Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. A new sponsor of the daily email is One Resource Environmental. Farm and ranch operators who have gas or diesel storage on their place may be facing new regulations handed down by Uncle Sam. These folks can help you determine if you need a plan and then if you do- help you get that plan in place. Click here for their website- FarmSPCC for more details.

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.

And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show as well as the Tulsa Farm Show coming this December- December 8th through the 10th. Click here for the Midwest Farm Show main website to learn more about their lineup of shows around the country!

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.

If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here.

"The series of trade agreements I am submitting to Congress today will make it easier for American companies to sell their products in South Korea, Colombia, and Panama and provide a major boost to our exports. These agreements will support tens of thousands of jobs across the country for workers making products stamped with three proud words: Made in America.

"We've worked hard to strengthen these agreements to get the best possible deal for American workers and businesses, and I call on Congress to pass them without delay, along with the bipartisan agreement on Trade Adjustment Assistance that will help workers whose jobs have been affected by global competition."

Click here for links to Fact Sheets over the three free trade agreements

Click here to read the rest of American Farm Bureau Federation's reaction to the annoucement from President Obama on the free trade agreements.

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) were also pleased that the Obama Administration submitted implementing legislation for the pending free trade agreements.

The U.S. wheat industry strongly supports these bilateral agreements as critical steps toward competing on a level playing field in the global wheat market, and now urges Congress to pass them as quickly as possible. The Colombia agreement, in particular, is vital to the wheat industry's efforts to maintain market share in what has traditionally been the largest market for U.S. wheat in South America.

Click here for the full Wheat Industry Statement on the FTAS.

Click on the name of the organization for the other comments we received through late afternoon yesterday on the Free Trade Agreements and their benefit to US Agriculture:

National Cattlemen's Beef Association issued a statement saying they are cautiously optimistic but urged Congress to move forward without further delays.

The National Pork Producers Council expressed excitement about these FTAs moving forward, saying after these deals have languished for almost five years- it's time to see them passed.

The American Soybean Association are also on board the train calling for swift passage- saying it will offer opportunities to sell more soy products as well as domestically produced meat from animals that eat soy.

AND- we got a release and a statement from USDA and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack late in the afternoon- signaling his desire to see Congress to stop fiddling around pass these FTAs- click and read.

When it comes to our fall-planted crops- "Seedbed preparation and planting continued to progress despite dry conditions. Seedbed preparation for wheat ground was 82 percent complete by week's end, 9 points behind normal. Planting reached 30 percent, 19 points behind normal. Canola seedbed preparation reached 91 percent complete by the end of the week, up 14 points from the previous week, while planting reached 48 percent, 11 points behind last year.

All major row crop conditions continued to be rated poor to very poor, although peanut conditions ranged from fair to good. Seventy-six percent of corn had been harvested by week's end, 4 points above normal. Sorghum coloring was 73 percent complete, 14 points behind normal. Forty-seven percent of sorghum was mature, and 29 percent was harvested by Sunday, 4 points behind last year but 7 points above the five-year average. Soybean setting pods reached 87 percent complete, and 21 percent were mature by week's end, both behind the five-year average. Peanuts setting pods reached 94 percent complete, and 47 percent were mature by Sunday, 21 points behind normal. Fifty-five percent of cotton plants had bolls opening by week's end, 24 points behind normal."

Hay production and cutting continued to struggle across the state showing very little progress last week. Third cuttings of alfalfa were 53 percent complete, 47 points behind normal. A second cutting of other hay reached 51 percent complete by Sunday, 25 points behind the five-year average.

Click here for the complete Oklahoma Crop Weather Update for October 3, 2011

McManus adds that "The latest outlooks for October from the NWS' Climate Prediction Center were released on Friday. At least for parts of Oklahoma, a wet signal is showing up through the month. The forecasters at the CPC see an increased chance for above normal precipitation in the eastern one-third of the state or so."

Click here for the weather map that shows those rainfall proposects that McManus is touting for our western counties for this weekend.

"Having a safe, reliable and modern transportation infrastructure is important for Oklahoma's economy and important for the safety of our citizens," Fallin said. "Our new 'Bridge Improvement and Turnpike Modernization Plan' will ensure that Oklahoma's poor rankings on national transportation issues become a thing of the past. By the end of this decade, Oklahoma will be one of the top five states in the nation for well-maintained highway bridges.

Click here for more from Gov. Fallin on her Bridge Repair Plan.

Terry Detrick, President of American Farmers & Ranchers, expressed support for the Governor and her plans to tackle the bridge issues here in the state:

"We are pleased that Gov. Fallin has taken this step to improve our state's roadways and bridges," Detrick said. "Adequate roads and bridges are keys for us in rural America to get our products to market safely and efficiently which contributes to the overall economy of our state. Without functional and safe roads and bridges our rural citizens cannot contribute to the economies of local towns, regional centers and even urban cities. However, perhaps most important of all is to ensure the safety of our children."

Click here to read the rest of AFR President Terry Detrick's comments

The TSCRA policy action was taken at their fall board meeting held this past week in Lubbock, Texas. TSCRA is an organization of mostly Texas ranchers, but with membership in Oklahoma as well because of their Special Rangers that cover both Texas as well as Oklahoma that help in cattle theft cases across both states.

Click here for more on the TSCRA call for the Federal Government to rethink their Endangered Species Strategy.

"These three agreements are similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Both of those agreements have worsened the U.S. trade deficit, because the U.S. does not compete on a level playing field with other nations. America adheres to higher labor and environmental standards than other nations, so U.S. companies incur costs that companies in other nations do not."

Johnson singled out the Columbian FTA as one especially onerous to him- ""Colombia has one of the worst labor records in the world, routinely committing violence against those who attempt to organize workers. In 2010, 51 union members were killed in Colombia. We should not reward the Colombian labor record by entering into a trade agreement with them."

Click here for the full statement as released by the NFU Monday evening describing their opposition to the FTAs with Columbia, Panama and South Korea.

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers ,One Resource Environmental- operators of FarmSPCC.Com, 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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

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:
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler- analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day-
Ron on RON Markets as heard on K101 mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's market.
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- As Reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture.
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Finally, Here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.