 
 
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Friday May 23, 2008! 
      A 
      service of The Oklahoma Bioenergy Center, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS 
      Futures. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- Farm Bill Process Gets Ugly But Conference Report Passes the House 
      Again- and the Senate Overrides the President. -- The REAL DEAL starts tonight at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma 
      City! -- National Cattlemen Want New Bio Secure Facility Built to Replace 
      Plum Island. -- Undersecretary Tom Dorr in Oklahoma City on Thursday- Tells Small 
      Farmer Conference There are Lots of Opportunities to Grab! -- See You Tuesday -- Checking 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 are proud to have 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 "new look" website or call them at 1-800-256-2555. Our email this morning is also a service of Midwest Farm Shows, 
      producer of the Tulsa Farm Show that is held each December, as well as the 
      just concluded 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. 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. | |
| Farm Bill Process Gets Ugly But Conference Report Passes the House Again- and the Senate Overrides the President. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The number on 
      the bill has changed but the Conference Committee report on the Farm Bill 
      survived yet another vote in the House by a slightly smaller veto proof 
      count. Bill number 6124 carries in the House 306 to 110- this is the full 
      farm bill- all 15 Titles not a title short as was the veto override of 
      yesterday afternoon. Later in the day on Thursday- the US Senate decided to go ahead and override the President's Veto and accomplished that easily by a 82 to 13 margin. That means that 14 of the fifteen Titles are the law of the land. It is our understanding that the Senate will vote on the full Conference Report again after the Memorial Day Recess- and that then the full bill- all fifteen titles will be transmitted all over again to the White House- and that the President can either sign that measure or veto it- which will mean two more votes on the Farm Bill before we can finally and fully put this puppy to bed. Several farm groups quickly released their praise of the House and 
      Senate getting close in finishing this process. One group offering two 
      thumbs up was the National Sorghum Producers. "The fact that this bill 
      gained such overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle really 
      speaks to the quality of this legislation," said NSP President Dale 
      Murden. "It is not a perfect bill, but this legislation includes solid 
      policy to protect and support America's farmers, allowing them to continue 
      to provide the safest and most reliable food supply in the 
      world." | |
| The REAL DEAL starts tonight at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For the 24th 
      year, the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association is planning their annual Range 
      Roundup- a working cowboy rodeo that features some of the most historic 
      ranches in this state (or any state) as real cowboys from these operations 
      battle in a half dozen events. This year's event is set for tonight and 
      tomorrow night- May 23 and 24 at the State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma 
      City- 7:30 PM both nights. The ranches that will compete in 2008 include If you want more information, we have details and a link for more info on our calendar page at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com- scroll down to the entry on the Range Roundup and check it out! Click here for the calendar page at WWW.Oklahoma FarmReport.Com | |
| National Cattlemen Want New Bio Secure Facility Built to Replace Plum Island. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~We mentioned 
      yesterday that the American Farmers & Ranchers were offering their 
      thoughts to Congress on the need to have a National Bio and Agro-Defense 
      facility. AFR is not in favor of building a new facility that does not 
      have a significant buffer zone that keeps it physically separated from 
      livestock here on the mainland of the United States. Another group that offered testimony to that same House oversight Committee was the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) President-elect Gary Voogt emphasized the need for a new diagnostic and research facility to protect American agriculture from foreign animal diseases. Voogt, a cattle producer from Marne, Mich., addressed committee members about the devastating impact that could be felt nationwide as a result of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. This disease has not been found in the United States since 1929, but is still a problem in many foreign countries. NCBA feels the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, located off the coast of Long Island, N.Y., has not been adequately funded or maintained for the purposes it is intended to fulfill. Cattlemen support construction of a state-of-the-art foreign animal disease research facility to replace Plum Island, but the organization is not advocating for a specific location. | |
| Undersecretary Tom Dorr in Oklahoma City on Thursday- Tells Small Farmer Conference There are Lots of Opportunities to Grab! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The 
      Undersecretary for Rural Development, Tom Dorr, was in Oklahoma on 
      Thursday as a keynoter for a Conference on Opportunities for Small Farmers 
      to Prosper in these challenging times. A. lot of the talk at this 
      Conference was about Value-Added agriculture Dorr told the conference at Langston in Oklahoma City that "This is an historic opportunity for rural America- probably the greatest new opportunity for wealth creation in rural America in our lifetimes. This is change, big time." The Undersecretary told the audience that while the USDA is still committed to some of the traditional things that Rural Development has funded in previous years- that he understands it is time to be forward thinking- saying "we are dealing with a radically changed environment for agriculture and rural development. This is not business as usual. This is an enormous opportunity for those who are prepared to participate. It's an exciting prospect !" | |
| See You Tuesday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~We will not be 
      sending an email this coming Monday as our country celebrates Memorial 
      Day. We will resume our normal daily schedule on Tuesday. Memorial Day will see Uncle Sam taking the day off as well- with government offices closed, no mail delivery and the major equity markets all closed as well. The Ag futures markets will be closed- with open outcry and electronic trading both shit down. At the same time, it's a very important weekend for our livestock and 
      poultry producers- as Memorial Day has always been considered the 
      unofficial start of the summer season- and a MAJOR grilling holiday. 
       | |
| Our thanks to KIS Futures, the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center and Midwest Farms 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. | |
| Checking the Markets... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: | |
| God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com  phone: 405-473-6144  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | 
| 
 | ||||||