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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday September 1,
2009 A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Boxer Backs Up on Climate Change Bill Introduction
-- Time Magazine Writer Claims It's Okay That His Story Was
Biased
-- Japanese Elections Are Yet Another Roadbump in Expanding Beef
Trade with Japan
-- Oklahoma Farm Bureau Area Meetings Brought Out Large Crowds- With
Folks Generally Positive
-- It's September First- Is Fall that Far Away?
-- WTO Sets U.S. Sanctions
-- Next Monday- The Big Event Arrives in Yukon at Express
Ranches
-- 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 pleased 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! It is also great to have as an annual sponsor on our daily email
Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across
Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. For more on Johnston
Enterprises- click
here for their website! 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. | |
Boxer Backs Up on Climate Change Bill Introduction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the second
time in two months, the chairman of a key Senate panel with jurisdiction
over climate legislation plans to postpone the introduction of her bill.
Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, chairman of the Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works, had said earlier this summer that she
planned to introduce her bill before Congress left for its August recess;
she later extended her timetable to Sept. 8, the day lawmakers return to
Washington.
Now, the senator has decided decided to push back the introduction again. In a joint statement Monday with Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, her partner in drafting the bill, Ms. Boxer said the legislation "is moving along well" but that the new goal is to introduce the measure "later in September." The statement attributed the delay to Sen. Edward Kennedy's death last week, Kerry's August hip surgery, and the "intensive" focus on health-care legislation by the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over the revenue raised by the measure and whatever trade-related provisions it involves. This latest delay also reflects the lack of consensus that Senator Boxer is finding even within her own party for Climate Change- especially among the moderate members of her party. Several lawmakers that have strong rural ties, Senator Kent Conrad and Max Baucus, have talked about possibly splitting the bill into an energy bill and a climate bill- taking on the energy bill first and leaving the climate part of the measure to be considered later. Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, the top Republican on Boxer's Committee, cheered an earlier delay by the California lawmaker- and will likely be pleased by this further slowing down of the process. Senator Inhofe has claimed to us several times that the votes are simply not there to get even a majority vote in favor of Climate Change legislation as passed the House of Representatives. | |
Time Magazine Writer Claims It's Okay That His Story Was Biased ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Time
Magazine cover story "The Real Cost of Cheap Food" has raised the ire of
the ag industry. A number of ag groups have taken issue with the article
and the lack of balanced information - but according to the article's
author Bryan Walsh - the story was one-sided by design. That's what he
told Mike Adams, the Host of the nationally syndicated Talk Show, Agri
Talk. Adams writes in an "opinion" piece on their website after the
interview yesterday "Writer Bryan Walsh told our AgriTalk audience that
Time now allows its writers to give their opinions and choose their story
angle rather than feel obliged to give even the appearance of balance in
their reporting. Walsh acknowledged opposing views to those he expressed
in his article, " Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food", but
said he chose not to include them. That's quite an admission for what has
been considered a respected news media outlet for many years. Obviously
the line between opinion and news has gone beyond blurred to obliterated!"
As Adams mentions- Walsh claims the magazine is going away from objective reporting- and instead wants to be part of the "conversation." That does not sit well with many in agriculture. For example, J Patrick Boyle of the American Meat Institute has been on a rampage since the article first surfaced on the Time internet site. Boyle noted that Time magazine neglected to mention the number of successes demonstrated by the efficient agricultural system in the United States, preferring instead to spin a one-sided yarn that romanticizes about a return to peasant agricultural production practices. Boyle also noted that it should be no surprise to the Editorial Board at Time that this story was one-sided and biased, as the reporter they commissioned to write this piece has written other scathing articles about U.S. agriculture and its exaggerated impact on climate change. In addition, it is known that industry, academia experts and feedlot operators were interviewed by Walsh for the piece, only having their comments ignored. We have more on this story on our website- including an audio overview of the Walsh interview-a nd a link to the full interview on the Agritalk site. Click on our link below to jump to our piece on Time's journey towards becoming a Supermarket Tabloid. | |
Japanese Elections Are Yet Another Roadbump in Expanding Beef Trade with Japan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The historic
and sweeping political victory scored in Japan over the weekend by the
Democratic Party of Japan could spell trouble for the near-term expansion
of U.S. beef exports to that country. National Cattlemen's Beef
Association Chief Economist Gregg Doud says the U.S. negotiated terms of
the present beef trade deal with the Liberal Democratic Party that had
been in control for more than 50 years. The new party sweeping into power
may be less friendly to the idea of liberalizing beef trade with the US,
even with the evidence clearly showing that US beef is a safe and low risk
product.
Gregg Doud is our guest this morning on our Beef Buzz- and we talk about this fresh burst of uncertainty in our beef trading relations with the country that was our largest customer for US beef before the Cow that Stole Christmas appeared on December 23, 2003. With the announcement of a case of BSE in this country- the Canadian dairy cow found up in Washington state, the Japanese and most other countries shut down all beef trade with the US. While most other countries have reopened trade to at least the level of taking beef from animals 30 months of age or younger, the Japanese mixed politics, trade and science (light on the science) and came up with a higher standard of accepting beef from animals 20 months of age or younger. That makes it very difficult to source large amounts of product to send to Japan on a year round basis and has limited our ability to regain a large share of that market we once enjoyed. Click on the link below for more on this story- and to hear Gregg Doud's take on where our dealings with the Japanese go from here. Click here for our Tuesday Beef Buzz on Japanese Elections and their Impact on US Beef Trade | |
Oklahoma Farm Bureau Area Meetings Brought Out Large Crowds- With Folks Generally Positive ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the
descriptions of the crowds that turned out for the 2009 Oklahoma Farm
Bureau area meetings in August was "impressive." "The numbers (of those
attending) were tremendous and most were optimistic about the future,"
said Mike Spradling, president of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau. The OFB leader
said he noticed a slight increase in rural leaders participating in the
meetings which were held in 12 different locations throughout the state.
Locations included Guymon, Woodward, Enid, Altus, Ada, Duncan, Ardmore,
Vinita, McAlester, Kellyville, El Reno and Muskogee.
Farm Bureau members voiced their opinion on a wide variety of issues including the sale of water to out-of-state interests, rising production costs, environmental regulations, the need for stronger no-trespassing laws and animal care regulations. During the area meeting in McAlester, Kenneth Blan, Pushmataha County Farm Bureau leader and retired Soil Conservation Service official addressed the Clean Water Act. "It will be a changed situation if the Clean Water bill passes," Blan said. The bill is up for renewal and the new version removes the word "navigable" from in front of water, and thus would impact all ponds, puddles and streams, adding a tremendous burden on producers. Protecting property rights was a hot topic at the meeting in Ada. Pontotoc County rancher Joe West said he wants oil companies to be more responsible when dealing with landowners. West said he spent several years trying to get an oil company to clean up after they abandoned a non-producing well on his property. "It's getting to be a serious issue for farmers and ranchers," West said. Spradling and the other OFB leaders agreed the attitudes among the farmers and ranchers remains strong heading into the fall season. Perhaps it could be best summarized by a quote from rancher Larry Harvey in Okmulgee County. "If we just all work together, look at the positive things, not the negative, we can grow enough food to feed everybody," Harvey said. | |
It's September First- Is Fall that Far Away? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
Oklahoma Crop Weather update paints a pleasant picture for the state as we
end the month of August. "This past week offered a variety of weather
conditions for the State of Oklahoma. Mid-week storms brought showers
across the central and southern parts of the State and cooler temperatures
Statewide. Hail and damaging winds were reported in the North Central
District. The Panhandle was extremely hot and dry during the week but
received some moisture late Sunday. The weekend was warm, dry, and very
pleasant for most of the State. Soil moisture conditions are much improved
from earlier in the summer, as over half was rated in the surplus to
adequate range for both topsoil and subsoil. The excellent soil conditions
coupled with the mild weather allowed producers ample opportunity to
cultivate ground and prepare for fall planting."
"Oklahoma farmers made great strides in small grain seedbed preparation this past week and are gearing up for fall plantings. By week's end, seedbed preparation for winter wheat had jumped 15 points to reach 50 percent complete, three points behind the five-year average. Seedbed preparations were 50 percent complete for the State's rye acres, up 18 points from the previous week and one point ahead of normal. Oat seedbed preparation increased six points from the prior week to reach 34 percent complete, eight points behind the five-year average." "Rainfall during the past few weeks along with cooler temperatures has had a positive impact on row crop condition and progress. Conditions rated mostly in the good to fair range, with soybean, peanut, and cotton conditions notably improving from the previous week. Sixty-eight percent of the State's corn crop had reached the dent stage by Sunday, while 39 percent of the crop had reached maturity, ten points behind the five-year average. Corn harvest is underway in parts of the State, as 12 percent of the crop had been harvested by week's end. Sorghum headed increased 18 points to reach 75 percent complete, while 38 percent of the sorghum was coloring by week's end, both well behind normal. A small portion of the sorghum crop had reached maturity by Sunday. Soybeans blooming increased six points from the prior week to reach 96 percent, seven points ahead of the five-year average. Eighty percent of soybeans were setting pods, up 21 points from last week and eight points ahead of normal. Eighty-six percent of the State's peanut crop was setting pods by week's end, 12 points behind normal. Cotton setting bolls was nearing completion at 96 percent, up 12 points from last week and one point ahead of the five-year average. A small portion of the cotton crop had bolls opening." | |
WTO Sets U.S. Sanctions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The World
Trade Organization has set sanctions at 295 million dollars annually on
American goods as a result of the United States' failure to eliminate
illegal subsidies to U.S. cotton growers. Brazil has sought to target
American goods and drug patents for 2.5 billion dollars worth of economic
retaliation. The world body said U.S. payments would have to increase
significantly for Brazil to be allowed to punish American drug patents.
Carol Guthrie, spokeswoman for U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, said - while we remain disappointed with the outcome of this dispute, we are pleased that the arbitrators awarded Brazil far below the amount of countermeasures it asked for. The National Cotton Council agrees. NCC Chairman Jon Hardwich added - the Panel provided no award with respect to the Step 2 cotton program and Brazil is not authorized to cross-retaliate at this time. This award, however, is based almost exclusively on 2005, the peak of U.S. cotton production, and doesn't consider any U.S. policy changes made in the 2008 farm bill. The U.S. cotton program and export credit guarantee programs have changed considerably since 2005, with U.S. cotton production down 45 percent and the export credit guarantee program operating at no net cost. Hardwich believes - today's programs cannot possibly be determined to be causing injury in the world market. You can click below for more comments from the NCC- and you can click here for a statement issued by Senator Saxby Chambliss, top Republican of the Senate Ag Committee, who expressed mixed feelings about the ruling. | |
Next Monday- The Big Event Arrives in Yukon at Express Ranches ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Express
Ranches Annual Production Sale is called The Big Event will be Labor Day
Monday September 7, 2009, starting at 10:30 am at the ranch in Yukon,
Oklahoma.
More than 600 Head will be offered by the folks at Express- the list
includes: The heifers in this sale qualify for the Express Scholarship Program
that has awarded more than 2.4 million in scholarship to youth across the
United States and Canada. Click here for more on the Big Event from Express Ranches on September 7 | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, AFR and KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites 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 ran a total of 9,600 cattle on Monday, with prices $1
to $3 lower on yearlings, and calves off $1 to $2 on a light test. Five to
six hundred pound steers calves brought $104.25 to $109.25, while seven to
eight hundred pound yearlings cleared from $97.75 to $103.25. Click
here for the complete Oklahoma City cattle market report for the last
day of August. We've had requests to include Canola prices for your convenience here- and we will be doing so on a regular basis. Current cash price for Canola is $7.70 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $7.80 per bushel- delivered to local participating elevators that are working with PCOM. 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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