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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday May 5, 2009
A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- It's the Week for the National Land and Range Judging
Contest
-- OSU Groundbreaking in Ardmore Offers Tremendous Opprortunities for
Bioscience Collaboration
-- April Ends Sopping Wet in Many Locations Around the State
-- Soybean Checkoff Vote Can Be Requested This Month
-- Tyson Makes Money with Beef and Pork in their latest Fiscal
Quarter- but runs Red Ink for their Poultry Business
-- Checking the Pulse of COOL- How Are We Doing So Far With Those
Beef Labels?
-- Wheat Crop Tour Getting Underway Today in Kansas
-- 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 are proud to have KIS Futures as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for the free market quote page they provide us for our website or call them at 1-800-256-2555. We are also 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 handle, 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. | |
It's the Week for the National Land and Range Judging Contest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hundreds of
teenagers from across the nation will come to Oklahoma City this week, as
they have the first week of May for over five decades, to compete in a
national educational competition. The National Land and Range Judging
Contest, a three-day event that stresses soil and plant science, land
management and conservation, begins for the 58th year today as teams are
arriving in Oklahoma City to begin practice for the actual competition on
Thursday.
Already 165 teams are entered, with some 725 teenagers entered for the various categories of land judging, home site judging and range evaluation. Several more are likely to register on site for the 2009 event. After two days of opportunity to visit practice sites, the event will culminate on Thursday, May 7, with the contest at a site whose location is kept secret until that morning, followed in the evening by an awards banquet at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. We have more on this year's event, including an audio overview of some of the history of the contest, and how it has evolved over the decades. Our conversation is with Don Bartolina, who is Contest Coordinator for 2009, as well as with Mark Harrison of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. Click on the link below for our front page story on this event that gives Oklahoma the chance to put our very best foot forward. Click here for more on the 58th National Land and Range Judging Contest | |
OSU Groundbreaking in Ardmore Offers Tremendous Opprortunities for Bioscience Collaboration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That
collaboration will be developing between OSU and the Noble Foundation,
which is adjacent to the site of the new state of the art Institute for
Agricultural Biosciences facility. The 33,000 square foot facility will
enable OSU to more effectively assist producers through the development of
new or improved crops and crop production systems that will in turn
enhance livestock production; develop new, viable alternatives for rural
economies with an emphasis on economic development and technology
transfer; and advance Oklahoma's research capacity in the fields of plant
science, agricultural research and biomass development.
"In many ways, Oklahoma is the intersection between agriculture and energy, making our state particularly well-positioned to take a lead role in helping the United States become a viable biobased economy," said Robert E. Whitson, vice president, dean and director of the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, of which the institute will be a part. To read more on the groundbreaking that took place this past Friday, click on our link below. Click here for more on the OSU Institute for Agricultural Biosciences. | |
April Ends Sopping Wet in Many Locations Around the State ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
Oklahoma Crop Weather Update has lots of extremes that have been seen in
Oklahoma in recent days. According to this week's report, "the month of
April ended with record breaking rainfall, flooding, hail, high winds and
a series of severe thunderstorms. On Wednesday, 12.89 inches of rain was
recorded in Burneyville, the State's highest daily total in nearly 36
years. Gov. Brad Henry issued a State of Emergency last week for nine
Oklahoma counties impacted by tornadoes, severe storms and flooding that
have battered sections of the State. Counties included in the declaration
are: Alfalfa, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Grant, Kay, Major, Woods and
Woodward."
Small Grain Conditions continue to worsen- "Crop adjusters began evaluating fields across the State to assess the extent of freeze damage. Wheat and rye remain mostly in poor to very poor condition with oat conditions deteriorating to rate mostly in fair to very poor condition. Crop insect activities continued to range mostly in the light to no activity range. Winter wheat jointing was completed by week's end. Wheat heading increased to 75 percent, nine points behind the five-year average. Fifteen percent of wheat had reached the soft dough stage of development, five points behind normal." 70% of the state's wheat crop is now in the poor to very poor categories. The Texas crop is about the same shape as the Oklahoma crop, with 75% of the crop rated poor to very poor. The Kansas crop is bouncing back from those cold conditions of early April- with 53% of the crop now rated in the good to excellent categories. For the row crops- we have lots of catching up to do- 50% of the corn
crop expected to be planted is now in the ground- twenty percentage points
behind the five year average, Soybeans at 15% planted is now six
percentage behind normal, peanuts are at 10% planted, off seven percentage
points of normal and the the first cutting of alfalfa now stands at 20%,
the five year average is 41%. Click here for the full Oklahoma Crop Weather Report from USDA's NASS. | |
Soybean Checkoff Vote Can Be Requested This Month ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ State
Affiliates of the U.S. Soybean Federation recently reaffirmed their full
support of the current national soybean checkoff program. Now, it's the
producers turn to voice an opinion. Soybean farmers have the opportunity
to participate in a request for a referendum. Farmers can sign a petition
requesting a vote on the continuation of the soybean checkoff program.
USSF Vice President Jerry Slocum explained that farmers who believe the
soybean checkoff is doing a good job for them don't need to sign the
petition.
Since the beginning of the national soybean checkoff in 1991, the farmgate value of soybeans has increased 2.5 times to 25-billion dollars, demand for U.S. soy has doubled and exports have tripled. Warren Stemme, USSF president and a soybean farmer from Chesterfield, Missouri, says - the farmers who created the checkoff nearly 18 years ago demonstrated an amazing amount of insight and now it's the job of today's soybean farmers to keep the program and the corresponding legislation intact. The United Soybean Board says, - if USDA determines that at least 10 percent of the nation's 589-thousand plus soybean producers have requested a referendum, a referendum will then be held within one year from that determination. The last soybean request for referendum was held in 2004 with a total of 3,206 farmers signing a petition requesting a referendum. That number reflected less than one-half percent of all eligible farmers. | |
Tyson Makes Money with Beef and Pork in their latest Fiscal Quarter- but runs Red Ink for their Poultry Business ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tyson Foods
reported on Monday that they had lost 28 cents per share in the just
concluded second quarter of their fiscal year, versus a lose of just two
cents a share one year ago. While the poultry business lost money for the
full quarter, recent weeks have turned from red ink to being in the black.
Leland Tollett, interim president and CEO of Tyson Foods told analysts "Our Chicken segment has been profitable since the end of February, and I am pleased with the consistent progress we are making. We have improved our operational efficiencies, our product mix, and we are benefiting from lower grain costs and more favorable chicken prices. Our Beef, Pork and Prepared Foods segments generated financial returns at or near normalized ranges in the second quarter, excluding one-time charges in Prepared Foods." Tollett thinks the trends seen in the latter part of the quarter are predictors of some profits being returned in the current quarter. Tollett adds "It is too soon to predict the impact of the H1N1 outbreak. At this point, none of our pork plants are impacted by export bans. Our multi-protein, multi-sales channel business model puts us in a good position should consumers change which proteins they buy or where they buy them. Protein demand usually picks up as we move into the summer grilling season, and we are cautiously optimistic despite current conditions." | |
Checking the Pulse of COOL- How Are We Doing So Far With Those Beef Labels? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How are we
doing with Country of Origin Labeling since the rule went final back in
March? Well, we asked a couple of Washington DC based observers for their
take on COOL- and they both seem to think that things are still shaking
out. And that's what we zero in on today in our Tuesday Beef Buzz.
Jim Sartwelle of the American Farm Bureau says that he is somewhat concerned over the variety of ways that supermarkets and grocery stores are using to communicate to consumers the information that is offered under Country of Origin- there is no standardized way for that information to be presented from location to location- that may be causing confusion and will make it more difficult to determine if there is value back to the producer for that information to be delivered to the consumer. Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association says his
group is also still watching how things develop with the new rule- but did
express concern about the negative impact that the rule seems to be having
on our two biggest export customers of US Beef- Mexico and Canada.
Click here for more on COOL from today's Beef Buzz on the OklahomaFarmReport.Com | |
Wheat Crop Tour Getting Underway Today in Kansas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Kansas
crop tour starts today with some 60 grain traders, industry reps and media
types will head out over six predetermined tour routes to check the status
of the 2009 Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop. Included in the group that will be
traveling along one of the routes is Mike Schulte, the new Executive
Director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission- and we will have a report from
Mike on Wednesday morning after the first reports come in this evening.
The many participants will have plenty to look at -first there were drought conditions in the Southwest, then a hard freeze, and now we have too much rain and flooding in some southern and eastern regions. The trade will no doubt be very interested in their daily findings and the final report on Thursday afternoon. By the way, on Wednesday, the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association will have their annual wheat crop tour report- will add up the numbers from across Oklahoma and offer a rough estimate of the size of the 2009 Oklahoma wheat crop. That number will be out by around midday- we will have details on Thursday morning in our email- before that on the website and live reports via Twitter that morning from the meeting being held in Oklahoma City. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill and KIS Futures 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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Oklahoma
National Stockyards had an estimated 7,000 cattle being sold on Monday-
our market reporters tell us "Feeder cattle steady to 2.00 lower, closing
mostly steady on heifers. Calves not well tested, few sales steady to
weak. Demand moderate. Heavy rain across much of the region limiting
receipts today. Run included many planer quality and crossbred cattle from
out of state." Five to six hundred pound steers sold for $112 to $119,
while seven to eight hundred pound yearlings cleared from $97.75 to $106.
For the complete Oklahoma City market report- click
here for the report from Monday evening.
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
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