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!

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LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers who have suffered livestock grazing losses due to qualifying drought or fire. For drought, the losses must have occurred on land that is native or improved pastureland with permanent vegetative cover or a crop planted specifically for grazing for covered livestock due to a qualifying drought during the normal grazing period for the specific type of grazing land in the county. For fire, LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses on rangeland managed by a federal agency if the eligible livestock producer is prohibited by the federal agency from grazing the normal permitted livestock on the managed rangeland due to a qualifying fire.

Eligible livestock under LFP include beef cattle, alpacas, buffalo, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, poultry, reindeer, sheep and swine. For losses due to drought, qualifying drought ratings are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor- Click here to jump to their website for the Drought Monitor.

For either program, producers must have suffered losses that occurred on or after Jan. 1, 2008, and before Oct. 1, 2011. There is a total $100,000 limitation per crop year that applies to payments received under ELAP, LFP, LIP or SURE. For the 2008 crop year, the $100,000 limitation is per "person" as defined and determined under payment limitation rules in effect for 2008. For crop years 2009 through 2011, the $100,000 limitation applies to payments received, both directly and indirectly, by a person or legal entity. Furthermore, individuals or entities are ineligible for payment under ELAP or LFP for 2008 if their average Adjusted Gross Income for 2005, 2006 and 2007 exceeds $2.5 million. Click on the link below for more information to be found at the Farm Service Agency website- or call your local FSA office to get your questions answered about this program.

Click here for more on the LFP from the FSA cyberspace location under the USDA web umbrella.

Checking on our small grains- "Several days of wet weather delayed small grain planting in many areas. Wheat seedbed preparation reached 74 percent, while nine percent of the 2010 wheat crop was planted by week's end, both behind normal. Rye seedbed preparations were 76 percent complete while plantings were 22 percent complete. Oat seedbed preparation reached 58 percent complete and a small portion of the 2010 oat crop had been planted by Sunday."

For our row crops- "Widespread precipitation and cooler temperatures provided a boost to row crop conditions, continuing to rate mostly in the good to fair range. Ninety-one percent of the State's corn crop had reached the dent stage by Sunday, while 58 percent of the crop had reached maturity, eight points behind the five-year average. Corn harvest continues, although the wet weather halted combines over the weekend. Many producers are seeing high levels of aflatoxin in harvested corn. By week's end, nearly a quarter of the corn had been harvested, up two points from the previous week but 20 points behind normal. Sorghum headed is nearing completion at 96 percent, while 62 percent of the sorghum was coloring by Sunday, up 12 points from the previous week. Sixteen percent of the sorghum had reached maturity by week's end, 11 points behind normal, while a small portion of the crop was harvested. Nearly all of the State's soybean crop was setting pods by week's end, while 13 percent of the crop had reached maturity, 16 points behind the five-year average. Seventeen percent of the soybean crop is rated in excellent condition. Peanuts setting pods was virtually complete while peanuts reaching maturity was at 21 percent, 25 points behind normal. Bolls were opening on 35 percent of the State's cotton acreage, up nine points from last week but three points behind the five-year average. More sunshine is needed to help mature the bolls."

Click on the link below for a look at the full report from USDA- including details on pasture conditions and more.

Click here for the complete Weekly Crop Weather Update Issued on Monday afternoon by USDA

We talk with Wileman about how to be proactive in telling our story to today's consumers about how we care for our animals. He says that we have nothing to fear- and we need to understand that critics of animal agriculture are not going to leave our business alone- and that we must learn to answer them aggressively.

Wileman adds that we are doing the "right" things in taking care of our animals- how we feed them, care for them when they are sick and watch carefully when our mama cows are giving birth to their calves. It's a matter of letting consumers have a glimpse of the fact we do these things and more in raising beef. Click on the link below for our Beef Buzz segment with Ben Wileman of K-State.

Click here for our Tuesday Beef Buzz with Ben Wileman from the College of Vet Medicine at Kansas State University.

Hamburgers and other ground beef products should be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 160°F, as measured by an instant-read meat thermometer. However, only 13% of consumers in this latest survey correctly identified 160°F as the proper cooking temperature for ground beef to ensure safety, and only 9% said they learned to use a meat thermometer to determine when a hamburger is done.
"In the beef industry, we know that 'the way it has always been done' is not good enough when it comes to food safety. That's why we invest in a wide range of initiatives to ensure we continue to produce the safest food possible," said Mandy Carr, Ph.D., executive director of beef safety research for the NCBA. "Consumers can be part of the food safety innovation process by following proper in-home food safety practices, including cooking ground beef to 160° F."

The survey also showed retail establishments are getting the word out about the best in-home food safety practices. Half of survey respondents mentioned seeing information in a supermarket about proper handling and cooking of fresh meat. The top two tips or techniques consumers said they saw in supermarkets were related to hand washing and cooking meats to recommended temperatures using a meat thermometer.
The survey of 1,007 American adults included 971 beef eaters and had a margin of error of 3.2%.

Our neighbors in Texas have moved forward in getting the crop in the ground with 16% complete- even with the five year average. Oklahoma's numbers are now at 9%, slowed by heavy rains which puts us behind last year's planting figure by mid September of 11%, and the five year average of 14%.

Nationally, the corn crop continues to lag normal progress at 12% of the crop now mature versus a national five year average of 37% by this date. For soybeans, a signal of maturity is the dropping of leaves- which is now pegged nationally at 17% versus the five year average of 36%.
We have the full Crop Update linked below- click and take a look at how overall crop conditions are shaping up as we near the official beginning of fall.

Click here for the September 14 Crop Update from USDA

Hope Pjesky of Goltry, Oklahoma is in Germany as we write this and will be in Germany and Belgium over the next three weeks in this study program. This north central Oklahoma farmer is blogging as she goes- and you can read her posts by going to the link we have below.

Click here for more on Hope Pjesky's Travels this month as a McCloy Fellowship Winner

Sesame has gained a lot of interest this season based on the acreage numbers that Danny Peeper reports. "Sesame production in Oklahoma this year reached 30,000 planted acres, and proved itself once again in some very tough conditions. Many of the fields received no rainfall for 60 days. However, we anticipate yields to be the highest state average that we have seen, with many fields exceeding 1000# per acre. Forecasted growth for Oklahoma in 2010 is projected to be around 100,000 acres."

Of course that acreage number projected for this coming season is similar to the acreage numbers being talked about for winter canola for this fall. We have heard projections of 100,000 acres or more being planted to winter canola as a substitute for winter wheat- to help with problem weeds in wheat as well as in some cases being rotated into because it may be the more profitable crop.

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

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:
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler- analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day-
Ron on RON Markets as heard on K101 mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's market.
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- As Reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture.
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Finally, Here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.