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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest
farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron
Hays of RON for Thursday July 14, 2011 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- U.S. Pork and Beef Exports Continue Well Ahead of Year Ago
Levels
-- Hay Harvesting Tips for Failed Corn Acres
-- Sustainability in Beef Production Moving Forward with Global
Roundtable
-- Soybean Checkoff Supports Conservation Legacy Awards
-- Caddo County Hosting Groundbreaking Commemorating Conservation
Projects
-- Top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee Proposes Dairy
Reform
-- Grass to Grid Customer Appreciation Sale Set for This
Saturday
-- 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 proud to have KIS Futures as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for the free market quote page they provide us for our website or call them at 1-800-256-2555- and their IPHONE App, which provides all electronic futures quotes is available at the App Store- click here for the KIS Futures App for your Iphone. 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. | |
U.S. Pork and Beef Exports Continue Well Ahead of Year Ago Levels ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. pork and
beef exports in May exceeded year-ago levels by a considerable margin and
kept year-to-date results on a very strong pace, according to statistics
released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
Pork exports totaled 181,469 metric tons valued at $481.2 million, an 11 percent jump in volume and 15 percent in value over May 2010 levels. Volume was steady with the April 2011 results, while value declined by about 1 percent. Year-to-date through May, pork exports were up 16 percent in volume (916,763 metric tons) and 22 percent in value ($2.35 billion) over 2010, and results were 11 percent higher in volume and 26 percent higher in value than the all-time record pace set in 2008. Exports equated to 28.7 percent of total U.S. production with a per-head value of $56.81 compared to 27.9 percent and $53.10 per head in May 2010. May beef exports were 21 percent higher in volume (109,741 metric tons) and 30 percent higher in value ($453.9 million) than a year ago. It was the second-strongest month of 2011 in terms of both volume and value, trailing only the all-time record results posted in March. Year-to-date through May, beef exports reached 509,489 metric tons valued at $2.09 billion - surpassing last year's pace by 28 percent in volume and 44 percent in value. Exports equated to 14.8 percent of total U.S. production with a value of $205.07 per head of fed slaughter. This compares to 12.6 percent and $160.30 per head in May 2010. North Asian markets remain red hot for U.S. pork | |
Hay Harvesting Tips for Failed Corn Acres ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the
current drought, some producers are interested in baling failed corn crops
as hay. While this is certainly feasible, there are some challenges
associated with swathing and baling corn residue. Anyone who has baled
corn stalks into round bales knows the challenge of forming and tying a
good bale. Starting with a standing corn crop creates additional
challenges as compared to traditional hay crops in Oklahoma. You can swath the crop with most mowers, but a disc-mower is preferred. Stalk strength might be challenging for mowers with a sickle and you should consider operating slower with a sickle-mower. If you use a sickle, make sure you have sickle sections, guards, and pickup teeth on hand in the field because you are sure to break a few. You may want to consider tilting the cutterbar up a little to avoid the tough brace roots on corn plants. This may require some "trial and error" to find the adjustment that works best. Some type of conditioning is necessary to help get the crop dry enough
to bale. It should be less than 20% moisture, preferably 15%, when it is
baled. If you have access to a mower-conditioner with double conditioner
rolls (4 rolls total) it may do a better job on the tough corn stalks than
the standard two roller systems. In either case, make sure the conditioner
is adjusted properly. On standard two roll conditioners, this includes the
space between rolls and proper spring tension. The corn crop will likely
create a thicker mat of material passing between the rolls than is
typically seen in hay crops. It also has much stronger stalks. Thus most
mower conditioners used in Oklahoma are not set correctly to pull into the
field and harvest corn for hay. | |
Sustainability in Beef Production Moving Forward with Global Roundtable ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We wrap up our
look into the issue of sustainability as it relates to beef production.
Bryan Weech, Director of Livestock Agriculture for the World Wildlife
Fund, says it is imperative for the industry to move forward and it is
starting with a global effort. At a recent global conference on
sustainable beef, over 300 participants from all of the world worked on
finding a solution. The global conference was held in Denver, Colorado, and participants discussed what some of the key impacts are between sustainability and beef production and what they can do to work together on those issues. One solution was the idea of a global roundtable focusing on sustainable beef. The global roundtable has a vision of to become an action-oriented, internation coalition of beef stakeholders committed to a sustainable, global beef system. Weech says the main points of the global roundtable are to identify
better management practices, support regional and local initiatives,
provide producer education and appropriate standards and certification.
Weech also says the global roundtable will serve as a catalyst to regional
and local science-based projects and initiatives on sustainability.
Click here for more information on the global efforts for sustainable beef | |
Soybean Checkoff Supports Conservation Legacy Awards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Soybean
checkoff-funded research shows U.S. soybean farmers remain committed to
sustainably increasing production in order to meet growing global demand
for food. The United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff will
co-sponsor the American Soybean Association's (ASA's) Conservation Legacy
Awards as a way of recognizing U.S. soybean farmers who demonstrate
outstanding environmental and conservation achievements.The awards honor farmers whose practices are both environmentally friendly and profitable at the same time. USB invites U.S. soybean farmers to register for the award by Aug. 5. David Wilson, team lead of USB's Sustainability Initiative and a soybean farmer from Lincoln, Ala., believes the majority of U.S. soybean farmers operate sustainably now. He says awards like this one can help highlight those efforts to people outside of agriculture. "To me, this is one of the most important awards given out every year,
because it highlights farmers' efforts to people outside of agriculture,
not just to our fellow farmers," Wilson says. "Sustainability should be
the first thing on every farmer's mind, from conservation to crop
protection products to tillage to the crops and the rotations that he or
she plants." Click here for more on the Conservation Legacy Awards and how to apply | |
Caddo County Hosting Groundbreaking Commemorating Conservation Projects ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The South
Caddo Conservation District in partnership with the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, the North
Caddo Conservation District and the West Caddo Conservation District, have
begun construction on the first of many conservation infrastructure
projects planned for installation in Caddo County. Currently nearly $20
million worth of improvements to the county's conservation infrastructure
are in various stages of design, contracting, and construction.To commemorate these investments - in which each dollar of state and local funds garners enough federal match to install $4.33 worth of conservation to the vulnerable soil of Caddo County - a groundbreaking ceremony will be held Friday July 15, 2011. Participants for the event will meet at Anadarko's Randlett Park and depart at 10 a.m. to the site of construction for the flood control structure designated as Sugar Creek L-44. "The Oklahoma Conservation Bond is making responsible investments in
Oklahoma's future," said state Sen. Ron Justice. "Proper conservation of
our water and of our soil resources is beneficial to all of the current
and future residents of Oklahoma," he added. | |
Top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee Proposes Dairy Reform ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. House
Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., made the
following statement after releasing a dairy reform discussion draft that
would offer protection, create stability and inspire growth in the dairy
sector. The draft language is based on reform proposals put forward by the
dairy industry."I released this discussion draft now because we need to act before the next farm bill. If we have another dairy crisis like we had in 2009, we could lose half our dairies. The discussion draft allows us to keep the ball moving while continuing to have a dialogue with the dairy industry. "Current dairy programs aren't working; they're not keeping up with the challenges facing today's dairy industry. This proposal addresses these challenges. The proposal creates a strong safety net that will provide the support all sectors of the diverse industry need during tough times." As Peterson released his statement and proposal- the Chairman of the
House Ag Committee, Congressman Frank Lucas, offered a brief statement on
Dairy policy concepts advanced by his ranking member- ""It is important
for the entire dairy industry to continue discussions regarding possible
dairy legislation. Rep. Peterson's discussion draft is a step in the
process." | |
Grass to Grid Customer Appreciation Sale Set for This Saturday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We remind you
that this Saturday, July 16- Griswold Cattle plans a Grass to Grid
Customer Appreciation sale at the Red River Livestock Market just south of
Ardmore. Selling will be 800 Commercial Bred Cows, Bred Heifers and Open
Heifers. Featuring 150 Clubby Bred Females The entire offering carries the
service of GCC Genetics or Grass to Grid Bulls. Call Jeff Bourquin at
806-886-3145 or jump over to their website by clicking
here for more details.
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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, while the 2012 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available
are $12.80 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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