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.

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Among the agricultural issues that the Congressman brought up was the Ag Disaster Aid that he has been pushing for since last summer. He says that he did not vote for the Iraqi Supplemental Appropriation that contains that Ag Disaster money because of the "strings" attached to the war monies by Democratic leadership in both bodies. He says telegraphing your intentions to the enemy in Iraq allows them to simply wait us out and then move forward to achieve their aims once we begin our phase out. He fully expects the President to veto that measure, and says that he think that he will still get a chance then to vote for a supplemental measure that will have that language removed- but that will have the ag disaster aid money included. While the President has said he doesn't want those non military dollars included in there- Lucas says that he will vote for that compromise and he thinks at the end of the day we will see the President sign that measure- once those "strings" are removed.

He says that he is not sure exactly when the final budget number will be handed over to the House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, but that it should be soon. If there is enough money to fund a similar Commodity Title to the 2002 Farm Law- it is possible that a bill could be pushed through both bodies of Congress and land on President Bush's desk before the first of October- but it is more likely that we will be talking significantly less money than was available in 2002- that the ideal timeline will break down and we might be facing the need to extend current farm policy next fall if we are far from finishing the crafting of a new measure. We talked with the Congressman briefly before he jumped into his car and headed for his next Town Hall stop (his full schedule is in our Calendar on the website- with meetings planned for today and Thursday) and we have linked that conversation below for you to listen to.

Click here to listen to Ron and Congressman Frank Lucas on several key ag issues.

The Congressman told us that he heard more about Iraq at the Town Hall meeting we were at in Kingfisher than at many locations across his district- there was also lots of discussion about illegal immigration and ways to keep people who follow the rules and what you do with the rest of those who cross are borders outside of the laws of this country.

Finally, as I first arrived at the meeting yesterday morning, the Congressman was offering a few political thoughts about the 2008 race for President. He says that it appears to be a lot more competitive than you might have thought between the Democrats and Republicans given the problems that President Bush has found himself in over Iraq. He says it is still a long way from when the parties will nominate their candidates and he is not sure who might rise up to be the Republican standard bearer in 2008. He does believe that the wildcard for the GOP is former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, as "anyone who is Paul Harvey half of the time" has the ear of a lot of America- referring to the fact that Thompson has become the regular backup to the legendary News Commentator. And he added one fascinating thought that perhaps Oklahoma's Junior Senator might find himself as being on a "short list" as a possible Vice Presidential candidate given his consistent call for responsible spending, his pro life views and his air of confidence that is very charismatic. Congressman Lucas thinks that may come from Senator Coburn being a Doctor and that "anyone who is going to come in and tell you that he plans on working on your body has to have an air of confidence about him or no one will be willing to keep him as a Doctor." Interesting political thoughts from one of the Senior members of the Oklahoma Congressional delegation.

Texas left their rating alone as well as wheat stands at 69% good to excellent in the Lone Star State. However, the Kansas NASS folks decided to include some freeze damage in their numbers- at least that is our best guess as they have dropped the condition of their wheat crop from 77% good to excellent last week down to 55% good to excellent this week! That's a huge drop and as the grain trade sees that number- it could mean sharply higher wheat futures if traders buy it.

Beyond wheat here in Oklahoma- the corn crop is now 38% planted and watermelons 21 percent planted (in both crops- freezing temps from the weekend a concern). The spring planting of sorghum and soybeans has just begun according to the Crop Weather Summary. Pasture conditions continue to respond to the better moisture profile across the state, with ratings now 26% good to excellent, 45% fair and 29% poor to very poor.

Click here for the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update!

About the first of those diseases- here are some comments from Bob: "For the most part, I’ve always recommended that powdery mildew (PM) is not a disease that merits fungicide control in Oklahoma because as the wheat joints and grows, the canopy opens up and the increased circulation of air helps to lower humidity and inhibits PM development. This, coupled with warmer and drier conditions usually means that the PM will not infect the flag or F-1 leaves. For the most part, fungicide trials in Oklahoma have indicated that although all the currently registered fungicides work well in controlling PM, the control usually does not result in significantly larger yields. HOWEVER, with this being said, over the last couple of years I have consistently noticed (and have been told by others) that Jagalene is more susceptible to PM than other varieties. PM is one of those diseases that has co-evolved with wheat to the point that the plants can stand quite a bit of PM and still yield. However, when the PM is moving up onto the F-1 and flag leaves and causing death of secondary tillers, I would strongly encourage considering the use of a fungicide. Remember to consider other factors including yield potential (at least 40 bu/A) and the price of wheat (which currently is very good and helps to justify fungicide use).

As for the second of the diseases we mentioned earlier- leaf rust- Hunger offers these comments: "Leaf rust also is on the increase around Oklahoma. I saw ranges of leaf rust from a few to many pustules on the lower leaves of susceptible varieties. Dr. Brett Carver (OSU Wheat Breeder) and his A&P (Mr. Wayne Woods) both told me of increased rust at several locations. One in particular, Marshall, OK (located about 25 miles west of Stillwater) had what was described to me as >90% severity on the leaves in the mid-canopy. From southwestern and central OK, I had reports from Gary Strickland (Ag Educator, Jackson County), Dirk Webb (Ag Educator, Washita County) and Mark Gregory (Southwestern Area Extension Agronomist) of not only PM but also leaf rust. Additionally, Dirk indicated that in his area (mostly Jagger, Jagalene, and Overley) that at least 50% of the fields were at full head emergence, the yield potential was high (40-50 bu/A), and although the flag and F-1 leaves were clean, there was heavy mildew low (but moving up), and low to moderate levels of stripe rust."

Cash cattle prices jumped four to five dollars per hundred this past week to $100 per hundred and some say there is more upside in the market this week. Dr. Mintert gives us some ideas about why the market headed higher this past week- and how those factors may continue to be in place for the next few weeks.

You can hear the Beef Buzz on many of our Radio Oklahoma Network stations around the state- and we have many of our shows ready for your download on our website, WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com under the button "Beef Buzz." We also have today's report with Jim Mintert linked below if you care to take a listen!

Click here for today's Beef Buzz with Ron and Jim Mintert of K-State!

Category specifications for the contest include “Mouth Watering Main Entrees,” “Dig in Desserts” and in honor of the state’s centennial celebration, “Authentic 100-Year-Old Recipes.” The grand prize winner will be selected by a panel of celebrity media judges. Rules for the contest are simple: Ingredients and specific preparation directions must be included in the order they are used in preparing the dish. The recipe and ingredient list (including at least two MIO company products) must be clearly legible and include the contestant’s name, address, phone number, email address if available, recipe name, and category.

You can go to the link we have provided below for more information on Made In Oklahoma and their Recipe Contest now underway. This is another great way to help add value to Oklahoma Farm Products!

Click here to learn more about Made in Oklahoma and their HUGE Recipe Contest!

Here's how to use the map. Click on the link below- then when you arrive on the page where the map is located, you will see several selections at the top of the map. Click on Ag News once or twice if needed- and you should see a whole group of blue dots show up all across Oklahoma. Find a dot that you are interested in- click on it and it will show you information on that station including where it is on the AM or FM dial to the left of the body of the state. You can also click on the line that says "Coverage Map" and you will be taken to a map of how far that station can be heard out across their part of Oklahoma. Most of the maps have three lines drawn for their coverage area- they can be heard clearly inside of those first two lines- in other words inside the Purple line.

If you are in an area where we don't have very many signals at this point( we continue to grow and add more stations) please email me and give us suggestions which stations you listen to and might be good candidates for us to pursue and add to the Radio Oklahoma Network. You can also email us and we will be glad to let you know the exact times stations are carrying our updates. You can also call the radio station direct and ask for that information. If you do that, be sure and thank them for their commitment in serving rural Oklahoma and agriculture!

Click here for the Radio Oklahoma Network Interactive Map!

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