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 KIS Futures as a regular sponsor of our daily E-Mail. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for their website or call them at 1-800-256-2555.

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And our email this morning is also a service of Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the Tulsa Farm Show held each December, as well as the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City coming up April 17, 18 and 19! Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows by clicking here.

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U.S. Wheat is the market promotion arm into the global marketplace for US wheat producers. They have offices in 15 foreign locations and two here in the U.S.- Portland, Oregon and in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington.
Knowing and growing the wheat export market, working in over 100 countries on behalf of American wheat growers, U.S. Wheat Associates maintains offices strategically located around the world in order to pave the way for U.S. export growth in all six classes of wheat: durum, hard red spring, hard red winter, soft red winter, soft white, and hard white wheat. U.S. wheat is the world's most reliable choice. But while the U.S. grows wheat that will meet every need, the American grain marketing system is complicated. USW provides comprehensive assistance to U.S. wheat buyers, millers, bakers and government officials around the world.

Don Schieber joins the officer team that will include Ron Suppes of Kansas as Past Chairman, Michael Edgar of Arizona serving as Chairman, and Janice Mattson of Montana as Vice Chairman. Don farms near Kildare in Kay County, and also operates a seed cleaning business in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and New Mexico. He currently serves on the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, is a part of the Advisory Council of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program and participated in Class I of the OALP.

Among the proposals that are inside the USDA budget proposal for 2009- there is a 25% shift in monies in the Food for Peace program that would buy food products overseas from local farmers instead of buying US grown products. In addition, the Bush budget calls for "user fees" to pay for meat inspection, and proposes to slice $260 million from the EQIP program and $160 million from the green payment program, the Conservation Security Program.

Beyond those savings and shifts, the Administration says they have identified 33 areas or programs that need to be eliminated. One of the programs they feature in that category in their Ag Budget highlights that we have linked below is the Resource Conservation and Development Program, which duplicates other Department of Agriculture economic development programs that encourage State and local governments to plan and implement projects, including those for resource protection, community zoning and infrastructure, and economic development.
Click below for a look at the Bush Budget Ag Highlights for FY 2009.

Click here for the OMB's overview of the Agriculture Budget as proposed by the President.

The Oklahoma Wheat Crop is rated 68% fair to good as of the beginning of this month- the report offers this analysis: "The condition of all small grain crops was mostly in the fair to good range. Nine percent of small grains were reported having light to moderate freeze damage. Dry conditions as well as high winds were impacting the wheat crop in many parts of the State. However, most irrigated acres were looking good. Top-dressing has been applied to wheat in a few areas which has increased the need for rainfall. Also, greenbugs have begun to invade wheat fields in isolated areas. Twenty-five percent of the winter wheat was being grazed, 10 points behind normal."

Our neighbors in Kansas have about the same wheat crop ratings as we have in Oklahoma- 69% fair to good. However, the Texas wheat crop continues to struggle with a rating of 61% poor to very poor as of the start of February.

Click here for the first of February Crop Weather update for Oklahoma.

The four producers that have been appointed by Secretary Schafer include Karen Brewer, Lonnie Hoelscher, Charles Luthi and Joe Popplewell.
Established under the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act of 1985, the Delegate Body and the National Pork Board have implemented a national program designed to improve the pork industry's position in the marketplace. The program is funded by an assessment currently set at 0.40 percent of the market value of all hogs sold in the United States. An equivalent amount on imported hogs, pork, and pork products is also collected.

Delegates meet annually to recommend the rate of assessment, determine the percentage of assessments that state associations will receive and nominate producers and importers to the 15-member National Pork Board. The Delegate Body will be seated during the March 6-8, 2008, National Pork Industry Forum in St. Louis, Missouri. Representation on the Delegate Body is based on annual net assessments collected on sales of domestic hogs within individual states, with a minimum of two producers from each state.

The Outstanding Conservation District Director Award is given annually to a Conservation District Director, chosen from the 440 directors from throughout Oklahoma for doing the most to help landowners conserve our soil, water, air and wildlife habitats through education, assistance and support. This award is presented each spring at the Governors Conservation Awards Ceremony at the Blue Room of the State Capitol during Conservation Day.

"Our founder, Lloyd Noble, created the Noble Foundation because of his concern for the land and those who manage it" said Wadell Altom, Senior Vice President and director of the Noble Foundation Agricultural Division. "It is very appropriate for us to help recognize those who are assisting land mangers at the local level and to promote partnerships with all who work to conserve our natural resources."

"This is a great partnership, the Noble Foundation and OACD," Clay Pope, Executive Director of OACD said. "By sponsoring this award, the Noble Foundation is helping us recognize the contributions of those district directors who volunteer their time to help conserve our natural resources. The Noble Foundation is truly committed to helping Farmers and Ranchers with the conservation and protection of our soil, water, air, and wildlife habitats."

The new event that we just got info on is the 2008 National meeting of Singles in Agriculture that will be held in Stillwater March 13 through 16. This group has members in several states and might be a most interesting way to meet other singles that are actively involved in production agriculture and agribusiness.

For details on this event- contact one of the two ladies from Oklahoma that are involved in hosting this long weekend. Call Pat Ponder at 918-967-2631 or Elaine Hillard at 918-835-6131. If you want more information on this group- I have linked their website below for you to check out.

Click here for the national Singles in Ag Website.

I would guess we will hear discussions about the high price of feed grains and how ethanol policy plays into feed grain outlook, animal ID, Country of Origin Labeling, Beef Exports and the frustrations of dealing with Korea and Japan; the Beef Checkoff, Food Safety and the new beef advertising campaign- that's a pretty good list for starters.

We will have coverage in this daily email, as well as coverage on our website- go to WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com and click on the Bovine Blog- that's our official spot where we will update regularly from the event. In fact, we have that page linked below as we will likely have a couple of updates on there later on Tuesday once we arrive on the scene and scope out the lay of the land!

Click here to jump over to our Bovine Blog- our coverage spot on the Internet for the 2008 Cattle Industry Convention and Trade Show!

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