From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2011 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 Monday June 20, 2011
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS Futures!
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-- 2011 Canola Harvest Season in the Books- and Jeff Scott Calls it Another Home Run
-- June Cattle On Feed Report Better Than Expected
-- Cotton Producers Fighting Drought and Pests this Crop Season
-- Senators Want Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk to Tell Russia to Stop Blocking US Pork Imports
-- Oklahoma Angus Producer Intent on Producing the Ultimate Steak
-- The Virtues of Fenceline Weaning Extolled by Glenn Selk
-- With Oklahoma Wheat Harvest Almost Done- We Turn Our Attention North
-- 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 proud to have KIS Futures as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for the free market quote page they provide us for our website or call them at 1-800-256-2555- and their IPHONE App, which provides all electronic futures quotes is available at the App Store- click here for the KIS Futures App for your Iphone.

We are also 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.

And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer ofthe recent Southern Plains Farm Show as well as the Tulsa Farm Show held each December. Click here for the Midwest Farm Show main website to learn more about their lineup of shows around the country!

We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network weekdays- if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it- click here for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays on RON.

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.


2011 Canola Harvest Season in the Books- and Jeff Scott Calls it Another Home Run
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he final acres of the 2011 winter canola harvest have been combined over the last few days- and one of those farmers who is wrapping up his havest is Jeff Scott. Scott farms around the Pond Creek community in Grant County- and we rode in the combine with him in the western part of that county. The field he was harvesting as we road along with him got hit with some late season hail- pea sized hail which cost him as much as half of the crop with it dead ripe and ready for harvest.

Among the topics we discussed in the combine cab with Jeff- the impact of drought on the 2011 crop.

The similarities of the 2011 and the 2006 harvest season.

The success of No-till techniques and a canola/wheat rotation.

The advantage of that rotation versus straight wheat.

Click on the LINK below to jump to the interview that we had with Jeff as we rode in the air conditioned cab of his combine and clipped along in a field that was yielding from fifteen to thirty bushels per acre. The higher yields were in portions of the yield that were "pushed" while the standing canola in much of the field was hurt by pea sized hail of earlier in the week.

Click here to read more- and to listen to our conversation with Veteran Canola Producer Jeff Scott.


June Cattle On Feed Report Better Than Expected
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In the June cattle on feed report, Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities, says this was a much friendlier report than what was expected. The trade was looking for on feed to be at 105.5 percent and it came in at 104 percent, which he says is friendly. Leffler says with this report having the highest marketing number of over 2 million head since July of 2008.

Leffler says there was a very big rally in the cattle on feed market this week with August live cattle gaining $6.27 and August feeder cattle gaining $9.02 this week. As we move further into the summer months, Leffler says the drought has had an effect on placement numbers and predicts the drought to still have an effect in the future.

Cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 10.9 million head on June 1, 2011. The inventory was 4 percent above June 1, 2010.

Placements in feedlots during May totaled 1.81 million, 11 percent below 2010. Net placements were 1.73 million head.

Click here to listen to Tom Leffler's discussion on the cattle on feed report


Cotton Producers Fighting Drought and Pests this Crop Season
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Cotton producers in southwestern Oklahoma are still facing the terrible drought conditions of the 2011 crop season. Despite the rough planting conditions for this year, producers are still considering the options of late and dryland planting. The deadlines for both of these options for insurance purposes are quickly approaching with the deadline for dryland planting on June 20, 2011, and late planting period expires on June 27, 2011.

Besides drought for this crop year, cotton producers need to be aware of pests as well, such as fleahoppers and lygus. Fleahoppers feed on young weeds, however, as the weeds begin to mature, they will move onto the cotton plant to feed. Numerous chemicals are registered for control of fleahoppers. In an ideal situation, Fleahoppers should be controlled only when thresholds are exceeded in order to preserve beneficial insects since these will help control later occurring pests. Unless the cotton is extremely late, after July 25, control of cotton fleahoppers generally is not economical.

Spray decisions should be based on the squaring rate and level of cotton fleahopper infestations. Usually when cotton fleahoppers (adults and nymphs) reach or exceed 30 per 100 terminals, treatment is justified. However, if cotton fleahopper numbers build slowly, fields can tolerate higher numbers before a reduction in squaring rate will occur. In most cases, fields will no longer be vulnerable to cotton fleahoppers once they begin to bloom.

Click here to read more on drought and pests in this week's Cotton Comments


Senators Want Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk to Tell Russia to Stop Blocking US Pork Imports
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Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhoff has joined with Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ben Nelson of Nebraska and 25 other Senators in urging U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to work to lift Russian trade barriers to U.S. pork products. Senator Grassley says Russia's unjustified position against U.S. pork has blocked products from plants that account for 60-percent of U.S. pork production capacity. He notes one of the issues Russia needs to address before joining the World Trade Organization is its unwarranted barriers to U.S. pork.

The Grassley-Nelson letter to United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk outlines two major barriers from Russia to U.S. pork. The first is Russia's unilateral lowering of the amount of U.S. pork it allows to be imported, cutting the previously agreed-upon amount by about half. The second is Russia's use of sanitary restrictions to limit U.S. pork exports to Russia. The Russian restrictions are not supported by science or valid risk assessments.

We have more on the request from the lawmakers to the Obama Administration's top trade man- including the full letter signed by 28 members of the US Senate.

Click here for more on this request by Senators to Ron Kirk- and we have the link to the full letter as well.


Oklahoma Angus Producer Intent on Producing the Ultimate Steak
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Oklahoma cattleman, Jimmy Taylor from Elk City, is re-focusing his cow-calf operation to focus more on producing the "ultimate steak" for consumers. This shift from pounds-only to high-quality has also led to a change for Taylor with retained ownership through finishing and on to the packinghouse, where most of his calves meet the requirements for the Certified Angus Beef Brand.

Taylor says the carcass weight has become more important and he is beginning to focus on the value of each calf independently. Taylor also says that these changes have brought other factors into play such as cattle handling with low-stress environments, as well as nutrition for the calves.

We have a Youtube from the Angus folks that looks at this quest for quality- click on the LINK below to take a look.

Click here for the YouTube featuring Oklahoma Angus Breeder Jimmy Taylor and his efforts to produce a high quality product for consumers.


The Virtues of Fenceline Weaning Extolled by Glenn Selk
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Many cow/calf operations with fall-born calves will wean the calves in mid to late June. According to Dr. Glenn Selk of Oklahoma State University, weaning during very hot summer weather is stressful enough to the calves. Therefore any management strategy that can reduce stress to the calves should be utilized. "Fenceline weaning" is such a strategy that should be applied.

California researchers weaned calves with only a fence (Fenceline) separating them from their dams. These were compared to calves weaned totally separate (Separate) from dams. Calf behaviors were monitored for five days following weaning. Fenceline calves and cows spent approximately 60% and 40% of their time, respectively within 10 feet of the fence during the first two days. During the first three days, Fenceline calves bawled and walked less, and ate and rested more, but these differences disappeared by the fourth day. All calves were managed together starting 7 days after weaning. After two weeks, Fenceline calves had gained 23 pounds more than Separate calves.

Click on the LINK below to read more from Dr. Glenn Selk on weaning fall-born calves during these hot, summer months.

Click here for additional information from on weaning fall-born calves


With Oklahoma Wheat Harvest Almost Done- We Turn Our Attention North
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Many Kansas farmers spent Father's Day in wheat fields or grain elevators throughout the state, bringing in the 2011 crop.

Mike Schmidt, location manager at Skyland Grain's Johnson location says harvest began a week ago, and yields are all over the board, from 1 bushel per acre to 40 bushels per acre in dryland fields. Test weights average 60 pounds per bushel while protein levels average 13. Between Johnson, Big Bow and Manter, Skyland has taken in about 50% Hard Red and 50% Hard White wheat. Schmidt says it's been too dry throughout Skyland's eight locations to make an educated decision on which class of wheat has performed better. He expects that by the time harvest is wrapped up by July 1, the company will have taken in about half an average crop.

In southeast Kansas, Jim Michael woke up to a thunderstorm that dumped four-inches of rain and hail on his wheat crop near McCune; he had harvested about 40% of his acreage to that point. Yields up to that point had ranged from 30 to 60 bushels per acre in Hard Winter wheat; 50 to 90 bushels per acre in Soft Winter wheat with test weights above 60 pounds per bushel. Michael says the hail did not break the wheat plants over, but the damage to the crop will be severe. The varieties Armour and Everest have stood out for farmers in the region; Fuller has been disappointing.

To read the full report for today from the Kansas Wheat Groups- click on the LINK below- and remember we will have a harvest percentage provided by Uncle Sam later today in our weekly crop weather updates which we will review for you tomorrow morning.

Click here for the latest Kansas Wheat Harvest Update


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.

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 $11.93 per bushel, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $11.93 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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