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 just concluded Tulsa Farm Show, 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.

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The language on chicken was among 157 items in an amendment added to the farm bill moments before it was passed by the Senate last week.

Senator Harkin was pleased that he was able to add this provision in at the last moment- and word from Colin Peterson's office is that he is fine with it as well. "It is an important development in providing consumers with the information regarding the origin of the food they eat on a daily basis," said Tom Buis, president of the National Farmers Union, on Monday. "With pork, beef and chicken, the three major protein sources will be labeled."

Peeper says this is a crop that can make money for Oklahoma grain producers in the western portions of the state- it handles heat well- in fact it needs hot weather to really thrive- it doesn't grow well until you start hitting 95 degrees. And it doesn't take much moisture to make a crop.

Peeper says that 2007 was not a very good year for growing Sesame- too wet and really not hot enough- but he is hopeful that we will see more growers give it a try- he's looking for ten to fifteen thousand acres to be planted in 2008. We have our audio conversation with Danny and you can click below to take a listen.

Click here to listen to Ron and Danny talk Sesame at the recent Oklahoma Ag Expo.

The Energy Independence and Security Act sets a rising mandate for renewable energy up to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022 and establishes higher fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks for the first time in more than three decades. Cars and light trucks - minivans and sport utility vehicles - will have to average 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a 40 percent increase from current levels.

The White House has said President George W. Bush would sign the bill later today.
This measure does include as part of the Renewable Fuel Standard 16 billion gallons as coming from feed grains- mostly corn and that concerns the livestock industry in this country. Just before final passage of the bill last week in the Senate, Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson acknowledged those concerns- and said that Uncle Sam will have to address those problems in the years to come.

"So, is topdress nitrogen needed this year? Probably. OSU has decades of research evaluating wheat yield response to nitrogen fertilizer. Most years there is a response to fertilization. The only way to tell for sure if topdress nitrogen is needed is to have a reference strip where nitrogen is not limiting (i.e. an N-rich or RAMP strip).

"Once you have made the decision whether or not to topdress, the next question is timing. The primary benefits to using a topdress nitrogen fertilization plan as opposed to a total pre-plant program are information and efficiency. If topdress applications are made too early, these advantages are greatly diminished."

We have the Newsletter linked below- check it out to get the full story on the critical top dressing decision to be made this winter by Oklahoma wheat producers.

Click here for the latest Wheat Production Newsletter from Dr. Jeff Edwards of OSU.

Total U.S. bales ginned in the 15 top cotton producing states (where 99 percent of the U.S. cotton is grown) as of Dec. 1, 2007 is 12,606,700 bales, compared to 15,139,050 bales ginned Dec. 1, 2006. Again, lower total numbers of bales ginned in 2007 in the U.S.due, in part, to fence to fence plantings of corn and milo in 2006.

In the 15 primary cotton-producing states, 83 percent of the 2007 crop has been harvested. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia make up the 15 U.S. states with 99 percent of the cotton planted, according to the NCC.
Of course, the Oklahoma crop has turned out to be a really good crop in 2007- with a record yield established in part-because of the early season rains

For almost as long as the OALP program has been running, the Noble Foundation has supported the leadership program by challenging the alumni to give and support the program they have participated in. In return, the Noble Foundation matches the alums gifts dollar for dollar up to the challenge amount. The 2007 challenge amount is $20,000- which could mean $40,000 to help support this two year leadership development program- if the more than 350 alumni of the OALP will step up and write that end of the year check.

It's always great to be able to see your gift multiplied- and I would encourage you to get in on the opportunity to invest into the future of rural Oklahoma and our agricultural way of life in the final days of 2007. Your gift must be postmarked by December 31st- but you can avoid that last minute issue by writing that check this week and dropping it into the mail. All OALP alums have received details of the grant and what is going on with the program in 2007- but for those that want to know more about this program- they have an excellent website that you can check out- we have it linked below.

Click here for the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program website.

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