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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday August 27,
2009 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- Could Senator Blanche Lincoln Ascend to the Senate Ag Committee
Chairmanship?
-- Here comes the Silver Anniversary Edition of the OCA Range
Roundup
-- AMI Letter to Editor: Time Article on one of the Great American
Success Stories is 'Dumbfounding'
-- Wheat Pasture Prospects Could Excite Calf Market in the Weeks to
Come
-- USDA's Vilsack Announces Grant Applications to Be Accepted Soon
for Value Added Projects
-- NRCS Issues Estimated CSP Payment Ranges
-- Bits and Pieces- Including Grain Drills for Lease and Another
Grasshopper Sighting
-- 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. | |
Could Senator Blanche Lincoln Ascend to the Senate Ag Committee Chairmanship? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Could Senator
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas soon be called Chairman Lincoln? It's a
possibility that has surfaced with the death of Senator Ted Kennedy, who
was the Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee-
otherwise known as HELP.
The person that could determine Lincoln's future as the possible Chair of the Ag Committee is Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, who is currently number two on the HELP Committee. If he takes this chairmanship, that puts him squarely in the middle of the Health Care Storm that could break either for or against a Senator that already is expected to face a tough reelection battle in 2010. Senator Dodd may choose to stay Chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Services Committee, as they have major legislation in the wings that would reform the banking industry. If Senator Dodd chooses to stay put in the Banking Committee chairmanship, attention shifts to the number three Democrat at HELP- current chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, Tom Harkin of Iowa. The website Politico.Com writes of this scenario "If Dodd stays at Banking, the next in line for HELP is Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who has become very close to labor in his push to make it easier for unions to organize. He would have to give up his Agriculture Committee chairmanship, which would leave that gavel in the hands of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who is up for reelection and would leapfrog more senior senators of that committee if they choose not to give up their chairmanships of other panels." Nothing is coming out of the offices of any of these lawmakers as of yet- Senator Dodd told reporters midday on Wednesday that it would be "weeks" before he would bother thinking about Committee posts. While that's probably a little longer than it will actually be- it will be at least a few days before we know if Senator Lincoln might land this Chairmanship, just in time to bolster her standing in what could be a tough reelection bid for her in 2010. | |
Here comes the Silver Anniversary Edition of the OCA Range Roundup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Who's the
best in Oklahoma?" is the question that will soon be answered during the
25th Annual Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Range Round-Up which is
scheduled for August 28 and 29 at the State Fair Arena located at the
Oklahoma State Fairgrounds. Twelve ranch teams representing 18 of
Oklahoma's oldest and most historic ranches will compete in six exciting
cowboy events each performance.
The Drummond Land & Cattle Co. cowboys of Pawhuska return as the 2006, 2007 & 2008 Champion Team to defend their championship honor and bragging rights. The Drummond cowboys are always tough competitors and participated in the very first OCA Range Round-Up in 1985 and were also the Champion Ranch Team in 1992. Other teams participating in the 2009 OCA Range Round-Up are: Adcock's
Lazy 71 Ranch (2004 Range Round-Up Champion) and the Whitmire Ranch of
Collinsville; Broken 0's Ranch, Fort Supply; Cross S Ranch, Pawhuska &
Alfalfa County Land & Cattle, Cherokee; Gray G Bar Ranch, Grainola
(2001 Range Round-Up Champion), Hall Ranch, Loco & Daube Ranch,
Ardmore (1986 Range Round-Up Champion); Hitch Ranch, Guymon (1998 &
2003 Range Round-Up Champions); Holcombe Ranch, Bartlesville; Kelly Ranch
Ranch, Marlow & Sooner "J" Ranch, Rush Springs; Kottke Ranch, Lenapah
(2004 Range Round-Up Champion) & Lynn Ranch, Lenapah; Pitch Fork Land
& Cattle Co., Waurika & Rash Barrett Cattle, Ryan; Stuart Ranch,
Waurika. | |
AMI Letter to Editor: Time Article on one of the Great American Success Stories is 'Dumbfounding' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "In a world of
7 billion people and expanding, where malnutrition, hunger or outright
famine are commonplace, it's dumbfounding that Time magazine would take
one of the great American success stories - the efficient agricultural
production of an abundant variety of healthy, safe and affordable foods
for consumers in the U.S. and throughout the world - and turn it into an
unrecognizable story of exploitation, manipulation and greed," said
American Meat Institute President and CEO J. Patrick Boyle in a letter to
the editor submitted to Time magazine about this week's cover story,
"America's Food Crisis and How to Fix It."
Boyle pointed out that the ingenuity, productivity and dedication of American livestock producers and meat and poultry processors provide American consumers with an astonishingly wide array of product choices, with numerous flavor options and nutritional profiles, at extremely reasonable price ranges. And despite this abundance, Americans spend less than any other developed nation in the world on meat and poultry products - about 1.7 percent of our incomes per year today down from over 4 percent in 1970. Patrick Boyle questions Time magazine's lack of balance and one-sided reporting on an article that was prominently featured on the cover. Boyle concluded, "Just as Americans need to eat a balanced diet, they also need balanced information. Unfortunately, they won't find it in Time magazine." AMI has posted a copy of their letter to the Editor of Time- who probably is too busy to read it. But, if you have time, our link below will take you to to it. Click here for more on reaction to the Time article from AMI and others | |
Wheat Pasture Prospects Could Excite Calf Market in the Weeks to Come ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There could be
a jump in demand coming on calves that can go onto Oklahoma wheat pasture
this fall- given the rains of August that are setting us up for excellent
planting conditions in September. OSU Livestock Marketing Specialist Dr.
Derrell Peel tells us that he believes that if you buy the calves right,
there appears to be a chance of making some money with calves on fall
wheat pasture this year.
For the yearling market, he believes it's largely about finishing what
has turned out to be a gigantic corn crop across the US. With a 12.8
billion bushel corn crop, we could see cash corn prices stay just above $3
a bushel- and that will help yearlings be worth a little more to the
feedlots as they refill their pens. Numbers of yearlings and calves are
tighter than they have been in recent years. Click on the link below for our Thursday Beef Buzz- as we wrap up our time with OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel. Click here for the latest outlook on the yearling and calf markets on today's Beef Buzz | |
USDA's Vilsack Announces Grant Applications to Be Accepted Soon for Value Added Projects ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA will soon be accepting
applications for grants to assist agricultural producers seeking to add
value to the commodities they produce. Approximately $18 million will be
awarded nationwide. "These grants strengthen rural economies and create
jobs by helping farmers and ranchers add value to their agricultural
products by using them for planning activities such as feasibility
studies, marketing and business plans, or for working capital," Vilsack
said. "This program also supports President Obama's goal to expand our
nation's renewable energy resources by helping farmers develop renewable
energy from agricultural products."
USDA plans to award planning grants of up to $100,000 and working capital grants of up to $300,000 to successful applicants. Applicants are encouraged to propose projects that use existing agricultural products in non-traditional ways or merge agricultural products with technology in creative ways. Businesses of all sizes may apply, but priority will be given to operators of small and medium-sized family farms - those with average, annual gross sales of less than $700,000. Applicants must provide matching funds equal to the amount of the grant requested. Ten percent of the funding being made available is reserved for beginning farmers or ranchers and socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers. An additional 10 percent is reserved for projects involving local and regional supply networks that link independent producers with businesses and cooperatives that market value-added products. Paper and electronic applications must be submitted to the Rural Development state office in the state where the project will be located. Of course, here in Oklahoma, that office is in Stillwater, with our new state director on the job being former state lawmaker Ryan McMullen. You can call the state office at 405-744-1000 or click on the link below for more information- it does look like they are still moving some of the pieces around between the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration- so not all of the pages work- but there is still some useful information there. Click here for the Oklahoma USDA Rural Development website for more information | |
NRCS Issues Estimated CSP Payment Ranges ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ USDA has
issued an estimate of 12 to 22-dollars per acre of cropland and 7 to
14-dollars an acre of pastureland as the ranges that the Natural Resources
Conservation Service might issue annually to those who contract to
participate in the new Conservation Stewardship Program. CSP sign-up is
open now through September 30th, with the program's interim-final-rule
public-comment period open until September 28th.
In a statement, NRCS says the payment ranges are based on projections about acreage enrollment and conservation performance, and are only intended as estimates. To manage funding and meet legislative requirements, the agency says it will use enrollment data from the sign-up and the program's first ranking period as a payment-discovery period to arrive at a uniform payment rate pre land-use conservation performance point. NRCS anticipates that discovery-period data will assist in determining set payment rates for future contracts. | |
Bits and Pieces- Including Grain Drills for Lease and Another Grasshopper Sighting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We appreciate
our sponsors- and when they have timely things going- we try to let you
know about that. One of our radio sponsors, Mark Armitage of Armitage
Equipment, tells us that he has several pre owned grain drills,
conventional and no- till available for sale- and he also has grain drills
available for lease. GIve him a call at405-279-2372 for details as you get
ready to plant wheat in the next few weeks- or you can take
a look at their website- just click here.
One more Grasshopper note this morning- we got an email from one Caddo County landowner who told us that "this year the grasshoppers are huge and in great abundance. When I drive the ATV through the pasture I get pelted by them." I guess you could say up to this point- the grasshoppers have been choosy about what locations they have decided to camp out on. Some of you know our broadcast colleague Mike Dain- and just wanted to let you know that Mike is doing well after a quadruple bypass surgery this past weekend. They have already kicked him out of the hospital- something about the nurses said he had to go or else- but he is in good spirits and is on the mend. He will be taking it easy for the next few weeks- but you can tell he already is feeling better than before the surgery. | |
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 folks at
OKC West in El Reno sold a total of 5,412 cattle on Wednesday, with
yearlings called steady to $1 lower, and calves steady to $2 lower. Five
to six hundred pound steers ranged from $102 to $112, while seven weight
steer yearlings cleared from $97.75 to $103.25- based on Medium and Large
1s and 2s. Click
here for the complete rundown of OKC West prices compiled by market
reporters Tina Colby and John Stacy on Wednesday at El Reno.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 $8.05 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $8.05 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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