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Can you believe it?  It's a brand new year- and here in the southern plains- many locations are starting 2012 in much better shape when it comes to soil moisture compared to the start of 2011.  

This week- we will get a hint of the condition of the 2012 Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop as we look at the December Crop report from NASS- to be sure- there are areas that continue to be very worried about enough water.  I was talking with a friend from southwest Oklahoma over the weekend- and he says that Lake Altus Lugert continues to be a very sad and very serious situation. The website for the lake- click here - shows that we remain about 27 feet below normal- and that the lake is 17.47% full at this time.

My friend related that the north end of the lake has not had water for quite some time- and that you could walk from the north end of the lake on dry land for a long ways before finally touching water.  SO- that remains a major worry for irrigation prospects for 2012 in southwestern Oklahoma.  

The Panhandle also has soil moisture profile worries as we begin the year- but other areas of the state seem to be much better after the rain and snow of November and December.

As we begin the new year, today (Tuesday) is the first day of agricultural futures trade for 2012- and our feeder cattle auctions resume sales after the Christmas and New Year Holidays- one market that has already begun their 2012 sales is the Joplin Regional Stockyards- click here for their first auction report of the new year.   

BOLD Study Shows Lean Beef Can be Good for Heart Health  

New research shows that eating lean beef every day can be good for heart health by improving cholesterol levels. That's what a new checkoff-funded study called BOLD (Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet) shows - that adding lean beef to the most recommended heart-healthy diet can lower heart disease risk by reducing levels of total and LDL "bad" cholesterol.

We have a special digital edition of the Beef Buzz featuring Dietician Karen Meyers, who is a nutritional consultant for the Oklahoma Beef Council, featuring a conversation that we have had with her about the BOLD study.

"The BOLD study provides new research that health professionals can use to update their dietary recommendations with scientific findings showcasing how lean beef can maintain and even improve heart health," says Brian Healey, cow-calf producer from Davis, Okla. and member of the checkoff's Joint Human Nutrition Research Committee.

Click here for our first of the year Beef Buzz- featuring Karen Meyers as we talk BOLD with this Nutritional Consultant of the Oklahoma Beef Council.  

California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard Unconstitutional

A judge in Federal District Court in Fresno, California, has ruled that the State of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard is unconstitutional.  Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill agreed with the arguments that the LCFS is in violation of the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution. The Commerce Clause specifically forbids state laws that discriminate against out-of-state goods and that regulate out-of-state conduct.  

On this claim the Court found that the LCFS discriminates against out-of-state corn-derived ethanol and impermissibly regulates extraterritorial conduct.   As a result, the Court issued an injunction. Judge O'Neill also ruled that CARB failed to establish that there are no alternative methods to advance its goals of reducing Green House Gas emissions to combat global warming.

In a joint statement, RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen and Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said - the state of California overreached in creating its low carbon fuel standard by making it unconstitutionally punitive for farmers and ethanol producers outside of the state's border. With this ruling, it is our hope that the California regulators will come back to the table to work on a thoughtful, fair, and ultimately achievable strategy for improving our environment by incenting the growth and evolution of American renewable fuels. 

Click here for more on that joint statementfrom the ethanol industry on this California ruling.     

US Fluid Milk Sales Continue to Shrink as 2011 Draws to a Close 

According to dairy industry reporter John Kaczor, fluid milk sales have declined throughout 2011- and are ending the old year substantially smaller than 2010. He writes in the latest Milk Producers Newsletter that he edits "This is not how the final story for this year should end, but the long, sad story about declining fluid milk sales in the U.S. simply has not changed as the year progressed. The monthly decline below the same month a year earlier that began with March, 2010, shows no sign of stopping. CDFA's November report for California (-2.7%) and preliminary numbers for fluid milk usage in federal milk orders (-3.3%) add up to a total decline in fluid milk sales for the month of 143 million lbs below last November. The total loss of Class 1 sales for the U.S. for this year, provided December's sales reflect November's pattern, will be close to 1.2 billion lbs.

Click here for more details from Kaczor in his weekly Milk Producers Newsletter.


 

This past Friday- when a lot of folks were off already for the New Year's Holiday weekend- we took pretty much the entire final email of the year and reflected on not a Top Ten List of Stories- but rather five major events and people that impacted Oklahoma farming, ranching and rural Oklahoma in 2011.   

We invite you to look back in your INBOX for the Friday December 30th Email- or you can click here to jump to the Friday email posting of it that we have on our website.  

Much of what we wrote about this past Friday will continue to be things and people that we will be following closely in the new year as well- as we get ready for quite a ride in 2012!