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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday May 19, 2009
A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- A Third, A Third and Another Third (Our Crop Ratings)
-- Eastern Corn Belt Yields Likely to Suffer Because of Late Planting
Dates
-- A Million Bucks For Organic EQIP Program in Oklahoma
-- AFBF's Bob Stallman- Any Hungry Person is a Concern
-- American Farm Bureau To Oppose Climate Bill
-- Deal is Struck to Save REAP Program for Rural Oklahoma
-- 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. | |
A Third, A Third and Another Third (Our Crop Ratings) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No, this is
not a story from Dr. Kim Anderson about the mechanical marketing of what
wheat you may have left to sell in 2009. Rather, it is the update from the
USDA's NASS on the current condition of the Oklahoma wheat crop. One third
of the crop is rated in very poor condition (31%), another one third (32%
in poor condition and then a little more than one third (37%) that falls
into the fair, good and even excellent categories. A whopping one percent
of the crop is in that final category, excellent. Fifty-two percent of
wheat had reached the soft dough stage of development, seven percentage
points behind normal.
When it comes to the row crops- "Row crop seedbed preparations and planting activities were further delayed as the wet weather continued to keep many farm operators out of the fields. By week's end, corn seedbed preparations were completed. Corn planted increased slightly to 83 percent, eleven points behind the five-year average, while corn emerged increased to 66 percent. Seedbed preparations for sorghum reached 70 percent, slightly ahead of the five-year average. Sorghum planted reached ten percent, 20 percentage points behind normal. Seedbed prepared for soybeans remained unchanged from previous week at 60 percent, 14 points behind five-year average while soybeans planted were at 17 percent, 17 percentage points behind normal. Peanuts seedbed preparations were 88 percent completed by week's end. Peanuts planted were unchanged from last week at 29 percent, 20 points behind the previous year. Cotton seedbed prepared increased to 81 percent, 15 points behind normal." Of course all of these numbers were there before we finally saw the sun shining on Sunday, with expectations that it stays this way through this coming Friday. There is a world of field work to be done this week as we dry things out. Click on the link below for a look at the Oklahoma Crop Weather update issued on Monday afternoon. | |
Eastern Corn Belt Yields Likely to Suffer Because of Late Planting Dates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the major
corn producing state of Illinois, as fields dry out this week- the
planters will be running almost non stop as conditions allow- about ten
days later than the end of the optimal window for planting in this
important corn belt state. In the latest USDA Crop Progress report, the
state of Illinois had 20% of their corn in the ground as of Sunday- the
five year average by this date would be 92%. Neighboring state Indiana is
also far behind at 24% planted in this latest report versus 83% the five
year average. Further west, the problems of late planting are isolated as
Iowa shows they are right on schedule at this point with 90% planted,
which is the same as the five year average.
The corn planters running in the eastern cornbelt matters to any livestock operator that uses corn in their ration- or any feed grain, as less supply could mean higher prices for the bushels that are produced.The University of Illinois Economist Dr. Daryl Good has helped put together a corn crop planting model that can help predict what happens to the size of the corn crop when it is planted later than it should be. "With only 10 percent planted as of May 10 and a small window of
opportunity for planting last week, it appears that a large percentage of
the crop will be planted after May 20. Assuming 75 percent is planted
late, the model forecasts a state average yield of 157.4 bushels per acre,
almost 22 bushels below the 2008 yield," said Good. These results might be
applied to Indiana and Ohio as well as Illinois. These three states
account for 25 percent of intended corn acreage this year. Click here for more on the Corn Crop and what lies ahead for Eastern Corn Belt Producers | |
A Million Bucks For Organic EQIP Program in Oklahoma ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We got an
interesting email from Angela Williams at the RC&D office in Pauls
Valley yesterday- with details of quite a pot of money that organic
farmers (or organic wannabes) can tap into to improve their farm
operation. These EQIP moneies can be used to help a farmer become
certified as an organic farmer- or maintain that certification if they are
already there.
Angela writes us " Heads Up! This is a first time ever EQIP program targeting Organic and Transitioning to Organic Producer. Oklahoma has received $1.1 million dollars in assistance. The big thing is the producer must sign up BEFORE MAY 29TH, 2009. They need to sign up in their local NRCS office and be sure to identify the 'special' EQIP signup for organics. This money is for Oklahoma organics only. It can't be converted to statewide or local EQIP programs. Organic applicants will compete only against other organic applicants." The bulletin that details the money for Organics plan says
Conservationists will provide the opportunity for eligible producers to
apply for EQIP program benefits specifically to assist growers
transitioning to organic production systems and to provide assistance to
growers who are currently certified organic operations. This window of
signup is until May 29- and then the money vaporizes. | |
AFBF's Bob Stallman- Any Hungry Person is a Concern ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From the
AgWired coverage of the World Ag Forum- we learn about Bob Stallman's
participation at this event in St. Louis on Monday.Stallman was a part of
a panel discussion at World Agricultural Forum, entitled Strategies,
Actions & Policies for Long-Term Security in Agriculture & Food
Production. Right at the outset, Stallman stressed the American farmers'
commitment to making sure that not only people in the U.S. are fed but
that the entire world has enough to eat. "Any hungry person should be
great cause for concern to all of us."
Stallman says agriculture needs to figure out how it will feed the 9 billion people who will live on the planet by the year 2050, on basically the same amount of land used to feed about 6 billion today (including the nearly 3 billion who now don't get enough to eat). He says "Hunger in the world today is not a lack of calories. It's a problem of distribution." Stallman says policies, in particular, the trade protections that too many developing countries insist upon, are some of the political decisions that are having a tremendous impact on world food supplies. He also defended biofuels, which had been a bit maligned during this session, as not being to blame for the spike in food prices the world has seen. Stallman pointed out that American farmers are getting better at sustainability practices. Stallman says that anyone who believes that we can ignore modern and cutting edge production practices is being follish "We must continue to seek out new production technology, adapt new production technology and not fear new production technology. Those countries that choose to turn their backs on tech will be left behind." | |
American Farm Bureau To Oppose Climate Bill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a letter to
members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, American Farm Bureau
President Bob Stallman presented the position of his organization on the
climate change legislation. He wrote, - it ignores the complex needs of a
very diverse U.S. agricultural industry - and will draw opposition from
the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Stallman said - while the bill does not include agriculture under the greenhouse gas cap provisions, in other respects, the bill fails to include key principles Farm Bureau identified as critical to U.S. agriculture. Farm Bureau has consistently advocated that any cap-and-trade bill must: recognize and support the benefits agriculture can provide; make economic sense for agriculture; provide for a strong leadership role for USDA; and base any carbon sequestration program on sound science. According to Stallman, some sectors of the economy were accommodated as the legislation was crafted, yet the bill ignores the complex needs of American agriculture. | |
Deal is Struck to Save REAP Program for Rural Oklahoma ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ House Budget
Chairman Ken Miller and Senate Budget Chairman Mike Johnson indicate that
they are pleased that a way has been found to restore funding for the
Rural Economic Action Plan funding. House and Senate leaders have
identified a revenue source to fund the REAP at last year's level less a
standard 7 percent cut for the program. The revenue source will come from
an existing bill that is set to increase the fine for delinquent tag
renewal from $0.25 to $1 a day. Earlier in the day on Monday- Senate
Democrats were complaining of the total elimination of the program, saying
that rural fire departments and other infrastructure needs in rural parts
of the state would suffer if REAP was totally cut.
"REAP funding has always been a priority of the Senate Republican caucus and I am proud we have found a way to provide these funds to this program," said Johnson, R-Kingfisher. "Because of the vast infrastructure needs of rural Oklahoma, the House
has been fighting for REAP funding since day one. Unfortunately, at the
end of budget negotiations the funding was removed. This solution was
found within the current budget agreement framework by redirecting monies
to the program. This will enhance the economic development of the rural
areas of our state, and in turn our state as a whole," said Miller,
R-Edmond. | |
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 sold about 10,000 cattle on Monday, with prices steady
to $2 higher than last week. The five to six hundred pound steers were
auctioned off from $114.50 to $127.50, while the seven to eight hundred
pound steer yearlings cleared from $96.25 to $105. Click
here for the full Oklahoma City cattle market report for this final
Monday sale of the month for them.
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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