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!

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As of Nov. 16, USDA's Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration documented returned checks totaling $81 million; total transactions are estimated at $130 million. The folks watching this case believe that number could go higher.
Purchasers of livestock and others affected by this incident who are unsure to whom to make payment for livestock purchases need to carefully consider their options in light of the applicable state and federal laws. Unpaid sellers may contact GIPSA at 515-323-2579 for information on filing bond claims.

One of the producers to not get paid is C.W. Haines, of Glens Fork, Ky. He told the Farm and Dairy Newspaper based in Ohio that he sold five heifer calves totaling $3,565 to Eastern Livestock directly Nov. 2. Each of the cattle weighed between 725 pounds and 1,090 pounds.
Haines went to cash the check Nov. 5 and he received notice Nov. 10 that it has returned "refer to the maker."

He received a certified letter in the mail dated Nov. 5 and received Nov. 10 from USDA GIPSA, stating they have received information indicating he had not been paid for livestock. The letter also contained what proof was needed to submit a claim to the bond Eastern Livestock posted.

Haines is concerned though that the bond posted by Eastern Livestock is not enough for all of the claims possible. For example, GIPSA is estimating there are $130 million in total transactions that have went unpaid. The bond is only for $875,000.

He worries that the bond posted simply is not enough to pay for the cattle that was sold and were not paid for by Eastern Livestock. He said he did some math and he could end up with less than $1 depending on the way the court decides to split the bond.

Click here for more on this story from the Farm and Dairy website

The Senate version could be the one bill passed by this lame-duck session. The House passed its version of food safety legislation in July of 2009. If the Senate does pass its bill, it will have to go to conference committee with the House bill. The question is, when would that Conference Committee meet?

Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member Saxby Chambliss is working to restore what he believes is the original intent of the bill - to provide the Food and Drug Administration more focus and additional resources to accomplish its mission.

Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn has two amendments that will be considered by the Senate this evening- or whenever the debate is held on the Food Safety bill. One of the amendments is a moratorium on legislative earmarks through 2013 and an alternate, scaled-back food safety bill. Coburn is not expected to have the 67 votes needed to move either of these items forward.

Click here for an article from the website Food Safety News on the expected debate later today.

The lawsuit claimed the Department discriminated against Native Americans by denying them equal access to farm loans and loan servicing from 1981-1999. Native American borrowers included in the class-action settlement "could get a payment of $50,000 or more plus loan forgiveness on certain USDA loans," an announcer says in the spot. A Judgment Fund maintained by the Departments of Justice and Treasury will fund any monetary awards provided under the settlement. USDA is providing up to $20 million to administer it.

Click on the LINK below for the website that tells more about this possible settlement and, if you are a Native American that qualifies, how you can be paid under the settlement.

Click here for more on the Keepseagle Settlement for Native Americans.

Participants scheduled to be at the conference are from the National Association of Wheat Growers; American Farm Bureau Federation; American Soybean Association; National Cattlemen's Beef Association; National Corn Growers Association; National Cotton Council; National Farmers Union; National Milk Producers Federation; National Pork Producers Council; and Public Lands Council.

Many of the groups scheduled to participate in the press event next week signed on to a letter sent to Congress earlier in the month supporting permanently raising the estate tax exemption to no less than $5 million per person and reducing the top rate to no more than 35 percent. Those groups also supported provisions to index the tax to inflation, provide for spousal transfers and include a stepped-up basis.

Click here to read that letter sent earlier in the month by several groups wanting Congress to stop ignoring the Death Tax issue and get it resolved before January first.

For next year Deere is forecasting only flat farm machinery sales in the United States and Canada because of production limits and the pollution control regulations. Deere CEO Samuel Allen said in a statement that conditions continued to be positive in the U.S. farm sector, including increased sales of larger equipment, but European agricultural markets remained soft.

The Moline, Illinois, company reported net income of 457.2-million dollars, or $1.07 per share, for the quarter ended October 31 compared with a net loss of 222.8-million, or 53 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 35 percent to 7.2-billion dollars. For the full year, Deere earned 1.865-billion dollars, or $4.35 per share. Revenue rose to 26-billion from 23.1-billion dollars a year ago.

Dec. 6 is the date for the next set of meetings which will take place in Enid at the Garfield County Extension Center from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and in Ponca City at the Pioneer Technology Center from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Meetings are free to those who attend, but are asked to RSVP by Nov. 30 to the Woods County Extension for the Alva meeting at 580-327-2786 or Woodward County Extension at 580-254-3391 and RSVP by Dec. 3 to the Garfield County Extension at 580-237-1228 or Kay County Extension at 580-362-3194 for the Ponca City meeting.

Greg Highfill, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension area livestock specialist, said those who attend will get the chance to listen to specialists who can assist them in improving their bottom line.

Topics include Finding Efficient Cows and How to Manage Them; Management Options During Weaning, Preconditioning and Winter Stocker Programs; Cost Effective Winter Feeding and New Trichomoniasis Testing Rules.

Click here for our calendar item link for the Alva meeting- which has the link for details about all four locations included.

Craig Cameron will have two sessions each day at this year's Farm Show- and we need a couple of horses for those sessions. We need horses who are halter broke for these sessions with Craig.

If you have a horse that needs to be worked with in a positive way- give us a call at 405-841-3675- or go to the bottom of this email where it says that you can reach us at the following: use that email to drop us some information about your horse and a phone number where we can reach you.
If your horse is selected- you could be watching the skilled hands of Craig Cameron working with your horse December 9-11 at the 2010 Tulsa Farm Show.

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

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.