It is President's Day 2018- a Federal Government Holiday- which means no mail delivery, Federal offices like FSA and NRCS are closed and many state and local governments are also taking the day off- check with anyone connected with the government before making a trip to town to see them today.

The Ag Futures are also in the middle of a three day weekend- as is the US Stock Market.  Most of our Livestock Auctions that normally run the front end of the week are operating as nromal- we should have our normal midday market updates from OKC West, the Oklahoma National Stockyards and Joplin- as well as the wholesale Boxed Beef trade reports from USDA. 

NOW- as for our mention of PEDv- Roy Lee Lindsey caught us at the AFR Convention on Saturday and asked if we have gotten his email regarding the Oklahoma Pork Congress that was supposed to be happening this Friday- telling us that  the Congress was being postponed out of an abundance of caution to protect the herd health of Oklahoma's hog farmers. "There has been a recent outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv) in Oklahoma," Lindsey said. "Oklahoma's hog farmers consider it a priority to protect the health and well-being of their animals. We have elected to postpone Pork Congress until later this year.  Click here for their statement released late this past Friday- guess we will have to wait a little longer for the Bacon Casino night!

Forgive me for using the word VIBE twice in a single email- but I came away from the Norman Embassy Suites feeling lots of good "vibes" from several different perspectives- one was the Ron Justice news from Oklahoma Farm Bureau- but the other overarching "good vibes" came from the AFR Convention in general.

Attendance seemed to be good- there were lots of young people hanging out- enjoying things like the Peterson Farm Brothers and more- and the mood about the general farm organization and their insurance business seemed very upbeat.

Saturday night- the organization honored a pair of Oklahomans with what they are calling their Ag Advocacy Award- State Senator Eddie Fields and Francie Tolle of the USDA Risk Management Agency.

You can read more about the award given to Francie Saturday night- and also a chance to hear more about her thoughts on Crop Insurance as she transitions into this new National role in shaping risk management in this country- just click or tap here- 

The Beef Checkoff logo has been around for a few years and in that time has undergone a few changes on occasion. Positioned beneath the logo's checkmark, there has been different verbiage included through the years such as, "Beef. It's What's for Dinner," for example. A commonly used version of the logo includes "Funded by the Beef Checkoff." However, recent consumer research discovered something that has led to yet another slight modification that National Cattlemen's Beef Association's Alisa Harrison thinks is a win-win for both the industry and the consumer as it relates to those involved.


"The Checkoff logo that really goes on anything that is Checkoff funded, previously said, 'Funded by the Beef Checkoff.' In talking to consumers, they don't know what the Checkoff is - but when they learned that it is actually beef farmers and ranchers that are paying into this fund, that really meant a lot to them," Harrison explained. "They like the fact that beef producers are making their own investments into promoting their product and the industry."


And so, to capitalize on the emotional appeal of that knowledge, the Checkoff logo has again undergone a transformation that now reads: "Funded by Beef Farmers and Ranchers." Harrison says this statement really supports the Checkoff's mission to promote the product - but also the people behind it. As an added bonus, she says producers really like the idea, too, proud of the visual recognition. Harrison says the Checkoff has a lot of brand equity with consumers, and producers understand this and are willing to continue investing their dollars in the program.


"By just making a very simple change to describe who's funding it has really helped," Harrison said, "to not only enhance consumer messages that we have, but the Checkoff itself."

The Renewable Fuels Association has pointed out, this is exactly how the RFS was intended to work and suggests that the closing of that gap could be accelerated simply by establishing RVP parity for E15.


The bottom-line from this analysis is that the conventional ethanol gap is well on its way to being eliminated in the next few years, even without a large expansion in the use of higher ethanol blends such as E15 and E85. If this does occur, the impact on D6 ethanol RINs prices could be almost as profound as witnessed in 2013, but in exactly the opposite direction.


"It seems that the closer we come to that wall, the more intent some refiners become in hitting the brakes, insisting upon RFS demand destruction as the only safe course," said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen. "This analysis lays waste to that false premise, and demonstrates, as we have insisted for years, that increased ethanol use will also break the 15-billion-gallon wall and lead to lower RIN prices. And RVP parity for E15 would lower RIN prices even more quickly while leaving the RFS intact. Now that's a win-win."