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As cattle supplies remain tight and global demand intensifies profitability for cattle ranchers will continue in the year ahead, CattleFax analysts told cattlemen during remarks delivered at the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show in Nashville, Tenn. In fact, Blach said that cow-calf operators should be in "the driver's seat" in the coming year- and really for the next several years.


"The economic signals are in place for restocking to begin this year," said CattleFax Chief Executive Officer Randy Blach. "All we need now is a little encouragement from Mother Nature." Blach talked with a small group of farm broadcasters after his part of the Cattlefax Seminar at the Cattle Industry Convention- including Ron Hays of the Radio Oklahoma Network- and you can listen to that conversation by clicking on the link below and then on the LISTEN BAR on the new page.


Art Douglas, of Creighton University, set the expectation that, although there have been three months of near-normal rainfall in parts of Texas, drought will continue to play a role in determining if and when the cowherd expands. Douglas expects much of Texas to return to dry conditions by late-spring or early summer. He also predicts drought will spread into southern California, the Northern Plains and coastal areas of the southeast United States.

Click here to read more on Blach's analysis of cattle production trends. 

Bryan Durkin of the CME Group Offers Defense for the Way the Exchange Responded to the MF Global Debacle

The Chief Operating Officer of the CME Group, Bryan Durkin, addressed the Live Cattle Marketing Commitee meeting on Friday afternoon at the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville. Durkin offered details of the CME Group's $100 Million Farmer and Rancher Assistance Fund- calling this plan "Absolutely the right thing to do." Durkin said these monies have been set aside in the event that something like the MF Global debacle should ever happen again. (We have more on the CME Fund in the next story down)


After his presentation, Durkin took questions from several ranchers, including Fred Wacker of Montana, who described himself as a farmer feeder who has used the Chicago Mercantile Exchange products as a risk management tool. Wacker asked Durkin if he would be willing to stand up and promise that "with all haste, they should make all the loses good, take over this bad situation" adding that "I don't see why the people who are putting faith and confidence into the Chicago Merc should have to suffer a financial loss. Is there a possibly that this will happen?"

Click here to jump over to our story on the web for a chance to hear the presentation of this key person in the CME Group Management- and a chance to see how he responded to this rancher- and several others who posed questions to him.

MF Global Money Located; CME Sets Up Fund For Farmers

Amid reports that missing customer money from MF Global's bankruptcy has been found, the company's industry regulator, CME Group, took steps this week to shore up confidence in the market while Members of Congress continued their review on Capitol Hill.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that investigators have located most of the missing money from the failed company, though it may never be recovered and returned to customers.

The newspaper said federal investigators have found missing client funds that were likely used to repay customers, banks and other lenders that had started to ask for their money as the company began to collapse in the fall of 2011.

Sources cited did not elaborate on the location of the funds due to the ongoing investigation, which could result in criminal charges if wrongdoing is confirmed.

To read more about missing funds from the MF Global bankruptcy, click here. 

Bill Gates Speaks Out on Need for Money, Innovation in Ag Research

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and one of the richest men in the world, highlighted the relative lack of money devoted to agricultural innovation and research in his annual letter outlining the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's 2012 priorities.

The Foundation was founded by the Gates' in 1994 and is now the world's largest philanthropic organization. Guided by the philosophy that every life has equal value, the Foundation spends the majority of its funds on global health and development projects, both of which are intimately tied to agriculture.

Gates' comments in his 2012 letter expand on his longstanding interest in agricultural development, to which he says his Foundation has devoted $2 billion.

Research commissioned by the Foundation shows just $3 billion a year is spent researching the seven most important crops, including wheat, maize, rice, cassava, sorghum, legumes and sweet potatoes. Of that, $1.5 billion comes from countries' public funds, $1.2 billion from private companies and $300 million from international research organization CGIAR. By comparison, the Foundation made $2.4 billion in grant payments across a range of program areas in 2010.

You can read more about Bill Gates' views on agriculture research, by clicking here.

Start Looking For Army Cutworms in Alfalfa, Canola and Wheat

This is the time of year when army cutworm activity will become visible. Mark Gregory, Area Agronomy Specialist in Southwest Oklahoma sent in some digital photos of army cutworms to the Plant Disease and Insect Diagnostic Lab that were collected from a canola field in Washita County.

Army cutworms can cause severe stand loss in canola and winter wheat if numbers exceed thresholds and are not controlled. More information can be found by consulting EPP 7089, Caterpillars in Canola.

Army cutworms grow slowly during the winter and don't cause noticeable damage until temperatures warm in the spring. In alfalfa, signs of injury include slow production of new growth and stand loss. They can be particularly damaging to newly-planted stands, causing severe stand loss. Injury in alfalfa is often associated with field lacking significant amounts of stubble. If alfalfa or wheat has been grazed, army cutworms will often hide under cow pats during the day and feed on the crop at night.

If you'd like to read more about army cutworms, click here.

Biodiesel Production Surpasses Requirements, Increases Optimism

Biodiesel became a one-billion gallon industry, setting an all-time production record last year. That's thanks in part to its predominant fuel source: soy biodiesel. U.S. biodiesel production far exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency's 2011 production requirement of 800 million gallons. In fact, production reached nearly 1.1 billion gallons, which surpassed the previous record of 690 million gallons set in 2008.

U.S. soybean farmers and their checkoff helped establish soy's role in the biodiesel marketplace, originally looking for a new use of surplus soybean oil more than 20 years ago. Today, the soybean checkoff continues to support biodiesel through research and education efforts.

"As Americans, we have a need for an American fuel and the checkoff is seeing their investment start to come to fruition," says Robert Stobaugh, soybean farmer from Atkins, Ark., and United Soybean Board farmer-director. "The checkoff marketing efforts at the state and national level helped soy become the primary source and we still have room for growth."

Read more about the growth in the biodiesel industry by clicking here.

Oklahoma Cattle Producers Included in Cattle Industry Leadership

Several Oklahoma Cattle Producers are now in national leadership roles with the conclusion of the 2012 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville.  Tammi Didlot, who is currently the President of the Oklahoma Cattlewomen, is now the National President of the American National Cattlewomen. 

Also beiong elected to serve in the coming year is Clay Burtrum of Stillwater, who was selected to represent Region IV (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas) on the NCBA Executive Committee as one of the five regional Vice Presidents for the organization.

New President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association for 2012 is J.D. Alexander, a cattleman from Pilger, Nebraska, who owns Alexander Cattle & Farms, a 2,000 acre corn/soybean/alfalfa farm that markets approximately 15,000 head of cattle per year.

On the Federation side of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Richard Gebhart of Claremore was elected Vice Chairman. He will also serve as a Federation officer on the Operating Committee that has representation from both the Beef Councils in the US (The Federation) and the Cattlemen's Beef Board. The Operating Committee reviews the proposals and is the key group to select projects to invest beef checkoff dollars into.

On the Cattlemen's Beef Board, Brian Healey from Davis was selected to be on the Executive Board of the CBB, a key role to offer input from Oklahoma in the overall direction of the Beef Checkoff dollars.

Click here for more on new leadership team for the Cattle Industry and to listen to a conversation we had with Scott Dewald as we talked about these leaders from Oklahoma- as well as some of the key policy positions of interest to Oklahoma producers.