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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday December 3,
2009 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- Congressman Frank Lucas on Climate Change and More
-- On the Other Side of Climate Change- We Find Secretary Tom Vilsack
Touting Benefits for Cattle Producers if Legislation is Enacted
-- News9 Looks At Economic Challenges in Rural Oklahoma
-- It's Death Tax Day in the US House
-- Farm Bureau Likes Plan for More "Rights" Given to Poultry Contract
Growers
-- Four More Oklahoma Auctioneers Qualify for the World Championship
Next June In OKC
-- So Many Videos- So Little Time- Climategate on the Mind Of Senator
Jim Inhofe
-- 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. | |
Congressman Frank Lucas on Climate Change and More ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The top
Republican on the House Ag Committee, Congressman Frank Lucas of Oklahoma,
says that it's good that we apparently have some breathing room on the
Climate Change issue, with the Senate backing off working on the so called
Kerry-Boxer bill until sometime next year, if then. Lucas says that those
who do not want to see this huge tax measure put into place should a word
of thanks to Oklahoma's Senior Senator Jim Inhofe, as he led the charge in
the Senate on the Environment and Public Works Committee, demanding lots
of analysis regarding the impact of Climate Change legislation on how
people live and work.
Besides Climate Change, we also talked with the Congressman about a variety of subjects, including the EPA decision to delay making a decision on E15, Crop Insurance rules that have been changed to benefit grain sorghum, the struggles of the SURE program, NAIS and the upcoming Estate Tax debate in the House. Click on the link below to jump to our conversation with Congressman Frank Lucas as we covered a lot of territory in a little under 12 minutes. | |
On the Other Side of Climate Change- We Find Secretary Tom Vilsack Touting Benefits for Cattle Producers if Legislation is Enacted ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are ways
that animal agriculture will benefit if the Democrats are able to push
through Climate Change legislation in 2010- that's the contention of
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who met with reporters in a News
Teleconference on Wednesday. The Secretary said that overall, agriculture
will see a slightly positive impact in the short term if Climate Change
legislation becomes law- but in the medium to long term time frames, most
of agriculture will be benefited substantially.
We asked the Secretary specifically about animal agriculture- and what the recent USDA analysis says are the costs versus benefits for the cattle industry. Vilsack downplayed any costs assoicated with Climate Change, but did say that there are many things that cattle producers may be able to do to get income from carbon sequestration. He mentioned manure management, rotational grazing, feed management that could result in lower levels of methane being produced. The detailed USDA analysis should be released to the public in about a week. Click on the link below for our Beef Buzz featuring Vilsack and his thoughts on the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions or face the consequences globally. Click here for today's Beef Buzz with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack | |
News9 Looks At Economic Challenges in Rural Oklahoma ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ News9 Reporter
Jennifer Pierce produced a story this week about the possibility of a
second dip into recession in the middle part of the country- including in
rural Oklahoma. Her story developed out of a Creighton University Economic
Survey that is issued monthly- and shows that this recession may look like
a "W"- two downturns before it is all said and done.
Pierce reports "It's been a tough year for Oklahoma farmers and
ranchers. They're cutting back and tightening budgets just like everyone
else. And it looks like they're going to have to even more. An Oklahoma State University agricultural economist advises them to hold off even longer. "It looks like there's going to be some belt tightening in the coming months," OSU Agricultural Economist Dr. Larry Sanders said. Sanders has seen the second dip into the recession coming for a while. "Natural gas and agriculture have seen better days and have a tough year ahead in pricing and that has a ripple effect," Sanders said. | |
It's Death Tax Day in the US House ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later today,
the US House will be debating and voting on a permanent extension of the
2009 levels of the Estate Tax provisions that are in place. In a news
release, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) indicates that
they are extremely disappointed that Congress has ignored repeated calls
for estate tax ("death tax") reform. The House Rules Committee announced
today that H.R. 4154 by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) will be considered under
a closed rule. The Pomeroy bill would permanently extend the death tax at
2009 levels, without indexing for inflation. "The Pomeroy bill is a
disservice to America's family farmers and other small businesses," said
NCBA President Gary Voogt. "By keeping a flawed law in place, Congress
will simply extend our problems with the current system into the future."
The release goes on to say that NCBA continues to support a dual-track approach for death tax reform, including additional relief and an overall exemption for agriculture. Both types of reform are critical. "A simple extension of current law is unacceptable," said Voogt. "America's farmers and ranchers deserve more than the status quo; they deserve true reform." One of the subjects that we did talk at length about yesterday with Congressman Lucas was the Pomeroy bill- that will be considered by the full House today. Click here to listen to our morning farm news which featured Congressman Lucas regarding the Death tax. The link below will take you to our webstory on NCBA's distaste for the Pomeroy bill. Click here for more on the NCBA opposition to Pomeroy Bill on the Death Tax | |
Farm Bureau Likes Plan for More "Rights" Given to Poultry Contract Growers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and
Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) will publish a final rule today to
increase fairness and equity in the poultry industry by amending
regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 to provide
poultry growers with new information and improve transparency in poultry
growing arrangements. This rule making process was underway in the second
George W Bush term- and concludes with the publishing of this final rule.
It will take effect January 4, 2010.
American Farm Bureau likes the move to put in place more transparency in the poultry grower/ poultry processor relationship. In a statement that we have linked below- AFBF says "We appreciate the leadership of Secretary Vilsack and the support of USDA for these new regulations that will ensure greater market fairness and transparency for America's poultry producers. These rules are vital for helping poultry producers make sound business decisions that will protect their livelihoods. The rules ensure that producers will receive a true written copy of a poultry-growing arrangement in a timely manner. The rules provide much needed legal protection, fairness and open communication for poultry producers when dealing with poultry dealers who buy their chickens." These new regulations require a written 'growout' contract to be delivered at the same time as poultry building specifications are delivered. This is a most needed and welcome change. In addition, new rules also allow poultry producers to discuss the written contract with lenders, accountants and attorneys before executing the contract. | |
Four More Oklahoma Auctioneers Qualify for the World Championship Next June In OKC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The last eight
spots in Livestock Marketing Association's 2010 World Livestock Auctioneer
Championship (WLAC) were on the line yesterday, at the Parsons Livestock
Market in Parsons, Kansas. The market was hosting 36 contestants in the
last quarterfinal qualifying contest for next summer's WLAC, which will be
held June 19 at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City.
Eight livestock auctioneers qualified for the big event in Oklahoma City next June- and four of them are Oklahoma based. The champion was Jim Hertzog, Butler, Missouri. The reserve champion was Bailey Ballou, Elgin, Oklahoma. The runner-up champion was Charly Cummings, Yates Center, Kansas. The other five contestants to qualify in alphabetical order are: Lance Cochran, Medford, Oklahoma; Kyle Elwood, Abilene, Kansas; Dustin Focht, Stillwater, Oklahoma; Brian Marlin, Inola, Oklahoma; and Jeff Showalter, Broadway, Virginia. These livestock auctioneers join twenty four other auctioneers that qualified at three other quarterfinals events this fall. The four from Oklahoma join Brian Little of Wann, Oklahoma who will be in their home state for the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in June. The June contest will be a part of the 100th birthday celebration of the Oklahoma National Stockyards that will be happening in 2010. | |
So Many Videos- So Little Time- Climategate on the Mind Of Senator Jim Inhofe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are
eight videos posted by the Inhofe Press Office folks on YouTube that
relate back to the unfolding Climategate saga. This is the email hack in
England that uncovered emails from leading advocates of mankind being
responsible for Climate Change because of greenhouse gas emissions. The
outcry has circled the globe and has given opponents of Climate Change
legislation, like Senator Jim Inhofe, a lot of traction since these emails
were discovered.
Senator Inhofe, in one of the videos, calls for hearings by the Environment and Public Works Committee(he is top Republican on that Committee) to look into possible illegal use of US Federal funds by researchers who have done global warming studies paid for by Uncle Sam. The videos that we have linked below include a satirical look at Climategate through the eyes of Jon Stewart, as well as Chairlady Barbara Boxer of California trying to minimize the importance of this cyberspace coverup. As we mentioned- there are several videos that have been posted over the last day or so by the Inhofe people- Take a look and you be the judge. Click here for the Inhofe YouTube Video page and lots of Climategate Videos | |
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! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 $8.00 per
bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are
$8.35 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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