|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest
farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron
Hays of RON for Wednesday July 13, 2011 A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Emergency Haying of CRP Land Authorized in 25 Oklahoma
Counties
-- Blue-Green Algae and Water Quality Problems Need Attention from
EPA says Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts
-- Part 3 with Bryan Weech, Says Not Moving Forward with
Sustainability is Dangerous
-- July Crop Numbers Leave Size of Oklahoma Wheat Crop Unchanged-
Kansas Sees a Slight Increase
-- Higher Quality Cattle Means Less Risk in Marketing
-- Noble Foundation Seminar Focusing on Improving Stocker Cattle
Operations
-- Bayer CropScience Takes to Twitter to Fund Flood Relief
Efforts
-- 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. Johnston is proud to be an
outlet for Trimble GPS Guidance and Precision Agriculture Solutions- Call
Derrick Bentz at 580-732-8080 for details. For more on Johnston
Enterprises- click
here for their website! 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. | |
Emergency Haying of CRP Land Authorized in 25 Oklahoma Counties ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In response to
extreme drought conditions, twenty-five counties in Oklahoma have been
authorized for emergency haying of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
acres by USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA). The counties are: Alfalfa,
Beaver, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Custer, Dewey, Ellis,
Grady, Grant, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Jackson, Jefferson, Kiowa, Major,
McCurtain, Roger Mills, Tillman, Washita, Woods and Woodward. Haying
authorization will end on August 31, 2011."Eligible producers who are interested in emergency haying of CRP must request approval and obtain a modified conservation plan before haying eligible acreage," said Francie Tolle, Executive Director of Oklahoma Farm Service Agency. Upon approval of emergency haying, producers must leave at least 50
percent of each field or contiguous field unhayed for wildlife. For those
counties that are eligible for emergency haying and grazing, the same CRP
acreage cannot be both hayed and/or grazed at the same time. For example,
if 50 percent of a field or contiguous field is hayed, the remaining
unhayed 50 percent cannot be grazed; it must remain unhayed and ungrazed
for wildlife. | |
Blue-Green Algae and Water Quality Problems Need Attention from EPA says Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The recent
rash of water quality alerts in Oklahoma, including blooms of blue-green
algae and increased levels of E coli bacteria in certain lakes shows the
need for additional resources dedicated to addressing nonpoint source
pollution in water according to Joe Parker, President of the Oklahoma
Association of Conservation Districts (OACD). In addition, Parker said
that these events also help highlight the folly of recent actions taken by
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) including cuts made to federal
funding to control nonpoint source pollution in water and the rejection in
2008 of a water quality management plan for the Grand Lake Watershed. It
also shows the challenges that could be created by proposed cuts to Farm
Bill Conservation programs."Events can speak louder than words," Parker said. "For months now we have been expressing our dismay at the cut by EPA to the Clean Water Act section 319 program (319), the primary fund that we use to control nonpoint source pollution in water. We also were disappointed when the EPA rejected the watershed plan for the Grand Lake Watershed some time back and we are concerned about what could happen to our efforts if we see some of the cuts proposed to federal conservation funding become law. We talk and talk about the water quality challenges we are facing and what these cuts could mean but I guess it takes headlines about lakes closing before the message hits home." In early July, a bloom of blue-green algae in Northeast Oklahoma's
Grand Lake resulted in warnings for visitors to avoid swimming in the lake
over the 4th of July weekend. Later that same month an increase in E coli
bacteria in parts of Lake Arcadia in Central Oklahoma was sighted as the
reason for closing several beach areas on that water body. This past week
blue-green algae blooms were detected in Fort Gibson Lake and Keystone
Lake with another possible bloom in Lake Tenkiller. Parker said that these
events show that while Oklahoma has made great strides in the area of
water quality protection, now is not the time to abandon water quality
work in the name of balancing the federal budget. | |
Part 3 with Bryan Weech, Says Not Moving Forward with Sustainability is Dangerous ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have part
three of our story with Bryan Weech, Director of Livestock Agriculture
with the World Wildlife Fund, concerning sustainability in beef cattle
production. Weech says we have got to move forward with increasing
sustainability because it is dangerous not to. Weech says one significant side effect to not moving forward on this issue is an increase in legislation. If food value chains don't do their part with sustainability, there is going to be an increase in legislation and with that there will be a stifling of innovation and challenges with obtaining continuous improvement with legislation that limits it, says Weech. Weech also says it is critical for meat production to focus on
science-based research and not to focus on just one area but six to seven
factors at once. We have got to figure out and agree on ways to measure
sustainability and then work together as an industry to make improvements,
says Weech. Click here to listen to more on the importance of sustainablity to beef production | |
July Crop Numbers Leave Size of Oklahoma Wheat Crop Unchanged- Kansas Sees a Slight Increase ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were a
pair of reports issued on Tuesday morning by the USDA- one was the July
first Crop Production numbers which updated the size of the 2011 US wheat
crop- while the other was the monthly crop supply demand numbers that come
from the ERS.
Looking at the wheat crop predictions- USDA left the 2011 Oklahoma
wheat crop unchanged at 74.8 million bushels. This number is based on 3.4
million acres harvested this year with an average yield per acre of 22
bushels. This is a 38% smaller harvest than 2010 when Oklahoma wheat
farmers put 120.9 million bushels into the bin. The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates were considered slightly bullish for corn and the corn futures moved higher on Tuesday as a result- September and December contracts were 21 to 25 cents a bushel higher. Click on the LINK below for our analysis from Tuesday morning with Tom Leffler in advance to the trading session- he majors on the corn stocks numbers. Click here for details of the Tuesday Monthly Supply Demand Numbers from USDA. | |
Higher Quality Cattle Means Less Risk in Marketing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Higher quality
of cattle is very important to Oklahoma cattle producers. And Tom Brink,
President of J&F Oklahoma Holdings, the cattle ownership arm of Five
Rivers Cattle Feeding, says it is important to them to market cattle of
only the highest quality. J&F Oklahoma Holdings market up to 2 million
finished cattle for Five Rivers every year. Most of the cattle marketed
through J&F Oklahoma Holdings are sold on grids, which means they are
priced through a carcass merit system. Brink says higher grading cattle are important to them because they will have a better basis, which means a lot to them as risk managers when they are lifting those hedges to know that the basis will be a little more effective. High quality cattle also allows for more flexibility because marbling begins at a younger age. Brink says this allows them to market the cattle a little early or a
little later dependant on the market, which is essential in this volatile
market because it allows to manage the risk. Click here for more information on managing risk through higher grade cattle | |
Noble Foundation Seminar Focusing on Improving Stocker Cattle Operations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Samuel
Roberts Noble Foundation will host a Winter Pasture/Stocker Cattle Seminar
from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, July 26, at the Noble Foundation Kruse
Auditorium. Stocker cattle production is the primary agricultural industry in the Southern Great Plains. Noble Foundation agricultural consultants and invited speakers will provide attendees with information about stocker health and nutrition, forage production and management, market outlook, and an owner's perspective on managing a successful stocker operation. "This seminar is a great opportunity for producers to brush up on
management techniques for their operations," said Clay Wright, Noble
Foundation livestock consultant. "As input costs continue to creep up, it
is more important than ever to be as efficient as possible to ensure the
vitality of our cattle and our operations." | |
Bayer CropScience Takes to Twitter to Fund Flood Relief Efforts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Historic
flooding throughout much of the Midwest, South and Southeast has prompted
Bayer CropScience to raise money for American Red Cross relief efforts. To
help raise awareness of the issue, the company is linking its donation to
Twitter engagement.During the course of a new, two-week program, anyone can tweet the hashtag #BCSFloodRelief. For each tweet including the hashtag, Bayer CropScience will make a $5 donation to the American Red Cross. The fundraising effort will run from July 11 to July 23. The #BCSFloodRelief program was announced during an event held at the
company's Northern Field Technology Station near Sabin, Minn. The total
amount raised will be announced during the Ag Media Summit in New Orleans,
July 24. | |
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 $12.92
per bushel- as of the close of business yesterday, while the 2012 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $12.74 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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
