We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network weekdays- if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it- click here for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays on RON.
Let's Check the Markets!
Today's First Look:
mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Each afternoon we are posting a recap of that day's markets as analyzed by Justin Lewis of KIS futures - click or tap here for the report posted yesterday afternoon around 3:30 PM.
Okla Cash Grain:
Futures Wrap:
Feeder Cattle Recap:
Slaughter Cattle Recap:
TCFA Feedlot Recap:
Our Oklahoma Farm Report Team!!!!
Ron Hays, Senior Farm Director and Editor
Carson Horn, Associate Farm Director and Editor Pam Arterburn, Calendar and Template Manager Dave Lanning, Markets and Production Macey Mueller, E-mail and Web Writer
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Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News
Presented by 
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
Monday, August 29, 2016
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
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 Featured Story:
This past Friday, I had the opportunity to sit and speak with Dr. Thomas Coon, vice president, dean and director of the OSU Division of Agriculture & Natural Resources (DASNR). With the new school year starting among many of other activities happening, Dr. Coon says there is a lot of excitement in the air. The 2016 fall semester, Coon says, is up 20 percent in both freshman and transfer enrollment. He underscores that last year was in fact an all-time record year for enrollment in the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources. He says that dramatic growth is being seen throughout the college with in and out of state student segments both on the rise. He says the numbers continue to rise in the most popular departments such as Animal Science, Plant & Soil Science, Biosystems, Ag Engineering and Natural Resource & Ecology Management.Coon says his staff at the college is doing everything it can to assist students to prepare for and find potential employment and reports that they are getting great participation from a large number of employers.The only numbers that aren't up though are those on the budget, especially for the experiment station and extension legs of the three-legged stool that is DASNR, since those branches cannot draw tuition dollars. Over the last two years, Coon says that almost one-fifth, 19 percent to be exact, of DASNR's state funding has been cut. "It's a challenge we've got to respond to in a positive way," Coon said. "Our mission has not ended; our responsibilities have not gone away."Coon says despite the financial difficulties this situation presents to the Division's operations, they will make it work. Getting creative, DASNR is in transition he says, working to find ways to spread their workforce as much as possible, while also not filling positions that can afford to be left vacant.Listen to Dr. Coon talk more about what's been going on within DASNR recently.
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Sponsor Spotlight
In Oklahoma, John Deere starts with P&K. They lead the way with equipment solutions, for everything from mowers to utility vehicles, tractors to hay and harvest equipment, and everything in between. P&K Equipment has ten locations across Oklahoma, and an additional nine locations in eastern Iowa. Inventory, resources, solutions that work: P&K's got it all for a wide range of John Deere equipment, and they make it their mission to do business with honesty, courtesy, and a sense of urgency. Visit P&K Equipment online, find the locations nearest you, meet your local John Deere experts, and experience the P&K/John Deere difference today.
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McCoy-Beebe and Drummond Ranches Take Top Honors at OCA Range Roundup
After two nights of competition at the Lazy E Arena, the final standings proclaimed two of the ranch teams as the champions of the 2016 Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Range Roundup. Sharing top honors were the McCoy Ranch-Beebe Livestock of Aga and the Drummond Land and Cattle Company of Pawhuska. Here are the winning cowboys for the 2016 OCA Range Roundup  We'll have full numbers later on the amount of support that was raised by the 2016 Range Roundup for the Children's Hospital Foundation- but from all indications- 2016 was another banner year for the 32nd Annual Event.
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Vilsack Pats the Backs of U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Citing Ag Export Forecast
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack issued the following statement Friday on the first forecast for U.S. agricultural exports for fiscal year 2017 and a revised forecast for fiscal year 2016. Both forecasts indicate U.S. agricultural exports have begun to rally and will continue the record-setting pace that began in 2009."These numbers once again demonstrate the resiliency and reliability of U.S. farmers and ranchers in the face of continued challenges. The projected $133 billion in total exports for FY 2017 is up $6 billion from last forecast and would be the sixth-highest total on record. The United States' agricultural trade surplus is also projected to rise to $19.5 billion, up 40 percent from $13.9 billion in FY 2016. The United States has continued to post an agricultural trade surplus since record keeping began in the 1960s."The projected growth in exports in 2017 is led by increases in overseas sales of U.S. oilseeds and products, horticultural goods, cotton, livestock, dairy and poultry. And with a rise in global economic growth, global beef demand is expected to strengthen. While USDA continues working to eliminate the remaining restrictions on U.S. beef exports that were instituted by some trading partners as a result of the December 2003 BSE detection, U.S. beef exports have recovered. U.S. beef exports are expected to reach $5.3 billion in 2017, well above the $1.5 billion exported in FY 2004. This progress is due to USDA's work under the Obama Administration to eliminate BSE-related restrictions in countries around the world, including 16 countries since January 2015. BEEF FACT SHEET"China is projected to return as the United States' top export market in 2017, surpassing Canada as the number one destination for U.S. agricultural goods."USDA also revised the forecast for FY 2016 exports to $127 billion, up $2.5 billion from the previous forecast. This would bring total agricultural exports since 2009 to more than $1 trillion, smashing all previous eight-year totals."Exports are responsible for 20 percent of U.S. farm income, also driving rural economic activity and supporting more than one million American jobs on and off the farm. The United States has the opportunity to expand those benefits even further through passage of new trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Such agreements are key to a stable and prosperous farm economy, helping boost global demand for U.S. farm and food products, increasing U.S. market share versus our competitors, and ensuring that our farmers and ranchers have stable and predictable markets for the quality goods they produce."
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Sustainability Group Working to Increase Consumer Trust in Beef Production
The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef has been around for a little over a year, working to advance, support and communicate the continuous effort being made by producers to improve U.S. beef production practices. During its most recent meeting held in Denver this past July, I met up with the Roundtable's Chairman John Butler, who laid out the group's mission and their plan to accomplish it. Keeping things in simple terms, Butler explains the importance of sustainability."It's about ok, I'm in the food business, really - I'm not in the cattle business," Butler said. "I want to prove to that consumer they can trust what I'm doing to produce the food they're consuming."Butler boils his definition of sustainability down so that it basically becomes an exercise of continual improvement in several different facets like animal welfare, water conservation, etc. He explains that the group is working to develop benchmarks and indicators to associate with production practices, so that later on, measurements can be made to show progress. This way, they will be able to ask the questions, 'did we make a difference; if so, how did we do that; can we replicate it and become better?' He notes though, that strategy has must be kept in mind."The way we're trying to approach it at the Roundtable is, as we develop indicators that we will measure, let's make sure that we don't make it so difficult that implementation will never happen," Butler said. "There will be fear, and we're trying to avoid that."According to Butler, the group's efforts will be conducted in many ways similar to that of the Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) program. He says once their benchmarks have been determined, there will be an educational initiative to teach producers how to incorporate sustainable practices into their programs, while offering tools and resources for ranchers to use. From there, indicators built in as part of that education, will later verify that the industry is sensitive to those indicators within a measurable scheme. In reality though, Butler says producers are currently doing a lot of things right."In many cases," butler said, "it's about understanding what we're already doing."Listen to Butler describe the Roundtable's efforts in increasing sustainability in the U.S. beef industry during the latest Beef Buzz.
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Sponsor Spotlight
Midwest Farm Shows is our longest running sponsor of the daily email- and they say thanks to all of you who participated in their 2016 Oklahoma City Farm Show.
Up next will be the Tulsa Farm Show in December 2016- the dates are December 8th, 9th and 10th. Now is the ideal time to contact Ron Bormaster at 507-437-7969 and book space at the 2016 Tulsa Farm Show. To learn more about the Tulsa Farm Show, click here.
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R-CALF USA Seeks Summary Judgement to End Beef Checkoff Calling It an Unconstitutional Tax
In response to the government's August motion to dismiss or stay the lawsuit R-CALF USA filed against the national beef checkoff program (Beef Checkoff) in May, late Thursday R-CALF USA's attorneys asked the court to award R-CALF USA summary judgment and immediately end the program's unconstitutional taxation of ranchers.The group's lawsuit alleges the government, represented by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is operating the Beef Checkoff in a manner that violates the U.S. Constitution. According to the lawsuit, the Beef Checkoff, which compels producers to pay $1 per head every time cattle are sold, is a federal tax that funds the private speech of the Montana Beef Council. The group states that the council's private speech is objectionable because it promotes the message that there is no difference between domestic beef produced under U.S. food safety laws and beef produced in foreign countries.Compelling citizens to subsidize private speech violates the First Amendment, the group says.In its August motion, the government barely contested R-CALF USA's claim that the checkoff had been an unconstitutional, compelled subsidy. Instead, USDA argued the subsidy was no longer compelled because the agency is currently promulgating a new rule that would allow producers in most states to petition their respective state beef councils to redirect checkoff dollars away from those private state councils and to the federal Beef Checkoff program, which is operated under the direct supervision of the USDA.Citing the proposed rule, the government moved to either dismiss or to stay the case, saying it believes the disputed tax distribution will be resolved through its rulemaking process.
Click here to read more about R-CALF USA's efforts to end the beef checkoff.
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Want to Have the Latest Energy News Delivered to Your Inbox Daily?
Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains- Click here to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.
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After Their Crop Tour - Pro Farmer Calls U.S. Corn Crop 14.7 Billion Bushels and Soybeans 4.09 Billion Bushels
On Friday afternoon, Pro Farmer released their latest estimates on the U.S. corn and soybean crop - based in part on the work of the crop scouts that participated in their 2016 Pro Farmer Crop Tour that moved across seven key midwest states.
Pro Farmer Estimates for the 2016 US Corn and Soybeans Crops- as of August 26, 2016 :
Corn: 14.728 billion bu.; Average yield of 170.2 bu. per acre
Corn /- 1% = 14.875 billion bu. to 14.581 billion bu.; 171.9 bu. to 168.5 bu. per acre
Soybeans: 4.093 billion bu.; Average yield of 49.3 bu. per acre
Soybeans /- 2% = 4.175 billion bu. to 4.011 billion bu.; 50.3 bu. to 48.3 bu. per acre
Note: These estimates are based on assumptions for normal weather through September. With a normal finish to the growing season, the soybean crop stands to benefit more from weather than corn. Rains rolled across the Corn Belt during Crop Tour. When we get our boots wet when sampling fields on Crop Tour, it's typically a good thing for the soybean crop. Much of the corn crop is too advanced in maturity to benefit much if late-season weather is favorable. We made no adjustments to harvested corn or soybean acres.
Click here to listen to farm broadcast colleague Todd Gleason of Illinois Ag Extension talk with Brian Grete of Pro Farmer about their latest corn and soybean estimates.
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This N That- Drake Boyce Chairs National FFA Officer Nominating Committee- the Nine Day Forecast and Farm Progress Show Kicks Off Tomorrow
Gotta be proud of our 2015-16 Oklahoma FFA President Drake Boyce- who will be serving in October as the Chairman of the National Officer Nominating Committee at the 2016 National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. Drake will be chairing a nine member committee that will interview over forty National FFA officer candidates- each state is allowed to submit one person into the process- and then cut the number of contestants in half by Tuesday evening of Convention week- then select the slate of 6 FFA members who will serve on the National FFA Officer team for 2016-17. Oklahoma has selected our National FFA Officer Candidate for 2016- Vanessa Wiebe of Hooker- she served as the 2015-16 Northwest District Vice President for Oklahoma FFA. We will once again have complete coverage of the 2016 National FFA Convention on our Radio Oklahoma Ag Network reports, on our website in the Blue Green section, on Twitter and Facebook and and here in our Daily Email. Sponsors for this fall will once again be the Oklahoma FFA Association, the Oklahoma FFA Alumni and ITC, Your Energy Superhighway. ********** Jed Castles with News9 says we have got a shot at some rain over the next few days- here is his Monday morning Nine Day forecast for central and western Oklahoma:  ********* Some of our email family may be involved in the premiere summer farm show of the year- the Farm Progress Show- it is being held this week- Tuesday through Thursday in Boone, Iowa. It along with the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville and the World Ag Expo in Tulare, California are perhaps the three biggest farm show events held annually in the United States. You can read up on the 2016 Farm Progress Show by clicking here- Over 500 exhibitors and 300 acres of field demonstrations will be featured at this year's show.
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phone: 405-473-6144
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