From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2008 6:18 AM
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 Friday October 17, 2008!
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma and Midwest Farm Shows!
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-- Today is Dr. Joe Hughes Day!!!
-- WTO Ruling on Hormone Beef Has Both the US and the EU Claiming Victory
-- NCBA Hails WTO Ruling
-- Kim Anderson Thinks We May be Close to a Wheat Market Bottom- Per His SUNUP Analysis
-- Initial Sorghum Board Appointed by Secretary Schafer- Including Louise Rigdon of Blackwell, Oklahoma
-- Coburn Holding Town Hall Gathering, Thanks to Kingfisher Lions and FFA Reminder
-- Kris Black's Annual Fall Bull Sale is a Week From This Saturday.
-- Let's Check the Markets!

Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the annual Tulsa Farm Show scheduled for December 11-13 here in 2008, as well as the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows by clicking here.

It's also great to have the Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma with us regularly as an Email Sponsor- Financing Oklahoma is their business! Check out their website which shows their locations statewide by clicking here!
And we are 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 are crushing, including sunflowers and canola- and remember they post closing market prices for canola and sunflowers on the PCOM website- go there 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.


Today is Dr. Joe Hughes Day!!!
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Former Oklahoma State University Agriculture Professor Joe Hughes will be honored Friday by the Oklahoma Legislature as it proclaims October 17 "Dr. Joe Hughes Day" in Oklahoma. In addition, there are plans to honor Joe and his wife Lynn on campus at Oklahoma State University on Friday evening.

At 7:30 p.m. it will be the Joe & Lynn Hughes Celebration in the OSU Animal Science Building, room 123, with a reception to immediately follow. This special event will kick-off the "Joe & Lynn Hughes Animal Science Endowed Scholarship." The Animal Science Department and friends of Dr. Hughes invite all those who have been touched by Joe's service through his lifelong service to the young people of Oklahoma to come join them for this special event.

"Dr. Hughes has been a champion for youth and agriculture issues for nearly five decades and no one has done more to promote the agriculture industry in Oklahoma," said Don Armes, R-Faxon and longtime friend of Hughes. "Not only that, but he is as fine a man as I have ever met. It really is the least we can do to pay back Joe for all he has done for our state."

More on this story about Dr. Joe Hughes day available by clicking here on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


WTO Ruling on Hormone Beef Has Both the US and the EU Claiming Victory
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A ruling on the European Union's ban on beef treated with growth hormones has both the United States and the EU applauding. The World Trade Organization's Appellate Body concluded on Thursday that the European Union can continue to ban imports of beef treated with growth hormones, but the United States and Canada can maintain sanctions on EU exports.

US Trade Ambassador Susan Schwab likes what she reads coming out of the WTO ruling. "The Appellate Body's report confirms that WTO members that are subject to additional duties for failing to bring themselves into compliance with the WTO's rulings and recommendations must do more than simply claim compliance in order to obtain relief from such duties," Schwab said in a statement. "We very much welcome these conclusions by the Appellate Body."

Though EU officials expressed regret over the WTO's decision regarding duties on EU exports, the bloc also broadly welcomed the mixed ruling, saying it effectively endorsed the legal changes the EU has made.
The US and the EU have feuded over the EU ban of US produced beef with growth promoting hormones since the late 1980s, when the EU had in storage a literal mountain of beef. The US maintained that these hormones are naturally occurring and are not a health risk under the old GATT rules- they won the case and this was reaffirmed under the more recent WTO accords. The US and Canada has put into place sanctions on certain EU goods through the years that has made the governments a lot of money- of course none of that money has ever been transmitted back to the US or Canadian cattle industry.


NCBA Hails WTO Ruling
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The President of the National Cattlemen's beef Association, Andy Groseta, released the following statement on Thursday, in response to the World Trade Organization report we detailed above: "The members that comprise the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) welcome today's report by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body regarding the European Union's (EU) unwarranted ban on beef treated with growth hormones. This report validates the additional duties the United States (U.S.) imposes on certain EU products in order to balance the trade disparity caused by the EU ban on hormone-treated beef. The ban, which has been in place for more than 20 years, is scientifically unjustified and fails to satisfy the requirements of the WTO agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. The EU claims that amendments made to the ban in 2003 bring them into compliance with WTO trade requirements. However, the ban continues to prohibit beef treated with hormones, pending the availability of further scientific evidence.

"In fact, numerous U.S. and international scientific studies have shown that the U.S. cattle industry produces safe and wholesome beef. The growth promotants used in cattle production are vigorously tested by the Food and Drug Administration for safety - both for the animals' well-being and for the trace amounts that may be in meat consumed by humans. The hormones, many of which occur naturally in other foods, have all been proven safe."

Grosetta's statement goes on to say "The cattle producers of NCBA are committed to producing high-quality, safe, and healthy beef. Consumers the world over can be confident about purchasing and consuming American beef products. NCBA appreciates the WTO Appellate Body's recognition that trade must be based on internationally accepted, science-based standards." We have his full comments as a part of this story on our website- it's linked below for your review.

Click here for more on the WTO Beef Hormone Ruling at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Kim Anderson Thinks We May be Close to a Wheat Market Bottom- Per His SUNUP Analysis
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Cash Wheat prices in Oklahoma are about $3.50 per bushel less than just about two months ago. OSU Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson says that producers are not forward contacting any wheat right now- and that marginal acres are not being planted, and while many producers are doing soil tests, they are reluctant to apply large amounts of nitrogen. That could impact both yields and protein levels come harvest next June.

Dr. Anderson says that while wheat has fallen much lower than what he had expected- primarily because of outside economic factors- that he believes that wheat prices- as well as other grain prices have got to bounce back to cover the generally higher variable costs of production. He advises that unless you really need the money right now- it might be a good idea to hold off any sales for a month or so to give the market some breathing room- and what he expects will be at least some recovery.

We have Dr. Anderson's comments in audio form as taken from his conversation with Clinton Griffiths, the new host of the resurrected SUNUP show from OSU's Division of Agriculture that is being seen on the OETA statewide outlet on Saturday mornings at 7:30 AM. See the full show tomorrow morning- and check out Dr. Anderson's comments by going to our website via the link below.

Click here for more with Dr. Kim Anderson on our current wheat market situation


Initial Sorghum Board Appointed by Secretary Schafer- Including Louise Rigdon of Blackwell, Oklahoma
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Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer has announced the appointments of 13 individuals to the initial Sorghum Promotion, Research and Information Board. The appointees will serve terms of two, three or four years. The board is structured so that the state with the largest production, Kansas, is allocated five positions. The state with the second largest production, Texas, is allocated three positions. The state with the third largest production, Nebraska, is allocated one position. There are four at-large national positions for which at least two representatives must be appointed from states other than the top three sorghum producing states. The maximum number of producers from one state is limited to six.

The 13 member board is authorized by the Commodity Promotion, Research and Information Act of 1996. The Secretary of Agriculture selected the appointees from a list of sorghum producers nominated by certified sorghum producer organizations. The mandatory program is funded at the rate of 0.6 percent of the net market value on grain sorghum and 0.35 percent of the net market value of sorghum forage. The program is intended to be a national, coordinated, self-help marketing program designed to strengthen the position of sorghum in the marketplace, maintain and expand existing domestic and foreign markets and uses for sorghum, and develop new markets and uses for sorghum.

Louise Rigdon of Blackwell, Oklahoma is one of four at large positions and she will be serving for three years. We have the full list of the producers that will be serving in a story on our website- click below for those details.

Click here for more on the newly named National Sorghum Board


Coburn Holding Town Hall Gathering, Thanks to Kingfisher Lions and FFA Reminder
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U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. will be holding a town hall meeting in Oklahoma City on Monday, October 20, 2008. Dr. Coburn will take questions and address important issues for Oklahoma and the nation. "I encourage everyone to attend and participate in this town hall. These settings provide not only a chance for Oklahomans to hear my views on current events but also gives me the opportunity to hear directly from the people who I am representing in Washington," said Dr. Coburn via a news release from his office. The meeting is set for 2:00 PM until 3:00 PM at Langston University - OKC Campus located at 4205 N. Lincoln in Oklahoma City.

I wanted to say a BIG thank you for the kind reception given me by the Kingfisher Lions Club yesterday as we shared lunch with them and then talked about agriculture and its importance to the Main Streets of communities like Kingfisher. We got some good questions and I enjoyed visited with Mike Combs who illustrated for me the frustration of our story earlier from Kim Anderson about the fall in wheat prices. He told me and then the entire club about selling several thousand bushels of wheat for around $8.40 back in August- and then lamenting where we are on the price today of wheat with a "4" in front of it locally. We agree with Kim that the market is due a bounce- but the only opinion that counts on that one is Mr. Market.

A quick reminder- we are headed to Indianapolis next week for the 81st annual convention of the National FFA- Oklahoma has a tremendous group of young people that will be representing our state- with the largest number of Proficency Award Finalists of any state in the nation coming from the Sooner State. Our coverage of the Blue and Gold will be heard on the Radio Oklahoma Network, as well as being seen and heard on our website- and the special web pages we have set up for our year round youth coverage- the Blue-Green Gazette from WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com. We have the link below- check it out and enjoy.

Click here for coverage of the 2008 National FFA Convention as it comes next week by clicking here.


Kris Black's Annual Fall Bull Sale is a Week From This Saturday.
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The annual Fall Bull Sale of the Black Hereford Ranch in Crawford, Oklahoma is set for Saturday, October 25. The bidding will begin at 2:00 PM for the 90 Stout Composite and Major Club Calf producing herd sires.

Kris Black writes in the sale catalog "there are bulls to fit anyone's budget. We think there are several bulls that can and will be promoted and will sell semen. Many of the bulls in this stout set of fall yearlings will sire highly sought after club calves that will sell for a good premium."

We have a lot of information linked on this sale below- including the full sale catalog, videos of the bulls that you can see online and details of how you can view and bid online the day of the sale if you cannot be there in person. Click below for more on Kris Black Annual Fall Bull Sale as he offers the Cream of the Crop.

Click here for details on the Kris Black Bull Sale coming October 25 at the Ranch.


Our thanks to Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill and Midwest Farm Shows 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


Let's Check the Markets!
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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- One Pager From Country Hedging- looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges and the why of that day's market.
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.



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