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We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network weekdays- if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it- click here for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays on RON.
Let's Check the Markets!
OKC West is our Market Links Sponsor- they sell cattle three days a week- Cows on Mondays, Stockers on Tuesday and Feeders on Wednesday- Call 405-262-8800 to learn more.
Today's First Look:
mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Cash cattle sales in the Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico Feedlots were $2 higher for the week ending December 27th- according to the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. Click here for more details.
Each afternoon we are posting a recap of that day's markets as analyzed by Justin Lewis of KIS futures- click here for the report posted Friday afternoon, December 27, 2019
Okla Cash Grain:
Futures Wrap:
Feeder Cattle Recap:
Slaughter Cattle Recap:
TCFA Feedlot Recap:
Our Oklahoma Farm Report Team!!!!
Ron Hays, Senior Farm Director and Editor
Pam Arterburn, Calendar and Template Manager
Dave Lanning, Markets and Production
Kane Kinion, Web and Email Editorial Assistant
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Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
Monday, December 30, 2019
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
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 Featured Story:
Your Oklahoma Farm Report Ag Person of the Year- Oklahoma's First Female Secretary of Ag Blayne Arthur
We first learned that Governor Kevin Stitt had chosen Blayne Arthur to be his Secretary of Agriculture in mid December last year- and we had the first media interview with her as the Governor was making his selection public. She became the first female to ever hold the office in the state's history. Arthur was serving at this time a year ago as the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation's Executive Director and prior to that, served as Deputy Commissioner for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry under outgoing department head, Jim Reese, after being hired by his predecessor Terry Peach.
Click or tap here for that first story and interview with the nominee.
A hundred days into her service as the Secretary of Agriculture- we sat down with Arthur- and you can hear and read more in that story by clicking or tapping here- She told us "I'm certainly very excited that we're making some progress. I don't know that we're making as much progress as I would like to see as quickly as I'd like to see it. But we have had some great success from an animal health perspective," she said, alluding to the department's recent collaboration with the Kansas Department of Agriculture on a traceability project. "I think that will be a great opportunity for us to learn a lot and decide how we can best approach things in regard to the electronic identification of cattle."
Later in 2019- we had the opportunity to feature our Secretary of Ag in our Road to Rural Prosperity Podcast series- you can listen to it by clicking or tapping here.
Why Secretary Arthur for this special tip of the hat? Well, as we sat down and went over all the stories that we have covered over the course of 2019- there have been some really outstanding leaders that have surfaced- but her ability to be the face of agriculture in the Kevin Stitt Administration has been a constant throughout 2019- from her confirmation hearings and her interactions with lawmakers in the 2019 Legislative session to her touring eastern Oklahoma's flooding areas to being accessible to the many different ag groups where she has appeared at their meetings, spoken to their membership and interacted with dozens and dozens of producers and folks who live in both rural and urban Oklahoma.
The Secretary has done all of the public facing events with a smile on her face and a composed response to questions she has faced.
At the same time- she has navigated the internal aspects of the job- being the Secretary of Ag, the Commissioner of Ag and the President of the Oklahoma State Board of Agriculture. She also sits on the School Land Commission and the OSU Board of Regents.
We have known Blayne for a lot of years- and as we talked with her last December- we asked how she hoped to juggle her family like with this demanding role- she told us that she and her husband Jerrold had talked about that- "Within our family, we've got God first, and then our family and then our career follows that."
I will say that she has lived up to those words- based on what I have seen here in 2019- and I am proud to congratulate Secretary Blayne Arthur on a great 2019- and wish her an even better 2020!
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Sponsor Spotlight
It's great to have one of the premiere businesses in the cattle business partner with us in helping bring you our daily Farm and Ranch News Email- National Livestock Credit Corporation. National Livestock has been around since 1932- and they have worked with livestock producers to help them secure credit and to buy or sell cattle through the National Livestock Commission Company.
They also own and operate the Southern Oklahoma Livestock Market in Ada, Superior Livestock, which continues to operate independently and have a major stake in OKC West in El Reno. To learn more about how these folks can help you succeed in the cattle business, click here for their website or call the Oklahoma City office at 1-800-310-0220.
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Three other players who stood out to us as we looked at the stories of 2019 include Kelli Payne of the Oklahoma National Stockyards, Scott Blubaugh of the American Farmers and Ranches and Congressman Frank Lucas.
"Kelli who was hired" Payne became the first female General Manager of the Oklahoma National Stockyards- hired back in April- and being in the limelight here in 2019 has meant everyone has been able to see her do a bang up job in all the things to make sure the Stockyards continue on a path of not just being viable- but also being a relevant player in the marketing of stocker and feeder cattle in the region as well as continuing to be a trend setting market once again in 2019. Payne told us earlier in December that this is the first time in several years that total receipts at ONSY have topped 400,000 head.
Click or tap here for that most recent visit- and you can also check out an earlier visit with her that allowed us to explore what drives Kelli to lead with excellence- click or tap here for that earlier conversation back in June 2019.
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We also tip our hat to "Scott who was elected" back in February 2019 by the membership of the American Farmers and Ranchers- that being Scott Blubaugh of Kay County. Blubaugh won in his effort to take the position held for about a decade by Terry Detrick- who announced almost a year earlier that he would not seek reelection as leader of the general farm organization.
Blubaugh told us right after he heard that he had more 500 delegates that had voted for him that he was very honored to take on the job- following in the footsteps of folks like terry Detrick as well as George Stone- and being able to help direct a group dedicated to representing family farmers in the state.
Click or tap here to hear that conversation from last February between Scott and yours truly.
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Finally- we consider "Frank who took one for the team." That, of course, is Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas, who agreed to step away from the House Ag Committee for a short time to help leadership juggle the spots available to the GOP after the Republicans lost the Majority back in 2018.
Click or tap here to listen to a conversation with the Congressman that we had after we got confirmation that he would be leaving the Committee after the completion of the 2018 farm bill in Congress as it was signed into law just before Christmas 2018.
"With the smaller number of spots for Republicans on the various committees as we go from majority status to minority status - I'm helping the team; I'm helping the underclassmen; the new members coming in and I'll temporarily be taking a leave from the Agriculture Committee... still be on the Financial Services...," Lucas stated. "I will be the Ranking Member on the Science, Space & Technology committee. But, for this next couple of years, I'll be helping the team as we get through some challenging time here in Congress."
Lucas promises that he will return to the Committee for the next Farm Bill.
Since that January conversation- we have talked several times with the Congressman from Roger Mills County- and he continues to work in Washington with his greatest interest continuing to be what Congress can do that is of greatest benefit to farmers and ranchers- click or tap here for our early December conversation with Congressman Lucas.
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There have been lots of youth highlights and high achievers in 2019- but two young men stand out in my mind as we salute Ridge Hughbanks and Blake Kennedy as 2019 comes to a close.
Ridge Hughbanks of Alva heard his name called as a National FFA Officer in October 2018- and spent much of 2019 traveling thousands of miles as he served the national FFA organization- representing the Blue and Gold as he interacted with companies who support the FFA nationally- and along the way he spoke to and had one on one encounters with thousands of FFA members.
We have talked with Ridge a number of times in his role as a state and then national FFA officer- but you can hear our final visit with him in Indy as he prepared to help lead the multiple General Sessions in Lucas Oil Stadium of he 201 National FFA Convention- click or tap here to jump to that story. Also- you can click here and listen to his National Officer Farewell speech on the Friday of the Convention.
THEN- at the 2019 National FFA Convention- we watched as Blake Kennedy was named the American Star in Agribusiness for 2019 for his Perfect Timing Pig Sale that is one of the premiere events of its kind in the United States- click or tap here to listen to our visit as he headed to Indy as a Final Four finalist.
Ridge and Blake- two great examples of Excellence in Oklahoma Rural Youth for 2019!
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Three Cattle Producers from Oklahoma stand tall as Cattlemen who deserve our end of the year tip of the hat- three who have stepped up and have led their respective groups at the National Level.
We start with the Chairman of the Cattlemen's Beef Board- Chuck Coffee of Springer, Oklahoma. Coffey is a fifth-generation rancher who grew up on a ranch in the hill country of Harper, Texas. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in range science from Texas A & M. After completing his master's degree in 1985, Coffey taught agriculture at Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, eventually chairing the department until 1993 when he joined the Noble Foundation as a pasture and range consultant.
Click or tap here to read more and to listen to a conversation that we had with Chuck as he prepared to take on the job of being Chairman here in 2019-20.
"I've been active in the cattle business most of my life," Coffey said. "As I look forward to the year ahead, I truly believe that cattle producers have numerous reasons to be optimistic. As the CBB's new chair, I plan to work closely with our officer team and do everything I can to successfully guide the checkoff as it continues to pursue its primary mission: increasing beef demand worldwide."
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Another Oklahoma cattle producer who has nine years of service to the cattle industry is John Pfeiffer of Orlando- John has served as both the Chair of the Certified Angus Beef Program back in 2016 and then here in 2019 as the President of the American Angus Association.
We covered the 2019 Angus Convention in Reno- caught up with John as he wound down his Angus leadership career- you can hear that conversation by clicking or tapping here.
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Oklahoma can also brag about having top leadership in the American Hereford Association as well- Joel Birdwell of Kingfisher was elected as President of the Hereford Association this fall for 2020.
He and his wife, Bridget, and three sons, Jarret, Judson and Jhett, reside in Kingfisher, Okla., on the ranch his family homesteaded 115 years ago.
Joel raised and showed Hereford cattle in his youth and was involved in state and national junior Hereford programs. He attended Oklahoma State University (OSU), where he was a member of the 1995 livestock judging team, and managed the university's purebred beef cattle herd after graduation.
Click or tap here for more about Joel's cattle career leading him to this national leadership role as we end 2019.
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Two new CEOs are in critical roles for the cattle business as we end 2019 and kick off 2020.
Colin Woodall is the new CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association- replacing Kendall Frazier who announced his retirement earlier in 2019.
Woodall has been serving the cattle industry as the lead lobbyist in the Washington office for the organization- and is moving to the CEO of NCBA, based in Denver.
We have talked to Colin multiple times over the years- but you can click here to listen to one of our first visits after he was named as CEO of the NCBA.
ALSO in the CEO category- the Cattlemen's Beef Board has a new CEO as well- Greg Hanes has worked in recent years for one of the major contractors of the Beef Checkoff- the US Meat Export Federation- so Hanes comes into the CBB CEO slot well versed about how checkoff dollars are used internationally.
We talked to Greg back in November- and we produced a two part Beef Buzz with that conversation- part one can be heard by clicking here- and part two is available by clicking or tapping here.
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Sponsor Spotlight
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Click here to learn more about the Oklahoma Pork Council.
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The year is almost gone- and the Communications Team at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau have combed through their pictures from the past twelve months- and have come up with 33 of their favorites to capture the spirit of 2019 across the rural areas of our state.
Here is one of our favorites- Kelli Payne, who was named as the General Manager of the Oklahoma National Stockyards earlier in 2019- and who is on our list as a "Standout Performer" here in Oklahoma Ag here in 2019.
Click here for their Flickr Photo Album of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Favorite Pics of 2019. |
Ethan Lane says Trade Tops the National Cattlemen's Association List of Wins for Beef Producers
With 2019 almost in the rearview mirror, it's been a roller coaster year for beef producers. Ethan Lane took over the position of Vice President for Government Affairs for the national Cattlemen's Beef Association earlier this year. As he looks back over 2019, he says the most significant achievement this year would be about trade.
"This has been a momentous year in trade for the cattle industry. You know I think there have been points in this administration where we've had to kind of go on a leap of faith that the President was going to have our back, and was going to
execute on some of these priorities for us.
"But you know, here we sit about ready to go into the new year with equal access to that Japanese market that's so important for our producers, our largest export market, finally putting us on par with those competitors around the world. You know the prospect of increased access to the Chinese market." And Lane adds that January first sees the start of "potentially the removal of some of those onerous non-tariff trade barriers, you know, the access to the European Union, which has been a long-standing fight that Kent Bacus has been working on for years now to gain access to that market."
Click or tap here to read more and to hear comments from Ethan Lane on trade as well as how the NCBA was and continues to be proactive in pushing back on the Green New Deal.
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Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, AFR Insurance, Oklahoma Pork Council, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Stillwater Milling Company, National Livestock Credit Corporation, Oklahoma Beef Council, Oklahoma AgCredit, Oklahoma Ag Mediation Program, Inc., the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, 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- at NO Charge!
We invite you to check out our website at the link below too that includes an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.
God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
phone: 405-473-6144
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