~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest
farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron
Hays of RON for Tuesday October 18, 2011 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- House Ag Committee Chair Frank Lucas and Other Ag Committee
Leadership Offer $23 Billion in Ag Cuts to Super Committee
-- EPA's Lisa Jaackson Bows to Pressure from Agriculture- Says Farm
Dust Regs Won't Get More Strict
-- Agricultural Groups Pleased with EPA Decision on Farm Dust
Regulations
-- National FFA Convention- Here We Come -A Preview with Harry
Birdwell and Seth Hankey
-- Wide Choice/Select Spread Reflects Changing Beef Market
Conditions
-- Oklahoma Crop Weather Update - Fall Planting Still Behind
-- Time for Doc- School Land Auctions Roll On- and Twas a Dirty
Monday in Lubbock
-- 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. | |
House Ag Committee Chair Frank Lucas and Other Ag Committee Leadership Offer $23 Billion in Ag Cuts to Super Committee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The leaders of
the Senate and House Agriculture Committees sent a letter to the Joint
Select Committee on Deficit Reduction recommending a $23 billion cut to
mandatory spending within the committees' jurisdiction. Senators Debbie
Stabenow (D-MI) and Pat Roberts (R-KS), Chair and Ranking Member of the
Senate Agriculture Committee, and Representatives Frank Lucas (R-OK) and
Collin Peterson (D-MN), Chair and Ranking Member of the House Agriculture
Committee, will continue working together on the details of the spending
cuts in the same bipartisan fashion that has defined the process to date.
The four lawmakers issued the following joint statement:
A part of the text of the letter sent by the four lawmakers is
below. As you know, the Agriculture Committees reauthorize most of the mandatory and discretionary spending programs in our jurisdiction every five years through omnibus legislation commonly known as the Farm Bill. The current Farm Bill expires in 2012, and the Agriculture Committees have been working diligently on the many important policies we consider in this reauthorization process. | |
EPA's Lisa Jaackson Bows to Pressure from Agriculture- Says Farm Dust Regs Won't Get More Strict ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson has confirmed
that EPA will not regulate farm dust. This is apparently a move that
conflicts with her advisors within the agency, but has been forced by huge
pressure from rural America. The Radio Oklahoma Network has obtained the
following statement from an EPA official as well as a letter sent by EPA
to Senator Amy Kocubar, which offers assurances farm dust standards will
not be made stricter than current levels."Particulate matter in the air we breathe can cause Americans to get sick, and can even cause premature death. For more than two decades, EPA has been working to reduce this pollution to improve our health while growing our economy. In progressing this work, some have raised the common myth that we are planning to expand regulation of dust from farms. "EPA has repeatedly said that it has no plans to tighten regulations of dust. As further proof and upon careful consideration of the scientific record, analysis by Agency scientists, and advice from the independent Clean Air Science Advisory Council, EPA recently wrote Congress that it is prepared to propose to keep the current standard for PM10 when it is sent to OMB for interagency review. "EPA hopes that this action finally puts an end to the myth that the Agency is planning to expand regulations of "farm dust"." Click here for more on this statement from EPA and the letter from Jackson to the Senator | |
Agricultural Groups Pleased with EPA Decision on Farm Dust Regulations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National
Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement
after U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa
Jackson said that the agency does not plan to regulate farm
dust:"NFU is pleased to see EPA Administrator Jackson provide final clarification for members of Congress and the agriculture community that the agency does not have plans to regulate farm dust. Lately, there has been considerable anxiety within the farming community that EPA is going to regulate dust on farms." Click here for the complete statement from NFU. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands
Council (PLC) also welcomed news from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson that
the decision has been made to retain the current coarse particulate matter
(dust) standard. The National Corn Growers Association President Garry Niemeyer released
the following statement in response to the House and Senate Agriculture
Committees' proposed reductions in farm bill spending: The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) also praised the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's announcement definitively stating
to Congress that the agency will not regulate farm dust. Click here for the rest of NCFC's statement regarding dust regulations | |
National FFA Convention- Here We Come -A Preview with Harry Birdwell and Seth Hankey ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As National
FFA Convention gets rolling this week, we talked with former National FFA
President Harry Birdwell, who is currently the Oklahoma Secretary
for the School Land Commission. Birdwell, of Fletcher, Okla., was National
FFA President in 1969 and 1970. Birdwell was the seventh national president from Oklahoma and says frankly that serving as the national president was one of the great experiences of his life. Being a part of FFA really expanded his world and provided leadership and speaking opportunities, as well as, the opportunity to see and experience people and leaders from other parts of our country says Birdwell. When Birdwell served as national president, it was the first year that
girls were allowed to be members and he says it has been a great thing for
the organization ever since. Also, the year that Birdwell served, he says
they spent a lot of time with President Richard Nixon, talking with
members and leadership in Congress, and on many national news programs,
like the Today Show. Burlington FFA member, Seth Hankey, has been selected as a
finalist for one of the National FFA organization's top star awards.
Hankey is a finalist in the American Star in Agricultural Placement for
2011. These star awards recognize students who have developed outstanding
agricultural skill and competency through their career development
programs. | |
Wide Choice/Select Spread Reflects Changing Beef Market Conditions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recent changes
in wholesale beef price levels and relationships indicate a number of
changes occurring in beef markets. According to Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma
State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, most obvious is
the dramatic increase in the Choice/Select spread in the past two months.
Since a summer low of $3.30/cwt. the Choice/Select spread has swelled to a
weekly average of $16.68 this past week. This spread is the largest since
the highs in December of 2006 and 2007. The Choice/Select spread typically widens at the end of the year but the increase has been larger and earlier than usual this fall. The Choice/Select spread is the net difference in prices from two markets: the Choice and the Select beef markets and is thus influenced by the supply and demand in either market. Thus, in general, there are four ways for the Choice/Select spread to change. For example, an increase in Choice demand; a decrease in Choice supply; a decrease in Select demand; or an increase in Select supply could all cause the Choice/Select spread to widen. Because of the many factors that may be involved, it is not always easy to understand what is driving changes in the Choice/Select spread. Undoubtedly there are several factors behind the $13/cwt. increase in the Choice Select spread over the past 8 weeks. First, total beef production is falling; beef production has been below year ago levels for 8 of the last 9 weeks. Secondly, cow slaughter is currently a higher percentage of total slaughter compared to last year which means that the decrease in fed beef is even more pronounced than the total would imply. A third factor is that the Choice grading percentage in 2011 has remained mostly even with year ago levels. For the past several years, a growing Choice grading percentage has contributed to a generally narrow Choice/Select Spread. These factors all combine to result in lower total beef supplies and proportionately lower Choice supply compared to Select beef supply. The unusual demographics of this year contributed to these changes and more impacts are expected in the coming months. The drought forced many younger, smaller cattle into feedlots, which is likely to temper carcass weights and may continue to limit Choice grading percent. High feed costs and lack of feedlot profitability is a growing incentive to minimize days on feed which is likely to further limit Choice grading percentage. Click here for more from Dr. Derrell Peel and his latest cattle market analysis | |
Oklahoma Crop Weather Update - Fall Planting Still Behind ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to
the latest USDA Crop Weather Update, the fall planting across the state is
still falling behind saying- "The rainfall from the previous week
continued to benefit producers as many were able to plant small grains and
canola. Wheat and other crops planted in dry ground emerged after the
beneficial rainfall with about a third of wheat, canola and rye reported
as emerged by the end of the week. This is well behind our normal
emergence for this time of the year, but a welcome sight nonetheless.
Light rain amounting to only 0.2 of an inch for the state was received for
the week. The latest US Drought Monitor showed improvement from
exceptional to extreme drought for the I-35 corridor where the highest
rainfall totals were received the week before. The entire state was still
in a severe to exceptional drought. Recent rainfall was soaked up by
thirsty soils leaving little runoff for stock ponds, which were critically
low in most of the state."
When it comes to our fall-planted crops- "Planting of small grains and
canola continued, though all activities were behind normal. Seedbed
preparation for wheat ground was 94 percent complete by week's end and
planting reached 63 percent complete, up 16 points from the previous week,
but still 12 points behind normal. Wheat emerged was 32 percent complete,
19 points behind the five-year average. Canola seedbed preparation was
virtually complete by the end of the week, while planting reached 81
percent complete. Thirty-five percent of canola had emerged by Sunday, 17
points behind last year. When it comes to hay production and cutting, very little hay was cut over the last week. Third cuttings of alfalfa were 56 percent complete, and only seven percent of the state had completed a fourth cutting, compared to a five-year average of 99 percent. A second cutting of other hay reached 55 percent complete by Sunday, 27 points behind normal. Click here for the complete Crop Weather Update as of Monday, October 17, 2011 | |
Time for Doc- School Land Auctions Roll On- and Twas a Dirty Monday in Lubbock ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Chairman
of the Natural Resources Committee in the US House, Doc Hastings of
Washington state, will be in Oklahoma on Thursday of this week- and there
are opportunities to get some "face time" with this key member in the GOP
leadership team. There's a lunch planned in Oklahoma City, with Oklahoma
Congressman Tom Cole planning to be there as well- and if you would like
to get the chance to talk natural resource issues with the Congressmen-
contact the in state contact for these meetings, Todd Pauley, at
405-521-0900.
The lease auctions of the School Land Commission continue today in the Panhandle- in Boise City this morning and in Guymon this afternoon- and tomorrow the auction moves on to Woodward with leases available from several counties in that area. Click here for more from the School Land Commission website about what leases are available here in the fall of 2011. Available there is both a PDF of the schedule of auctions as well as a county by county listing of the leases available. Finally, we got a picture forwarded to us from Clay Pope of the OACD that shows one of his greatest fears- top soil in the air. This particular shot is in Lubbock- with the inside of the Red Raider football stadium for reference. Click here and take a look- and see first hand the impact of drought here in the southern plains. | |
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 $12.14
per bushel, while the 2012 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available
are $12.08 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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