From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 07:13
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 Thursday December 6, 2007!
A service of Cusack Meats, National Livestock Credit Corporation & Midwest Farm Shows
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-- Reid Calling for Another Cloture Vote as Leadership Fails to Agree on Farm Bill Debate
-- Energy Bill Vote Set for Today in the House
-- RFS- What's the Impact on Livestock in the US with a Bigger Renewable Fuel Standard?
-- A Gut Check- Distillers Grains May Up the Incidence of E-Coli 0157!
-- A Natural Approach to Dealing with Scours-
-- Tulsa Farm Show Opening Day!

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 National Livestock Credit Corporation as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. National Livestock Credit Corporation works diligently to provide unsurpassed service to their customers in the area of livestock financing. Check out the National Livestock Family of Services website by clicking here.

Another of our sponsors on our daily email service is Cusack Meats, and Al Cusack wants everyone to know that he APPRECIATES Oklahoma's Farmers and Ranchers! You can go to the Cusack website and select some great gift packs of meat for giving- or for yourself! And, our email this morning is also a service of Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the Tulsa Farm Show coming up THIS WEEK- 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.


Reid Calling for Another Cloture Vote as Leadership Fails to Agree on Farm Bill Debate
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada is going to go fishing again on Friday with a second cloture vote in an attempt to force the Republicans to do it his way in moving the 2007 Farm Bill onto the Senate floor and defining what will and what won't be allowed when it comes to amendments to the Committee proposal.

Reid claims that the Republicans have been offered more amendments than he is giving Democrats- but it sounds like Reid continues to want to choose those amendments for Mitch McConnell, the Minority Leader. That is going over like a lead balloon.

If Reid can force cloture- there may be a chance to get the farm bill out of the Senate before Christmas. Otherwise, Senate action would likely be delayed to Mid January or later- as the Congress will not return to work in Washington until January 15. Unless a few Farm State Republicans are scared into joining Harry Reid- fearing they will be blamed for the delay- the cloture vote will likely fall short as it did this past month.


Energy Bill Vote Set for Today in the House
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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is playing a key role in crafting an Energy Bill that she wants to see Congress lay on the desk of George W Bush before Christmas. She is planning a vote on the House compromise of the legislation today- and will be leaning on the Rules Committee to allow it to be voted on without amendment.

The measure will then go on to the Senate- where things are very unpredictable- even on the simplest of votes. This one is rather complicated and the process may slow dramatically as we hit the Senate- especially with the tax package that is coming along with this bill that would increase taxes on the nation's largest oil companies by taking away tax breaks given to all businesses a few years back.

This bill includes a renewable fuel standard increase to 36 billion gallons by the year 2022- our current RFS is 7.5 billion gallons. It calls for more emphasis on cellulosic ethanol, on wind and solar projects and calls on the auto makers to up the number of "flex fuel" vehicles that they produce- these are cars that can run on E-85. Earlier this year, the Senate passed their version of the Energy Bill- and Pelosi hopes to use the idea of "ping-ponging" the bill back and forth between the two bodies until they get a bill both sides of the Hill can agree upon. Apparently, she will offer the first serve as she attempts to hit the Energy Ping Pong Ball across the net later today.


RFS- What's the Impact on Livestock in the US with a Bigger Renewable Fuel Standard?
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The Renewable Fuel Standard would be upped to 36 billion gallons by the year 2022 under the proposal being championed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. What does that mean for the livestock industry- as much of that would come from grain based ethanol- even as we try to get cellulosic ethanol to a point of reality.

Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Jim Mintert helps us talk through what the higher RFS might mean to the livestock business- and he says while the dates that have been discussed- from 2016 out to 2022 are a long time away- a law with a higher standard will begin to change the infrastructure of the grain industry well before those dates arrive. Both the House and Senate are talking about a total of 15 billion gallons of ethanol coming from corn- with that level to come by around the year 2016.

We have Mintert's comments on today's edition of the Beef Buzz- take a listen as this is an agricultural issue that could have profound impact on cattle, hog and poultry production in this country over the next several decades.

Click here to listen to Ron and Jim on today's Beef Buzz- looking at Ethanol's long term impact on Feed Grains


A Gut Check- Distillers Grains May Up the Incidence of E-Coli 0157!
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Research at Kansas State University has found that cattle fed distiller's grain have an increased prevalence of E. coli 0157 in their hindgut. This particular type of E. coli is present in healthy cattle but poses a health risk to humans, who can acquire it through undercooked meat, raw dairy products and produce contaminated with cattle manure. "Distiller's grain is a good animal feed. That's why ethanol plants are often built next to feedlots," said T.G. Nagaraja, a professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology at K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine.

The growth in ethanol plants means more cattle are likely to be fed distiller's grain, therefore harboring 0157 and potentially a source of health risks to humans, Nagaraja said. That's why he and Jim Drouillard, K-State professor of animal sciences, have been collaborating on testing distiller's grain-fed cattle for 0157. Nagaraja and Drouillard, who studied the carcass quality of cattle fed distiller's grain, are joined by Megan Jacob, a K-State doctoral student in pathobiology. Through three rounds of testing, the prevalence of 0157 was about twice as high in cattle fed distiller's grain compared with those cattle that were on a diet lacking the ethanol byproduct. In what is definitely the understatement of the day- Nagaraja says "This is a very interesting observation and is likely to have profound implications in food safety."

Nagaraja said research in the next few years will focus on finding out why 0157 is more prevalent in cattle fed a distiller's grain diet. He said it could be something that changes in the animals' hindgut as a result of feeding distiller's grains, or maybe the byproduct provides a nutrient for the bacteria. "Feeding cattle distiller's grain is a big economic advantage for ethanol plants," Nagaraja said. "We realize we can't tell cattle producers, 'Don't feed distiller's grain.' What we want to do is not only understand the reasons why 0157 increases, but also find a way to prevent that from happening."


A Natural Approach to Dealing with Scours-
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It's being called the 2008 Calf Country Profit Tour and the Alltech company is going to be out crisscrossing the state of Oklahoma next week with lunch and dinner meetings at 18 locations to explain to cattle producers how they can deal with scours in baby calves without antibiotics.

Matt Case is the regional representative for Alltech- and he is coordinating these meetings all across the state of Oklahoma next week. The product they are especially promoting is Bio-Mos. We talked with Matt during our recent Farm Broadcasters meeting in Kansas City and we have that conversation linked for you on our website on our calendar page.

And, we have the listing of the 18 locations across the state where Alltech will be holding their lunch and dinner meetings. Many producers have received invitations in the mail- if you did not or simply want more information about these meetings planned for next week- call their office in Springfield, Mo. at 417- 886-1000. Out link below is to our calendar page- scroll down to the December 11-13 listing for the Alltech meetings and you will see where they are stopping- and you can click on the link there to listen to our visit with Matt Case on their product lineup and these Calf Country Profit Meetings.

Click here to go to our Calendar page to get locations for the Calf Country Profit Tour from Alltech.


Tulsa Farm Show Opening Day!
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It's six times as big as the first Tulsa Farm Show 14 years ago- and Marketing Manager John Sampson says that some 350 exhibitors are jammed into the upper level of the Quik Trip Center at the Tulsa Fairgrounds for the 2007 event.

The latest equipment, goods and services for the farm, the ranch, the rural homeowner that has a few acres and a horse and maybe a cow or two can all be seen at the 2007 edition of the Tulsa Farm Show. There are various demonstrations- horse training, cattle processing and the like- but the star of the show- all the various products and ideas being showcased that can either save you money, make you money or make life a little easier and/or more enjoyable.

Midwest Farm Shows operates the Tulsa Show as well as the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City in the state of Oklahoma- but also operate shows in several other states. They have just finished the Peoria show they operate annually- and he says the attitude of those attending this year was amazing. One farmer told Sampson that as he ran his combine through his corn fields this fall- the yield monitor never dipped below 240 bushels per acre. That level of production plus high prices for the bushels you produce can produce euphoria that is seldom seen in farm country. You can hear John's comments about the Tulsa Show as well as what they experienced last week in Peoria by clicking on the link below.

Click here to listen to Ron and John talk about the Tulsa Farm Show 2007!


Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Cusack Meats and National Livestock Credit Corporationfor 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!

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