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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday March 23, 2009
A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Johnston
Enterprises!
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-- Grand Champions Selected at the Oklahoma Youth Expo
-- Oklahoma Peanut Expo Set for Tuesday
-- Cattle On Feed Shows Smaller Placements Than Expected
-- District Attorney John Wampler of Southwest Oklahoma Honored by
Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers
-- Well-being of Sows the Same in Gestation Pens or in Group
Pens
-- Organic Food Supporters Spotlighted in New York Times Sunday
Article
-- Oklahoma Senate Ag Committee Meeting This Afternoon
-- 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. It is wonderful to have as a regular 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! 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. | |
Grand Champions Selected at the Oklahoma Youth Expo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The three
market animals that will help lead off the 2009 Oklahoma Youth Expo later
today were selected last night at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City.
The Grand Champion Market Steer was shown and owned by Ky Stierwalt of the
Leedey FFA Chapter; the Grand Champion Market Lamb was shown by Charlsey
Vinyard of the Altus FFA and the Grand Champion Market Hog was shown by
Colin Listen of the El Reno FFA Chapter.
In addition, there was over $140,000 worth of scholarships presented during the Sunday evening festivities- and the sale order was set during the last couple of days for the Premium Sale of the Top Animals later today- starting at 4 PM at the State Fair Arena. The sale will include 70 steers, 65 hogs, 45 market lambs and 15 meat goats. We have posted lots of news on our Blue Green Gazette websection since Friday from the 2009 Oklahoma Youth Expo. Here are direct links to several of those stories plus the link below to the Blue Green Gazette page that is our main page for the Youth Expo information. You need to check back there later int he day and you will need more stories from the OYE- a visit with the judges, a visit with the top two Scholarship Award winners for 2009, Kela Kelin of Fairview and McKenzie Clifton of Kingfisher and there will be more. We will have coverage of the Premium Sale this evening- and of course will detail it in tomorrow's email. Some of the links that you may find of interest that are already on our
website: | |
Oklahoma Peanut Expo Set for Tuesday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another record
crop all across the peanut belt and large carryover stocks has Oklahoma
farmers pondering planting decisions and marketing strategy for 2009. In
an effort to assist farmers in evaluating options, the Oklahoma Peanut
Commission, OSU Extension and Sheller interests in the state have
collaborated to host the 2nd Annual Oklahoma Peanut Expo on March 24. The
10am to 3pm event will be held at the Quartz Mountain Resort, 18 miles
north of Altus and is open to everyone with an interest in peanuts.
Out of state speakers will address timely topics of Food Safety, Supply & Demand, Ag Research Funding and Peanut Outlook issues affecting state producers. OSU's peanut improvement team will address economics, variety recommendations and new releases; plus production tips, including disease & weed management. Plus there will be an overview of cooperative promotion, research and education efforts of the National Peanut Board and the Oklahoma Peanut Commission. At the conclusion of the conference, producers from Beckham, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa, Roger Mills, Tillman and Washita counties will caucus to nominate four peanut farmers; two to be selected by Gov Brad Henry to serve a three-year term, from District 3 on the Oklahoma Peanut Commission, effective July 1. Current Commissioners, Joe D. White of Frederick and Les Crall of Weatherford are eligible for nomination. We have more details linked below- check it out and head for Quartz Mountain and the 2009 Oklahoma Peanut expo tomorrow. | |
Cattle On Feed Shows Smaller Placements Than Expected ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There were
fewer cattle on feed than expected at the start of the month, according to
the USDA. On March 1, there were 11.228 million head of cattle on feed in
the United States, down 5% from March 1, 2008. Placements during February
came out at 1.678 million head, a decline of 3%, when the average
pre-report estimate was 101.3%. February marketings were reported at 1.682
million head, 5% less than a year ago.
Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities calls this report a friendly report for the summer months, with placement numbers significantly under what the pre report guesses of 101.3% of a year ago came in at. We have Tom's take on the report- plus the link to the full set of numbers from USDA on our website- click on the link below for that story. Click here more on the March 2009 Cattle on Feed Report from USDA | |
District Attorney John Wampler of Southwest Oklahoma Honored by Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma
District Attorney John M. Wampler was recognized Saturday at the TSCRA
convention for his commitment to prosecuting livestock theft and related
crimes. Wampler was named the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers
Association Prosecutor of the Year during the opening general session of
the association's annual convention and trade show, Vision of Excellence,
at the Fort Worth Convention Center.
Wampler is serving his fifth term as the District Attorney for the Third Judicial District which is made up of Jackson, Kiowa, Greer, Harmon and Tillman counties. He was chosen for the award from a pool of finalists nominated by TSCRA's special rangers. Special Ranger Scott Williamson, who nominated Wampler for the award,
said the DA always makes time for TSCRA and has never turned down or
failed to prosecute - and win - one of their cases. He said Wampler and
his staff have been an invaluable asset in serving TSCRA members and the
agricultural community to effectively deal with and control criminal
activity. | |
Well-being of Sows the Same in Gestation Pens or in Group Pens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A report
released by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology looked at
many studies of how pregnant sows are housed, with respect to their
wellbeing. According to the report - many scientific evaluations have
concluded that the state of being of the pregnant sow is equivalent
whether sows are kept in Individual Gestation Accommodations or in group
pens.
The report continues - first, one might decide that, because sow welfare is equivalent in either IGAs or group pens, and because capital and operating costs are less with IGA systems, then IGAs should be scientifically refined to improve sow welfare in systems where sows are kept in IGA. At the same time the report says - group keeping systems should be scientifically refined to improve sow welfare in systems where sows are kept in groups. The report concluded - As the choice is being made, it must be borne in mind that although the choice will range from relatively trivial to virtually nonexistent with respect to its overall effect on the pregnant sow's state of being, it will be of substantial consequence with respect to sow and piglet health, the cost of pork production, and the availability and price of pork product. CLick here for the link to the full report as issued by CAST at the end of this past week. | |
Organic Food Supporters Spotlighted in New York Times Sunday Article ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the Obama
Administration leading the way, organic food supporters feel the love,
even though their higher priced fare is meeting a sales downturn at this
time. We have linked below an article from this weekend that we found in
the New York Times.
The article's writer says the organic movement feels that their time has arrived. "This has never been just about business," said Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm, the maker of organic yogurt. "We are here to change the world. We dreamt for decades of having this moment." After being largely ignored for years by Washington, advocates of organic and locally grown food have found a receptive ear in the White House, which has vowed to encourage a more nutritious and sustainable food supply." "The most vocal booster so far has been the first lady, Michelle Obama,
who has emphasized the need for fresh, unprocessed, locally grown food
and, last week, started work on a White House vegetable garden. More
surprising, perhaps, are the pronouncements out of the Department of
Agriculture, an agency with long and close ties to agribusiness." Click here to see and read the article "Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?" | |
Oklahoma Senate Ag Committee Meeting This Afternoon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We have the
link below of the agenda for the Senate Ag Committee that meets at 3:30 PM
this afternoon at the State Capitol in Room 534-A.
There are four bills on the agenda, including HB2151, which is the House version of the so called Livestock Preemption bill- the Senate companion to that measure is SB452, which was amended and passed the House Ag Committee last week. Also on their agenda today is the Dale Dewitt measure HB 1482, which is considered a strengthening of the Right to Farm law that we now have in Oklahoma. This measure passed the full House by a 99 to nothing vote. Click here for the complete agenda for the Senate Ag Committee Meeting Planned for this afternoon | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill and Johnston Enterprises for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked at the top of the email- check them 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 Woodward
Livestock market had 9,156 head of cattle on Friday- and saw higher prices
during the day compared to the Previous Friday. Steer yearlings were
steady to $2 higher, while steer calves were up $2 to $5 higher. The five
to six hundred pound steers brought $108.85 to $121, while the seven to
eight hundred pound steers closed from $90 to $98. Click
here for the full Woodward livestock auction report- it should be up
at this web location after 8 AM on Monday- hit refresh and it will likely
come up after that time.ALSO- click on the Daily Volume Report from the Texas Cattle Feeders below- it has the info on cash cattle sales jumping up two dollars on Friday in feedlot trade. 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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