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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest
farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron
Hays of RON for Wednesday June 22, 2011 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and
OklahomaMineralBuyers.Com!
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-- Senate Ag Committee Takes Up and Passes HR 872.
-- Texas Ending Testing for Bangs Disease Due to Budget Crunch
-- Robust Beef Exports Continuing in 2011 After a Terrific 2010
-- Populist Livestock Groups Blast USDA Over Soon to be Released
Animal ID Plan
-- Canola TV- We talk Canola Harvest Yields in Northern Oklahoma with
Jeff Scott
-- Four Hundred Groups Call on Biden Deficit Reduction Group to
Protect Natural Resource Spending
-- Bits and Pieces- Failes, Lopez, Garrison and a Postponement.
-- 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 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 weekdays on the Radio Oklahoma Network
for the latest farm news and markets- if you missed today's Morning Farm
News (or in an area where you can't hear it) Click
here to listen to today's Morning Farm News with Ron on RON. | |
Senate Ag Committee Takes Up and Passes HR 872. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The decision
to move forward with a measure that passed the House back at the end of
March was unexpected- but welcomed by agricultural groups and Oklahoma
Congressman Frank Lucas, Chairman of the House Ag Committee. The bill in
question was HR 872. H.R. 872, the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of
2011, is designed to eliminate costly and duplicative permitting
requirements for pesticide applications. Although the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has a comprehensive regulatory program in place
under the authority of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodendicide
Act (FIFRA), a misguided court order will be implemented on October 31
imposing a substantial burden on Government budgets and costly
requirements on small businesses.
After the Senate Ag Committee passed the measure on Tuesday afternoon, Congressman Lucas wasted no time in calling on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow a floor vote on the measure immediately. Lucas said in a statement released by the Ag Committee staff "I commend the Senate Agriculture Committee for advancing H.R. 872. I urge Majority Leader Reid to join this important, bipartisan effort and send the bill to the Senate floor for a vote. The cost of inaction is far-reaching and significant, and would be a crushing blow to an already struggling economy." Several ag groups quickly lifted their voices in praise of the Senate Ag Committee and the action they took on HR 872. "We are happy to see the Senate taking action on this important legislation," said Wayne Hurst, National Association of Wheat Growers president and a wheat producer from the Burley, Idaho, area. "Wheat farmers work hard to comply with the extensive processes in place to ensure the products we use on our farms are safe. New requirements added by the Sixth Circuit Court would only create paperwork for us and government officials without adding any additional measure of safety for the public. We urge quick completion of this bill." You can click on the LINK below and read additional reaction from the
National Corn Growers, another group that quickly gave thumbs up to the
positive vote by the Senate Ag Committee. Click here for the National Corn Growers take on the Senate Ag Committee approval of HR 872. | |
Texas Ending Testing for Bangs Disease Due to Budget Crunch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Texas
Animal Health Commission (TAHC) has announced that effective August 1,
2011, government subsidized Brucellosis testing at all Texas livestock
markets will be discontinued, due to a lack of funding available to pay
for future testing. The TAHC will no longer enforce the requirement that
all test eligible (adult) cattle be Brucellosis tested for a change of
ownership within Texas. After diligently working to eradicate Brucellosis "Bangs" from cattle for almost 50 years, on February 1, 2008, the USDA declared Texas Brucellosis free. "The discontinuation of brucellosis testing will not affect Texas' Brucellosis-free state status," Dr. Dee Ellis, State Veterinarian, said. "We remind Texas producers, marketers and veterinarians however, that maintaining a Brucellosis-free Texas requires constant awareness and vigilance. Although the TAHC will no longer enforce the requirement for Brucellosis testing of adult cattle, cattle producers are encouraged to discuss the issue with their veterinary practitioner prior to purchasing replacement cattle," Ellis said. Brucellosis is a bacterial disease of cattle that can cause abortions,
weak calves and low milk production. Humans can also catch brucellosis
(undulant fever) most commonly by consuming unpasteurized milk products or
handling contaminated birthing material when assisting with difficult
calving situations in infected cows. "It is critical that Texas maintain its brucellosis free status," said Joe Parker Jr., rancher and TSCRA president. "The state's budget cuts have created some challenges, but cattle raisers are ready to work alongside the Texas Animal Health Commission and USDA to overcome those challenges and keep Texas a brucellosis free state." Click here to read more on Brucellosis and discontinued testing in Texas | |
Robust Beef Exports Continuing in 2011 After a Terrific 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The value of
the export market to the US Cattle Market can not be overstated- and that
is especially the case over the last two years. In 2010, exports of US
beef producers exploded with the help of a relatively weak US dollar and
several countries that have really developed a taste for US beef. The
momentum of 2010 has continued in 2011, particularly in the Pacific Rim
and that makes the value of beef exports very important to keeping cattle
prices on a new higher plateau thus far this calendar year.We discuss how beef exports impact beef demand and how the market factors in these overseas sales of beef back to the individual animal with OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel. Click on the LINK below to listen to Ron Hays and Dr. Derrell Peel
discuss the value of beef exports and their effect on cattle
prices. Click here to listen to Dr. Derrell Peel's analysis of the value of beef exports | |
Populist Livestock Groups Blast USDA Over Soon to be Released Animal ID Plan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expected to issue its new proposed
rule for mandatory animal traceability very shortly. While USDA already
has traceability requirements as part of existing animal disease control
programs, the proposed framework goes much further to require animal
tagging and tracing even absent any active disease threat. The framework
has raised significant concerns among family farm and ranch advocates, who
criticize the agency for failing to provide a coherent, factual
explanation for the new program's necessity."USDA brags about the success of past programs, but has abandoned the principles that made them successful," argued Bill Bullard of R-CALF USA. "Past programs were based on sound science and were developed in response to the transmission, treatment, and elimination of specific identified diseases. USDA's new approach is a one-size-fits-all approach that does not specifically aim at the control of livestock diseases." The USDA has presented its traceability scheme as an animal health
program, but it has also reiterated the importance of the export market to
the United States in promoting its new plan. The powerful meatpacking
lobby has continued to push for such mandated traceability requirements in
order to develop international standards for exports. Critics have
suggested this is not in the American public's best interest, however,
since the U.S. is a net importer of beef and cattle and the profits from
the export market go to a small handful of massive meatpacking
companies. Click here to read more on the animal ID plan soon to be released | |
Canola TV- We talk Canola Harvest Yields in Northern Oklahoma with Jeff Scott ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this week's
edition of Canola TV, Ron Hays talks about the finishing touches of winter
canola with Jeff Scott, a canola farmer in Grant County around the Pond
Creek area. Scott said they are still seeing respectable yields on their
canola fields despite the fact that it faced mostly dry weather and recent
hail damage. The hail damage did help to finish killing off the plant,
however, it did cause Scott to lose as much as half of the canola crop.
Click on the LINK below to watch the latest edition of Canola TV and to hear Ron Hays and Jeff Scott discuss the end of canola harvest for this crop year. I talk with Jeff about the variety that the field we were standing in had grown this season- a new variety from Dekalb- DKW- 4410. | |
Four Hundred Groups Call on Biden Deficit Reduction Group to Protect Natural Resource Spending ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National
Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) joined with a diverse group
of more than 400 organizations committed to conservation, outdoor
recreation, and to the industries and rural communities these resources
support, in sending a letter to the bipartisan "Biden group" supporting
funding for federal natural resources programs. The groups expressed
concern that current budget negotiations could result in top line cuts
that, without even considering the merits of the nation's key conservation
programs, will result in devastating impacts for the future of America's
environment."Conservation programs are crucial to the health and viability of agriculture and rural America," said NACD President Gene Schmidt. "Failure to support our farmers, ranchers, foresters and natural resource base today will jeopardize our agricultural industry, drive up long term costs for environmental mitigation and threaten our nation's food security. While we certainly understand the need to balance the nation's budget, unfairly targeting conservation and agriculture will have devastating impacts reaching far beyond rural America." The House Appropriations Committee's FY12 Agriculture and Related Agencies bill imposes severe reductions to conservation technical assistance, as well as many Farm Bill Conservation Programs which also rely on technical expertise. Click on the LINK below to read more from the National Association of Conservation Districts on the House Appropriations Committee's FY12 Agriculture and Related Agencies bill, as well as to see a copy of the letter that was sent. | |
Bits and Pieces- Failes, Lopez, Garrison and a Postponement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gov. Mary
Fallin has appointed Kenneth Failes to a five-year term on the
Oklahoma Wheat Commission Board. Failes, a wheat producer from Cherokee,
will represent District I, which includes Alfalfa, Garfield, Grant and
Major counties. "We are excited that Kenneth Failes has been appointed to the Oklahoma Wheat Commission board," said Mike Schulte, CEO of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. "His knowledge and experience with wheat production as a farmer and his previous roles as an agronomist and crop advisor will lend him well to be a leader for our industry, which is what Oklahoma needs in this position." Read more about this newest appointment to the Oklahoma Wheat Commission by clicking here. The United Sorghum Checkoff Program is pleased to welcome Florentino Lopez as the organization's new executive director. Lopez brings valuable knowledge and experience in the grain industry to his new leadership role within the Sorghum Checkoff. He has been the Sorghum Checkoff marketing director since 2009 and was previously production manager at Texas Farm LLC in Perryton, Texas. His overall understanding of the sorghum industry and expertise in foreign and domestic sorghum markets make him a valuable asset to the checkoff program. Click here to read more of this announcement. One of the fears as we approached the 2011 wheat harvest season was the
availability of good quality seed wheat for the 2012 crop. During this
year's harvest, we received a couple of reports from Jeff Wright,
Operations Coordinator for the Oklahoma Foundation Seed Stocks efforts at
Oklahoma State University. Finally, the House Ag Subcommittee for Conservation, Energy and Forestry was scheduled to have a hearing on Wednesday morning- instead it has been postponed until further notice. This was a significant meeting as it was supposed to be the first of a series of meetings that Oklahoma Congressman and House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas had called "audits" of the various elements of the 2008 Farm Law. This first hearing or audit was to be the "Agricultural Program Audit: Examination of conservation programs. " There was no reason given for the postponement. | |
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 $12.09
per bushel, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available
are $12.09 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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