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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest
farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron
Hays of RON for Monday June 6, 2011 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Oklahoma
Mineral Owners
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas Will Push Back on Farm
Policy Changes Approved by House Appropriations Committee
-- The 2011 Oklahoma Wheat Crop is Dead Ripe and Ready to
Harvest
-- White House Tries to Shake Down Congress for More Money for Union
Workers in Exchange for Free Trade Pact Votes
-- Cotton Producers struggling through this crop season in
southwestern Oklahoma
-- Drought Management Plans are crucial for Farmers and
Ranchers
-- Oklahoma Beef Council Invests over $100,000 in USMEF
Campaigns
-- Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association hosts Annual Summer Ranch
Tour
-- 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 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. 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. | |
House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas Will Push Back on Farm Policy Changes Approved by House Appropriations Committee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Chairman
of the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank
Lucas, does not plan to go along quietly with the efforts of Republican
Jeff Flake and Democrat Rosa DeLauro in the House Appropriations Committee
as they offered amendments that were accepted by a voice vote by the full
Committee that have huge farm policy considerations in the final year of
the 2008 Farm law, as well as what lawmakers may be able to do as the 2012
Farm Bill is crafted.
Congressman Flake offered an amendment that would reduce Commodity Title Spending for Direct Farm Payments to cotton producers to cover the $147 million dollars owed Brazil that is a part of the settlement of the WTO cotton case the South American case brought against the US and won. Congresswoman DeLauro then latched onto the $147 million that was in the Ag Subcommittee report to up the spending levels for the WIC nutrition program. Congressman Lucas says the members of the Appropriations Committee jumped into the policy arena in a huge way and made the job of the House Ag Committee a lot more difficult. Congressman Lucas tells Ron Hays that he will be talking to the Rules Committee and Republican leadership about these measures and their place within this Appropriations measure- and that he hopes to change the mind of Congress on the floor when this package is considered by the House. Click on the LINK below to hear the rest of Chairman Lucas' thoughts on how he plans to take a stand against these changes to the Farm Bill along with the Senate Ag Committee's Field Hearing of earlier this week, the timing of writing new farm policy, the GIPSA Marketing Rule and Free Trade Agreements and the problem the Obama Administration is having with getting those trade pacts with Columbia, Panama and South Korea transmitted to the Congress for a final vote. Click here for more thoughts on the Farm Bill and much more from Chairman Lucas | |
The 2011 Oklahoma Wheat Crop is Dead Ripe and Ready to Harvest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have
several reports of wheat harvest activity from over the weekend- with the
expectation that we will get several more with the weekend now complete
and very favorable weather from border to border in the state of Oklahoma.
We were in Canadian County on Saturday and snapped some photos near Minco- the wheat in one of the fields was fairly thin and if you click on the LINK below and look closely- you will see a lot of green peaking up from the ground, as the canopy of wheat is not thick enough to block sunlight from the weeds. One report from last Friday came from Burlington, Oklahoma and the
"Scalehouse girls" Kate and Hana. Another report we have received from a listener/reader comes from
northwest Garfield into Alfalfa Counties- this producer writes "On Friday
we cut a field of Duster in SE Alfalfa County it made 29.67 bu/acre.
The Oklahoma Wheat Commission also posted a short harvest update on Friday afternoon before they headed home for the weekend. Click here for that report from the OWC. | |
White House Tries to Shake Down Congress for More Money for Union Workers in Exchange for Free Trade Pact Votes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While the
White House acceded to demands by members of both political parties on
both sides of Capitol Hill that all three pending free trade agreements
(FTA) - Panama, Colombia and South Korea - be submitted as a package, the
Administration demand for a commitment from House and Senate leadership to
renew and expand expired Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) has created a
political standoff on ratification of the treaties. Complicating the
debate over TAA renewal is a Senate Republican decision this week to block
executive branch nominees until the President formally submits all three
FTAs to Congress, arguing TAA will be dealt with separately.
This GOP action will delay President Obama's nomination of sitting Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to be U.S. ambassador to China following Ambassador John Huntsman's resignation, and nomination of the former head of Edison International and a co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) John Bryson to be Locke's replacement at Commerce. TAA is a 50-year-old program providing retraining, extended unemployment and health care payments for U.S. workers whose jobs are eliminated or their hours or wages are reduced due to export U.S. agreements. Portions of the TAA expired in February after an unsuccessful attempt in the House to renew the program, with critics arguing TAA must be scaled back during efforts to curb spending and reduce deficits given the White House estimates the cost of TAA at $7.2 billion over 10 years. | |
Cotton Producers struggling through this crop season in southwestern Oklahoma ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Southwestern
Oklahoma cotton producers struggled through the month of May due to high
temperatures and a lack of rainfall. Temperatures were at least 100
degrees for six days in Altus. Also, the quick changes in temperature
played a role in the difficulty of May. On May 3, there was a 36 degree
low followed by a temperature of 102 degrees on May 7. Because of these drought-like conditions many producers have considered planting dryland cotton for this crop season. The final planting date for insurance purposes is June 20, which is quickly approaching. However, many of the acres that have already been planted as dryland fields are still under drought pressure and are waiting for adequate rainfall. Another decision cotton producers are having to face is the decision to replant fields. Due to thunderstorms and drought in many areas across the state, producers need to evaluate their fields and determine the damage done is enough to justify replanting. Also, inadequate stands would be another reason to consider replanting. | |
Drought Management Plans are crucial for Farmers and Ranchers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Farmers and
ranchers have become accustomed to managing through adverse conditions,
and drought certainly falls into that category. During the last half of
2010 and the first few months of 2011, most producers have had to manage
through drought conditions. Some have managed better than others. There is
a common denominator for those producers who cope with drought better than
others - they all have active drought management plans. Following is a set
of guidelines for developing a drought management plan.
Know your expected forage production and annual rainfall patterns by
season. As a rule of thumb for warm-season perennial pastures (native or
introduced), about 70 percent of our annual forage production will occur
by July 1 regardless of the total rainfall for the year. The most
effective rainfall for our warm-season grasses occurs during the second
quarter of the year (April through June), which is typically the most
abundant rainfall quarter across the Southern Great Plains. Table 1 shows
annual precipitation (including totals by quarter) from 1971 through 2000
for three selected southern Oklahoma counties extending on a line from
east (Choctaw County), through Ardmore (Carter County), to west (Tillman
County). About 30 to 37 percent of annual rainfall occurs during the
spring quarter, in which 70 percent of our annual forage is produced. If
precipitation is below average for more than one quarter, drought
management plans should be implemented. Click here to read more on drought management from Hugh Aljoe with the Noble Foundation | |
Oklahoma Beef Council Invests over $100,000 in USMEF Campaigns ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Executive
Director of the Oklahoma Beef Council Heather Buckmaster recently gave us
an update on the recent investment from the Oklahoma Beef Council in the
U.S. Meat Export Federation. The Oklahoma Beef Council attended the USMEF
meeting in Washington, D.C. to learn more about the international beef
markets and to become aware of how it affects U.S. beef and to follow
their investments, says Buckmaster.The Oklahoma Beef Council has increased their investment ten-fold in the USMEF, which is over $100,000. They chose to make this investment because of the amount of growth opportunities in the international marketplace and it can add significantly to the cattle producer's bottom line, says Buckmaster. The Oklahoma Beef Council has chosen two programs to focus on. One is investing in Korea through a campaign called "To Trust" which is in hopes to build consumer confidence in U.S. beef and to drive U.S. beef sales. They have also chosen a similar campaign to be used in Taiwan which is called "We Love U.S. Beef." Heather adds that they are now doing their early budget planning for the new fiscal year that starts October first- and she would not be surprised to see even more checkoff money from Oklahoma dedicated to the work of the USMEF in an effort to get the most bang for the dollars invested. Click here to hear the rest of Heather Buckmaster's update on investments in USMEF | |
Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association hosts Annual Summer Ranch Tour ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 21st
Annual Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Summer Ranch Tour will soon be
underway and the focus for the tour this year is southeastern Oklahoma.
This area of Oklahoma, also known as Kiamichi country, is rich with
southern culture and is great cattle country with its abundance of forests
and mountains.The tour will be traveling across several counties in southeastern Oklahoma and visiting a multitude of cattle operations, including both commercial and purebred. Several different breeds will be represented by knowledgeable cattlemen on many different subjects. The tour hopes to provide a look at new and interesting ranches throughout southeastern Oklahoma. Dates for the 2011 tour are June 26th through the 28th. Click on the LINK below for a list of all stops along the tour this year, as well as for more information on registering for the tour. Click here for additional information on the OCA Annual Summer Tour | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers, KIS Futures and Oklahoma Mineral Buyers 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 $12.44
per bushel- as of the close of trade on Thursday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $12.44 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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