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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Most small grain planting had been completed by week's end. Wheat planted, at 95 percent, was up two points from last week, but still three points behind normal. Wheat emerged increased to 85 percent complete, up three points from the prior week, but seven points behind the five-year average. The 2010 wheat crop here in Oklahoma looks great thus far, at 80% in the good or excellent categories.

Producers continue to make good progress with row crop harvest. Corn harvest was virtually complete by week's end. Sorghum harvest reached 80 percent, up 12 points from the prior week, and two points ahead of normal. Virtually all soybeans were mature by Sunday and 73 percent of soybeans had been harvested, up eight points from the previous week, but 15 points behind normal. Virtually all peanuts were dug, while 93 percent were combined by week's end. Cotton harvested reached 44 percent complete, up nine points from the previous week, but still 21 points behind the five-year average.
We have the complete Oklahoma Crop Weather Update linked below- it is the next to last of the season.

Nationally, the corn harvest may some progress this past week, but is still 26 percentage points behind the five year average. We now have 68% of the corn crop nationally harvested. The folks in Illinois are up to 60% complete with harvest- but by this date, they would normally be 98% done. Another top five corn producing state, Minnesota, is some 30 points behind normal as we approach Thanksgiving. And, our farmer friends in North Dakota continue to be well behind their normal pace, with just 21% harvested versus a five year average of 83%.

Soybean harvest is finally winding up, and cotton harvest seems to be back to a normal completion pace for the 2009 crop. It is anticipated by the trade that there will be fewer acres of Soft Red Winter wheat in the corn belt this year because of the slowness of the corn and soybean harvest. That can best be seen in Missouri, where they still have just 61% of the expected wheat acreage sown by now- versus the five year average of 92%.

Click here for the Oklahoma Crop Weather Update from NASS at USDA

Here are the highlights of the 2009 Agriculture Lease Auctions:

498 properties were offered for lease in 34 counties
8 unleased tracts after auction (at least three of these have now been leased at fair market value- the minimum bid established by the School Land Commission)
Minimum bid for the leases - $1,728,100
Final contract bid for the leases - $1,976,050
Annual bonus paid above minimum bid - $247,950

We talked with the new Executive Director of the Commissioners of the Land Office, Mike Hunter. Please click on the link below to hear our full conversation with Director Hunter about the current income coming from the CLO to Education in the state- the auction process, and the future of School Lands in the state.

Click here for a break down of the regional auction results and our audio conversation with Mike Hunter of the School Land Commission.

USDA will 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.

"This grant program offers Oklahoma producers, cooperatives and other agricultural groups the ability to explore new processing and manufacturing opportunities," said Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Terry Peach. "For years we have promoted similar programs through our own Agriculture Enhancement and Diversification program and we know how well it can benefit producers and rural communities."

Click here for more information on this grant program from USDA- and a link for grabbing an application.

The increase in usage of sorghum by ethanol plants in the past two years is a significant step towards the USCP strategic goal of increasing the use of sorghum in the ethanol industry by 50 percent by 2011. Only slight increases in demand could mean half of the Kansas sorghum crop could be used to produce ethanol in 2010. It also means more than a third of Texas's sorghum crop will likely be used for ethanol production. Realizing that slightly less sorghum is expected to be harvested in 2009 because of crop losses in some areas, ethanol plants are aggressively moving to secure their sorghum supplies early for 2010 production.

According to this survey, ethanol plants in areas where sorghum is grown prefer to use sorghum because of its availability and favorable price differential. It also suggests if grain prices jump like they did during 2007, 2008 and early 2009, demand for sorghum will increase dramatically, which will mean even more sorghum could be used in ethanol blends.
Click on the link below for more information about this study that was conducted using checkoff funds from the sorghum industry.

Click here for more on sorghum and the ethanol industry's love affair.

The letter to Congress asks members of the House and Senate to "support the limited use of NAIS funding to shut down the program, and to refocus the agency on measures that truly improve animal health and that respect the interests of both livestock owners and consumers." The groups, many of them county level groups, add that "NAIS will not address animal disease or food safety problems. Instead, NAIS imposes high costs and paperwork burdens on family farmers and creates incentives for corporate-controlled confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and vertically integrated systems. This ill-conceived and badly implemented program should be halted."

Click on the link below to read more of their reasons why NAIS needs to disappear- and how USDA should spend the limited dollars for the program provided by Congress in this fiscal year.

Click here for the R Calf Rationale For Ending NAIS Right Now.

Drop me an email at ron@oklahomafarmreport.com (it's linked at the bottom of this email) and tell me about a special thanksgiving you remember- or other thoughts that remind us while we have lots to deal with in this part of the world that makes up farming, ranching and rural living in our state- we need to take time and count our blessings.

I look forward to hearing from you- and I hope to share several of your thoughts with others Wednesday.

In the sale catalog, which we have a direct link to below, they talk about the concept of hybrid vigor and the Lim-Flex hybrids. "With Lim- Flex hybrids, there are genetic options to fit every need, from fullblood and purebred Limousin for a "full-shot" of muscle and efficiency, to Lim-Flex hybrids for a "blendedshot" of Limousin with added marbling and maternal from Angus (black or red). With Lim-Flex, breeders can offer a just-right shot of Limousin to meet the needs of most any crossbreeding program."

The sale will begin at noon at the Durant Livestock Auction with bulls selling first followed immediately by females.

For more information call 580-597-3006- or click on the link below for the catalog as found on the American Cattle Services website.

Click here for the PDF download of the Select Bull Sale coming December 5th in Durant.

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.