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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest
farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron
Hays of RON for Thursday, October 13, 2011 A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- Major US Crop Production Estimates All Lower Than a Year Ago
-- Oklahoma Production Half or Less Than 2010
-- Free Trade Agreements Pass the House and then the Senate- Ag
Groups Cheer
-- Farm Groups Urge Federal Communications Commission to Conduct More
Testing on LightSquared
-- Forage Testing is a Key Decision for Producers in 2011
-- Oklahoma State University Hosting a 2011 Crop Insurance
Workshop
-- Beef Industry Helping Sponsor Event Aimed at Millenials- Richard
Gebhart Offering Remarks This Morning
-- 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. One of the great success stories
of the Johnston brand is Wrangler Bermudagrass- the most widely planted
true cold-tolerant seeded forage bermudagrass in the United States. For
more on Johnston Enterprises- click
here for their brand new website! 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. | |
Major US Crop Production Estimates All Lower Than a Year Ago ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two reports
were released on Wednesday morning by the USDA- looking at crop production
in this country based on October first survey data as well as the supply
and demand stats for this month, domestically and internationally. We
visited with Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities about the reports, as well
as rumors that China had bought US corn and soybeans.Here's the summary of the numbers at the national level: Corn production is forecast at 12.4 billion bushels, down 1 percent from the September forecast and down slightly from the 2010 production estimate. If realized, this will be the fourth largest production total on record for the United States. Based on conditions as of October 1, yields are expected to average 148.1 bushels per acre, unchanged from the September forecast but down 4.7 bushels from 2010. If realized, this will be the lowest average yield since 2005. Area harvested for grain is forecast at 83.9 million acres, down 1 percent from the September forecast. Acreage updates were made in several States based on administrative data. Soybean production is forecast at 3.06 billion bushels, down 1 percent from September and down 8 percent from last year. Based on October 1 conditions, yields are expected to average 41.5 bushels per acre, down 0.3 bushel from last month and down 2 bushels from last year. If realized, the average yield will be the second lowest since 2003. Area for harvest is forecast at 73.7 million acres, down slightly from September and down 4 percent from 2010. All cotton production is forecast at 16.6 million 480-pound bales, up slightly from last month but down 8 percent from last year. Yield is expected to average 809 pounds per harvested acre, down 3 pounds from last year. Upland cotton production is forecast at 15.9 million 480-pound bales, down 10 percent from 2010. American Pima production, forecast at 737,200 bales, was carried forward from last month. Click here for more on these national numbers and a link to the full report | |
Oklahoma Production Half or Less Than 2010 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Oklahoma-
drought cut production of most of our agricultural crops in half in 2011
versus 2010- peanuts and canola were the two exceptions.The spring planted peanut crop in Oklahoma- shows a crop that could total 64,400,000 pounds, versus 70,350,000 pounds in 2010- the difference is in the expected yield per acre- 200 pounds less per acre this year versus 2010- 3,800 pounds per acre is this year's estimate. Winter canola production in Oklahoma is included in this October report- shows 93,000 acres being harvested this past June versus 56,000 acres a year ago, as the popularity of canola continues to skyrocket. Yield per acre saw the impact of drought in southwestern Oklahoma, with the statewide average falling from 1,600 pounds in 2010 to 1,200 pounds per acre this year. Total production for the state is 111,600,000 pounds this year, up from 89,600,000 pounds a year ago- Oklahoma is the second largest producing state in the country, behind the dominant producing state in the US, North Dakota. Other spring planted crops are well below 2010 production levels this
year: | |
Free Trade Agreements Pass the House and then the Senate- Ag Groups Cheer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a red
letter day for US Agriculture, as five years of waiting on three trade
deals negotiated by the Bush Administration were finally shipped up to
Capitol Hill and Congress wasted no time in giving a thumbs up on all
three- agreements with Columbia, Panama and South Korea.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was quick with his praise of Congress and of the agreements- ""We are pleased that both Houses of Congress acted swiftly to support tens-of-thousands of American jobs today by ratifying trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, as well as trade adjustment assistance to help train workers for the 21st century economy. For American agriculture, passage of these agreements means over $2.3 billion in additional exports, supporting nearly 20,000 jobs here at home. Passage of the agreements also levels the playing field and secures markets for America's farmers, ranchers, growers and producers. Immediately upon implementation of these agreements, the majority of American products exported to Korea, Colombia and Panama will become duty-free." Click here for Vilsack's complete remarks- plus links to backgrounders on the ag benefits of all three deals as prepared by USDA. House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas was also very pleased with the outcome of the day's votes. "I am pleased that after five years of waiting for action, our agricultural industry will benefit from significant, new market access. These agreements will put us in a better position to compete globally, expand U.S. exports, create jobs, and bring much-needed income to communities across rural America." Click here for additional details released with the Lucas statement that came from the House Ag Committee. Among the ag groups that praised the passage of the FTAs, the Pork
Producers gushed the most- calling yesterday one of the most important
days ever for the US Pork Industry. Click
here for the NPPC statement. | |
Farm Groups Urge Federal Communications Commission to Conduct More Testing on LightSquared ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The American
Soybean Association (ASA) and a coalition of 12 other national producer
groups that represent American farmers and all major crop commodities are
urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct additional
targeted testing to ensure that any potential commercial terrestrial
services offered by LightSquared will not cause harmful interference to
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) operations utilized by farmers to
facilitate the production of an abundant and dependable food supply. In
the agricultural sector, GPS-based technologies are responsible for an
estimated $19 billion in higher annual farm revenue, in addition to
considerable safety and environmental benefits. Thus, much is at stake for
precision agriculture and this is why comprehensive testing is so
important. It would be totally unacceptable to expect the GPS community including government users, farmers, and other taxpayers to bear any cost for replacing equipment that ceases to function properly if solutions are found enabling LightSquared to move forward. Any costs associated with retrofitting or replacing GPS receivers must be borne by LightSquared. "As users of GPS precision equipment in agricultural applications, we
believe this additional testing is imperative," said ASA First Vice
President Steve Wellman, a farmer from Syracuse, Neb. "We need to know
with certainty that any modifications and proposed solutions will work for
new and existing precision agriculture equipment." The American Farm Bureau Federation also weighed in on the issue saying
the Federal Communications Commission and an independent technical company
must complete comprehensive and rigorous testing on all proposed technical
fixes to ensure there is no interference between broadband and GPS
signals. | |
Forage Testing is a Key Decision for Producers in 2011 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma
producers find themselves out of their "comfort zone" as they go into the
winter of 2011-2012. According to Dr. Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State
University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, many have marginal or
inadequate forage supplies. However, others may find themselves with
forage of unknown origin (because they justifiably felt the need to
purchase whatever hay they could find) and therefore of unknown quality.
In some cases, producers may cut and bale hay in the latter weeks of October, because the October rains have allowed re-growth of some warm season pastures. Late October or November certainly is not the ideal time to harvest warm season pastures, but when other hay is scarce, that re-growth is hard to turn down. Some of this "late cutting" hay could be adequate in protein and energy content, while other fields may yield very low quality forage and need considerable supplementation to enhance the usefulness of the hay. Perhaps the most frightening "unknown" about hay this year is the potential for nitrate accumulation in some hay crops. Johnsongrass, millets, forage sorghums, sudan hybrids were heat and drought stressed across much of the southwest. Any of these plants when stressed can accumulate toxic levels of nitrate. Forage analysis can be a useful tool to remove some of the mystery concerning the hay that producers will feed this winter. Testing the grass hays this year for protein and energy content will help the producer design winter supplementation programs most appropriate for the forage supply that is available. Any of the potential nitrate accumulating hays should be tested for nitrate concentration. Click here for more information on forage testing for the upcoming months | |
Oklahoma State University Hosting a 2011 Crop Insurance Workshop ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma State
University will be hosting a 2011 Crop Insurance Workshop, titled "Risk
Management Issues in a Volatile Economy," in conjuction with University of
Nebraska, Kansas State University and Colorado State University. The
workshop will be held in Enid, Okla., on November 4 in the Autry
Technology Center. The workshop will focus on helping clients of crop insurance agents, agriculture lenders and marketing consultants make more profitable risk management decisions. Farmers and ranchers will be able to apply the information from the workshop to their management decisions. This workshop is geared towards professionals, including farmers and ranchers, who wish to enhance their knowledge of risk managment and their ability to design an appropriate risk management plan for the farm and ranch or provide risk management advice to clients. Registrations for the workshop can be sent to the Agricultural Economics Dept., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 303 Filley Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0922. Or participants can register online. There is an early bird registration special of $90, which ends five days prior to the workshop date. Registration after the special is $110. Click here for more information on this workshop and the link to register online | |
Beef Industry Helping Sponsor Event Aimed at Millenials- Richard Gebhart Offering Remarks This Morning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beef Checkoff
dollars are being used to help sponsor and AtlanticLive program in
Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Oct.13 from 7:30 - 10:15 a.m. Central Time,
at the Newseum. The discussion-"Feeding Future Generations: Supporting
Sustainable Global Food Production"-will bring together a panel of experts
for open discussion about how to raise nutritious food for a growing
population with limited resources.
The event will include a keynote address by Dan Glickman, former secretary of agriculture, followed by a panel discussion with food security and environmental experts, and a cattle producer. Panelists include: Tony Hall, executive director, Alliance to End Hunger and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization; Suzy Friedman, deputy director, Working Lands, Environmental Defense Fund; and Steve Foglesong, cattle producer, Black Gold Ranch. In addition, Richard Gebhart, Oklahoma cattleman, University of Tulsa professor and vice chairman of the checkoff's Joint Issues Management Subcommittee, will provide opening remarks about the beef industry's commitment to raising nutritious food for a growing population. The target audience for the panel is Millennials (born between 1980 and 2005), whom beef checkoff research shows are more concerned with many social issues involved with raising food today. A good mix of more than 100 thought leaders and Millennials are scheduled to attend. | |
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. | |
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 $12.00
per bushel- as of the close of trade Wednesday, while the 2012 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $12.06 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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