From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 6:52 AM
To: Hays, Ron
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
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Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday August 17, 2010
A service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
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-- Read the Rule
-- Rain Arrives- Is it too Late for Soybeans in Oklahoma This August?
-- Pork Added to Mexico's Retaliation
-- Latest Crop Weather Update for Oklahoma- All About the Heat
-- Wheatland Stocker Conference Set for This Friday
-- Southern Plains Beef Symposium Pictures to be Seen on Flickr
-- Let's Check the Markets!

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 is welcoming all fall crops this harvest. They have space to store your grain and look forward to serving you. 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.


Read the Rule
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As we lead up to the Department of Justice/Department of Agriculture Workshop on Livestock Competition next week in Ft. Collins, Colorado- the drumbeat- pro and con- for the marketing rules for livestock that have been proposed by the Obama Administration is getting louder. Those who are supportive of the changes in how we market livestock in the US believe the rules should be adopted post haste and say that the opponents are in the back pocket of the major meat packers.

One example of the groups that are highly supportive of the rule being adopted verbatim is R-Calf USA. They have released what they call a "briefing paper" on the GIPSA rule- at the top of that paper they proclaim the law as a "Rock-Solid Foundation for Correcting Severe Marketing Problems in the U.S. Fed Cattle Market." Click here to go and read the way they approach this proposed rule.

On the other side are groups like the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council- who say the rules will result in a greater risk of litigation over price fairness- which will curtail value added opportunities for all cattle producers, large and small. We have done interviews about the proposed rule with Colin Woodall of the NCBA and Roy Lee Lindsey of the Oklahoma Pork Council- click on their names to jump to the stories on our website where you can click and hear the interviews.

We have also talked to Congressman Frank Lucas about the GIPSA rules- and you can click here to get to our interview with the top Republican of the House Ag Committee- Congress is split over this issue- it seems it is mostly Democrats that like the rule and most Republicans you talk to that know anything about it have questions and/or concerns about what have been called sweeping changes by both sides in this debate.
With all of these links we have given you to this point- perhaps the link that matters the most is a permanent link we have put on our website that we will leave for the next several months- click on the link below and that will take you to our home page of WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com. On the left hand column- look for the words- "Read the Rule" and you can click there and get the proposed language from June of this year. Read the rule yourself, ask questions and then weigh in. If you are a livestock producer, if these rules are put in place- they will impact how you sell your livestock and who may be willing to buy it- so I would encourage you all to read it yourself and then point your neighbors to our site and have them click on "Read the Rule" and get up to speed as well.

Click here for our main webpage- then look on the left hand column and click on Read the Rule to see the 17 page GIPSA proposal.


Rain Arrives- Is it too Late for Soybeans in Oklahoma This August?
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In the latest Plant and Soil Science Newsletter from the OSU Division of Agriculture, the article that caught our eye was written by Chad Godsey, as he talked about the impact of the hot weather in the latter part of July and into August that we have seen here in Oklahoma- and how that has impacted soybeans being grown this year in the state.

Chad writes "With the recent string of hot and dry days the 2010 Oklahoma soybean crop has started to show signs of drought stress. Some areas have caught timely rains but many need moisture at a critical time of soybean development, blooming and pod fill. Relationships among air temperature, soil water content, and soybean development are complex. The ideal temperature for soybean growth and development is around 86° F. Day temperatures above 95° F, coupled with low humidity, have been shown to reduce seed set and potential seed vigor. Drought symptoms appear early as leaf wilting and reduced growth. In addition, nodule formation, development and nitrogen fixation are reduced when soil temperatures rise above 90° F.

" In general, soybeans can tolerate short periods of high temperatures if supplied with adequate moisture but the crop cannot tolerate high temperatures indefinitely. With temperatures routinely running near or above 100° combined with the lack of rainfall, yield potential for the soybean crop is most likely being lost."

Click on the LINK below for our webstory that will take you to this article by Chad- as well as all of the info from the latest PASS newsletter- there is a lot in this issue about weeds in fall wheat, liming and even the arrival of students studying ag in Stillwater for the fall semester- so go and check it out.

Click here for the latest Plant and Soil Science Newsletter from the OSU Division of Ag.


Pork Added to Mexico's Retaliation
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Mexico has added pork to the list of U.S. products against which it is retaliating for the failure of the United States to live up to its obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Our neighbors to the south want the United States to let Mexican trucks haul goods into the U.S. The National Pork Producers Council is disappointed. NPPC President Sam Carney, a producer from Adair, Iowa says - Mexico's retaliation against U.S. pork will have negative economic consequences for America's pork producers.

Carney says - we are extremely disappointed that our top volume export market has taken this action, but we're more disappointed that the United States is not living up to its trade obligations. Carney adds, - that failure not only has hurt dozens of U.S. industries economically, but it could prompt other countries to think twice about entering into trade deals with the United States.

Earlier, a NAFTA dispute-settlement panel ruled against the United States giving Mexico the right to retaliate against U.S. products, which it did in March 2009, placing higher tariffs on more than 2.4-billion dollars of U.S. goods. NPPC has been urging the Obama administration to work with Congress to quickly resolve the trucking issue with Mexico, which last year bought 762-million dollars of U.S. pork.

Click here for more from the National Pork Producers on this trade issue.


Latest Crop Weather Update for Oklahoma- All About the Heat
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The Latest Oklahoma Crop Weather update reports in the opening summary of weather conditions since last Monday- "There was no relief from the excessive heat last week as triple digit temperatures were recorded across the state prompting heat advisories and excessive heat warnings. Temperatures averaged in the mid-80s; the average highs for all nine districts ranged from 97 to 102 degrees. The state received even less precipitation than the week before, averaging 0.17 inches of rain. The highest rainfall for the state was only 0.44 inches in the North Central district. More rain is needed soon to combat the heat stress in row crops and improve pasture conditions. Topsoil moisture conditions were rated mostly in the short to very short range with only 16 percent rated adequate. Subsoil moisture conditions were rated mostly in the adequate to short range with 19 percent rated very short, up eight points from the previous week. There were 6.7 days suitable for field work, though the extreme heat kept many out of the fields."

According to this latest look at Oklahoma Agriculture- spring crops continue to develop but are feeling the effects of the hot dry conditions- "Most of the state's row crops were rated in the good to fair range, however, additional rainfall is needed to ensure adequate development. Virtually all corn had reached the dough stage by week's end, ahead of normal. Corn dent reached 77 percent complete, 38 points up from the previous year. Thirty-three percent of corn had matured by Sunday. Sorghum headed reached 84 percent complete, 26 points ahead of the five-year average. Sorghum coloring reached 32 percent complete, 11 points ahead of normal. Soybeans blooming was at 85 percent by week's end, ten points ahead of the five-year average. Soybeans setting pods reached 54 percent complete, 18 points up from the week prior, and four points ahead of the five-year average. Peanuts pegging was virtually complete by week's end, and 70 percent of the plants were setting pods, seven points behind normal. Ninety percent of the cotton crop was setting bolls by week's end, 21 points ahead of normal."

The report also addressed pasture conditions, saying "The extreme heat continued to affect pastures across much of the state, as did problems with grasshoppers. Pasture and range conditions decreased from the week before but were rated mostly in the good to fair range, with 16 percent rated poor to very poor."

Click here for the entire report- issued Monday afternoon by NASS of the USDA.


Wheatland Stocker Conference Set for This Friday
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The 24th Annual Wheatland Stocker Conference is scheduled for this Friday, August 20, 2010 at the Cherokee Strip Conference Center in Enid, Oklahoma.

Area Livestock Specialist for OSU Extension, Greg Highfill, dropped us an email yesterday reminding me to remind you about this always excellent end of summer event. Greg writes "All are invited to the Wheatland Stocker Conference on Friday, August 20, Cherokee Strip Conference Center, 123 W. Maine, Enid, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Great line-up of speakers. 25 booths in trade show. Complimentary lunch with reservation. 580-237-7677."

Click on the link below for more information about this year's Wheatland Stocker Conference.

Click here for our calendar listing about the 2010 edition of the Wheatland Stocker Conference.


Southern Plains Beef Symposium Pictures to be Seen on Flickr
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We have several pictures snapped this past Saturday at the Southern Plains Beef Symposium that was held in Ardmore. This was the 20th annual Symposium and the Noble Foundation and OSU Extension folks hosting did an exceptional job of putting this year's program together.

Click on the link below and check our pictures out.

Click here for our Flickr set of pictures from the Southern Plains Beef Symposium


Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers, KIS Futures and Big Iron Online Auctions 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- FREE!

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


Let's Check the Markets!
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We've had requests to include Canola prices for your convenience here- and we will be doing so on a regular basis. Current cash price for Canola is $8.15 per bushel, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $8.35 per bushel- delivered to local participating elevators that are working with PCOM.

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.



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