Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
From: Ron Hays <ronphays@cox.net>
Date: 1/16/2018 6:33 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!  



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 304 cattle on their showlist for the Wednesday,
January 17th sale of finished cattle- details will be available after noon today by clicking here.
 
 
OKC West sold cows 1.00-4.00 lower and bulls 1.00 - 2.00 
lower compared to the last sale - click or tap here for details.


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 Friday afternoon around 3:30 PM.
 
  
Okla Cash Grain:  
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- as reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture on Friday, January 12th.
  
  
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, January 16, 2018
 
Howdy Neighbors! 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 








Featured Story:
HargisPresident Burns Hargis Says Budget Cuts Spurring Creative Solutions to Keep OSU Programs Up and Going 

It is becoming more and more difficult to provide the services people have come to expect from OSU's Extension service as well as programs there on campus as well - according to OSU's President Burns Hargis, who recently told me about the challenges he and his administrative faculty are facing in the wake of more budget cuts.


However, from this adversity Hargis says the various divisions he oversees, and Extension in particular, have creatively tried to solve their ever-tightening budgets to keep up the level of work they are expected and want to deliver.


"We've had pretty steady cuts over the last three years and the real challenge for Extension is they don't get any tuitions or fees," Hargis said. "They can't even begin to mitigate these cuts. At least at the university we've been able to raise tuition. Not as much as we've been cut, but we have been able to raise it some, which softens the fall a little bit."


Still, Hargis says he is feeling the lack of available resources with many necessary improvements waiting to be made at the university. At the moment, OSU needs new classroom and lab facilities to keep up with the ever changing landscape of education and research. As they do their best to make ends meet with the options available to them, Hargis says he is committed to making sure OSU has the facilities, services, faculty and resources it needs to be a premier land-grant university.


"We're in a competitive business here," Hargis remarked. "We've got to be able to deliver the programs and have the facilities and the labs to do what we're supposed to do - to keep students coming and faculty coming. You're going to start to lose both if you don't have the services available."
 
 
Read more about the challenges OSU and its Division of Agriculture are facing in the wake of more budget cuts and how they are being worked around, by clicking here.

Sponsor Spotlight
 

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Oklahoma AgCredit loan terms fit your cash flow for land, livestock, equipment and operating costs. Click or tap here for their website to find an office near you.
 
Talk to a local team who understands agriculture. Talk to Oklahoma AgCredit. Financing rural Oklahoma. Equal housing lender.

OACDOklahoma Association of Conservation Districts to Celebrate 80th Anniversary February 25-27 in OKC 

The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts will celebrate it's 80th anniversary February 25th, 26th, and 27th in Oklahoma City. The celebration will be part of the annual OACD state meeting.


The celebration kicks off Sunday February 25th with a special "Happy Birthday, Conservation" party, with featured guest, Congressman Frank Lucas and live music by Thomas, OK native Jared Deck. 


The first full day of the conference starts Monday February 26th with sessions on conservation topics including innovations in conservation, conservation planning, policy beyond politics and a technology round robin. On Monday evening, OACD invites you to attend their annual awards 
banquet. 


Then stick around on Tuesday February 26th, for a full-day workshop titled, "Regenerative Agriculture: Staying the Course." Expert speakers will discuss a variety of holistic management topics including grazing, soil health, cover crops, and pollinators and beneficial insects.


Registration is available for Tuesday only or for all 3 days. For more information click here.

CoopSection199Oklahoma Ag Coop Leader Weighs in on Section 199 Issues in Tax Reform Package


In our Monday email- we featured audio comments from Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank Lucas on several issues- including the need for some technical corrections in the Tax Reform package that Congress threw together back in December.  Congressman Lucas cautioned anyone that was going to make business assumptions and possible changes to their business plan because of what Congress did in this part of the Reform Package to slow down and see what adjustments might be coming to the provisions that replace what has been Section 199 in recent years.

President and CEO RJ Gray of the Oklahoma Association of Ag Coops gave me a call- and reminded me that the language offered by Congress is very beneficial to Coops- but he acknowledged that non coop agribusiness are worried about this providing a significant advantage to those coops.

I asked Gray to summarize his thoughts on Section 199 at this point- and what Coops in this country are hoping for if the technical corrections do happen. Here's what he has provided us:

"For the past 14 years, most farmer co-ops have taken advantage of a tax provision known as Section 199, or the Domestic Production Activities Deduction, whose goal was to increase domestic production and promote job growth. Co-ops had the option of retaining the deduction at the co-op level or pass it through to their farmer members. The recent Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017, however, repealed Section 199; without a replacement, it would have meant a tax increase on nearly any farmer who is a member of a co-op and would have put co-ops at a disadvantage to non-cooperatively-owned grain handlers, who received a 40 percent reduction on their corporate tax rate.
 
"Recognizing this, Congress included special provisions for co-op members in Section 199A of the tax bill. However, how these provisions have been put together has both cooperatives and independent grain companies concerned about the unintended consequences, not only in Oklahoma, but around the country.
 
"We do believe there are some unintended consequences associated with the new 199A. As leaders both from the cooperative sector and independent sector meet to work out the differences, our goal is to ensure that farmers and their businesses don't receive a tax increase as would have happened if they did not create 199A or keep the existing Section 199.  The change of the law was never intended to pit one grain company against another or create a competitive advantage, it was to allow farmers to receive the same benefit of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as the rest of the country while doing business with a company they own and govern."

Thanks RJ! 
 

BUZZDrugs, GMOs and Other Misconceptions About Gene Editing Technology That Can Revolutionize Ag

Dr. Alison Van Eenanaam of the University of California Davis, is a world leader in animal genetics and biotechnology. Especially in the art of gene editing. She discussed with me recently the potential advancements this cutting-edge method of breeding could bring to the agriculture industry. According to her, the science is precise and incredibly useful, but a lack of understanding has hindered a wider acceptance of the technology by the general public and regulatory authorities.


"Gene editing, simply put, is just a very precise way to make targeted alterations in DNA," she said. "It's different from traditional GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, where you tended to be bringing in maybe a piece of DNA from a different species to give plants resistance to herbicides or whatever."


With gene editing, Van Eenanaam explains, scientists simply manipulate DNA within an organism, without bringing in any outside DNA from a different organism. Under the microscope, she says the changes made are indistinguishable as a result of human intervention or nature's mutation. The list of possible genetic improvements in plants and animals is endless. Things like disease resistant pigs, hornless cattle with improved meat quality and non-browning fruit are now all possible. However, Van Eenanaam regrets that regulatory hurdles stand in the way of broader acceptance and freedom with this innovation.


"Proposed draft guidance from the FDA in terms of how it's going to be regulated is proposing that all intentional alterations are going to be regulated as drugs," Van Eenanaam said. "That's just bizarre. If you use this technology, the resulting animal is going to be a drug? That doesn't really make sense because it's really just animal breeding."


Listen to Van Eenanaam and I discuss the potential of gene editing technology in agriculture and the misconceptions surrounding it, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

One thing I'm sure many of you that regularly follow this email, is just how important hay production is to our part of the world. Here in cattle country, we need lots of hay to get us through the winter. That fact is indicated very well in latest Crop Production report released by USDA. Oklahoma typically ranks among the top producing states when it comes to hay, though the numbers differ a bit depending where you look in this report.


According to it, the top five "All Hay" producing states include in ranked order: Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, California and Oklahoma. That includes alfalfa production in addition to all other hay crops, which is grown here in Oklahoma but in significantly less acres than found elsewhere. This report shows Oklahoma produced just under 6 million tons of alfalfa in 2017 and slightly less than that the previous year.


Compare that ranking again with alfalfa omitted in the calculation and Texas once again tops the list, followed by Missouri, then Oklahoma in third, leading Kentucky and finally Kansas. Both Oklahoma and Missouri produced just over 5 million tons of hay this year in 2017. Texas topped the charts at roughly 9.8 million tons and Kansas produced right at 4 million tons - again the numbers in this report illustrating hays importance to our region.
 
For a look at this report or to view the original story up on our website, click here.

Sponsor Spotlight

 
If you have got questions about your beef checkoff- the Oklahoma Beef Council has lots of resources on their website that can provide answers!
 
And- there is a Myths and Facts page about what is going on with the checkoff and how your dollars are being spent- click or tap here to jump there. 
 
AND- click here for the home page of the Oklahoma Beef Council website- there's tons of resources you can discover- including great recipes to try out with your family.
 
Oklahoma's Beef Producers want to remind you- above all else- BEEF, It's Whats for Dinner! 



According to Derrell Peel, extension livestock market economist at OSU, "The latest beef trade data for November shows continued improvement in beef exports. November beef exports were 260.7 million pounds, up 2.7 percent over exports in November, 2016. Beef exports have increased year over year each month in 2017 for the first eleven months of the year. For the year to date, beef exports are up 13 percent over one year ago."
 
 
However, little if any of that success, Peel attributes to one of the beef industry's newest markets - China - which remains relatively small in terms of market value, though he does note some sporadic growth spurts. However, while small right now in its infancy as a market, Peel says there is much speculation as to just how much potential China has for the future.


"USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service has projected that China will import 2.26 billion pounds of beef in 2018. At the current level, U.S. beef exports to China would represent roughly one percent of Chinese beef imports. If the U.S. were to increase beef exports to China tenfold to a ten percent market share, it would make China the fifth largest beef market for beef exports and add roughly ten percent to total U.S. beef exports. However, growth this rapid seems unlikely in 2018. Such a level may be more feasible in three to five years. Still, it is difficult to anticipate how markets will evolve and growth could happen more quickly than is apparent now."
 
 
Click or tap here to read Peel's complete article in this week's edition of the Cow/Calf Corner newsletter.
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.

 

OKFBOklahoma Farm Bureau to Hold Campaign School January 26 and 27 in Oklahoma City

Oklahoma Farm Bureau will host a campaign management seminar Jan. 26-27 at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau home office in Oklahoma City as a service to candidates seeking political office in upcoming elections.
 
Experienced political experts will share their advice on a variety of topics including successful campaign management, message building, grassroots engagement, social media tips and techniques, and fundraising.
 
Seminar attendees also will have the opportunity to experience an on-camera mock media interview and critiques to help hone their interview skills.
 
The cost for the seminar is $150 per person, and the enrollment deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 17. Enrollment in the seminar is limited and early registration is encouraged.
 
For more information on the seminar, click over to our website.
WeatherFrost Bite Alert- Warmer and Windy Weather by Friday and Saturday Ups Fire Danger


On Social Media- lots of folks posting pics of the temps where they are at- showing the air temp and the wind chill temp- which is well below zero lots of places this morning.  

Our friend Trent Loos talks on the radio, will offer his thots for pay as a speaker and also raises show pigs- and lives in Nebraska- his Facebook post early this AM said "Kids its 2:37am Jan 16 with wind chill of 23 below outside. Do you know where your next showpig is at?"  

Well- nothing that cold here in Oklahoma- but the Mesonet at 6 AM showing wind chills as low as 19 below in Texas County in the Panhandle- it's a balmy 9 above (wind chill) in McCurtain County.

Looking ahead- I grabbed this graphic on Twitter from our friend Jed- we will give him a B- since we do get warmer conditions by this weekend- not so good it will be windy(think FIRE Danger) and really not good that there is only a slight change of rain nine days out and not before- Jed, we do expect better.





 
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K EquipmentAmerican Farmers & RanchersOklahoma Beef Council, Livestock Exchange at the Oklahoma National Stockyards, Oklahoma 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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