the ethanol and cattle industries.
According to Feinstein, if the cattle industry received the same
government support as the ethanol industry, ranchers would get generous
subsidies to raise their stock, the American public would be mandated to
consume certain amounts of beef and most foreign cattle would carry
punitive import tariffs. Of course, she is quick to point out, this is not
the case.
Feinstein says that ethanol is the only industry that benefits from such a triple crown of government intervention: its use is mandated by law, oil companies are paid by the federal government to use it and it is protected by tariffs. According to Feinstein it is time to end what she calls an outdated policy that is fiscally irresponsible, environmentally unwise and makes our country more dependent on foreign oil. Feinstein wrote her commentary to promote her legislation to repeal the 45-cent-per-gallon corn ethanol subsidies and reduce the ethanol tariff. She says her bill would eliminate a subsidy that costs taxpayers nearly 6-billion dollars a year while continuing to support producers of non-corn, second-generation "advanced biofuels" that are more environmentally friendly and non-market distorting. | |
Dust Regulation Options Detailed by Staff of EPA to Administrator Lisa Jackson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As
anticipated, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final
Policy Assessment for the Review of the Particulate Matter National
Ambient Air Quality Standards. According to Tamara Thies, chief
environmental counsel for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association(NCBA),
the policy assessment is an important document in the regulatory process
that sets forth the EPA staff's advice to the administrator about the
regulation of coarse particulate matter, more commonly known as dust.
In the final policy assessment, agency staffers determined that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson would be justified in either keeping the current standard or tightening it to a level that would be essentially twice as stringent for much of rural America. Thies said the good news is that the policy assessment included options rather than a stand alone recommendation to make the "dust standard" more stringent. The bad news is EPA can still choose to regulate dust in a way that would put a stranglehold on rural America. "While Administrator Jackson has complained recently about so-called 'myths and misconceptions' about her intentions regarding this issue, NCBA urges her to put all our minds at ease by declaring unequivocally that EPA's actions will not result in a more restrictive regulation of dust in rural America. Avoiding responsibility by claiming it's up to the states to determine how dust will be regulated is inappropriate since agriculture is a dust-generating industry that is likely to be negatively affected by a tighter standard," said Thies. "Since tightening the standard is not required by science, this is the administrator's opportunity to reduce the mounting pile of burdensome and unnecessary regulations on agriculture." Click here for more on the EPA release of the Dust Standard Options for Lisa Jackson to Consider | |
Hall-Coyote Hills Ranch Limousin Production Sale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The
Hall-Coyote Hills Ranch Limousin Production Sale is scheduled for
Saturday, April 30, 2011 at the ranch, Chattanooga, Oklahoma.Then ranch is located one mile west, two miles south and one mile west of Chattanooga, OK. on HWY 5. The sale will feature a very strong lineup including: For more last minute information- you can call 580.597.3006. Click on the LINK below for our auction listing which has the link to their full catalog. Click here for more details on the Hall-Coyote Hills Ranch Limousin Sale | |
Climate Change Experts Predict a 20% to 40% Decrease in Corn Yields Because of a Warmer Climate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Monday, the
Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a Capitol Hill
briefing on a new report from the National Research Council of the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) that details for the first time what
the effects of climate change will be per degree of global temperature
increase. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations and
Impacts over Decades to Millennia details the impacts of human activities
- particularly emissions of carbon dioxide, but also other greenhouse gas
emissions - which are so vast they will largely control the future of the
Earth's climate system.
Speaking in the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)
briefing, co-author Katharine Hayhoe, an Atmospheric Science professor at
Texas Tech University, said that science's role is to be as precise as
possible in forecasting impacts so that policymakers can make sound
judgements. Some of the other impacts that the report claims could be happening with climate warming- 5-10 percent changes in precipitation across many regions, 3-10 percent increases in the amount of rain falling during the heaviest precipitation events, 5-10 percent changes in stream flow across many river basins, 5-15 percent reductions in the yields of crops as currently grown, and 200-400 percent increases in the areas burned by wildfire in parts of the western United States. | |
It's a Shoot Em Up! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There's
another Pupalup deal that you may want to check out- Today's Pupalup deal
features unlimited range time in Oklahoma's state of the art gun range at
Heartland Outdoors in Edmond. This great deal also includes your
choice of pistols to rent from brands like Berreta, Walthar and
Kahr. And, to make the whole deal even more incredible, Heartland
Outdoors throws in 50 rounds of ammo, targets and safety gear too!
Today's Pupalup Deal, at 56% off, is a deal that has a lot of "bang" for
the buck! Click
here for more details at Pupalup.
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 $11.21
per bushel- as of the close of trade Wednesday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $11.36 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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