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.

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.

And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show, as well as the Tulsa Farm Show. Click here for more information on the Southern Plains Farm Show, coming up April 15,16 and 17, 2010.

If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here.

LMIC estimated per head returns for a typical steer sold in February were positive by just over $20.00 per head. Positive closeouts were propelled by the highest monthly average fed steer price since November 2008, combined with manageable feedstuff and feeder steer costs. For example, the cost of the feeder animal that was sold as a fed steer in February was the lowest for any month since early 2004.

Cash cattle prices in the southern plains have continued to move higher, as we saw prices for market ready animals in the feedlots up by three dollars per hundred this past Friday, with the Texas Cattle Feeders reporting over 18,000 head at $95 per hundred.

We have more on this past Friday's cattle market- and more on where the LMIC sees the cattle market and profitability in the months ahead- click on the link below to read.

Click here for more on the Red Ink Turning to Black for Cattle Feedlots

Neuens and other crop watchers estimate that there are about 85,000 acres of winter canola growing in the region this year, substantially above the 35,000 estimated acres of a year ago. Neuens says the biggest challenge will once again getting the crop harvested, as farmers in the southern plains are still learning how to best get the tiny seed out of the field without leaving too much of it on the ground in the field.

Click on the link below to read more and to listen to our conversation with Gene Neuens on current crop conditions, as well as the efforts to get information out to producers about harvesting canola successfully.

Click here for more on the Winter Canola crop across the Southern Plains.

Secretary Vilsack called the issues - difficult and complex, which is why this workshop is so important and long overdue. Attorney General Holder said we are committed to enforcing the antitrust laws effectively to ensure fair and open competition that protects both consumers and farmers.

Monsanto Vice President of Industry Affairs Jim Tobin represented Monsanto in last Friday's workshop exploring competition issues in the agriculture industry. Tobin notes - the fight to win the farmer's business is intense and that has translated to not only more profitable choices for farmers over the past decade, but also more value for farmers.
It appeared that Monsanto was the object of a lot of criticism about being a "monopoly." Monsanto is a major player in the seed technology business, and has been easily the most successful to this point, so they are a lightening rod when it comes to the debate that anti- biotech advocates raise. Many of those who are upset with Monsanto would like to roll the clock back thirty years or more.

Click here for more on the Competition in Ag Workshop- including an audio review of the event with Stewart Doan.

Choice boxed beef price is currently about ten percent higher than this same time one year ago, while fed and feeder cattle prices are nearly 15 percent higher. Boxed beef and fed cattle prices have no doubt been helped by winter weather that has contributed to lighter carcass weights and reduced beef production. Choice boxed beef price appears to have stalled out this last week, unable to crack the $150/cwt. level but the fact that it is holding steady is a good sign given the weather disruptions in major consumer areas. Seasonal pressure on boxed beef prices will build in the next two to four weeks and boxed beef prices may have peaked unless additional demand support materializes. Fed cattle prices may have peaked a bit early, helped by winter weather, and have limited potential to move slightly higher before facing seasonal pressure as we move through April. Fed prices are higher due to stronger boxed beef and by-products values roughly $3/cwt. higher (live basis) than last year.

Click on the link below for more on this analysis offered by Dr. Derrell Peel.

Click here for more on where the cattle market now stands after recent price run ups.

Dr. Hunger also had a Texas update that he shared with us as well- "On 10-Mar-2010, Rex Herrington (Research Associate, Dept. of Soil & Crop Sciences, Texas AgriLife Research, College Station, TX) sent the following update indicating leaf and stripe rust in southern Texas. However, wheat breeders from Texas I talked to earlier this week indicated that they had not found any leaf or stripe rust, or powdery mildew in northern Texas (either in the panhandle or in the area south of Oklahoma).
"We had 0.2" rain last night at College Station, while the Waco area had up to 2.5" in spots. We have a 50% chance tomorrow. Temps are starting to warm up, and a lot of the wheat is jointed already, and actively growing. There are a lot of GB's reported in the area West of San Antonio. I heard of 1 field of spring wheat 30 miles SW of Castroville with heavy stripe rust. No oat CR has been observed or reported yet. A crop consultant found LR at Castroville on lower leaves and stripe rust on middle leaves."

The letter also urged House approval of the legislators' resolution as introduced. Their resolution follows a similar resolution introduced in January by Senator Lisa Murkowski. In a NCC-coordinated letter to Senator Murkowski, 137 other commodity and agricultural organizations declared their support for her effort. The breadth of support from agriculture encouraged several Democratic Senators to cosponsor the resolution.

In their letter, the groups said, - such regulatory actions will carry severe consequences for the U.S. economy, including America's farmers and ranchers, through increased input costs and international market disparities. It also noted that both current and past Administrations have acknowledged that the clean Air Act is not the appropriate vehicle for establishing greenhouse gas policy.

Click here to read the full letter- and review the groups that signed the letter.

Under the program, farm owners or operators would be barred from - tethering or confining any calf raised for veal, pig during pregnancy, or egg-laying hen, on a farm, for all or the majority of any day, in a manner that prevents such animal from lying down, standing up, fully extending his or her limbs, or turning around freely. A half-dozen exceptions are listed, including ones for fairs, rodeos and 4-H shows.

If 402,275 valid signatures of Ohio registered voters are collected by June 29, the proposal will be placed on the November ballot as a statewide constitutional issue. Pacelle expects to have - thousands of volunteers hitting the streets - to gather signatures. The Ohio Farm Bureau and other agricultural organizations that supported Issue 2 last fall have vowed to fight the HSUS proposal.

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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

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:
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler- analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day-
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.
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's market- this link says it's Thursday but info is correct for Friday March 12.
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- As Reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture. <
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Finally, Here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.