Presented by

 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

Featured Story:

Zippy Duvall Becomes 12th President of the American Farm Bureau- Scott VanderWal Elected Vice President 

It took three ballots on Tuesday afternoon in Orlando- but on the third ballot, at least 177 delegates voted for George Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall to become the 12th President of the American Farm Bureau.

Vincent "Zippy" Duvall is a poultry, cattle and hay producer from Greene County, Georgia, and served as president of the Georgia Farm Bureau for 9 years. Duvall has held numerous leadership positions in Farm Bureau and his local community. 


Duvall's first act as President of the organization was a request that he be allowed to bring his family to the podium to allow them to share in his moment. Delegates shouted yes and the picture here is of Duvall and his wife being shown as the new first family of AFBF. 

American Farm Bureau Goes on Record to Support Designation of Cottonseed as an Oilseed and Eradication of Wild Hogs 

On Tuesday, delegates to the 97th annual meeting of the American Farm Bureau worked their way through a thick book that includes existing policy for the general farm organization, as well as new policies that are being put into place for the first time here in Orlando. With just a couple of exceptions, the delegates moved through the issues in a rapid fire fashion, with the discussion over designating cottonseed as an oilseed taking the most time of any single issue.


Delegates discussed the pros and cons of going on record urging the Secretary to make that designation. Several farmers from the Midwest were concerned about the cost of adding cottonseed to the list of commodities that would be eligible to participate in either the Price Loss Coverage or Agricultural Risk Coverage options. An amendment was offered to push the decision on including cottonseed as an oilseed off to the next Farm Bill. However, southern growers quickly blasted that idea, saying that many farmers growing cotton might not make it that long without help.


Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan spoke in favor of the designation- saying cotton farmers across the country need this help- and he says that he has talked with Chief Economist of the House Ag Committee, Bart Fischer, who was a key player in writing the 2014 Farm Law- and Buchanan says that Fischer believes that this is doable and that the Secretary has the authority without reopening the 2014 Farm Law.


Another issue that Oklahoma had a great deal of interest in was the resolution offered to the national organization by Oklahoma- the eradication of feral hogs. I talked with Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan about these issues that delegates approved. You can hear their conversation by clicking here.

U.S. Wheat Prices Up on Wheat Acreage Decline, USDA Reports Show

A huge decline in U.S. winter wheat acres across the Great Plains was the most surprising news to come out of five crop reports released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The decline in wheat acres to the second lowest level since 1913 sent wheat prices climbing, according to Market Analysist Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities. U.S. winter wheat acres were estimated at 36.6 million acres. USDA lowered the nation's winter wheat acres by seven percent from 2015 and acres were 14 percent lower than 2014. 


The nation's Hard Red Winter (HRW) wheat acres were estimated at 26.5 million acres, down nine percent from a year ago. Leffer said that's the lowest since 1957. Oklahoma's wheat acres were down eight percent from last year at 4.9 million acres. Kansas was down eight percent at 8.5 million acres. Wheat acres in Texas wheat acres were down 12 percent at 5.3 million acres. Nebraska reported record low acreage at 1.28 million acres. That's 14 percent below a year ago. The nation's Soft Red Winter (SRW) wheat planted acres were estimated at 6.72 million acres, down five percent from last year.


That's where the friendly news ended for wheat. In the U.S. grain stocks report, Leffler said wheat stocks came in 40 million bushels higher than what the trade was looking for and 208 million bushels higher than a year ago. All wheat stored in all positions on December 1, 2015 totaled 1.74 billion bushels, up 14 percent from a year ago. He said ending stocks also came in larger than expected it totaling 941 million bushels. That's 30 million bushels more than month ago.

The U.S. corn and soybean production estimates were neutral to friendly.  USDA also released the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report.  Our Leslie Smith got analysis from Leffler.  Click or tap here to read more or to listen to the interview.

Click here for the USDA U.S. Crop Production report.

Click here for the USDA U.S. Crop Production 2015 Annual report.

Click here for the U.S. Grain Stocks report.

Click here for the U.S. Winter Wheat Seedings report.

Click here for the WASDE report.

Livestock Economist Steve Meyer Says Cattlemen Need to Adjust to Changing Times for Cattle Prices

The latest U.S. beef and pork exports as of November 2015 showed demand momentum. Pork exports were picking up the pace and beef exports also showed some signs of life. November exports of U.S. pork were up eight percent from a year ago. That was the largest volume since May. The export value was still down 13 percent from a year, but up slightly from October. November beef exports were down one percent from a year ago on volume, but's that was the largest volume since June. Beef export value did drop 17 percent compared to one year ago. I caught up with Steve Meyer of EMI Analytics at the American Farm Bureau annual convention in Orlando, Florida to talk about the livestock market outlook for 2016. 


Meyer is optimistic for 2016, as he thinks beef and pork exports will regain momentum. U.S. pork exports will finish the year positive on volume. U.S. pork and beef exports in 2015 will be down in terms of value because prices are significantly lower than they were a year ago. He said pork will be up about four percent on volume and the U.S. could make similar gains in 2016. On the beef side, the U.S. had lower exports of beef this year, along with continued strong imports of beef, due to the smaller U.S. cow herd and beef supply. Meyer said most beef imports have come from Australia, but their herd numbers have been reduced enough that those levels are not sustainable. He looks a reduction of beef imports in 2016, which will help the trade balance.


In looking at the current situation, Meyer said cattle producers need to come to the reality that 2014 cattle prices are not coming back. With better grass conditions, the nation's cow herd has been allowed to grow. That has been shown through reduced cow slaughter and heifer slaughter in the past year and a half. That's part of the reason cattle prices reached record levels, but Meyer said times have changed.


"We're on the backside of that now, so those times are gone," Meyer said. "So you need to reset your frame of reference from $1.50 or $1.60 fat cattle and $1.70 and $1.90 feeder cattle, back down to something more responsible. We think we're going to see a lot of fat cattle in the $130's, a lot of feeder cattle in the $155 - $160. We think calves are still going to push $2."

I featured Meyer on the Beef Buzz feature. Click or tap here to listen to today's Beef Buzz.

FarmAssure is very proud of their Independent Agents. Boasting the best 200 farm insurance agents in Oklahoma, every county is covered. They write policies for small farms, country homes, hobby farms and the newest addition, personal auto. All agents have embraced the company's ease of doing business, coverages and rates, and excellent claim service.  FarmAssure jumped in to successfully fill a void in Oklahoma, especially with their country home program.Click here for more information about FarmAssure or call 800-815-7590. You'll be glad you did.

AFBF Economist Optimistic $5 Corn Will Return, But Farmers Have to Cut Expenses at Today's Prices

America's farmers are extremely talented in producing crops. Just a few years ago, farmers had strong demand from the ethanol industry and from China, so much that domestic and international demand was exceeding supply. Over the last few years, U.S. grain stocks have been building and that presents a different kind of challenge. American Farm Bureau Chief Economist Bob Young said anytime where demand growth is flat, U.S. agriculture has the ability to out produce the available demand. He said until we end up with a weather phenomenon some place around the world, it's going to be tough for commodity prices to move higher. Young said a ten billion bushel hit in corn production would be enough to tighten supplies and move prices higher. He predicts some time over the next three years, corn will get back above $5.


"I just really think that opportunity is going to present itself," Young said. "So we need to talk about marketing our grain, maybe in a little bit different fashion than we have before, maybe lengthening out marketing cycles, maybe think about two years, three years in front of us. Use crop insurance to kind of make sure we are protecting ourselves on the other side for when those droughts were to occur or that we would end up with a crop yield hit, but I just think we're going to have to be very sharp as we roll forward."


In waiting for higher prices, farmers have to deal with today's reality by figuring out ways to cut expenses with lower commodity prices. Young said farmers will need to look at all expenses to lower their cost structure. This includes renegotiating land rental rates and cutting inputs from energy to seed. He recommends farmers look at all components.

I interviewed Young in a roundtable discussion where we discussed cattle prices, crop insurance, demand from China, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement and the outlook for many mergers in U.S. agriculture.  Click or tap here to listen to the interview.

Want to Have the Latest Energy News Delivered to Your Inbox Daily?

Prescribed Burning Aids Producers in Land Management

Prescribed burning is an effective technique in land resource management, but it must be used in a safe and proper manner.


The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation will host a Prescribed Burn Workshop to discuss the benefits and proper use of prescribed burning for land management. This workshop, which is open to the public, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the Noble Foundation Oswalt Road Ranch in Marietta, Oklahoma.


"Most landowners would love to be able to use at their demand, any of Mother Nature's natural processes - especially rain," said Russell Stevens, wildlife and range consultant. "Fire comes close; we can apply fire when the weather and other variables fit the prescription outlined in a burn plan. Fire, especially when used correctly, is a powerful and often needed process on grasslands and woodlands of the Southern Great Plains."

To read more about this upcoming workshop and how to register, click or tap here.

This N That- Wil Hundl Austin Bound,  No Big Iron Auction Today and Bellringer Sale Kicks Off Tomorrow

As we get rolling on 2016- the Superior Livestock folks have got a huge number of cattle consigned for this year's Bellringer sale that starts tomorrow morning.

Over the next couple of days- they will be selling just over 78,000 head of cattle in the sale that is being broadcast live from Denver, Colorado- just a few miles up the Interstate from the National Western grounds. 

All the details about the two day sale can be seen by clicking here.

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment,  American Farmers & Ranchers, Stillwater Milling Company, Oklahoma AgCredit,  the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, Pioneer Cellular, Farm Assure 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 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  

God Bless! You can reach us at the following:  

Oklahoma Farm Bureau is Proud to be the Presenting Sponsor of the Ron Hays Daily Farm and Ranch News Email