~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday April 16, 2009
A
service of Johnston Enterprises, KIS Futures and American Farmers &
Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- "It Ain't Pretty"
-- Broadband- Rural America Has Gotta Have It
-- Conservation Dollars Multiply In Rural Oklahoma's economy
-- Where are those Darn Cameras of HSUS When You Need Them???
-- Two More Dr. Joe Hughes Stories to Share
-- Express Ranch Getting Ready for Their Annual Grass Time Sale
-- 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! 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. | |
"It Ain't Pretty" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma State
University State Wheat Specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards has finished his first
round of post freeze examinations of the 2009 Oklahoma winter wheat crop
and his first characterization is "It ain't pretty." Dr. Edwards says that
southwest Oklahoma will have few wheat fields that will recover enough
from the double dose of freezing conditions to bother pulling a combine
into. At the Apache OSU wheat plots, they checked early, medium and late
maturing varieties- and found 80% to 96% freeze injury. Slightly further
north in Canadian County in the El Reno-Union City plots, 60% injury was
common. Dr. Edwards says that other reports from deeper in the southwest
also confirm these observations. South of I-40 clearly has the most severe
damage.
From I-40 to State Highway 51- the damage is also severe. OSU Wheat Plots in Kingfisher County showed freeze damage from 60% to 90%. North of State Highway 51, Edwards says that the freeze damage is more variable with the Lahoma test station reporting 40% to 70% injury. Other reports from the Enid area is that the later maturing fields have fared better, as is to be expected. Little freeze damage is seen in the northern tier of counties across the top of the state of Oklahoma. From Kay County west- damage is being assessed at 10% or less. Similar reports are coming from the three Panhandle counties. We have more on this unfolding situation with our 2009 winter wheat crop. Click on our link below for the rest of this story- including an audio conversation with Dr. Jeff Edwards of OSU- and a link to the Power Point Presentation that he made on Wednesday to the Oklahoma Wheat Commission Board Meeting in Oklahoma City. | |
Broadband- Rural America Has Gotta Have It ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The
Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service and the Commerce
Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration
requested comments on both allocation of the funding and implementation of
new broadband services. In response, the American Farm Bureau Federation
pointed out that the intent of Congress in recently passed legislation was
to provide broadband services to unserved and underserved areas of the
nation. Doing so, AFBF said, would bolster rural communities and families
by giving them enhanced access to health care, education and business
opportunities.
AFBF President Bob Stallman says, - America's farmers and ranchers need viable rural communities for the goods and services required for their agricultural operations. They also need - affordable high-speed broadband service to access markets, weather reports, and government agencies. The letter noted that unserved and underserved areas that lack access to a modern high-speed telecommunications infrastructure are predominantly in rural America and called for the vast majority of funds to be allocated to meet the needs of those communities. AFBF also noted retail price should be one of the primary considerations when awarding funding. | |
Conservation Dollars Multiply In Rural Oklahoma's economy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly $76
million annually is spent on conservation in Oklahoma, but it is worth
much more in terms of both dollars generated and widespread positive
effect, according to an Oklahoma State University study.These dollars represent injections into regional economies across the state, thereby generating additional economic activity and helping to stabilize key industries vital to local communities, said Dave Shideler, OSU Cooperative Extension agricultural economist who conducted the study. "The study is a tool for local conservation districts as they write grants and look for partners," he said. "As we work to protect the environment, it makes sense to do so in ways that provide sustainable economic effects that can be the pillars of community prosperity." "An example of this would be a farmer who receives funds to purchase
and establish permanent vegetative cover to prevent soil erosion, provide
wildlife habitat or improve the nutrient content of the soil, all very
important to environmental stewardship," said Robert W. Toole, director,
Conservation Programs Division of the Oklahoma Conservation
Commission. The $76 million also included $39.2 million in direct payments to
landowners in fiscal year 2008. Typically, these payments are
reimbursements for lost income that happened as a result of implementing
conservation practices. | |
Where are those Darn Cameras of HSUS When You Need Them??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I must admit
that I am mighty proud of one of my "kids" in the professional world of
farm broadcasting, as Cyndi Young of the Brownfield Network from Missouri
has written a sublime story on how cattle producers really care for their
animals- care in a way that the Humane Society of the US would never want
to admit.
Cyndi worked for me in Oklahoma City at the previous network that I established back in the early 1990s- she was a broadcast talent on the rise and felt the call to go back home to Illinois after spending a year or so in Oklahoma. She later went to work for Brownfield- first in Illinois and later took over their Farm Director position of the entire multi state network and moved to Missouri in the process. She fell in love and married a rancher in central Missouri- they have a farm operation and it was her play by play of a cow giving birth to a calf gone wrong that shows the care of livestock producers in this country. The link below will take you to her story so very well told by Cyndi-
but a paragraph at the bottom of this blog entry says a lot of about the
battle that the US livestock industry finds itself in here in 2009. Cyndi
writes "As HSUS and PETA spend millions of dollars to convince the
unknowing public that those of us who raise livestock are irresponsible
and barbaric, I ask again, where are the video cameras when we're checking
cows in ten below zero temperatures in the middle of the night?" | |
Two More Dr. Joe Hughes Stories to Share ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two more
tributes have come in that speak of the impact that OSU Extension Youth
Livestock Specialist Dr. Joe Hughes had during his lifetime. Funeral
services for Dr. Hughes are planned for Friday morning in Stillwater at 9
AM at the First Baptist Church.
Mike Thralls of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission writes "Donna and I first met Joe when he was a graduate student and we were undergraduates. His spot in the basement of the old Animal Science building was the first cubby hole against the wall on the back row of desks. And Joe was there from early till late, as dedicated to that study as he was to his military service, his God, and his later career in extension. From the first, I came to appreciate that Joe was a person of integrity; he worked hard, was always the gentleman, and did not know how to tell a lie. As the years went by he had the same kind of positive impact on each of our five children encouraging their character development as they honed their livestock skills through various activities at which Joe was the constant presence. It has been our family's great honor to know and love Joe and have him as our friend. Certainly he has set the gold standard of service and character worthy for all of us to follow." Angus Breeder John Pfeiffer also remembers his early encounters with Joe Hughes. "I still remember the first time that I saw Dr. Hughes and later met him. I was a senior in high school in 1971 and to this point all of the livestock judging contest had been run by Ray Parker they were organized but rather laid back. At the Oklahoma city spring show that year there was a new person in charge. This little short man was giving orders and lay out rules to be followed and whole different approach than what this senior with all the answers was use to. Later that afternoon at the awards presentation we met and it was a friendship that has lasted a life time for both me as well as my family." | |
Express Ranch Getting Ready for Their Annual Grass Time Sale ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Express
Ranches in Yukon are pleased to announce their Annual Grass Time Sale is
coming up on Friday May 1st at 12:00 pm at the ranch.
They will be selling over 600 head- including For information you can contact the folks at Express Ranches at 1-800-664-3977. We also have the link to more on this sale as found on their website- click on the link below to jump there. Click here for more on the Grass Time Sale of Express Ranch coming May 1, 2009 | |
Our thanks to KIS Futures, Johnston Enterprises and AFR 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! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OKC West in El
Reno sold 5,521 cattle on Wednesday, with yearlings steady to $3 higher-a
nd calves also up- generally $1 to 43 stronger. Market reporter Tina Colby
writes from the sale "Calf demand good. Many wheat farmers looking for
graze-off calves after last week's freeze damaged some wheat pastures
across the state." For a rundown of the prices in El Reno from yesterday-
click
here for that USDA market report.
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|