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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest
farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron
Hays of RON for Tuesday June 14, 2011 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and
OklahomaMineralBuyers.Com!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Latest Crop Weather Updates Show Oklahoma Wheat Harvest 83%
Done
-- Tom Coburn's Vote to Eliminate Ethanol Subsidies Happens After
Lunch Today
-- Secretary Vilsack says Cutting Ethanol Subsidies Cold Turkey Will
Cost American Jobs
-- Renewable Fuels Association Praises Ethanol Tax Policy Bill
-- OSU's Derrell Peel says Cattle Markets are Adrift with No
Landmarks in Sight
-- Future of Precision Agriculture Could Depend on Federal
Communications Commission
-- Harvesting Wheat and Harvesting Scholarship Bucks
-- 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 excited to have as one of our sponsors for the daily email
Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, with 64 years of progress through
producer ownership. Call Brandon Winters at 405-232-7555 for more
information on the oilseed crops they handle, including sunflowers and
canola- and remember they post closing market prices for canola and
sunflowers on the PCOM
website- go there by clicking here. We invite you to listen to us weekdays on the Radio Oklahoma Network
for the latest farm news and markets- if you missed today's Morning Farm
News (or in an area where you can't hear it) Click
here to listen to today's Morning Farm News with Ron on RON. | |
Latest Crop Weather Updates Show Oklahoma Wheat Harvest 83% Done ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
Crop Weather update is out from Uncle Sam- and for Oklahoma- "The wheat
harvest made significant progress during the past week, well ahead of a
normal harvest. This was aided by the hot and dry conditions persisting
for the last several weeks. Above average heat for June continued across
the state with a high of 107 in Freedom and Hollis on Wednesday and
average highs in the 90s for all districts. The hot and windy conditions
continued to exacerbate the drought that is ongoing in Oklahoma. The US
Drought Monitor for June 7th reported an increase in the percentage of the
state with drought conditions, although the area with the highest drought
rating remained relatively unchanged. Wildfires have been reported in
Woods and Comanche counties over the past week and red flag warnings
continue to be issued by the National Weather Service. Rain was received
this past week, mostly over the weekend with 1.41 inches in the North
Central district."
For our wheat harvest- Oklahoma jumps from 45% harvested a week ago to 83% harvested at the start of this week. The five year average for Oklahoma is 43% complete by this date. Texas remains ahead of their five year average as well- but not by too much at 46% complete versus the average of 35%. The Kansas wheat harvest is now rolling, according to the Kansas NASS folks- at 11% complete versus the five year average for this early in the harvest window of 5%. You can review the rest of the wheat harvest numbers as well as national spring crop progress numbers by clicking here. Specifically for Oklahoma and our spring planted crops- "Planting is progressing where soil moisture allows and most row crop conditions are rated good to fair, with the exception of cotton. Corn emergence reached 94 percent complete and six percent of the crop was silking by Sunday. Sorghum seedbed preparation was 96 percent complete, while 68 percent was planted and 32 percent of the crop had emerged by week's end. Soybean seedbed preparation was 89 percent complete while 65 percent of the crop was planted and 49 percent had emerged by Sunday. Peanut planting was 89 percent complete by week's end and 87 percent of the crop had emerged, an increase of 31 points. Cotton planted was 80 percent complete and 29 percent of the crop had emerged by Sunday, still 44 points behind normal." Click on the LINK below for the full Oklahoma Crop Weather Update- which also catches you up on pasture conditions and a fast growing watermelon crop for 2011. Click here for our latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update from NASS at the USDA. | |
Tom Coburn's Vote to Eliminate Ethanol Subsidies Happens After Lunch Today ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Senator Tom
Coburn of Oklahoma received a letter of support from Koch Industries on
Monday afternoon in advance of the floor action on his proposal that comes
up this afternoon that could begin the process of ending the VEETC tax
credit as well as the import tariff that benefits domestic ethanol. Koch
is an ethanol blender and currently receives the tax credit.
Phillip Ellender with Koch Industries says his company now blends gasoline and ethanol- and gets the credit. But, they are supportive of Senator Coburn's plan to eliminate the tax credit. "We oppose ethanol subsidies because they distort economic signals about price and demand and create inefficiencies that divert resources from productive activities to politically favored ones. We have also opposed subsidies for natural gas vehicles and other biofuels for these same reasons." The vote on Coburn's amendment will occur at 1:15 PM central time this afternoon and may be followed by two additional anti-ethanol amendments - one by Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina that would repeal the RFS and another by Sen. John McCain of Arizona that would block funding for blender pumps and other demand infrastructure for ethanol. Click here to read more about Senator Coburn's battle over ethanol subsidies. | |
Secretary Vilsack says Cutting Ethanol Subsidies Cold Turkey Will Cost American Jobs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Secretary
Vilsack recently spoke to the National Press Club on the issue of
innovation in American agriculture, as well as finding sustainable
solutions to help feed the world. One issue that was specifically focused
on was the issue of biofuel and ethanol production in America. The idea of
eliminating the ethanol subsidies with the USDA has come up but according
to Secretary Vilsack, that would only cause a reduction in production,
which would in turn cause lost jobs. Vilsack also says without biofuels and the ethanol industry, everyone in the United States would be paying $.90 more per gallon of gas. Ethanol needs to be made more readily available and make sure it is convenient for consumers across the country says Vilsack. Vilsack also says to address the imbalance in our economy currently, we
need to have new opportunities for job growth, especially in rural areas
of the nation. The biofuel and ethanol industries are an excellent
opportunity for the U.S. to be competitive and innovative and provide job
growth for rural communities says Vilsack. Click here to listen to Secretary Vilsack's comments as well as a transcript of his comments | |
Renewable Fuels Association Praises Ethanol Tax Policy Bill ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Renewable
Fuels Association (RFA) today praised the introduction of a bipartisan
bill that would transition and transform current ethanol policy to both
address fiscal concerns as well as ensure the continued growth of and
innovation in America's ethanol industry. The bill, known as the Ethanol
Reform and Deficit Reduction Act, was introduced by Senators John Thune
(R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and a bipartisan group of 9 Senate
colleagues.The bill would transition the current ethanol tax incentive, known as VEETC, to a variable tax incentive tied to the price of oil. Additionally, the bill would make available funds saved by the transformation of VEETC to expand ethanol fueling infrastructure by improving tax policies currently available for blender pumps and other ethanol-related infrastructure. Specifically, the bill calls for 53,000 blender pumps, a number the RFA noted was needed to help achieve the goals of the Renewable Fuels Standard. The bill would also extend current tax incentives for the next generation of ethanol technologies using cellulosic and other feedstocks. If passed, the bill would take effect July 1, 2011. This bill is similar to legislation introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who is a cosponsor of this bill, and Kent Conrad (D-ND). "This is thoughtful, responsible legislation that addresses the need for sound budget policy with progressive and innovative strategies for creating jobs and ending America's addiction to imported oil," said RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen. "This bipartisan, forward-looking approach stands in stark contrast to other Senate gimmicks that would seek to end America's efforts to replace imported oil with domestically-produced renewable fuels like ethanol. America's entire ethanol industry stands in support of this effort and is proud to work with these Senate leaders to proactively offer responsible reform ideas and seek to see this bill become law through following the proper legislative process." This measure has been hurriedly dropped into the legislative hopper by Senators who are supportive of ethanol and fear the play to gut VEETC being made by Senator Coburn could be successful. They hope to control the pot of money that is associated with VEETC to advance blender pumps which are now few and far between across the country. Click here for more information about this new bill on ethanol tax policy | |
OSU's Derrell Peel says Cattle Markets are Adrift with No Landmarks in Sight ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What can you
hang your hat on in cattle markets these days? According to OSU Extension
Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel, the answer is not much with
any certainty. Most of the market fundamentals are changing and volatile.
About the only consistent thing is an undercurrent of tight supplies that
continues to support markets and minimize some of the downside volatility.
This last week was a good example of all this with new information on
several fronts and market fundamentals moving in inconsistent ways.
USDA's latest crop production figures include a reduction in the estimated corn crop as planting delays have reduced corn acreage. Current projections are for corn planted acreage of 90.7 million acres, down from last month's estimate of 92.2 million acres. This resulted in an estimated production of 13.2 billion bushels, down from 13.5 last month. Although not a particularly large decrease, this drop in production reduces the estimated ending stocks for 2011/2012 crop from an already tight 900 million bushels to 695 million bushels. This implies that the current record low stocks to use ratio of just above 5 percent will continue for another year and could potentially tighten even more. In short, there is little possibility for lower corn prices and considerable upside risk as the 2011 crop is a long ways from being in the bin. Despite higher corn prices, both Live and Feeder Cattle futures mostly
higher last week before ending the week lower on Friday. Cattle futures
markets have stabilized the past two weeks after the big slide from the
April highs as the market tries to rebuild the fundamental base after much
of the outside money moved out of the market the last two months. Cash fed
and feeder cattle were higher last week, moving against both higher corn
prices and lower boxed beef prices. Click here to read more from Dr. Derrell Peel on the current cattle markets | |
Future of Precision Agriculture Could Depend on Federal Communications Commission ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If the Federal
Communications Commission extends a waiver to a group attempting to
implement wireless broadband nationwide, the Global Positioning System as
we know it could be severely affected. A company called LightSquared,
which is backed by the Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund, is working
to launch a wireless broadband network.Their goal is to build out a nationwide 4G ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) network that would cover 260 million people in the United States by 2014. In January, the FCC granted LightSquared a conditional waiver, which allows them to proceed with the project in a limited fashion while a working group conducts research to determine whether the LightSquared network and GPS can coexist with no interference. Click on the LINK below to read more on the Federal Communications Commission and how they can change precision agriculture technology and GPS. Click here for additional information on the future of precision agriculture | |
Harvesting Wheat and Harvesting Scholarship Bucks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We appreciate
the many folks who have provided a personal glimpse at wheat and canola
harvest 2011- we have the official stats and the general updates from
elevators and groups- but these snapshots of the 2011 harvest are
invaluable. The latest report we have taken in comes from Roland Pederson
and family. Roland writes "We basically finished harvest Saturday night
about 3 hours before we received nearly 2 inches of rain. It was the first
rain over an inch since last fall I think. Overall the wheat was much
better than anyone anticipated. Our wheat was 12-15 bushels per acre
better than I thought it would be and the quality was excellent. Our best
wheat was Duster and I noticed that one of the loads tested 65.6 pounds
per bushel. Endurance did well also. The harvest resembled a western
Kansas one in the fact you could start early and cut late as there was no
dew."On the other hand I would have to say our Canola was somewhat disappointing. It was planted on some pretty hard clay soil and it just ran out of water. I have not seen the settlement sheets but I don't think it made my goal of 20 bushels per acre. However, the price is good. Harvest is nearly finished here in the Burlington area and the elevator manager said the elevator was about full and no one thought that would happen." Our congratulations to two Oklahoma youth who have received a $1500 scholarship from Monsanto to further their education. Elliott Muegge of Lamont in Grant County and Braden Waggoner of Altus in Jackson County each receive one of the 100 scholarships being handed out here in 2011 by Monsanto to advance the education of young men and women interested in studying agriculture. All scholarship winners come from a farming family, plan to enroll as
full-time students in agriculture-based programs at accredited schools and
are committed to obtaining a career in agriculture. They were chosen based
on their strong academic records, leadership skills and extracurricular
activities. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers, KIS Futures and Oklahoma Mineral Buyers 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 $12.15
per bushel, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available
are $12.15 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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