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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Friday February 9,
2007! A
service of Midwest Farm Shows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Animal Manure Defined as NOT Hazardous "savaged" by a member of
the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Board
-- 102nd Farmers Union Meeting kicks off today- What's with the AFR
name?
-- NO Deal- South Korea and the U.S. make NO apparent progress on
Bone Chip Standoff!
-- Oklahoma Grain and Stocker Producers plan annual meeting next
Friday in Enid.
-- Goobers and Grain come together in Stillwater next Thursday.
-- Congrats to Joyce Flowers as Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the
Year!
-- K101 is the One to turn to in northwest Oklahoma for Ron on
RON!
Howdy Neighbors! Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. Our email this morning is a service of Midwest Farm Shows, featuring the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City April 19-21, 2007, as well as the Tulsa Farm Show held each December. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows by clicking here. 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. | |
Animal Manure Defined as NOT Hazardous "savaged" by a member of the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Board ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Terri Savage,
who sits on the Environmental Quality Board of the Oklahoma Department of
Environmental Quality, is highly critical of the House and Senate measures
in the Oklahoma Legislature that would specifically define manure as not
being a toxic waste worthy of Super Fund attention.
Savage says she has a problem with the broad nature of exemption these bills would provide. As written, Savage claims the bills not only exempt basic manure from being considered hazardous but also exempt any "other materials commingled with the excrement; any process water associated with the excrement or materials; or any byproducts, constituents, or substances contained in or originating from the excrement, materials, or process wastewater." Savage adds," This sets up an unacceptably broad exemption whereby truly hazardous substances could be introduced into or mixed with manure and avoid any regulatory recourse for improper handling and disposal. In the worst case, one could simply mix their plutonium with animal manure and dispose of it however they choose." We contacted the two general farm groups here in the state and they were aware of these statements from Terri Savage and at least one of them plans to ask for a meeting with her to discuss what was called multiple "inaccuracies" in her "op-ed" article that has been circulating through at least one Government Commission that is responsible for watching over some of our more sensitive water resources in the state. | |
102nd Farmers Union Meeting kicks off today- What's with the AFR name? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We understand
that there will be a vote by delegates today to make the American Farmers
and Ranchers name a more prominent part of the fabric of the Oklahoma
Farmers Union later today during their annual business meeting that will
help kick off their annual convention in downtown Oklahoma City.
They will also be setting policy for the general farm group during their meeting- and we asked OFU Vice President Terry Detrick about some of the policy issues most on the minds of the OFU as they start their annual get together- we have linked our brief conversation with him below. They have a special Farm Policy Session this afternoon planned for 3 PM in the Cox Convention Center, featuring Darin Coppock, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers and Immediate Past President Bill Wilson of the National Association of Conservation Districts. This session is open to the public- and will be held on the second level of the Cox Convention Center in the Great Hall area- that's the Convention meeting space that is on the north side of the Cox Center. | |
NO Deal- South Korea and the U.S. make NO apparent progress on Bone Chip Standoff! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The South
Korean Ag Ministry issued a statement on Friday after the two days of
technical talks in Seoul between the two countries that followed the
rejection of three shipments of U.S. for tiny bone chips being discovered
after days of inspection of box after box of those shipments. Secretary of
Agriculture Mike Johanns has declared the Korean market effectively closed
because of these rejections.
The Korean statement reports that "No agreement was reached because of differences between the two sides." The statement adds that the two sides plan further discussions, but did not specify when. Dr. Chuck Lambert of USDA led the U.S. team- and the U.S. Embassy in Seoul indicated that the officials involved had no comment on the two days of talks. Meanwhile, several U.S. Senators have written to the South Korean Embassy in Washington telling the Koreans that"U.S. beef belongs in the Korean market today." The lawmakers add that South Korea's "persistent refusal to open it's market to American beef exports" will make it difficult for Congress to pass any Free Trade deal struck by the two sides. | |
Oklahoma Grain and Stocker Producers plan annual meeting next Friday in Enid. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the big
topics to be discussed by the OGSP at their 2007 annual meeting will be
renewable fuels. The explosion in demand for renewable fuels is altering
the agricultural landscape, with grain prices rocketing in recent months
to 10-year highs. At mid-morning, several experts will discuss the local
ramifications of these changes. Rick Kochenower, Goodwell's Area Research
and Extension Agronomist, says one-third of Oklahoma's crop acreage would
need to be planted to corn or grain sorghum just to meet the needs of two
proposed ethanol plants. He will talk about farmer interest in adding more
grain sorghum and dryland corn to area crop rotations. Oklahoma State
University ag economist Phil Kenkel will reveal the results of an indepth
study, requested by Oklahoma Secretary of Energy David Fleischaker,
illustrating how crop acreages are likely to shift in response to the
growth of the renewable fuels industry. Kenkel will talk about such issues
as storage, transportation, Conservation Reserve Program utilization,
cellulosic energy feed stocks and impacts of a proposed expansion of the
Energy Title in the 2007 Farm Bill.
In addition, Oklahoma State University Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel will look at the issue from the other side of the fence: how the livestock and feed industries are affected by the competing demand for traditional grain and forage crops. Peel also undertook his study at the request of the state energy secretary. “There are questions that we need to be asking about the tradeoffs of increased bioenergy production,” Peel says. The meeting will also look at branded beef programs with the premiere branded beef program in America, Certified Angus Beef, to be spotlighted with a presentation from Mark McCully, the CAB's Director of Supply Management. For information on the all day meeting at the Autry Technology Center in Enid, contact Candace Krebs at 580-242-1910. | |
Goobers and Grain come together in Stillwater next Thursday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Oklahoma
Peanut and Wheat Commissions plan to hold another joint board meeting on
the campus of Oklahoma State University next Thursday, February 15. They
will meet jointly for a session in the Biosystems and Agricultural
Engineering Laboratory and get a complete session on Oklahoma weather with
some of the latest Oklahoma Mesonet tools expected to be shown off.
After the joint lunch and session, the two groups will divide for their respective monthly Commission meetings. They will come back together on Thursday evening for a special dinner with former Governor George Nigh expected to address the group. Both Commissions will be getting a full update from the researchers at Oklahoma State University that they work with in their respective crops. This day on campus allows the farmers who are members of the Commissions to learn more about current projects and what's next when it comes to research ideas from our Land Grant Institution. | |
Congrats to Joyce Flowers as Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joyce Flowers,
second-grade teacher at Meeker Elementary School, has been named the 2007
Ag in the Classroom Teacher of the Year by the Oklahoma Department of
Agriculture.
The AITC program provides core curriculum material that incorporates agricultural information in studies such as math, science, language arts, reading and social studies. Mary Ann Kelsey, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry coordinator for the program said Flowers has excelled at using the program in her classes. “She goes above and beyond when it comes to using our curriculum and study materials,” she said. “Mrs. Flowers has arranged for local farmers to make presentations to her students to help them get a better idea about what agriculture is really like. The parents of her students tell us they are just amazed at the way their kids are learning.” | |
K101 is the One to turn to in northwest Oklahoma for Ron on RON! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are proud
to have the wonderful folks at K101 as a part of the Radio Oklahoma
Network- and we are especially proud of the fact that they have made a
substantial commitment to farmers, ranchers and those in agribusiness in
the programming they provide every day from the Radio Oklahoma Network
team of Ron Hays, Ed Richards and Tom Leffler.
Ten times a day, they offer agricultural reports, featuring our farm and ranch news, agricultural markets and analysis. Those report times include 6:15 am, 6:45 am, 7:30 am, 8:30 am, 9:35 am, 11:25 am, 12:25 pm, 12:30 pm, 1:35 pm and 3:00 pm. We have linked details of these reports that KWOX- K101- carries below- check it out, and remember that a great way to be informed every day throughout the day in the business of agriculture is to check out K101 Radio! Click here to review the programs carried by K101 from the Radio Oklahoma Network! | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows for their support of our daily Farm News Update. Go to their website at the link at the top of today's email for more information on either the Tulsa Farm Show or the Southern Plains Farm Show. 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. | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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