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!

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Perhaps the most troubling report is the fact that Japan has now asked the United States for help in dealing with the out of control nuclear reactor- a definite sign of desperation from a nation that is famous for never being willing to accept advice or help on anything.

Earlier on Monday, before these latest concerns about the nuclear disaster that is unfolding- Steve Meyer and Len Steiner offered a few thoughts in their Daily Livestock Report that showed most of the ability to import beef and pork into Japan lies in the southern ports of Japan that were not touched by the earthquake and tsunami.

In their report they indicated that "The short-term impact may indeed be negative but stocks of food and other items will eventually be replenished and that process will be a positive for U.S. exports."

Click here to read the Meyer- Steiner take on meat exports to Japan- now and later.

Mercedes told us that this is her last time to show goats at the OYE- and it's great to be able to go out with a Grand Champion. Her goat was purchased in Texas and is named Debo. As judge Billy Zanolini of Madisonville, Texas described the top goats just before he went over and shook the hand of Mercedes, signifying that her goat had won the show, he called his Grand Champion a "beast" and one that really was the right type meat goat that the industry is looking for.

Reserve Grand Champion for the Market Goats was shown by another FFA member from Hennessey- Carson Lough. His Goat placed second in Division three behind the Grand Champion. He just missed winning both the Doe Kid and Market Goat competition as he had the top Doe Kid on Sunday afternoon at State Fair Park.

Click here for pictures on FLICKR of the Goat show and more- and Click on the LINK below for our rundown of the Market Goats and Doe Kids fromt he OYE- and a chance to hear our quick conversation with Mercedes Hardin.

Click here for our Goat Show Coverage from the OYE

Just before 7 PM Monday evening, the Grand Champions in each breed entered the ring and the Supreme Champion of the Seven Breeds turned out to be Duroc Grand Champion, shown by Tyler Waitman of Dibble FFA. Pictured here is Tyler showing his Duroc gilt in the Supreme Champion Drive. For his Supreme Champion Gilt, Tyler Receives a total of $4,000 in Scholarship money. We talked briefly with Tyler about his Supreme Champion as he walked her out of the show ring- you can hear that conversation by clicking on the LINK below.

You can also review the Champions and Reserves at that same LINK.
The Reserve Supreme Gilt prize was $3,000 Scholarship money- and it goes to a young 4-Her from Fletcher- Brooklyn Clark.

Click here for the complete rundown on the Purebred Gilts from the 2011 Oklahoma Youth Expo

"The next farm bill must include a farm safety net for producers that will provide meaningful assistance for family farmers to stay in production," said NFU President Roger Johnson. "The number of farmers and ranchers who make their primary living from production agriculture continues to shrink because of high price volatility. These farms are crucial to our nation's food supply and the health of our rural economies. When times are difficult, such as periods when prices are low or when disastrous weather strikes, are the times where we most need a strong safety net in order to ensure the continuation of family farm and ranch operations."

The special order of business also called on Congress to write the farm bill before the close of the 112th Congress.

"The expiring baselines of many 2008 Farm Bill programs, and the potential damage that their expiration would cause, require the bill to be acted upon in a timely manner," said Johnson. "That, combined with the fact that waiting longer means that even less money will be available for the writing the legislation, means that Congress must act quickly to ensure the 2012 Farm Bill is passed before the end of next year."

Pork exports totaled 165,138 metric tons valued at $396.9 million - an increase of 15 percent in volume and 19 percent in value over January 2010. Beef exports made an even larger year-over-year jump, increasing 24 percent in volume to 89,673 metric tons and 43 percent in value to $355.6 million.

"Despite some significant market access issues - some ongoing and some new - our exports performed quite well in January," said USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng. "U.S. meat products continue to command excellent prices throughout the world, which is providing a boost for the American producer and the entire meat industry."

Click on the LINK below for more specifics on both the beef and pork exports for January of this year- a great start that may be more uncertain with the problems we are seeing this week in Japan.

Click here for the latest on beef and pork exports from the US.

The Confederation of Mexican Pork, the Canadian Pork Council and the National Pork Producers Council, at a meeting held in Merida, Mexico, noted the tight world grain markets. In the United States, for example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that there are only 20 days of corn carryover stocks - the lowest level since 1995.

There was a joint statement issued by the pork groups- click on the LINK below to read it in its entirety.

Click here to read the statement issued by the Pork groups that met in Mexico on issues of common concern.

The latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update is out- and reports that "Last week's showers were beneficial, but more rain is needed to improve crop conditions. Wheat jointing was 25 percent complete by week's end, up 12 points from the previous week"- and about nine percentage points ahead of a year ago. Click here to read the full report from USDA.

We have more on the Oklahoma Youth Expo Available on our website- and will be posting more as the day goes by- click here for our Blue Green gazette section of the website where we have OYE coverage- and you can follow us on Twitter- here's the link to see our latest Tweets from the OYE and other venues- if you understand Twitter lingo- the hashtag for the Youth Expo is #OYE11.

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.