From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 06:37
To: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
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Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Wednesday October 17, 2007!
A service of Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma, American Farmers and Ranchers & Midwest Farm Shows
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-- Cellulosic Ethanol Will be Viable- Not IF but WHEN is the Unknown.
-- Lots of Activity "Behind the Scenes" for Biofuels- Especially Cellulosic Efforts.
-- $275,000 Payday for the Illinois River!
-- Senate Ag Committee Sources Say We have a Funding Deal!
-- Oklahoma Farm Bureau Plans Big Food Drive Competition During State Convention.
-- Central Oklahoma Cattle Conference Coming Next Thursday in Chandler
-- The Name is Out- and we say Congrats to Dr. Ron Kensinger- incoming Dean of Animal Science at Oklahoma State University!

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!

We also welcome American Farmers and Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click here to go to their NEW AFR web site to learn more about their efforts to serve rural America!
And our email this morning is also a service of Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the Tulsa Farm Show coming up December 6-8, 2007, as well as the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City next spring. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows by clicking here.

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.


Cellulosic Ethanol Will be Viable- Not IF but WHEN is the Unknown.
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Attendees at the second annual Oklahoma Biofuels Conference heard from the Governor and a whole host of experts talking the promise of biofuels. And yes, when we asked several of those experts about the future of ethanol from cellulose- the answer was a resounding "WHEN" to the question- since we currently have no commercially viable cellulosic Ethanol production in place here in the United States- is that reality still an "If" or is it just "when?"

Dr. Lance Lobbin of OU says there are "lots of options to be looked at" when it comes to Lignocellulose conversion. Two technologies that are being sorted out by the brand new Oklahoma Bioenergy Center include gasification and Fast Pryolysis- the conversion of Lignos to bio-oil.

One of the panelists for the opening session was Dr. Ray Huhnke of Oklahoma State University- and we talked with Dr. Huhnke about the BioEnergy Center, work going on at OSU, the possibilities of Sweet Sorghum and more- and you can click on the link below and take a listen to our conversation with this key player in the Biofuels movement both nationally and here in Oklahoma.

Click here to listen to Ron and Dr. Ray Huhnke on Biofuels.


Lots of Activity "Behind the Scenes" for Biofuels- Especially Cellulosic Efforts.
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Noble Foundation VP and General Counsel Steve Rhines was also one of the panelists looking at the progress over the past year as the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center has cranked up. He agrees that Cellulosic Ethanol production is coming- and that he believes it will be a dynamic force for good when it comes to the economic well being of farmers and ranchers.

Rhines thinks we will start seeing cellulosic ethanol plants start to pop up across the countryside in the next five years- and that we will be able to address the many questions facing the as of yet immature business.

We also sat down with Steve Rhines and want to share his comments with you as well- he gives a private perspective in this Bioenergy Center that is coming together that could land Oklahoma into one of the "sweet spots" when it comes to this next phase of ethanol production.

Click here to listen to Ron and Steve Rhines from Noble Foundation discuss Bioenergy's future for Oklahoma.


$275,000 Payday for the Illinois River!
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Members of the poultry industry presented a $275,000 check to the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission (OSRC) yesterday during the OSRC's monthly meeting at the National Guard Armory in Tahlequah. This gift is part of a $1.1 million donation pledged to the OSRC in 2005 to be paid over four years. In 2005, the OSRC requested funds from various governmental agencies, corporations and municipalities to preserve and protect the Illinois River Watershed. The poultry companies were the first to respond.

"We are happy that we can help improve the Illinois River," Jackie Cunningham, Director of Community Relations for the Poultry Community Council, said. "We care about this river, and we care about keeping it clean. We're glad to support the OSRC's efforts through this gift."

The poultry companies are also pleased to report that numerous poultry farmers have decided to export poultry litter from the watershed in the past two years. In addition, the number of poultry farms operating in the watershed continues to decline. There are currently 1,660 active poultry houses in the Illinois River Watershed, which is down from 1,942 houses two years ago. The decrease in active houses by 282 significantly reduces the amount of litter produced in the watershed.

When we speak of "the poultry companies" we mean the following companies that are a part of this ongoing coalition: Peterson Farms, Tyson Foods, Inc., Simmons Foods, Inc., George's, Inc., Cargill Turkey Production, LLC and Willow Brook Foods Inc.


Senate Ag Committee Sources Say We have a Funding Deal!
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Few details are available- but Senate Ag Committee aides claim there has been a breakthrough and that we have a budget deal on a Farm Bill which should pass muster next week when the Committee meets to "Mark Up" their version of farm policy. Senators that apparently have agreed to a deal include the Chairman, Tom Harkin of Iowa as well as key challengers Kent Conrad of North Dakota- the Chairman of the Budget Committee and top Republican on the Committee, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.

One detail that has come out is the fact that a small reduction in the amount of Direct Payments will be used to pay for some of the other goodies packaged together- but that the wheat reduction may be small or non existent as Senators have acknowledged that the commodities need some rebalancing which includes a better support for wheat.

The hope is still to start next Wednesday with markup and there are signs that most of the deals will be cut by then and that the open meeting will be window dressing. Can you say "Smoke filled back room deal?"


Oklahoma Farm Bureau Plans Big Food Drive Competition During State Convention.
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Oklahoma's farmers and ranchers are launching a major campaign to stop hunger in the state because "no one should go to bed hungry in a land blessed with agriculture abundance," said Steve Kouplen, Oklahoma Farm Bureau president. The "Farmers Fighting Hunger" campaign is in cooperation with the Regional Food Banks of Oklahoma. Farm Bureau members are collecting donations that will be gathered during their annual convention Nov. 9-11 in Oklahoma City.

To help bring some energy and offer some incentives during the campaign, Farm Bureau has set up a competition to see which county group can bring in the most donations. The winner receives a trip for two to Washington, D.C., next spring. Here's how it works: For every can or dollar donated, Farm Bureau will award the county one point. A running tally will be kept throughout the convention, and the winning county will be announced at the closing session Nov. 11.

All food collected by the state organization will be turned over to the two Regional Food Banks that serve most of the state. In fact, the Regional Food Banks in Oklahoma City and Tulsa distribute food to all 77 Oklahoma counties. For more information about the Regional Food Bank, click here. And for more information about the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, here's a link to their website.


Central Oklahoma Cattle Conference Coming Next Thursday in Chandler
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"Adding Value to Market Cattle" is the theme of this Conference planned for the Lincoln County Agri-Civic Center in Chandler on Thursday, October 25. OSU Specialists Dr. Glenn Selk and Dr. David Lahman will be guest speakers at the event, as will order buyer Jim Loftin from Talequah, who will talk about "evaluating Feeder Cattle and Cull Cows from a Buyers Perspective."

If you want more information, you can call the Lincoln County extension office- Mick Jones is the Agent there in Lincoln County- and get more information at 405- 258-0560.

We also have details on the event on our Calendar page of WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com- click on the Calendar page link below to check out this and several other events planned over the next four weeks.

Click here to be taken to the Calendar page of the WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


The Name is Out- and we say Congrats to Dr. Ron Kensinger- incoming Dean of Animal Science at Oklahoma State University!
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We had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the new head of the Animal Science Department had been selected and we had been asked to hold back on talking about specifics on the candidate until he was blessed by the OSU Board of Regents. That Regents' blessing will not come until next week when they meet in the Panhandle.

Well, the name of Dr. Ron Kensinger showed up in the most recent issue of the Oklahoma Cowman- so with the cat out of the bag- we say congrats to OSU on obtaining a top drawer candidate to take on the position held so very well by Dr. Don Wagner, who postponed his retirement by about a year to allow OSU to continue their search for the right person for the job.

Dr. Ron Kensinger got his degrees at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida- and has been on staff at Penn State University since 1982. He has done research and work with all major species- but his work has especially focused on dairy. Ron has received a solid "thumbs up" from several folks I have talked to within the industry that were a part of vetting him for this position. Dr. Kensinger will be starting his new position January 2, 2008.


Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, American Farmers and Ranchers Mutual Insurance and Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked at the top of the email- check them out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis!

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



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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