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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.
Let's Check the
Markets!
Today's
First Look:
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.
Okla
Cash Grain:
Daily
Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- as reported
by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture.
Canola
Prices:
Current
cash price for Canola is $11.64 per bushel-
2012
New Crop contracts for Canola are now available at
$11.82 per bushel- delivered to local
participating elevators that are working with PCOM.
Futures
Wrap:
Our
Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio
Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler-
analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day.
KCBT
Recap:
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap-Two
Pager from the Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all
three U.S. Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on
Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's
market.
Feeder
Cattle Recap:
The
National Daily Feeder & Stocker
Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Slaughter
Cattle Recap:
The
National Daily Slaughter Cattle
Summary- as prepared by the USDA.
TCFA
Feedlot Recap:
Finally,
here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from
the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
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Oklahoma's
Latest Farm and Ranch News
Your
Update from Ron Hays of RON
Friday, December
30, 2011
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Howdy
Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch
news update.
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Featured Story:
Ready
or Not- Wrapping Up 2011
It's
the Eve of New Year's Eve- and our final market
trading day of 2011. This year has been one
of the toughest as far back as even our oldest
living citizens can remember. No rain- way
too much heat- and the problems just seemed to
pile up whether you were a wheat farmer, cotton
producer, cattleman or pecan grower.
We
will get to the Drought as one of our Big Five
Stories of Impact for 2011 in just a second.
First,
though- let's talk about kicking 2011 to the curb-
the ag futures markets will be open with their
open outcry session regular hours today- and that
will wrap up 2011 trade. There will be no
electronic trade or open outcry session on Monday,
January 2, 2012 to give you time to practice
writing 2012 in and around watching all the New
Year's Day Bowl Games- since NFL games will be
front and center on Sunday January first. Of
course, the game that matters is Monday night in
Arizona as the Oklahoma State Cowboys play in
their first BCS Bowl Against the Dirty Birds from
Stanford.
We
understand that the first Feeder Cattle auction of
the new year in our region will be up in Joplin, Missouri on Monday,
January 2- other major Monday markets like the
Oklahoma National Stockyards and the Tulsa
Stockyards will wait an extra week before they
begin on Monday, January 9.
On
Monday- the Federal and State Governments are
closed as are banks and all equity markets- to
celebrate the New Year. Tuesday, January
third will see the start of official business
happening in the new year as well as market action
in the futures and equities.
We
will NOT have an Email on Monday- but will kick
off the 2012 with a bang on Tuesday, January
3.
In
the meantime- while we are not doing a Top Ten
Farm News Story list- we do want to pay tribute to
five stories of note from 2011- and we have links
to some of the coverage of these five events that
helped shape 2011 agriculture here in the Southern
Plains- those five events as headlined with a
single word follow.
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Sponsor
Spotlight
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 website to learn more about their
efforts to serve rural America!
And
we salute our longest running email sponsor-
Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the
springtime Southern Plains Farm Show as well as
the just concluded Tulsa Farm Show held each
December. This year's event was a great success-
with 300 exhibitors from around the country
showing off all that is new in the world of
agriculture. Click here for the
Midwest Farm Show main website to
learn more about their lineup of shows around the
country! |
Drought!!!
This
one single word proved to be the ugly truth of
2011. Drought arrived with a major
attitude as early as January first of last year-
as conditions were dry in a lot of the state from
October 2010 onward.
Evidence
of that was reported in a story earlier this week
about Hooker in position to grab the record for
the location in the state with lowest amount of
rainfall for a calendar year- EVER. Click here to take a look at the
graphics of that story.
Drought
devastated much of the Oklahoma Hard Red Winter
Wheat Crop- with many fields zeroed out (or as
close to zero as the insurance adjusters were
allowed to take it) in the April through June time
period this year- southwest Oklahoma was
especially bad but the northwest also suffered big
time. Harvest in southwestern Oklahoma was a
couple of weeks early- and yields were poor- click here to check out one of the
early reports released by Plains Grains and
our friend Mark Hodges.
There
was some rain that fell as we tried harvest wheat
in western Oklahoma- but that rainfall barely made
a dent in the drought- and then things got REALLY
hot. Hot temps arrived by late June and July
in Oklahoma turned out to be the hottest
month EVER in the Continental United States-
Click here to take a look at the
Drought Monitor in early August after that
incredible July we all endured.
The
Drought has likely changed the Oklahoma Cattle
Industry for several years- we talked in August
with Jim Robb of the Livestock Market
Information Center- click here for that report
as Robb says that a lot of cattle came off the
pastures of Oklahoma and Texas and ended up in the
feedlots late summer. We also talked with State Secretary of Agriculture Jim
Reese- click here- as we worried
together about the loss of priceless genetics as
mama cow herds were liquidated.
As
we moved through September- some areas started
getting rain- mostly in northeast Oklahoma but
also on a scattered basis in north central
counties as wheat that was dusted in was able to
sprout. Click here for a look at the drought
monitor as we ended September- from this point
on the exceptional drought has shrank to where
it's just three percent of the state (and all in
the Panhandle as we end 2011.
However,
we are not out of the woods on drought as of yet-
78% of Oklahoma remains in Moderate drought or
worse as drop the curtain on 2011. Our winter
wheat crop looks pretty good- but subsoil moisture
is limited- and timely rains will determine the
fate of the 2012 crop- and we will be covering it
for you- Click here for our Flickr set of
pictures of the 2012 wheat crop to this point
at several locations in the state.
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Lucas!!!
Oklahoma
Third District Congressman won reelection in
November 2010- and with the GOP grabbing control
of the House- stepped into the Chairmanship of US
House Agriculture Committee. The Ag
Economics Graduate from Oklahoma State University
became the first Oklahoma lawmaker to hold that
position.
Click here for the statement
released by Frank Lucas as his role as Chairman
became official.
One
of our early conversations with Congressman Lucas
after becoming Chairman came after the State of
the Union Address by President Obama. Click here to listen to this January
visitwith Chairman Lucas as we began to
discuss how Lucas wanted to write the 2012 Farm
Bill.
In
April, we caught up with Chairman Lucas in El
Reno- and after a Town Hall Meeting there- we
talked Farm Policy and his ideas on writing the
2012 Farm Bill in 2012- this was well before the
idea of a Behind Closed Doors Hurry Up Farm Bill
developed in the fall- click here to jump to our story from
late April and listen to that conversation
with Mr. Lucas.
We
have had regular conversations through 2011 with
Chairman Lucas- one more from early fall came in
September- and we talked farm policy, regulations
and more- click to hear that conversation
which was one of our Ag Perspectives
Podcasts.
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Secret!!!
(as in Farm Bill)
Our conversation with Chairman Frank
Lucas (click here) in late October really
dialed up the idea of using the so called Super
Committee as a vehicle to get a comprehensive 2012
Farm Bill through both the House and Senate and
signed into law as a part of the grand scheme that
would have had the Group of 12 lawmakers offering
a 1.25 trillion dollar deficit reduction plan for
an up or down vote in Congress just before
Christmas.
Those
who were outside the room and did not like the
idea of having a farm bill handed to them as a
done deal blasted the process- calling it the
Secret Farm Bill. Ken Cook and the Environmental
Working Group were lead cheerleaders in the cries
against this concept. At first, it seemed
that there were four lawmakers involved- House Ag
Chair Frank Lucas and Ranking member Colin
Peterson and Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow and
ranking member Pat Roberts. That group
seemed to agree on a budget number- Agriculture
promising to cut $23 Billion over a ten year
period from farm bill spending- mostly from the
Commodity and Conservation Titles. Lucas told us
several times that this group seemingly had the
blessing of the Super Committee on that number-
with no further cuts to Crop Insurance as part of
the deal- and that number was to be backed up with
Farm Bill details. Agriculture seemed to be the
only group that seemed to have Democrats and
Republicans working together.
Later
in the fall, as the time was running short- it
seemed that only Lucas and Stabenow remained in
the room. About the time of the Oklahoma
Farm Bureau convention- we had word of several
ideas being floated- including maybe some farm
bill stuff moving on with the Super Committee plan
and the rest to be finished in 2012- click here for details of that
along with the OFB position on farm policy.
At
the end of the day- the Super Committee was a non
starter- Senator Pat Roberts cried "good riddance"
and called for regular order to write a farm bill
in 2012- click here for that. Chairmen
Lucas and Stabenow also weighed in- here's their statement of
disappointment.
The
first week of December we talked at length with
Congressman Lucas about the aborted process- and
what he sees ahead in the new year on getting a
farm bill done- you can listen to that interview by
clicking here.
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Regulators!!!
The
onslaught of regulations really was seen
throughout 2011- as it seemed the Obama
Administration wanted to weigh down farmers and
ranchers with as many rules as they could possibly
think of.
They
came from multiple agencies- USDA on the GIPSA
Rule that began in 2010 and ended late in 2011- click here for the ending saga of
that story- this the USDA announcement on the well
watered down final rule.
There
is an element of uncertainty about what USDA might
do in the future on this subject- those concerns
were voiced to us by NCBA's Colin Woodall and here's the Beef Buzz show we did to
highlight those worries.
EPA
was a prime player in this game- as Dust
Regulations were talked about much of the year-
and as the year unfolded EPA Queen Lisa Jackson
promised not to regulate Farm Dust this go round-
which meant not now- but maybe in five years or
sooner. Click here to see the assurances in
mid October from Jackson to Senator Amy
Klocubar of Minnesota.
That
opened the door for Freshman Congresswoman Kristi
Noem of South Dakota- who pushed and pushed and
finally got House passage of her bill forbidding
EPA for a year to regulate fugitive Rural
Dust. Click here for the details of the
early December vote in the House on Fugitive
Dust- and a repudiation of EPA on the
issue.
Of
course in November, the Department of Labor
decided that young people under 16 should not be
working on the farm or ranch or with livestock-
and the ag community has responded with outrage.
Click here for the story of the
DOL wanting teens to not learn about work ethic
and how to successfully produce food and fiber for
the world. The Public Comment period ended
December one on this zany proposal- and 2012 will
bring word on whether the Labor Department will
back away or push onward on this quest.
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Riley!!!
Our
last story of note for 2011 is not a huge mountain
mover like "Drought" was over the last twelve
months- but rather, it's a tip of the hat to a
remarkable young man from Woodward, who was
persistent and did not take no for an
answer. In October 2009, Riley Pagett went
to Indianapolis seeking a national office of the
FFA organization. He was not selected.
He
came back home to Oklahoma and OSU- and took
inventory of who he was- and what he wanted and
how badly he wanted it. In the summer of 2010- he
won the right to take another swing at the Blue
and Gold Pinata that held the six officer
positions for 2010-2011 of the half million member
youth organization. Riley went back to Indy in October
2010- seeking one of those six jackets.
He went back, comfortable with who he was and what
was in his future. I like to call it- being
comfortable in your skin.
On
that final Saturday of October in 2010- Riley
achieved his goal- and then some. He was not
just on team- his was the LAST name called as the
National President of the FFA. He lived that dream
throughout most of 2011- click here for a visit we had with
him in May 2011 at the Oklahoma FFA
Convention- it culminated in October of 2011 as he
led the 50,000 members and guests at the 2011
National Convention. We were there- here's our conversation with
Riley as everything was poised to kick off in
Indy.
We
also have Riley's Farewell Address on the
convention stage in Conseco FieldHouse- click here to read our wrapup story
with him and to listen to his final comments
in a Blue and Gold jacket- proudly representing
Woodward and Oklahoma FFA.
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A
Final Word on 2011- By Former Ag Secretary John
Block
For
this final email of the year- we have for you some
words from the USDA Secretary during the Ronald
Reagan years in Washington- Illinois farmer John
Block. Secretary Block provides us a weekly
commentary that we post on our website Friday
mornings- today we have it posted early to allow
us to link it to today's email- so click here and enjoy his
review of the year that is just about gone.
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Parting
Shots for the Old Year I wanted
to remind you of a couple of items- Saturday
morning, we invite you to tune in on News9 KWTV
around 6:40 AM for this week's In the Field.
We are talking about the BOLD research done on
behalf of the beef industry- that shows inclusion
of four to five ounces of lean beef in your daily
diet can help reduce the bad cholesterol count in
your body. Oklahoma Beef Council Dietician
Consultant Karen Meyers- we will
have a story on Karen's thoughts about the BOLD
study on our website over the weekend and will
feature it in next Tuesday's email.
We will
also have a conversation with Tyler
Norvell who is leaving Oklahoma Farm
Bureau and joining the Oklahoma Youth Expo in the
new year- our conversation with Tyler will be a
featured part of our first email of the new year
as well.
As we wind down 2011- let me say I
am grateful for your support of the things we do
in this email, on our website, on TV and on our
many radio stations as we report the latest
agricultural news- and along the way- try to tell
the farm and ranch story to those who are not
inside the circle of production agriculture and
agribusiness. My prayer for each of you is that
2012 will be a great year- and that we will see
all of US agriculture prosper in the new year.
Happy New Year!
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Your
Next Legendary Restaurant Deal- Grapevine Cafe in
Altus!
The Legendary
Restaurant of Oklahoma team is very pleased to
spotlight a real gem of a lunch time spot in
Altus, Oklahoma- the Grapevine Cafe.
The
Grapevine Cafe is a local favorite in this
southwest Oklahoma community. Formerly known
as the Main Street Grill, it has captured and
retained customers' hearts for years. With its
beautiful painted murals throughout the
restaurant, it gives a calming ambience. The
Grapevine Cafe offers daily specials and unique
entrees--The desserts are fabulous!
We
mentioned that this is a lunch time spot- their
hours are Monday through Friday from 11 AM til 2
PM. The Grapevine Cafe is located at 219 N. Main
Street in Altus. Their phone number is
580-480-1997.
We talked this week with
Jamie Anthony, the owner of the Grapevine Cafe-
and this delightful lady provides an inside look
at the history of this local favorite- and left us
hungry after a rundown of the many specials that
can be had through the week.
And remember-
starting December 30 at 8:30 AM- you can have
Grapevine Cafe at 50% off. That's $50 worth of
great food at Grapevine Cafe for only $25. . . A
truly legendary deal!
Click here for details about today's
Legendary Deal that can be bought for the
Grapevine Cafe in Altus- starting at 8:30
AM. AND- you can hear our visit with Jamie
Anthony- owner of the Grapevine Cafe by clicking here.
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God Bless!
You can reach us at the following:
phone: 405-473-6144
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