From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 3:12 AM
To: Hays, Ron
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 Monday May 24, 2010
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Big Iron OnLine Auctions!
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-- Oklahoma Water Town Hall Meeting Happening in Norman
-- Inhofe Working on Death Tax Relief for 2011 and Beyond
-- Have Your Signed Up for the 2010 Farm Program? It's Time to Get Her Done!
-- The Latest on Wheat Disease with OSU's Bob Hunger
-- Our Oklahoma Agritourism Venue of the Week- Tatanka Ranch
-- Cattle on Feed Numbers From Uncle Sam Called Neutral
-- The Thomas Community Rallies to Save a School Program
-- 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 welcome Big Iron Unreserved Online Auctions as our newest sponsor of the daily Email. Their next auction is this Wednesday, May 26- featuring Low Hour, Farmer Owned Equipment. Click here for their website to learn more about their Online Farm Equipment Auctions.

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.

And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the just concluded Southern Plains Farm Show, as well as the Tulsa Farm Show. Click here for more on the December 2010 Tulsa Farm Show, including information on how you can be an exhibitor.

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 Water Town Hall Meeting Happening in Norman
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The state of Oklahoma is just a few days away from finally having a Fifty Year Water Plan on paper- at least a true "first draft" of that plan, after several years of meetings and thousands of manhours invested. The Oklahoma Academy of State Goals has organized this multi year process that has included district meetings, regional meetings, a couple of statewide conferences and now what is being called the Oklahoma Water Town Hall. This grand finale got underway on Sunday afternoon, May 23- and will continue through Wednesday afternoon, May 26.

In 2006, the state legislature directed the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to update the state's comprehensive water plan. The update, which began in Jan. 2007, includes in-depth technical studies and, for the first time, substantial public input.

Terry Detrick, President of the American Farmers & Ranchers, is one of about 180 state leaders that will be in these final sessions, helping draft what will end up being the first draft of the Comprehensive Water Plan for Oklahoma by Wednesday. Others from agriculture include leadership from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Cattlemen, Oklahoma Pork Council, Oklahoma Cotton Council and the Oklahoma Conservation community. Among the rural leaders that will be involved are Chris Hitch from Guymon, Bob Drake of Davis, Jimmy Kinder of Walters, Roy Lee Lindsey with the Oklahoma Pork Council, JT Winters of Mooreland and Tom Buchanan of Altus.

A lot of important issues have to be worked out for the draft report that will go to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board when this Town Hall Meeting finishes on Wednesday- and you can read more by clicking on the link below- and by listening to our interview with Terry Detrick when you get to the webstory.

Click here for more on this cruicial step being talked to assemble a Comprehensive Water Plan for Oklahoma.


Inhofe Working on Death Tax Relief for 2011 and Beyond
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Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe talked Death Tax reform with members of the Media in eastern Oklahoma County on Friday evening at the farm of Curt Roberts, who farms east of Arcadia. Senator Inhofe calls this a morality issue that must be addressed this calendar year- or we face a rollback in Estate Tax rates from the zero level of 2010 to just a million dollar exemption in 2011- plus a high

Inhofe is one of the original co-sponsors of a Senate measure that would set the Estate tax exemption at $5 million dollars per spouse, with a 35% tax rate on the excess. This measure would include the concept of a stepped up basis, and would be indexed for inflation. Inhofe's office, along with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, coordinated the event to showcase the urgency of getting something done.

Click here for a video story generated from this News Conference by our colleague Colleen Chen of News9 in Oklahoma City. Click on the link below to jump to our website, www.oklahomafarmreport.com to read more and hear the full comments from the News Conference with Senator Inhofe on the Estate Tax issue.

Click here for more on the Death Tax issue and what Senator Inhofe says he is trying to get done.


Have Your Signed Up for the 2010 Farm Program? It's Time to Get Her Done!
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Growers not yet signed up for the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program (DCP) or the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program should plan to do so before June 1, the sign-up deadline. USDA said this week that more than 75 percent of an expected 1.7 million farms have already enrolled in the program, but time for signing up is quickly coming to a close.

In Oklahoma- State FSA Director Francie Tolle expressed concerned that the remaining farmers that have signed up in the past for the farm program have not yet signed up for the 2010 program. She urges them to get to town this week and see your county FSA officials to get signup completed- which makes you eligible for Direct Payments of the crops you are growing that are program crops.

Tolle adds that NO extension is planned for 2010- so if you don't sign up before June first- you are leaving money on the table for the 2010 crop year.

Click here for more on this deadline- and a chance to hear our conversation with Francie Tolle about the DCP and ACRE signup for 2010.


The Latest on Wheat Disease with OSU's Bob Hunger
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Dr. Bob Hunger of Oklahoma State University emails us about the latest wheat diseases that he is seeing across the state of Oklahoma- as well as providing us some reports from his colleagues in nearby states.

Dr. Hunger writes of the situation in Oklahoma as of Saturday morning "Wheat across southern and central OK has lost or is quickly losing its flag leaves from a combination of diseases and maturation although some green tissue remains in flag leaves of varieties with resistance to stripe and leaf rust, barley yellow dwarf, or in wheat that was sprayed with a fungicide. Around Stillwater the wheat is in the late mild to soft dough stage. This past week weather across OK was wet and cool, but starting yesterday sunny, warm-to-hot temperatures, and wind will quickly advance the crop. Tomorrow I and two graduate students are headed for the panhandle so I'll report on that area of the state the middle of next week.
"Over this past week, samples have continued to come into the Diagnostic Lab with root rots including take-all, sharp eyespot (Rhizoctonia) and to lesser degree, dryland root rot (Fusarium). Although cool and wet to this point, neither I nor the lab has yet received any samples or reports of Fusarium head blight (scab) or of stem rust."

Click on the link below for more from Dr. Hunger on what he is hearing from other states (disease wise) as the wheat crop continues to quickly move closer to the harvest season.

Click here for the latest Wheat Disease Report from Dr. Bob Hunger of OSU


Our Oklahoma Agritourism Venue of the Week- Tatanka Ranch
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Tatanka Guest Ranch is nestled on 1000 acres of pristine Oklahoma countryside, conveniently located less than an hour from Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The ranch has 10 uniquely designed cabins and a two- bedroom guest house. Features include a lodge, pavilion, recreation room, playground, eight stocked ponds, and a 15-acre lake. Meals and lodging available for individuals and large picnic retreats. Horse rental, lake/river view, lounge/bar on-site, outdoor swimming pool, restaurant on-site, satellite/cable TV, senior discount, bicycle rental, canoe rental, coffee maker, hot tub and iron/board.

Tatanka Guest Ranch is one of several Agritourism venues that we are spotlighting this spring and early summer- complete with radio spots on the RON Ag and News Networks- and TV spots being seen in both the Oklahoma City and Tulsa markets.

Click on the link below to read more about Tatanka Ranch- then watch our TV spot that salutes them and tells their story- and check out their website as well- we have it linked as a part of our story at www.OklahomaFarmReport.com. And you can also jump over to the Oklahoma Agritourism site from there and learn more about the summer Passport Adventure contest that is underway to promote the 500 venues all across the state!

Click here to learn more about Tatanka Ranch and see our TV spot spotlighting this Agritourism destination.


Cattle on Feed Numbers From Uncle Sam Called Neutral
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The latest Cattle on Feed Numbers are out on Friday afternoon, May 21, 2010 and the figures released by USDA are largely what the cattle market watchers were expecting. Rich Nelson with Allendale says the lack of heavier placements this month tells him that feedlots are not rushing out and buying a lot of high priced calves to replace those they have been selling at a nice profit in recent weeks.

Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.5 million head on May 1, 2010. The inventory was 3 percent below May 1, 2009.
Placements in feedlots during April totaled 1.63 million, 2 percent above 2009. Net placements were 1.54 million head. During April, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 365,000, 600-699 pounds were 300,000, 700-799 pounds were 469,000, and 800 pounds and greater were 495,000.
Marketings of fed cattle during April totaled 1.85 million, 1 percent below 2009. Other disappearance totaled 89,000 during April, 29 percent above 2009.

Click on our link below to get the full report from the USDA- plus a chance to hear our conversation with Rich Nelson of Allendale on what the report is saying to this commodity firm.

Click here for more on the latest Cattle on Feed Numbers from USDA.


The Thomas Community Rallies to Save a School Program
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We got a call at the end of this past week from past National FFA officer Laila Hajii of Guthrie- telling me about the dad of a member of the officer team that she served as State President a few years back. The Thomas Fay Custer School System is like so many schools around the state that is having to make hard choices as they have more programs than money.

The School Board decided earlier this month to end their Tech- Ed program that is headed up by JC Scott. Scott has been there for six years- has had 89 students in their program this year and has helped both young people with life skills in construction and manufacturing- as well as had several young people go on to SWOSU in Weatherford and be a part of the Engineering-Technology program at the University. Southwestern is well known for their Pharmacy school- but the Engineering Technology School gives its graduates a chance to make the second best pay of any program (after Pharmacy grads) at the University- and Scott says that the Weatherford school has a 100% placement rate. Scott says he has been able to develop the program at Thomas Fay Custer to the point where they have sent several students on to SWOSU in this program- and more are in the pipeline.

The problem is that if that program is terminated- the pipeline closes as well. The School Board offered those who protested the termination of Scott and the program with a challenge- raise $48,000 by June 2 and the program stays. Over a fourth of the money has already been raised- and we wanted to share this story with you to give you a chance to help- if you care to- as well.
If you want to know about this effort, the person spearheading the fundraising is Rodney Wilson, Manager of the Wheeler Brothers Elevator in Thomas. His number is 580-661-3501.
You can also contact the banks in Thomas- accounts have been set up in both- just reference the "Thomas Fay Custer Tech Ed Fund." First State Bank in Thomas is participating and their number is 580-661-3515 and so is the Bank of the West location in Thomas- that number is 580-661-3541.
We wish these folks working to get this done and JC Scott the very best as this community pulls together to keep what sounds like a good thing going. And thanks to Laila for letting me know about this challenge.


Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers, KIS Futures and Big Iron Online Auctions 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- FREE!

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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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 $7.15 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $7.15 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. The May 21st edition was still not available as we assembled this email- so here is the listing of available commentaries.
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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