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.

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NCBA President Steve Fogelsong says that it's obvious from this meeting that "USDA wants to have a clear picture of what the Federation's role is in the new NCBA structure." The Federation that Fogelsong refers to is the entity that was created by the Checkoff law of the late 1980s that is the Federation of State Beef Councils that was originally the Beef Industry Council of the National Livestock and Meat Board. That group and the old NCA merged in the mid 1990s even as the new NCBA continued the role of the major checkoff contractor for doing the work of the checkoff at the direction of the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion Board.

The decision was made over a year ago that NCBA needed a new governing structure- and according to an interview that we did back in the winter at the Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio with Jan Lyons, who has been a co-chair of the Goverance Task Force for the organization- there was a conscious decision made to bring the Federation side of the organization closer to the Policy side instead of making the firewall higher. Lyons told us that both arguments were considered and that it was felt to be able to respond to the challenges the industry faces today- a closer relationship was justified.

We have details about what was said to USDA by Fogelsong and the Chairman of the Federation of State Beef Councils, Scott George of Wyoming, who was also a part of the Tuesday meeting. Click on the link below- we have audio from the News Conference that followed the meeting by USDA and NCBA- plus several links from earlier stories we have written on this unfolding controversy.

Click here for more on the NCBA and USDA meeting on the Restructuring of NCBA and its impact on the Federation of State Beef Councils.

"USDA appreciates the opportunity to discuss the reorganization proposal put forward by NCBA during their visit today. Secretary Vilsack's recent letter to NCBA represents USDA's current position on this issue. We remain concerned that NCBA's current proposal weakens the firewall between policy and checkoff funded activities, and have asked NCBA to put in writing how they plan to carry out each of the Secretary's guidelines outlined in the letter."

As the countdown to signing up for the 2010 Farm Programs continue- today we have a detailed look at ACRE as we talk with Rodney Jones, OSU Area Ag Economist about this farm program option that many wheat farmers signed up for in 2009. Once you sign up for ACRE- you are in through the life of the current farm law- however, you still have to sign up each year to stay in good graces with USDA.

We had a really good conversation that explains a lot of stuff about ACRE with Rodney Jones- and you can go and take a listen to that by clicking on the link below.

Click here for more on All Things Acre with OSU Area Ag Economist Rodney Jones.

Dinneen wrote that by including an extension of these important incentives in any green jobs legislative package - Congress will advance the goal of providing cleaner, renewable energy alternatives and save existing green jobs while promoting additional job opportunities from an expanding biofuel industry. The letter notes ethanol has been an extremely useful weapon in the fight for energy independence.

In addition - the RFA points out that a failure to extend tax incentives for the use of ethanol would result in the loss of 112-thousand jobs and the reduction of America's ability to supply its own renewable fuel by nearly 40-percent. As Dinneen wrote - the benefits domestic ethanol production has provided and the promises for the future are not guaranteed. There is still a role for the federal government to play in continuing the evolution of this domestic industry.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says the study shows there's often a shortage of facilities needed to bring food to market. Vilsack says the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative is working to address various shortcomings in the food supply chain on behalf of the country's producers and consumers. According to Vilsack - there is an economic benefit if there is a stronger, closer link between production and consumption.

Click on the link below for more on this study from USDA as they continue to press for more priority to be given to small farmers in their Know Your Farmer Know Your Food efforts.

Click here to jump to the USDA website for more on this Packer Alignment with Concentations of Small Producers.

Nearly 600 head will sell, featuring 500 Fall calving bred heifers and cows,60 Spring Calving Pairs and 30 herd bull prospects ready to turn out.
As always, this is a program known for quality and customer service. You can view the cattle anytime during the sale week.

Kris Black writes in the 2010 catalog "Once again we are offering a volume of quality cattle in the 9th sale. They are deep, diverse and right on target for major club calf production. There is a wealth of quality cattle from the bred heifers, all the way to the tremendous set of spring pairs with A.I. calves at side. The sire groups are impressive and exemplary of our goals."

Click here to jump to Collins Cattle Services website and details of the Cream of the Crop sale for 2010.

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

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.
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.