Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are pleased to have American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click here to go to their AFR web site to learn more about their efforts to serve rural America!

It is also great to have as an annual sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. Johnston has opened up four million bushels of additional storage space for the 2010 wheat crop. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their brand new website!

And we are proud to have P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy as as one of our regular sponsors of our daily email update. P & K is the premiere John Deere dealer in Oklahoma, with ten locations to serve you, and the P & K team are excited about their new Wind Power program, as they offer Endurance Wind Power wind turbines. Click here for more from the P&K website.

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.

For our spring planted row crops- "Good condition ratings continue to be reported for row crops. Corn silking reached 95 percent complete, a 13 point increase from the week prior and 20 points ahead of the five-year average. Sorghum headed reached 34 percent complete, 18 points ahead of normal. Forty percent of soybeans were bloomed by week's end, a 19 point increase from the week earlier, and six points ahead of normal. Peanuts pegging reached 81 percent complete by week's end and 40 percent of the plants were setting pods. Cotton squaring reached 78 percent complete, 13 points ahead of normal. Thirty percent of the cotton crop was setting bolls by week's end, 20 points ahead of normal."

Click on the LINK below for the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update- with additional info on pasture conditions, the status of our watermelon harvest and more.

Nationally-click here for the US Crop Ratings Report from USDA- the US corn crop ratings slipped one percentage point from 73 percent good to excellent in last week's report to 72 percent this week- but soybean crop ratings improved a couple of points up to 67% in good to excellent condition.

Click here for the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update as issued on Monday afternoon July 19

The Event to be held at Johnston's Grain Elevator in Enid, will feature several ag leaders offering their thoughts on SQ744- including Terry Dietrick of AFR, Mike Spradling of Oklahoma Farm Bureau and Dr. Barry Pollard who raises Purebred Angus cattle and is owner of P&K Equipment.

State Question 744 will appear on the ballot this November- and if passed- would require the state of Oklahoma to increase common education funding up to the level of the regional average. This would put common education at the front of the line for state money- and the other programs and obligations of the state would scramble for the money that would be left. State lawmakers would either have to cut all other services in the state drastically- or dramatically raise taxes in some form or fashion statewide.
Agricultural interests fear that the exemption for ag inputs from the state sales tax might be ended- and are also concerned that property taxes might be considered as as a cash cow to pay for this mandate- if adopted.
If you want to read up on the pro side of 744- click here for the website that is beating the drum for 744- we have the website from the One Oklahoma Coalition linked below that is dedicated to stopping 744 this fall.

Click here for the website that is dedicated to defeating State Question 744 this fall

The Masters in Beef Advocacy is a program that has developed out of the need to have grass roots cattle producers ready to respond to those in their community or in the media that do not understand how today's beef cattle farms and ranches operate.

Hear the first part of a two part conversation that we had with Daren about the MBA program that is featured in today's Beef Buzz. We also have the link to learning more about the MBA program in our Buzz story. Click on the LINK below to jump to our Beef Buzz- as heard on great radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- and heard in our Beef Buzz section of our website- www.OklahomaFarmReport.Com.

Click here for our Beef Buzz with Daren WIlliams as we talk about the Beef Industry's MBA.

The grain groups told government officials that continued use of the term "refined" is inaccurate and confusing to both consumers and nutrition professionals and has an inappropriate negative connotation to the media and consumers.
The industry recommended using the term "enriched" instead, since 95 percent of all refined/milled grains are enriched with niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, iron and folic acid, and terminology including "enriched" would be more in line with Food and Drug Administration labeling standards.

The groups also asked for a reconsideration of the dietary recommendation to limit "refined carbohydrates", which incorrectly implies that most enriched grain products - carbohydrates - have excessive sugar or fat. The grain groups said the recommendation could be likened to telling consumers to consume fewer almonds merely because they are a popular ingredient in chocolate bars.

Apart from NAWG, organizations signing onto the joint comments included American Bakers Association, American Institute of Baking, Grain Foods Foundation, Grains for Health Foundation, Independent Bakers Foundation, National Pasta Association, North American Millers Association, Retail Bakers of America, USA Rice Federation and Wheat Foods Council.

Click here to read the entire set of comments made by the Grain Industry groups listed above.

Newberry brings a wealth of insurance experience to the position. He started his career with the company in 1993 as an adjuster in the Tulsa District Claims office. He has steadily been promoted to a number of important managerial positions including Central District Claims Manager, Associate Claims Manager and in 2005 was named Vice President of Claims.

He has completed numerous insurance related courses including Property Insurance, Life and Health Insurance, Insurance Law, Essentials of Risk Management and Risk Financing. He also has the Associate in Claims (AIC) designation. Newberry is a native of Mounds. He graduated high school in that Creek County Community and later earned a bachelor of business administration in insurance from the University of Central Oklahoma.

Myron was very active in the Republican Party, including serving as county chairman for many years. He was instrumental in helping the start up of Value Added Products in Alva. He was awarded Alva Area Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year in 2000 for the many contributions he made to his community. Myron was appointed by Gov. Frank Keating to the Oklahoma International Trade Development Council and he served on numerous state and county level committees. He was a member of First United Methodist Church, Alva, where he served on many committees and served as trustee chairman.

Bradt farmed with his family, in addition to his involvement with VAP- and was a member of Class 6 of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program.

All of the major futures markets are available in the App, with a ten minute delay for most of the various contracts. Kurtis Ward tells us that they have set this up using the electronic trade contracts for the various commodities- which means that you get prices of the open outcry trades during the day- but then continue to get quotes in the evening and overnight- allowing you to always know what the market is thinking and the current direction of the market.

Click on the link below to jump to the Itunes store to buy the App- it costs $1.99 but for those that going to go to the OCA Convention and Trade Show at the end of this month- KIS will be giving you your purchase fee back if you show them that you have the KIS Futures App installed.

Click here for the KIS Futures App now available through Itunes.

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.