If You Personalize a Product in the Supermarket- Can you Sell More of that Product?- Cattlewomen Seek an Answer to That Question at Oklahoma Stores This Weekend 

If you find yourself in one of 29 select Oklahoma Homeland, United, or Country Mart stores this weekend, you might be part of an experiment.   The test will be to see if having cattlewomen present in the store to interact with consumers increases beef sales.

Oklahoma Cattle Lady Tammi Didlot is the president of the American National Cattlewomen and will be helping to conduct the tests this Saturday and Sunday.

"We have 29 of the Homeland stores-which could be United or Country Mart-here in Oklahoma that are going to be doing a sampling of one of our national winners of the recipe contest. That sample is going to be served in all 29 locations however we're only going to have a cattlewoman at 11 locations."

Didlot said each store will measure their beef sales to determine if having a cattlewoman speak one-on-one with consumers about various beef cuts influences sales. She said this is a way to put real facts and figures to the experiment. 

This is a follow-up to nationwide research done by the Cattlemen's Beef Board and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association that says consumers want to have more contact with beef producers. This weekend's study will provide concrete detail to determine how best to give the public what they ask for and ensure it impacts sales.

Click here for more from Tammi Didlot.  You'll also find a link to the award-winning recipe they will be featuring in stores this weekend. 

Canola TV Double-Feature: Getting Ready For Planting and Making Good Use of Checkoff Dollars 

In the newest episodes of Canola TV posted on our website and on Youtube:

Josh Bushong, state canola specialist with OSU, says the planting window is rapidly approaching and there are several things growers need to be doing in preparation. He also gives us some pointers on soil samples and variety selection for the coming season. You can see this episode by clicking here.

Dr. Ron Sholar, executive director of the Oklahoma Oilseed Commission, spoke with us at the recent canola conference in Altus. He says the commission is beginning see canola checkoff dollars roll in, and commissioners are already investing them in research on behalf of producers. He also lays out his projections on what the future of canola looks like in the Sooner state.  Click here to see more.

Be sure and bring the popcorn!

University Economic Studies Show Waiving RFS Would Have Negligible Impact on Corn Price

Two separate studies released this week by leading university agricultural economists concluded that waiving the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) would not result in meaningfully lower corn prices. The analyses, released by Iowa State University and Purdue University, directly refute the suggestion from livestock and poultry groups that waiving the RFS would dramatically reduce corn prices and increase availability.

The Purdue University analysis showed that the flexibility built into the RFS-namely the ability of refiners to use excess RIN credits accumulated in past years-serves to reduce corn price without a waiver being necessary. However, the Purdue economists found, if Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did waive the RFS, corn prices might decrease further by approximately 5.6% in 2013.

Meanwhile, the Iowa State University analysis, an update to an earlier report, found that fully waiving the RFS would result in just a 7.4% reduction in corn price in the 2012/13 marketing year. As with the Purdue report, the flexibility enabled by surplus RIN credits was a significant factor in the ISU analysis.

You'll find more on this story at our website and links to the original studies.  Click here to go there.

Yet Another Report: Corn Ethanol Waiver's Effect on Corn Prices Depends on Oil Prices

Corn prices pushed higher by the worst U.S. drought in half a century would not necessarily moderate if the federal government's corn ethanol mandate were temporarily suspended and if oil prices rose dramatically at the same time, according to a report by three Purdue University agricultural economists.

The report, Potential Impacts of a Partial Waiver of the Ethanol Blending Rules, suggests that under some scenarios with certain market conditions, corn prices could fall if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted a partial waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard's corn ethanol provision. EPA received a request by a consortium of livestock industry organizations to waive part of the mandate that effectively requires that corn ethanol be blended with gasoline. 

"If corn prices remain high, which seems likely, and crude oil remains at $100 a barrel or lower, then reducing the RFS could reduce the demand for ethanol and, consequently, the demand for corn," Wally Tyner, one of the report's authors, said. "If the waiver resulted in less demand for ethanol that would, in turn, lead to lower corn prices than would have existed without the waiver. It also could lead to more ethanol plant closings--at least temporarily."

Conversely, an EPA waiver could have little effect if crude oil moves beyond $120 a barrel and oil companies continue blending ethanol at current levels, he said.

Click here for more. 

Congressman Releases Video in Face of Administration's Silence on Farm Bill Priorities

On August 6, U.S. House Agriculture Committee member Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting that Secretary Vilsack respond with a list of specific priorities for the Farm Bill. In the letter, Huelskamp explained that while Vilsack is complaining about a possible one-year extension of the 2008 Farm Bill, Vilsack and Obama have failed to offer any alternatives. Huelskamp gave Vilsack until last Monday to respond. As of Wednesday,Vilsack had refused to identify any farm bill specifics.

"While of course I am disappointed in the lack of response, I cannot say I am surprised," Huelskamp said.

"Left unstated, perhaps we should assume that the Obama Administration wishes to continue the trends of their term in office. Whether it be vastly expanding the food stamps rolls by 45%, continuing the regulatory assault on our farms and ranches, or supporting a huge increase in the death tax at the end year, we must assume the Administration wants to continue these policies in the next Farm Bill. While he missed my deadline, I hope Vilsack will take the time to respond and let America's farmers and ranchers know what an Obama Farm Bill would actually look like."

Huelskamp released a video about what President Obama and Secretary Vilsack's farm bill would look like if we continued current policies of this Administration. Note- the freshman lawmaker's video might be described as a "sarcastic parody" but we'll let you be the judge.  

Click here to see the Congressman's video. 

Governor Asks Oklahomans to be Proactive and Protect Against West Nile Virus

Governor Mary Fallin is joining with state and local public health officials to raise awareness of West Nile virus and the steps Oklahomans should take to protect themselves from the mosquito-borne illness.

"West Nile virus is a serious disease that can be life-altering or even fatal," said Fallin. "Many of our fellow Oklahomans are now hospitalized with West Nile virus. Even though we are early into the season, at least 61 cases and three deaths have been reported in Oklahoma. The best way to prevent West Nile virus is to avoid mosquito bites."

Fallin urged Oklahomans to "fight the bite" by taking personal precautions to reduce the risk of mosquito bites, including using insect repellent when going outdoors, installing or repairing screens on windows and doors, and emptying standing water from items outside the home like buckets, cans, flower pots, and tires so mosquitoes have no place to breed. Bird baths and outdoor pet water bowls should be emptied and refilled daily and leaves and debris should be cleaned from gutters to ensure they are not clogged. 

You can click here to read more of this story.

In the Field and Looking Ahead for the Next Couple of Weeks  

Our top story this morning featured part of a conversation that we had with Tammi Didlot- President of the Oklahoma Cattlewomen and the American National Cattlewomen- Tammi will be visiting with us on Saturday morning (tomorrow) on our In the Field segment as seen on News9 KWTV in Oklahoma City- it airs around 6:40 AM- hop0e you will check it out. 

Later today- we have the regular monthly Cattle on Feed Report from USDA- comes out at 2 PM central time- and we will have our friend Tom Leffler talking with our own Ed Richards after that with a look at the numbers- check our front page later today for details of that latest feedlot cattle count. (pre report guesses show fewer cattle placed in July, slightly more marketed and slightly more total on feed as of August 1)

Next week- we look forward to the kickoff of Class XVI of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program- I think that this will be a great class- and I am honored to be able to offer them greetings and a challenge on behalf of the Advisory Board for the Program that I chair.  To this day- I rely on the contacts I made in Class One of the program over thirty years ago- and believe that OALP was a part of my early training to be the best I could be in communicating with folks almost every day since then about this business and way of life that we can agriculture.   

Finally, week after next- I look forward to heading up to Manhattan, Kansas and being a part of a grain sorghum research conference- some of our OSU friends have asked us to be a part of a social media training session- and we look forward to that session at the end of the month.

One quick reminder- we always appreciate your feedback- drop us an email anytime and let us know what you like, dislike or hope we might do differently that help you in your farm, ranch or agribusiness situation.  Send those emails to ron@Oklahomafarmreport.com.