Featured Story:

The Tulsa Farm Show starts its three day run this morning- and will continue all day Thursday, Friday and wrap up at 4 PM on Saturday afternoon. It's the 19th year for the Tulsa Farm Show- and Marketing Manager for Midwest Farm Shows, John Sampson, has been around for all of them. He has been excited each year as the show has grown to a point where here in 2012- commercial exhibits have spilled over into the lower level of the Quik Trip Center for the first time.

We captured some of this year's excitement with John as we talked with him on Wednesday afternoon as the move in of the some 350 exhibitors was underway- and getting close to being complete.  Click here to read our story and listen to our conversation with John Sampson.

AND- we hope that you will come to this year's show, stop by our Radio Oklahoma Ag Network booth- and sign up for our special giveaway for 2012- an 8,000 lb. winch by Smittybilt.  It has a 5 1/2 horsepower motor and comes with a 12' remote cord.  It has 94 feet of cable, a fairlead, weighs 80 lbs., and will mount to almost any brush guard used by larger pickups.  Tim at Perfection Equipment (our partner in this giveaway) says a lot of farmers bolt this winch to a flatbed trailer and use it to load cars, logs, and other heavy equipment.  He's also sold quite a few to deer hunters who mount them on the front or rear of their Jeeps.

Perfection Truck Parts and Equipment handles accessories for almost any truck.  They do everything from mounting Tommy Gates and headache racks on Toyota Tundras to working on 60-ton cranes. Their toll free number is (800) 888-7326. 

Come by and saw howdy- we'll be around Thursday and Friday this year- before heading back over to OKC for thejoint meeting of the Wheat and Sorghum folks on Saturday at the Express Events Center in Oklahoma City.

Dairy Farmers and Rural Communities to Congress: 'Don't Let Us Down' 

In a letter delivered to Members of Congress this week, 42 organizations and 149 businesses which serve dairy farmers and rural communities called on federal lawmakers to review the dairy policies that have contributed to the financial crisis experienced by the majority of dairy farmers across the United States.

The letter stated, "Federal dairy policies have been hammering dairy farmers for more than 30 years. There were 600,000 U.S. dairy farms in 1976, dropping to 131,509 by 1992, and to 51,481 by 2012. It is unthinkable that Congress continues to formulate policies that will likely be responsible for a continued decline in the number of U.S. dairy farms.  This crisis in not just affecting farmers and their families, but also the entire rural economy.

"The federal milk pricing formula leaves dairy farmers unable to cover their basic cost of production, but equally important is the loss of a substantial number of support businesses that fold when dairy farmers are not paid enough to cover the bills they owe these service providers and suppliers." 

As neither the House nor Senate draft farm bills make these needed reforms, the letter urges lawmakers to, "take swift action to implement equitable federal dairy policies based on fairness and cost of production in the dairy provision of the 2012 Farm Bill."

Click here for our website where you'll find a link to the dairy producers' letter and a full list of its signers. 

J.D. Alexander Takes Pride in NCBA's Successes on Government Regs, Trade Agreements

With the farm bill still in limbo and drought still taking its toll, 2012 has not been an easy year to head the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, but its president, J.D. Alexander, says there are several successes beef producers can be proud of in 2012.

"The thing that we look at is over the past year we have always said if you cannot legislate, you regulate. And the thing that we have got to be here for every day in and day out, looking out for our fellow producers, is to make sure that the regulatory agencies are not putting over-burdensome things on our producers. So we've been able to monitor such things as the dust legislation, air, water, and so on, to make them livable."

The Obama administration did move forward on three trade agreements that had languished since the end of the George W. Bush administration. Alexander said these types of agreements are good news for beef producers.

"We're believers in world trade. And I think when trade works, the world wins. We as a beef producer really have to look at these and, yes, we've hit some good home runs on this through the TPP agreements and free-trade agreements with Panama, Columbia, and South Korea. We sell about ten percent of our product to 96 percent of the world's populations, though it leaves huge potential out there for beef producers. And we will do everything we can to increase these markets and continue to work on our exports and developing further free-trade agreements."

J.D. Alexander joins us on the latest Beef Buzz. Click here for more.
 

U.S. Soy Exports Remain Strong During 2011-2012 Marketing Year

U.S. soybean farmers continue to reassure international customers of U.S. soy by meeting demand with high-quality soybeans. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, U.S. soybean farmers exported more than 1.8 billion bushels of U.S. soy during the 2011-2012 marketing year, compared with approximately 2 billion bushels in 2010-2011. The 2012 export numbers include 1.3 billion bushels of whole soybeans, meal from more than 404 million bushels of soybeans and the oil from 126.5 million bushels of soybeans. U.S. soy exports this year are valued at more than $23 billion.

U.S. farmers harvested 3.05 billion bushels of soybeans last year, so these exports represent about 55 percent of that production. Soy customers in China, the largest importer, bought almost 850 million bushels of whole soybeans, or more than one out of every four rows U.S. farmers grew.

"Our customers' main concern has been whether we were going to be a reliable supplier," says Sharon Covert, soybean farmer from Tiskilwa, Ill., who leads USB's International Marketing program. "The checkoff continues to assure them that while we may not have as many bushels per acre, we are a reliable supplier of high-quality soybeans." 

Click here for more of this story.  

Ag Scientist and Administrator Bob Westerman Announces Retirement from OSU

Oklahoma State University's Robert L. Westerman has seen the state and its agricultural industries change and then change again in his 40 years as first a student and then a faculty member with the Cowboys.

Westerman is set to ride off into the sunset on Jan. 10, retiring after a career of service and scientific discovery that has helped strengthen and diversify Oklahoma's agricultural industries and the businesses and communities that rely on them.

"I know of no other person who has been more loyal, not only to the university, but to all of Oklahoma agriculture; he has a true understanding of what it takes to apply research to the field," said Joe Neal Hampton, president and chief operating officer of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association, Oklahoma Agribusiness Retailers Association and Oklahoma Seed Trade Association.

You can check out the full story of Bob Westerman's incredibly productive career at OSU by clicking here.

Corporations Support National FFA Organizations to the Tune of $16.2 Million in 2012

Corporate and individual contributions to the National FFA Foundation in 2012 to support national FFA programs and agricultural education climbed to more than $16.2 million.

Corporate support this year exceeded the $15.8 million donated in 2011 and $15.6 million in 2010. Individual giving also rose to $558,000, up from $475,000 a year ago and $292,000 two years ago.

Pfizer Animal Health gave $1.27 million to FFA this year to link veterinarians in local communities with FFA members planning careers in animal health. Other million-dollar corporate contributors were CSX Transportation and RFD Communications, which operates RFD-TV and Rural TV. Monsanto provided more than $890,000 to support national student leadership conferences, educational awards, awareness campaigns and more.

You can read more by clicking here.  

Long-Term Tax Strategies Leave More Money in Producers' Pockets, Ag Economist Says

As Ben Franklin once noted, the only two things one can count on with certainty are death and taxes. Job Springer, an ag economist with the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, writes in their latest Ag News and Views Newsletter that most Americans go to extra lengths in order to delay them both as long as possible. 

Income and expenses generated from entities such as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (taxed as a partnership) and a sub S corporation are reported on the owner's personal income tax return. It is in the best interest of each business to eliminate all unnecessary expenses, and, from a business standpoint, taxes are considered an expense. 

The way to do this, Springer explains, is to know one's Adjusted Gross Income as early as possible before the end of the year so as to be able to make decisions which could lower one's tax liability.  These can involve pulling purchases of capitol assets from next year into this year, or prepaying some expenses from next year this year.  He says these must be handled carefully according to IRS guidelines.

You can read more on implementing Springer's specific strategies by clicking here.