From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 4:22 AM
To: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
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Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday November 24, 2009
A service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
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-- Oklahoma's Spring Planted Crops Well on Their Way to be Harvested- Oklahoma Wheat in Good to Excellent Shape
-- School Land Lease Auctions Net Almost a Quarter of a Million Dollars Over Fair Market Value
-- Last Call for Value Added Grant Applications- Deadline is November 30
-- Sorghum to Ethanol Remains Steady at 29% of Total US Crop
-- R-Calf and Friends Call on USDA to Dissolve NAIS
-- Give Thanks!
-- 28th Annual Oklahoma Select Bull Sale & Super Bull Competition Coming December 5th
-- 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!

And we are proud to have P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy as our newest regular sponsor of our daily email update. P & K is the premiere John Deere dealer in Oklahoma, with nine locations to serve you, and the P & K team are excited about their new Wind Power program, as they offer Endurance Wind Power wind turbines. Click here for more from the P&K 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.


Oklahoma's Spring Planted Crops Well on Their Way to be Harvested- Oklahoma Wheat in Good to Excellent Shape
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According to this week's Oklahoma Crop Weather Update, "Due to a cold front that moved through the State on last Monday, freezing temperatures were experienced and a freeze watch was issued for the western third of the State through last Tuesday morning. Precipitation was seen across the State with the East Central and Northeast districts receiving the most rainfall at 0.34 inches and 0.20 inches of rainfall, respectively. Temperatures dropped to some of the lowest of the season reaching as low as 18 degrees in Kenton. Additionally, fog was seen throughout the week. The weekend brought warmer weather with temperatures ranging from the high 60's to the low 70's. Topsoil and subsoil moisture conditions rating in the surplus range remained unchanged from the previous week."

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


School Land Lease Auctions Net Almost a Quarter of a Million Dollars Over Fair Market Value
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The auctions held this fall for the School Land Leases in 34 counties across the state resulted in nearly 500 leases being agreed to for a premium of almost a quarter of a million dollars over the established fair market value of the tracts of land. All leases offered were for a five year period, and represented about one fifth of the total amount of land owned by the state for the benefit of education.

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.


Last Call for Value Added Grant Applications- Deadline is November 30
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That deadline is next Monday for your chance to grab some stimulus cash under this particular program. This program will be handing out grants to add value to agricultural commodities.

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.


Sorghum to Ethanol Remains Steady at 29% of Total US Crop
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According to results of a survey recently funded by the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP), 29 percent of 2009 grain sorghum production will be used to produce ethanol. The expected demand for sorghum to produce ethanol in 2009 is 136,979,000 bushels. Demand for sorghum will remain steady at 136 million-plus bushels, while the percent of the U.S. sorghum crop included in ethanol will increase slightly in 2010 because total U.S. production will be lower this crop year.

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.


R-Calf and Friends Call on USDA to Dissolve NAIS
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NAIS stands the for National Animal Identification System, which has had a large bullseye on its back almost since it was formed several years back- at least in the minds of some producer and anti commercial livestock agricultural groups. NAIS and the concept gained new urgency in the minds of many in the livestock business after the Cow that Stole Christmas became a part of the 2003 yuletide celebration in a most unwelcome way- introducing BSE as a fact of life in the US cattle herd. The groups that are a part of the coalition that have sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack say they think there is a better way to offer rapid traceback within the US livestock herd, if a contagious disease rears its ugly head sometime in the future. Simply put, this vocal slice of the livestock business hates NAIS- and they are following up the disdain for the program they showed at the USDA Listening sessions earlier this year with this call for a final elimination.

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.


Give Thanks!
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It's Thanksgiving holiday week- and tomorrow will be our final email before the holiday. On at least one of our stories- I plan on offering a few thoughts of thanksgiving- and wanted to offer to you the chance to share with me your thoughts and your Thanksgiving wishes with me- things I might be able to share with some of our friends that receive this email on a regular basis.

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.


28th Annual Oklahoma Select Bull Sale & Super Bull Competition Coming December 5th
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The 28th Annual Oklahoma Select Bull Sale and Super Bull Competition is scheduled for Saturday, December 5th, 2009 in Durant, Oklahoma. Selling will be 100 Hand-Selected Limousin & Lim-Flex Bulls, Black - Red - Mostly Polled with several Homozygous Bulls.

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.


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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Let's Check the Markets!
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The Oklahoma National Stockyards had a smaller run this week of 7,800 head of cattle- and USDA's Market News wrote of the cattle on offer this week "Feeder steers steady on a light test. Feeder heifers steady to 2.00 higher on a light test. Demand good for the few offerings. Steer and heifer calves 2.00-5.00 higher. Demand extremely good for calves. Calf orders appearing about a week earlier than the norm. An unusually warm wet fall has provided perfect growing conditions for wheat pasture." Click here to review actual prices from the Oklahoma City market for Monday.

Current cash price for Canola is $8.15 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $8.30 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:
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.



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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