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.

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 of the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show, as well as the Tulsa Farm Show. Click here for more information on the Southern Plains Farm Show, coming up April 15,16 and 17, 2010.

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.

University of Nebraska Livestock Marketing Specialist Dr. Darrell Mark says this is a very bullish report. The March 1st breeding herd is at a record low. He believes there should be fresh optimism in the pork business about profitability in the months ahead, and as a result, Mark believes most producers will drop their culling plans.

The breeding herd in Oklahoma jumped three percent over the last year, compared to a four percent drop nationally. The total Oklahoma breeding herd now stands at 410,000 head, making Oklahoma the fifth largest breeding herd in the US.
The total number of market hogs in the state actually dropped by three percent, about in line with what was seen nationally, as there were 1.88 million market hogs in the state as of March first, meaning that Oklahoma is tied for eighth with Ohio in the number of market hogs in the state. The total number of hogs and pigs as of March first is off 2% from one year ago, and stands at 2.34 million head, the 8th most in any state in the US.

Click on the link below for more on these hog and pigs numbers- we have an audio overview of the report, as well as a link to the full details released by USDA on Friday afternoon.

Click here for more on the latest Hog and Pigs Numbers from USDA as of March First.

The Stockyards is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and President Rob Fisher says they've been getting ready for the contest for several months - with hundreds of thousands of dollars poured into refurbishing and remodeling the facilities.

The five from Oklahoma that have qualified for the 2010 Championship include Bailey Ballou, Elgin, Okla.; Lance Cochran, Medford, Okla; Dustin Focht, Stillwater, Okla; Brian Little, Wann, Okla. and Brian Marlin, Inola, Okla.
Click on the link below for more information and the rest of the contestants that will be coming to Oklahoma City this coming June.

Click here for more on the 2010 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship- to be held at the Oklahoma National Stockyards.

"We were able to get provisions included in both permanent policy and special orders which are relative to current national agriculture issues originating at our Oklahoma AFR Convention," said AFR/OFU President Terry Detrick. "While we did not get everything accomplished which we wished to do, we in fact were reasonably successful overall." We talked with Detrick about some of the highlights of what he saw at the NFU meeting, attended by just a handful of AFR delegates here in 2010, and you can listen to our conversation by clicking on the link below. In particular, he expressed a lot of concern about the attitude of USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack towards production agriculture after meeting privately with the former Iowa Governor while there in Rapid City.

"I want to compliment NFU President Roger Johnston for being very open-minded with respect to issues impacting producers in the southwest U.S. With almost an entirely new staff hired over the last year, they are very interested in representing the diverse interests and what is good for the future of all of agriculture," stated Detrick.

Click here for a complete look at what AFR got included in the NFU national policy statement for 2010- and a chance to hear our conversation with Terry Detrick on the NFU meeting.

Two of the recess appointments that can be made only when Congress is adjourned are of interest to farm and ranch interests. One is Islam A. Siddiqui: Nominee for Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The White House News Release offers this "bio" of Siddiqui, who has received generally good reviews from ag interests.
"Islam A. Siddiqui is currently Vice President for Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America, where he is responsible for regulatory and international trade issues related to crop protection chemicals. Previously, Dr. Siddiqui also served as CropLife America's Vice President for agricultural biotechnology and trade. From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Siddiqui served in various capacities in the Clinton Administration at U.S. Department of Agriculture as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Senior Trade Advisor to Secretary Dan Glickman and Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs. As a result, he worked closely with the USTR and represented USDA in bilateral, regional and multi-lateral agricultural trade negotiations. Since 2004, Dr. Siddiqui has also served on the U.S. Department of Commerce's Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Health/Science Products & Services, which advises the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and USTR on international trade issues related to these sectors. Between 2001 and 2003, Dr. Siddiqui was appointed as Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he focused on agricultural biotechnology and food security issues. Before joining USDA, Dr. Siddiqui spent 28 years with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He received a B.S. degree in plant protection from Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University in Pantnagar, India, as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in plant pathology, both from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana."

The other recess appointment that has agricultural ties is Jill Long Thompson: Nominee for Member, Farm Credit Administration Board. Here's the "bio" from the White House news release for Ms. Thompson.

"Jill Long Thompson is a former Member of the United States House of Representatives and the former Under Secretary for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. She also served as Chief Executive Officer and Senior Fellow at The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, a not-for-profit, non-advocacy research and policy organization. She is the first and only woman to be nominated by a major party to run for Governor in Indiana, as well as the first and only Hoosier woman to be nominated by a major party to run for the United States Senate. Long Thompson joined the faculty at Valparaiso University in 1981 and in 1983 was elected to the City Council. In 1989 Long Thompson was elected to represent Northeast Indiana in Congress. She went on to serve three terms in the House, where she was a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. She introduced one of the nation's first pieces of legislation banning Members of Congress from accepting gifts and expanding the disclosure requirements for lobbying activities. After leaving Congress, Long Thompson was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as the Under Secretary for Rural Development at the United States Department of Agriculture. In her five years at USDA, she oversaw a $10 billion annual budget and 7,000 employees while managing a number of programs that provide services to the underserved areas of rural America. Long Thompson earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Valparaiso University and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Business from the Kelley School at Indiana University."

Woodall says that the livestock industry has had a lot of success in recent weeks in having seminars for Congressional staffers in Washington that they have called Antibiotics 101- pointing out that meat reaching the consumer have no traces of antibiotics in them because of withdrawal times, and that antibiotics that are approved for use in livestock face as rigorous or even more rigorous approval process than antibiotics approved for human use. He says these seminars have been well attended and he believes have been helpful in offsetting negative comments from those who are seeking more restrictions on antibiotic use in animal agriculture.

We have more on this story with Colin Woodall of the NCBA- and links back to the previous two Beef Buzz shows that were also with Woodall, where we talked about Estate Taxes, Animal ID and Beef Trade with Japan. Click on the link below to get to all of these Beef Buzz shows, as heard on great radio stations all across the state of Oklahoma on the Radio Oklahoma Network.

Click here for more on the antibiotic battle in Washington as we talk to Colin Woodall of the NCBA on the Beef Buzz

Midwest Shows Scholarship Programs Inc. is presenting the competition that is open to all FFA and 4H members. Those participating will first attend a one-hour seminar on grading presented by Gary Bledsoe, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Consultant on Rural Development. and Glen Schickedanz Oklahoma Department of Agriculture News and Market Development Coordinator, Following the presentation, teams of 4 contestants will grade 15 head using the criteria covered in the seminar. Scoring will be supervised by OSU Extension/4H and Oklahoma Careertech Ag Education department district program specialists.

This is a tremendous educational event for both 4-H and FFA youth interested in becoming more knowledgeable about how to select the best feeder calves for a backgrounding operation. And, the prizes are first class. Midwest Farm Shows wants to encourage both extension 4-H agents as well as Ag Education Teachers to gather some of your young people that are interested in the cattle business and bring them to both learn and then compete on April 15.

Click here for more details about the 2010 Commercial Cattle Grading Contest at the Southern Plains Farm Show.

The great folks at the OPC produced videos of each of their winners, including a very nice overview of my growing up in the hog industry and then how we have been involved in building one, and now a second agricultural radio network to a number one rating in the state of Oklahoma.

For those of you that would like to see that video, we have it up and available on our website. Our thanks again to Roy Lee Lindsey and Nikki Snider of the Oklahoma Pork Council for their work on getting this video assembled. Even my 21 year old daughter leaned over as it was playing Thursday night and asked, are you going to be able to get a copy of this dad? The answer is yes- and you can go to the link to see it for yourself.

Click here for more on that Distingusihed Service Award given this past Thursday by the OPC- and the video they produced about my career in radio serving agriculture in the state.

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.