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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday July 1, 2010
A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Big Iron
OnLine Auctions!
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-- Ohio Ag and HSUS Do Deal- HSUS Backs Off Fall Ballot Vote
-- Bill to Open Cuba for Ag Exports- AND Tourists- Passes the House
Ag Committee on Party Line Vote
-- US Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack Calls on Congress to Consider Ways to
Grow the Number of Farmers in the US
-- Lincoln Promises No Command and Control from Washington
-- USMEF's Phil Seng Offers His View on Canada Beating Us to Deal
with Chinese on Beef
-- Planted Acreage Report Holds Surprise Wednesday Morning
-- Thanks Rick!!!
-- 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 Wednesday, July 14- 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. 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. | |
Ohio Ag and HSUS Do Deal- HSUS Backs Off Fall Ballot Vote ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Humane
Society of the United States will not pursue a ballot initiative in Ohio
this fall. That's because HSUS and Ohio agricultural groups have reached
an agreement that preserves the integrity of the Ohio Livestock Care
Standards Board approved by voters last fall and provides a pathway for
enactment of eight major animal welfare reforms. The agreement calls for
the livestock board and/or state legislature to adopt several provisions -
including a moratorium on permits for the construction of egg production
facilities that would use conventional cage housing; a ban on gestation
stalls after December 31st this year, with existing stalls permitted to
stay in production for 15 years; and a ban on transportation of
non-ambulatory cows for slaughter.
"One of animal agriculture's most vocal critics has agreed that the Livestock Care Standards Board is the proper authority to handle difficult questions about farm animal care," said Jack Fisher, OFBF executive vice president. "This is truly a milestone and confirms Ohio's position as a national leader in farm animal care." The story we have on our website includes the full news release from the HSUS, info from the Ohio Farm Bureau website and an audio report featuring Jack Fisher, Executive Vice President of the Ohio Farm Bureau- our thanks to the Buckeye Ag Radio Network for help in getting that audio from the News Conference held yesterday afternoon. Click on the LINK below and read and listen to our coverage. One thing we noticed on the Ohio Farm Bureau story were a couple of
comments from members out in the state- who were VERY unhappy with the
compromise- feeling that Farm Bureau had sold farmers out in this deal
with the HSUS. | |
Bill to Open Cuba for Ag Exports- AND Tourists- Passes the House Ag Committee on Party Line Vote ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
efforts to open up access to Cuba for US farm exports was in the spotlight
on Wednesday afternoon in the House Ag Committee. The bill with 62
co-sponsors had rough going before the Democrats were able to stay
together and move this measure out of the Committee. After a handful
amendments were ruled out of order and a motion to report the Travel
Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act out of committee without a
recommendation - committee members finally voted 25 to 20 to report the
bill with a favorable recommendation.
The measure provides for expanded agricultural trade with Cuba and allows Americans to travel more freely to the island. Calling it the right policy at the right time - Committee Chair Collin Peterson said the committee took a courageous vote to end the short-sighted and failed policy that limits American agriculture's access to the Cuban market. Several groups hailed passage after the three hour markup was completed. The President of the National Corn Growers, Darren Ihnen expressed the feelings of many ag groups as he said "Increasing one-way trade with Cuba and lifting the travel ban will provide additional markets for corn products and co-products, which will in turn help the American farmer. We are pleased to see the Committee adopt this important piece of legislation with a favorable recommendation and we look forward to working with all members of the House of Representatives to ensure passage on the floor." | |
US Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack Calls on Congress to Consider Ways to Grow the Number of Farmers in the US ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Senate Ag
Committee has kicked off a series of Farm Policy Hearings here in 2010-
and their first witness was the US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack.
Vilsack called on the Committee to consider a fresh direction for the next
farm bill, asking them to consider policy that will enable the US to
rebuild farm population in the next few years. He also repeated his common
call to do more to energize the rural economy, saying that we need to do
all we can to increase income levels in rural America. We have Secretary
Vilsack's opening comments-
Click here to jump to our story where you can hear them.
We also have the opening comments from Bob Stallman, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, who told lawmakers that the 2012 farm bill must continue to provide the nation's farmers a dependable safety net, but given today's tight budget outlook, the legislation must also be fiscally responsible. Click here to go to our webstory with Stallman's comments to be able to hear his opening statement as he summarized it. The other panelist in the second wave of those who testified before the Senate Ag Committee on Wednesday morning was Roger Johnson of the National Farmers Union. Johnson promoted the idea that the Direct Payment is not the best way to put a safety net under the farmer in this day and age- and wants more of a countercyclical approach emphasized as we write the next farm bill. Click here for the Johnson story and a chance to hear his opening statement. | |
Lincoln Promises No Command and Control from Washington ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Senate Ag
Committee held their first farm bill hearing for 2010 on the last day of
the first half of the year. In opening remarks - Committee Chairman
Blanche Lincoln called the farm bill one of the most important pieces of
legislation that Congress considers on behalf of rural America and the
nation's farmers and ranchers. This first hearing focused on how well the
current safety net is working for producers.
Click on the LINK below to go to our story that features the comments of Senator Lincoln at the opening of the hearing- you can hear the audio of the opening thoughts and concepts advanced by the Senator from Arkansas. | |
USMEF's Phil Seng Offers His View on Canada Beating Us to Deal with Chinese on Beef ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last week's
announcement that mainland China will reopen to Canadian beef is a
significant development, as both the U.S. and Canada have been shut out of
this market for several years due to lingering BSE-related trade
restrictions.
On today's Beef Buzz, U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO Philip Seng says the agreement will likely provide Canada with an important "head start" in reestablishing sales channels in China. However, Seng adds that the agreement could provide a long-term benefit to the U.S. beef industry by serving as the prototype for a similar agreement between the United States and China. Click on the LINK below to get over to this Beef Buzz, as heard on great radio stations all across the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network. Click here for this Beef Buzz featuring comments from Phil Seng of the USMEF | |
Planted Acreage Report Holds Surprise Wednesday Morning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While a
nationwide survey of farmers pointed to it - the pre-report trade
estimates did not - resulting in a fairly big surprise in USDA's planted
acreage report released Wednesday. Corn planted area is estimated at
87.9-million acres. That's still a two-percent increase from 2009 - and is
nearly a record - but is one-percent below March intentions. Soybean
acreage is pegged at a record high 78.9-million acres - also a two-percent
increase from last year.
Record-high planted soybean acreage was reported in Kansas, Nebraska, New York and Pennsylvania. Minnesota and Oklahoma tied their record highs. Iowa leads all states with 10.2-million acres. Illinois and Kansas reported the largest increases in corn acres. Indiana, Missouri and Ohio also had notable increases. Iowa leads the nation with 13.3-million acres despite experiencing the largest decrease in planted acreage. Cotton acres are up for the first time since 2006. Thanks in part to good weather and high prices - farmers planted 10.9-million cotton acres - up 19-percent from last year. But total U.S. crop area is down slightly. The 360-thousand acre decline from 2009 is only a tenth of a percent decrease. Click here for our coverage from Wednesday morning as found on our website- OklahomaFarmReport.Com | |
Thanks Rick!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ June 30th
marked the point in time that Oklahoma agriculture lost a lot of expertise
within the public sector. A host of employees at the Oklahoma Department
of Agriculture took early retirement- several of them as of the close of
business on Wednesday, while the OSU Division of Agriculture also saw a
substantial number of early retirements become effective as of yesterday.
One of those retirements that is now official took the Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture for the State out the door. Rick Maloney was not only a key right hand man kind of a guy for State Ag Secretary Terry Peach- but was also the head of the Market Development Division for the Agency. At a reception held Wednesday evening- it was not just co workers who showed up to wish Maloney well- but also lawmakers and ag leaders from all segments of Oklahoma Agriculture. During the presentations made to Maloney- it was mentioned that he had especially served Oklahoma's youth well- being involved in things like the Oklahoma Youth Expo, the Tulsa State Fair and a lot more. Click on the LINK below- and you can see a few of the pictures we snapped last night of the reception as Rick Maloney ended his day job- and can now spend even more time being a champion of Oklahoma agriculture and rural youth in some different ways- that is, once he gets his list of "honey dos" taken care of. Click here to see pictures from the Rick Maloney Retirement Reception on Wednesday Evening. | |
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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are
$7.05 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: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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