Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
From: Ron Hays <ronphays@cox.net>
Date: 12/5/2017 6:19 AM
To: ron@ronhays.com



 
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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 Carson Horn on RON.
 

  
Let's Check the Markets!  
MarketLinks 
 
 
OKC West is our Market Links Sponsor- they sell cattle three days a week- Cows on Mondays, Stockers on Tuesday and Feeders on Wednesday- Call 405-262-8800 to learn more.
 
   
FedCattleExchange.com has a total of 653 cattle on their showlist for the Wednesday, December 6th sale of finished cattle- details will be available after noon today by clicking here.
 
 
Oklahoma National Stockyards Saw Moderate Demand, Bigger Receipts Than Last Week and Falling Prices- Click here for their Market Report.
 
 
 
OKC West sold slaughter cows 1.00 to 3.00 lower and bulls 1.00 to 2.00 lower Monday - Click here for the full report from yesterday's sale.
 
Joplin Regional Cattle Market Sees Falling Prices for Yearlings and Stockers in First Sale of December- Steer Calves Called Steady to $3 Lower- the full report can be seen by clicking or tapping here.
 
 
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 futuresclick or tap here for the report posted yesterday afternoon around 3:30 PM.
 
  
Okla Cash Grain:  
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- as reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture on Monday, December 4th.
  
  
Futures Wrap:  
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network - analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day.
  
Feeder Cattle Recap:  
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
  
Slaughter Cattle Recap: 
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by the USDA.
  
TCFA Feedlot Recap:  
Finally, here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
  


  
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

Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News

 
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
   Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Howdy Neighbors! 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 







Featured Story:

In this week's edition of the Cow/Calf Corner newsletter, OSU's Dr. Derrell Peel consults some of the latest carcass weight data that indicates a 70-pound increase in carcass weight from the seasonal low of 832 pounds noted in early May.
 
According to Peel, this increase is typical but a bit stronger than the average seasonal increase of 55 pounds from the April/May low to the October/November peak. However, on average steer carcass weights have been 14 pounds lighter than last year, and heifer carcasses about 12 pounds lighter.
 
Peel writes that given the fluctuation of carcass weights, processors have adjusted the number of slaughtered head to offset the decrease in carcass weight. As a result, year to date beef production is up 4.1 percent compared to the 5.3 percent increase in steer and heifer slaughter.
 
In the long run, Peel believes carcass weight fluctuation will have implications on beef demand, making carcass size more than just a question of pounds.
 
"Bigger carcasses mean more pounds of meat per animal but it also means bigger product size for muscle cuts such as steaks," he explains. "The industry has been hearing from consumers for at least two decades that they did not want bigger and bigger steaks. Big steaks are increasingly too big for a meal and are too expensive to purchase. Sometimes steaks are simply cut thinner to offset the increasing surface area and thereby reduce package or plate weight and cost. However, recently published research conducted at Oklahoma State University confirms that consumers prefer thicker steaks and cutting steaks thinner will ultimately have a negative impact on steak demand. Of course, bigger carcasses also increase other products such as trim for ground beef. More research is needed to determine the balance of products that optimizes carcass value relative to carcass size, but the tradeoff between lower steak demand and increased ground beef production suggests that the industry should pay attention to the demand limits of carcass size."
 
Click here to read Peel's complete article to better understand the impact carcass weights have on the strength of beef demand relevant to consumer preferences.
 
Sponsor Spotlight
 
 
It's great to have one of the premiere businesses in the cattle business partner with us in helping bring you our daily Farm and Ranch News Email- National Livestock Credit Corporation.  National Livestock has been around since 1932- and they have worked with livestock producers to help them secure credit and to buy or sell cattle through the National Livestock Commission Company.   
 
They also own and operate the Southern Oklahoma Livestock Market in Ada, Superior Livestock, which continues to operate independently and have a major stake in OKC West in El Reno. To learn more about how these folks can help you succeed in the cattle business, click here for their website or call the Oklahoma City office at 1-800-310-0220.  

Several agricultural groups here in-state joined the Sand County Foundation to congratulate Jimmy and Ginger Emmons,
farmers from Leedey and owner/operators of Emmons Farm, for being named the first Oklahomans ever to win the coveted Aldo Leopold Award in Conservation.


Emmons' farm was converted to no-till in 1995, and Jimmy later adopted crop rotations, cover crops and planned grazing management as well. He was also one of the first farmers in his area to experiment with pollinator strips and companion crops.


"The Aldo Leopold Award in Conservation is one of the most prestigious awards that a conservationist can be given and we're very honored and very humbled to be a part of that," Emmons told me in a recent interview. "We're very thankful that associations here in Oklahoma brought the Leopold Award to Oklahoma. "We're thankful to be a part of all those that have helped us bring it here."


Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. It inspires other landowners through these examples and provides a visible forum where farmers, ranchers and other private landowners are recognized as conservation leaders.


The $10,000 award, and a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold will be officially presented to the Emmons family in conjunction with Earth Day observances at the Oklahoma State Capitol in the spring of 2018.
 
 
Emmons, who currently serves as president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, received well-deserved praise from others in Oklahoma's ag community for his outstanding achievement.
 
 
Listen to Jimmy's reaction to learning about the honor, or read more about his operation, the award and what Oklahoma's ag leaders had to say, by clicking or tapping here.

As a Regents professor in OSU's Department of Agricultural Economics and an OSU Cooperative Extension economist, Dr. Damona Doye was recently selected as the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities' Southern Region Excellence in Extension award winner.
 
"Dr. Doye's recognition as an Excellence in Extension award winner honors her standout work in farm management extension at Oklahoma State University," said Rick Klemme, executive director of Cooperative Extension at the APLU. "She was selected from many well-deserving applicants for this award."
 
Doye has been instrumental in Extension's work of adapting Quicken software to help farmers and ranchers make better financial choices and reduce stress at tax preparation time and contributed to the great success of the Master Cattleman program.
 
Tom Coon, vice president for OSU's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, referred to Doye as the model of a productive and effective Extension specialist who solves producers' needs creatively and diligently.  
 
"I appreciate the award for what it represents, which is the terrific encouragement, support and collaboration that I've had at OSU during my career. It's a great honor to be able to represent OSU to demonstrate the strength of our system," Doye said. "As I've also benefitted personally and professionally from regional, national and international partnerships, projects, and networks, I'd be remiss if I didn't also say thanks for the opportunities to learn and be inspired by them."
 
 
Click here for further reading on Doye's recognition for her work in Extension services.

During the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasters Convention in Kansas City, our own Carson Horn had the chance to catch up with Kay Johnson Smith, president and CEO of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, about some of the latest trends being observed in the anti-animal agriculture movement to continue to push producers, small and large, out of business.


"Never a dull moment in the world of animal rights - and they have a multitude of tactics that they use," Smith said. "One of the top ones we've been seeing this year is really the targeting of retailers, restaurants and even investors and companies that are publicly traded to try to present a very false and negative image of animal agriculture."


Specifically, Smith says these groups are surreptitiously employing the use of undercover videos in an attempt to expose wrong-doing in production facilities, introducing shareholder resolutions within public companies, and in particular causing disruptions at food companies. She says by attacking these public-facing businesses, the activists hope to pressure them to adopt standards their groups deem fit. However, Smith insists these activist groups have but one goal in mind, as they discovered attending an anti-ag national convention earlier this year. Essentially, the hope of activists is the same as it has always been - to eliminate animal agriculture entirely.


"One of the themes we heard this year for their strategies was to drop the whole factory farm campaign, because they want to target farms of all sizes," she said. "They think any farm where animals are raised for food is bad. They're really going after not just the large companies anymore but small farms as well."


Listen to Kay Johnson Smith of the Animal Agriculture Alliance speak frankly about the tactics being employed by animal rights activists in their campaign to end animal based food production, with me, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

Sponsor Spotlight

 
Dating back to 1891, Stillwater Milling Company has been supplying ranchers with the highest quality feeds made from the highest quality ingredients.  Their full line of A & M Feeds can be delivered direct to your farm, found at their Agri-Center stores in Stillwater, Davis, Claremore and Perry or at more than 125 dealers in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Texas.  We appreciate Stillwater Milling Company's long time support of the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and we encourage you to click here to learn more about their products and services.


The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, a nonprofit established in the 2014 Farm Bill with bipartisan congressional support, has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Food Marketing Institute Foundation and the Animal Agriculture Alliance to study consumer understanding and willingness-to-pay for alternative production practices in animal agriculture. The FFAR grant has been matched with funding from the FMI Foundation and the Alliance for a total investment of $100,000.
 
Farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses agree there is a need for food retailers to better understand consumer knowledge, beliefs and willingness-to-pay for food products derived from alternative production methods. According to a release, the increasing transition to cage-free production practices by farmers and commitments by businesses to adopt alternative production practices for broilers have begun to impact the supply-demand paradigm. It's asserted that gaining knowledge of consumers' preferences and beliefs will help to guide choices in research, production, and retail sales.   
 
"Consumers are key stakeholders in the food system," said Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance president and CEO. "It is critical to develop a firmer understanding of shoppers' values and priorities when making choices about the food they purchase and feed their families. Our mission at the Alliance is to bridge the communication gap between farm and fork, and this research will help us do just that more effectively."
 
The team to conduct this research project will be led by former OSU faculty member Jayson Lusk, Ph.D., who is a food and agricultural economist at Purdue University. The team will custom build consumer surveys that will be distributed to at least 3,000 respondents, that mimic decision-making in the retail environment.
 
Click here to learn more about this grant and the research project it will fund to help educate retailers on consumer preferences.
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.

 



Yesterday, President Donald Trump took action to reduce the land size of both the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments.
 
In reaction to this move, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said this act harkened the return of common sense to environmental stewardship.
 
Arguing that The 1906 Antiquities Act was designed to stop theft and destruction of archaeological sites and other federal lands of historic or scientific interest, Duvall stated that the act requires the president to reserve 'the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.'
 
However, he insinuated that the law has been abused by past administrations and millions of acres of already-scarce grazing land in these areas have been quarantined which have in effect harmed farmers and ranchers throughout the West.
 
Duvall thanked Trump for following the example of past presidents such as Taft, Wilson, Coolidge, Eisenhower and Kennedy, who all shrank the size of established monuments. Conversely, he admonished the Obama Administration, which created and expanded more new national monuments than any other administration in U.S. history, locking up 5.44 million acres of land and 545 million acres of water resources in the process.
 
"Rural America continues to struggle economically, even as large cities boom. We hope Congress will also move to improve accountability and transparency in the designation of national monuments so that we do not once again find ourselves at the mercy of a remote bureaucracy. With common sense public policies, we can preserve antiquities while providing prosperity and opportunity for rural America."
 
Click here to read Duvall's original statement released yesterday in reaction to the President's reduction of two national monument.
SuperiorSuperior Livestock Shares the Results from Its Recent Video Auction and Replacement Female Sale

Cattle producers were offered 35,500 head of calves, yearlings and breeding stock from 22 states by Superior Livestock Auction last week during its November 30th Video Auction and Superior Select Replacement Female Auction. Cattle were sold on contract to deliver immediately through the end of May 2018. The market saw a slowly upwardly growing trend leading up to Thursday's offering; which was capitalized on by Superior Livestock. There was a definite demand for feeders with immediate delivery and program heifers.


Compared to Superior's last offering, regions 3/4/5/6 yearling steers were steady to $2 higher. While yearling heifers from the same regions remained steady to $4 higher. Regions 3/4/5/6 weaned calves also saw an increase even following last offerings dramatic upward trend. Weaned steers calves were $2 to $4 higher and weaned heifer calves saw an increase of $5 to $6. Florida calves remained steady. Moving to regions 1 & 2 yearling steers were $3 to $5 higher and yearling heifers also were up $1 to $4 higher. Weaned steer calves from regions 1 & 2 were steady to $4 higher and weaned heifer calves from the same regions were $2 to $7 higher.
 

 

 

For a look at the Top Lots in this sale report, click here.
 
 
You can join Superior Livestock for their next offering, on December 14th. The consignment deadline for this auction is listed as Monday December 4th. For more information please visit www.superiorlivestock.com or click over to our website for more details.

 

 

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K EquipmentAmerican Farmers & Ranchers, Oklahoma Beef Council, Livestock Exchange at the Oklahoma National StockyardsOklahoma Farm Bureau, Stillwater Milling Company, National Livestock Credit Corporation, Oklahoma AgCredit,  the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association 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 appreciate our Market Links Sponsor - OKC West Livestock!


 
We invite you to check out our website at the link below too that includes an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.   
 

 
God Bless! You can reach us at the following:  
 
phone: 405-473-6144
 

 




 


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