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 have 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 are also proud to have American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click here to go to their 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 annual Tulsa Farm Show held each December, as well as the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City coming up this April! 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.

We have the full White House Statement linked on our website on our Farm Bill page at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com. And, you can jump to the Statement by using the link below.

Click here to see the full White House Statement calling on Congress to Act on a New Bill NOW or Extend the Old One by at Least a Year.

Two measures that did pass on Thursday have been hailed as good news by both Scott Dewald of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and Tyler Norvell of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau. Those two measures have to do with trespass- Senate Bills 1735 and 2111.

Senate Bill 1735 and Senate Bill 2111 would allow property owners to protect their land from activities that destroy property, including damage from recreational use by all-terrain vehicles and hunting and fishing activities. The author of the bills, David Sparks of Norman says "This bill makes trespass violators accountable for the damages they cause to personal property. Responsible government means protecting property owners."

Sparks said offenders, at a judge's discretion, could be fined, jailed and held responsible for the monetary value of damages caused. "The heart of the matter is habitual offenders, people who repeatedly destroy property, tear up crops, cut down fences, and let livestock escape," Sparks said.

In the 2008 Goat show, a total of 1700 animals were brought to Oklahoma City, and the best of the 1000 wether Meat Goats was owned by Tyler Boles of the Asher FFA Chapter. Tyler is no stranger to the top end of the Youth Expo Meat Goat Show, as a couple of years ago, the now High School Sophomore showed the Reserve Grand Champion Meat Goat.
The Reserve Grand Champion Meat Goat was shown by Stasha Harp of the Kansas FFA Chapter.

There were about 700 female goats shown this year, and the Champion Doe Kid was exhibited by Kelsie Romine of the Tupelo FFA, while the Reserve Champion Doe Kid is owned by Garrett Hudgins of the Mannford FFA.
We had a chance to visit with Tyler Boles about his Grand Champion- and we have the link to that conversation below from this year's Youth Expo!

Click here to listen to Ron talk with Tyler Boles of Asher after he won the 2008 Grand Champion Trophy for Meat Goats at the OYE!

While it's not being said whether Truitt left voluntarily or was forced out- the CEO of the NCBA, Terry Stokes, offered this statement to us after we requested some reaction from the group. "Jay Truitt is a very respected government affairs professional in Washington, D.C., and across the nation. NCBA very much appreciates his lifelong commitment to cattlemen. Jay will be missed, and we wish him well as we begin a search for the new head of NCBA's government affairs office. In the meantime, I will be working in our D.C. office, ensuring the cattlemen's agenda continues to move forward. "

We have been told by Joe Schuele, head of their trade media efforts, that the Association has decided to reorganize their senior management, and that three Vice President slots have been eliminated- not counting the position vacated by Truitt in Washington. The three slots include Vice President for Governance & Federation held by Don Ricketts, Vice President for Strategic Projects held by Tim Downey and Vice President for Global Marketing held by Mark Thomas.

Click here to listen to our Beef Buzz on the subject- including comments from NCBA spokesman Joe Schuele.

In response- the National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates issued a joint statement on the idea of shutting off the global wheat market from US wheat producers in order to help the Bakers be more profitable. Alan Tracy and Daren Coppock say "U.S. bakers are in Washington, D.C., today sharing their concerns about domestic wheat supplies and prices. They are calling on the government to intervene in the wheat market, saying their call to action 'will send important, positive signals to the marketplace at a time when it is critically needed.
While the U.S. wheat industry understands the concerns of bakers and other flour users who have not forward contracted to meet their flour needs, we must respectfully disagree. The fact is U.S. wheat production far exceeds domestic demand. Half of our annual production is purchased by countries that cannot grow enough for their own people and many wheat producers depend almost entirely on overseas customers.
We believe even a temporary market disruption could dramatically undermine the economic incentive to produce more wheat. That may signal some farmers to plant other crops this spring. And farmers who can only grow wheat or sell exclusively into export markets would be needlessly penalized at a time when their production costs are rising dramatically. Some of our loyal importers would begin seeking alternatives to the supplier they have come to rely on.

"Previous cycles have proven that global wheat production will assuredly expand in response to higher prices and evidence of that is already being seen. The International Grains Council recently forecast that the world is likely to produce a record 642 million metric tons of wheat in the coming year if there are no serious weather problems. U.S. winter wheat plantings are up by seven percent compared to 2007.
The bakers have also suggested that Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres should be released from their contracts to provide more productive land to address supply issues. U.S. wheat producers believe in the sanctity of contracts. When CRP contracts are up for renewal, landowners will be able to make a choice between renewing CRP contracts and bringing those acres back into production in the market environment that exists at that time.
The U.S. wheat industry publicly and wholeheartedly supports fair and open trade of wheat throughout the world and shares the U.S. Department of Agriculture's commitment to making agriculture even stronger by expanding market opportunities at home and abroad. That is exactly what wheat producers-and the millers, bakers and consumers they supply-need today and tomorrow."

Other Breed winners included Blair Mitchell of Skiatook FFA with the top Berkshire; Lauren Martin of Webbers Falls FFA with the best Chester White; Brock Herren of El Reno FFA topped the Duroc breed; Tyler Leiphardt of Kiowa 4-H claimed top prize in the Poland breed and finally, Karlena Mitchell of Rock Creek 4-H had the Champion Spot gilt.

The Oklahoma Youth Expo continues today with the Crossbred Commercial Gilt Show kicking off- while the Beef Heifers begin their show schedule as well.

Currently there are 135 Angus, five Simmental and four Hereford bulls consigned for the sale. Each bull sold through OBI undergoes a breeding soundness examination and is tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis or is from a certified-free herd. All bulls must index in the top 70 percent of their test group. "OBI has been having bull sales since 1973," said Tim Stidham, OBI test station director. "With 30-plus years of feeding bulls, the dependability of our performance records is unmatched. OBI customers depend on the reliability of these bulls."

Performance test results for bulls include: average daily gain; weight per day of age; adjusted 365-day weight; scrotal circumference; ultrasonic data for rib eye area, fat thickness and marbling; hip height; computation of performance ratios; and Expected Progeny Differences as provided by breed associations.
If you need additional information- contact the OBI office at 405-744-9287. AND- we have the catalog for the sale linked below for your to check out.

Click here for the Catalog for the upcoming OBI Bull Sale March 27.

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