~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Merry Christmas from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday December 23,
2010 A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- Christmas is Upon Us
-- A Nice Christmas Present Under the Tree for Cattle Producers- $104
for Fats
-- A Lump of Clean Coal for Our Stockings from EPA?
-- Christmas With a John Deere B
-- More Christmas Memories with Former Ag Secretary John Block
-- Here's a Different Way to Consider the Season- Through the Eyes of
Joseph
-- As You Celebrate the Birth of the King- Keep Praying For Jeff
Krehbiel
-- 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. One of the great success stories
of the Johnston brand is Wrangler Bermudagrass- the most widely planted
true cold-tolerant seeded forage bermudagrass in the United States. For
more on Johnston Enterprises- click
here for their brand new 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. | |
Christmas is Upon Us ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With Christmas
falling on a Saturday this year, our ag markets will be totally closed on
Friday, Christmas Eve- as will be Wall Street equity markets. We will take
tomorrow off from the daily writing of this email- but will return next
Monday with the final agricultural news stories of the year over the
course of next week.
Today's email has just a bit of agricultural news- mixed in with some Christmas memories and a reminder of the reason for the season. During this holiday season- I think of the blessings that surround me- and I think of my extended family of farmers, ranchers, agribusiness folks and those that support them in extension and government and more. I appreciate each of you and your interest in what we talk about and report on a daily basis. I pray that you and yours have a happy and holy holiday here in 2010. | |
A Nice Christmas Present Under the Tree for Cattle Producers- $104 for Fats ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Wednesday,
cash cattle trade bounced back to the seven year highs we saw about a
month ago in the southern plains feedlots. Packers paid $104 for 19,718
cattle on Wednesday in the Texas Cattle Feeders Association territory.
They also bought another 1,300 head at $103.
Volume was excellent, not just in Texas/Oklahoma/New Mexico which is the TCFA trade area- but were also reported as being heavy in Nebraska and Kansas feedlots to boot. Click on the LINK below for the Daily Volume Report from the TCFA. It will be interesting to see how sales go next week after these excellent numbers that have been bought just in front of the Christmas holiday weekend. While some of these cattle might be picked up immediately, you would think most of them won't leave the feedyards before Monday. | |
A Lump of Clean Coal for Our Stockings from EPA? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The
Environmental Protection Agency has decided to try to slip in some rules
and regs on Greenhouse Gases on this day before Christmas Eve. According
to an EPA Media Briefing notice- "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, Gina McCarthy will
hold a press conference call Thursday, December 23, at 11:00 a.m. EST to
discuss a Clean Air Act announcement related to greenhouse gas pollution."
Reuters is reporting that this briefing may include an announcement regarding a deal with industry that would pave the way for proposing federal rules next year that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and oil refineries. We will monitor this briefing- and we'll be talking about the Climate Change battle as it carries over into 2011 with a Republican House majority that wants to slow down the regulatory assault that the Obama Administration has carried on for the past two years unabated. | |
Christmas With a John Deere B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This past
weekend, I was able to get back to my hometown in Central Kentucky and see
a whole host of relatives. I saw and hugged on my two remaining living
Aunts, cousins and their kids, my brother and some of his family as well
as my Mom and Dad, who are now 87. Two of my daughters (and one son in
law) made the trek with me- and it was a lot of fun to see them interact
with all of their Kentucky Kinfolk.
My Dad has just turned 87 this past week- so we celebrated his birthday as well as Christmas with he and my Mom. One of the traditional gifts that we give my Dad is a Tractor Calendar, and his face lit up when he saw the 2011 edition that I had gotten him from my friend John Harvey, who worked for years at DuPont before retiring and starting a new career as a Tractor Calendar maker. Earlier this year, our Farm Broadcast professional organization had
issued the final in a series of toy tractors made by Joe Ertl to benefit
our Educational Foundation. This was the final tractor in a series that
had been agreed to by Ertl- and the 2010 masterpiece was a John Deere B.
When we moved to the farm- I was getting ready to start the fifth grade-
the used tractor that we bought and used for quite a few years was a John
Deere B. So, I bought one earlier in the fall- first to keep for myself-
but later realizing that I needed to share it with my Dad. We had it in a
gift bag- and he opened it up- and got a big smile on his face as I
confirmed it was a "B." Well, he looked it over carefully and then got to
talking about the tractors we had used on our farm that I grew up on- and
he enjoyed the detail of the model crafted by Mr. Ertl. | |
More Christmas Memories with Former Ag Secretary John Block ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of our
weekly features we have on our website is an audio commentary with former
Secretary of Agriculture John Block.
This week, Secretary Block offers a few Christmas Memories in his report- which we have up a day earlier than normal. Click on the LINK below to take a listen to the USDA Chief that was around during the Reagan years. | |
Here's a Different Way to Consider the Season- Through the Eyes of Joseph ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Max Lucado has
a way of taking the truths of the season and allowing us to see them in a
different way. What if we were able to go back some 2,000 years ago- and
be a fly on the wall where Joseph of Nazareth was standing- looking up
into the night sky? Here's what Max Lucado says that he might be muttering
as he waits on the birth of a child by his wife, Mary. (From He Still
Moves Stones)This isn't the way I planned it, God. Not at all. My child being born in a stable? This isn't the way I thought it would be. A cave with sheep and donkeys, hay and straw? My wife giving birth with only the stars to hear her pain? This isn't at all what I imagined. No, I imagined family. I imagined grandmothers. I imagined neighbors clustered outside the door and friends standing at my side. I imagined the house erupting with the first cry of the infant. Slaps on the back. Loud laughter. Jubilation. That's how I thought it would be. But now. Now look. Nazareth is five days' journey away. And here we are
in a- in a sheep pasture. Who will celebrate with us? The sheep? The
shepherds? The stars? The child is yours. The plan is yours. The idea is yours. And forgive
me for asking but, is this how God enters the world? The coming of the
angel, I've accepted. The questions people asked about the pregnancy, I
can tolerate. The trip to Bethlehem, fine. But why a birth in a stable,
God? Max Lucado goes on to say "I wonder. Did Joseph ever pray such a
prayer? Perhaps he did. Perhaps he didn't. | |
As You Celebrate the Birth of the King- Keep Praying For Jeff Krehbiel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As I looked at
our email just in front of Christmas last year- we had as one of our
stories a request for you to pray for Jeff and Karen as Jeff was in the
hospital a year ago in his ongoing battle against cancer.
This year- he's back in Oklahoma City in the hospital- this time the specific battle is against blood clots in his lungs. The latest report indicates that the right lung is clear- but more clots have popped up in the left lung. Jeff and his lovely wife Karen have been an inspiration to me this past year as they have lived each day as God has given it to them- some days have been very good- and days like the last four or five- have been not so great. You can go to the link below for a chance to get updates on Jeff over the holidays- so you will know how best to life this precious family up in your thoughts and prayers. | |
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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 $9.95 per
bushel- as of the close of trade Wednesday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $10.65 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: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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