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 welcome Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma has ten branch offices to serve your farm financing needs and is dedicated to being your first choice for farm credit. Check out their website for more information by clicking here!

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The killer for 2007 were the rains that moved in as we attempted to harvest the crop- and made mud holes of many fields and ended any hope of getting thousands of acres combined. The tightness of quality wheat seed coming from two years of crops under a hundred million bushels has made planting the 2008 wheat crop more of an adventure than we would have expected otherwise.

Beyond Oklahoma, USDA did slightly cut the size of both the Kansas and Texas crops for 2007, Kansas dropping to 283 million bushels and Texas dropped by four million bushels down to a still incredible 140 million bushels in 2007. Go to our link below for the summary published by USDA about our small grain crops here in Oklahoma for 2007.

Click here for the details of the 2007 Oklahoma Wheat Crop from NASS of USDA

As the market closing bell was getting redy to ring on Friday afternoon, we talked with Dr. Kim Anderson about these high wheat prices- especially the July 2008 Kansas City wheat futures which had an intradday high of $7.02! It settled at $6.89 Friday afternoon and we asked Dr. Anderson if it's time to seriously consider pricing a least a little of your potential 2008 production. And Dr. Anderson tells us "Yep."

We also asked him about the decision by POP to raise the 2008 harvest price offer for Winter Canola to 15 cents per pound- and he is very positive about taking that price and cleaning up at least some of your weed infested acres of wheat ground. If you are involved in the wheat business- you need to take a listen to our conversation with Kim- click below and listen to his new recommendations!

Click here to listen to Ron and Kim talk Wheat Pricing Strategy and more!

One of the fun things that the Beef Council did was to highlight some of the products that came along decade by decade since Oklahoma's statehood. They talked about the Chuck Wagon "Cookie" whipping up the a beef stew as statehood arrived here in Oklahoma, then in the following decades the cheeseburger and reuben coming along, as well as the infamous Crock Pot that became a hot item in the 1970s. The inside pages of the insert was done superbly as they highlighted the Oklahoma Beef Industry from the pasture to the plate.

We talk with Heather Buckmaster with the Oklahoma Beef Council about the insert and some of the key points shared with consumers in this Centennial special promotion. Heather is our guest on today's Beef Buzz as we talk about this effort- you can hear the Beef Buzz on great radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- and we have this conversation with Heather linked below as heard on today's Beef Buzz.

Click here to listen to Ron and Heather on today's Beef Buzz!

On the Asian Soybean Rust Website, here is the commentary on the situation here int he Oklahoma. "As of 28 September, rust was found for the first time in a commercial field in Kingfisher Co. at an incidence of 18%. Actively sporulating rust is now present in most areas of the state being regularly monitored except for Tulsa Co. (that was previously positive) and Washington Co. Rust incidence is increasing at nearly all locations. Kudzu in Choctaw Co. was positive for rust this week. Several commercial fields in Wagoner and Kay Counties were also positive for rust this week. Other diseases such as anthracnose, downy mildew, brown spot, bacterial blight, and frogeye leaf spot are widespread and continue to make rust recognition in the field difficult. Frogeye leaf spot and downy mildew are particularly severe in some fields. Chances of rain are being forecasted for the upcoming week along with more cool night temperatures which should continue to produce dew periods."

For the most part, Oklahoma soybeans are now past the stage where spraying is justified. However, several soybean farmers in the state had a good enough crop to justify spraying earlier in the season- and we are seeing soybean producers east of us having to make that call as Rust continues to creep further and further north.

To take a look at the US Asian Soybean Rust Website, click here.

Everybody agreed that there continues to be a problem even as the state has tried to offer regulations to solve the problems with 2-4 D drifting across fence lines and causing damage. Several suggestions were made in regards to more education being needed for private land owners that have their own pesticide applicator license- those at this gathering saying that if we can eliminate spraying of chemicals when the winds are sweeping down the Oklahoma plains a little too fast, if we can make sure that our tank pressure is not too high and that our water droplets are not too small- we could put a halt to many of the complaints that have been raised by this issue.

We talked with Senator Mike Schulz of Altus who had a bill instructing the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture to further study the issue and write new regulations for lawmakers and the industry to review this past legislative session- that bill was put on the backburner but still has life in the second half of the current General Session that picks up early in 2008. We talk with Mike about that measure and what he hopes will happen in regards to this issue- we have that conversation with the southwest Oklahoma Senator linked below- take a listen!

Click here to listen to Ron and Senator Schulz talk about Pesticide Regulations here in Oklahoma.

We mentioned earlier in our story with Dr. Kim Anderson about asking him about that type of price offer on a contract basis- and he says that if you have weedy wheat ground- it sure sounds like a win-win to include some winter canola in your mix this year.

Monsanto's Product Manager for DeKalb Winter Canola, Jeff Koscelny, has sent a letter to wheat producers around the southern plains giving them a whole list of reasons why winter canola should be an agronomic tool to help improve your winter wheat production. We have a copy of that letter up on our website- and we have it linked below for you to check out.

Click here for Jeff's open letter to Winter Wheat producers on taking a final look at Winter Canola this fall.

"Wheat, soybean, and corn markets are providing very strong incentives to plant more acreage this fall and next spring. Throughout this year, the market focused on attracting corn acres, and to a lesser extent, wheat acres. Producers responded strongly, with corn acres increasing to their highest level since 1944. Wheat market prices are indicating an expected significant increase in planted area this fall and next spring in the U.S. and around the world. The potential exists for increased double-cropping and the planting of fallow ground. Overall, I expect that market signals will continue to provide adequate acres, recognizing that strong competition among crops is likely."

"I would not anticipate offering a general signup while grain stock levels remain historically low and prices continue at unprecedented levels. Acres under continuous CRP signup, such as filter strips and riparian buffers, are not affected by general signup decisions. Enrollment of acres that qualify for continuous signup is ongoing. I will continue to closely monitor the acreage response and market conditions. I will not hesitate in the future to make adjustments to USDA programs if needed to achieve balance in the agricultural sector."

A lot of the gathering was Steve's Farm Bureau Family- members, State Board Members and Staffers. American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman was there to offer his sympathies. Beyond Farm Bureau, you had folks like the Dean of Agriculture at OSU, the heads of the Department of Agriculture and the Conservation Commission and more that came in support of the Kouplen family.

The minister that led the Oklahoma City Service spoke of the fact that Anita Kouplen had not postponed doing good things in her life and he admonished those of us present to "Not wait" to care about those around us and perhaps that special project that God is calling you to do. I would be remiss to not take that a bit further and urge every person that reads this to not wait a day longer in making sure you have your spiritual house in order- how will you answer the question that we all must answer one day, "Why should I let you into my Heaven?" I would pray that when we see a life that ends sooner than you would expect to- it would remind us that life is a precious gift- and one that is only temporary as far as this world is concerned- at the same time, our souls have eternity ahead- and that's where our relationship with God's Son is what that question I mentioned a moment ago is all about. As the Minister said on Saturday, Don't Wait!

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