From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 07:10
To: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
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 Wednesday June 6, 2007!
A service of Midwest Farm Shows
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-- Hotter & Windier Weather Equals Harvest Rolling Faster!
-- Freeze Damage??? Or is it Leaf Rust?
-- HB1916 and SB609 among the bills now signed into law by Governor Henry
-- It is being called a "Temporary" ban on US beef by South Korea.
-- June Dairy Field Days planned for the next two weeks.
-- The Coyote is a Great Companion as you Roll that Wheat Combine!
-- Farm Policy Mark-up Continues in Washington

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 recently concluded Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City, 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.


Hotter & Windier Weather Equals Harvest Rolling Faster!
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The 2007 Oklahoma Hard Red Winter Wheat Harvest had its most active day thus far on Tuesday as we saw active cutting of wheat in the southern half of the state- while central areas were getting busy and test cutting was happening all the way to the Kansas line in the north central counties.

Mark Hodges continues to check on things for us- and he was in the Weatherford, Colony and Chattanooga areas during the day yesterday- saw things improving in some areas when it came to test weights- others are still only in the mid 50s as the extended period of wet weather may have allowed leaf rust to have impact on both the quality as well as the quantity of this year's wheat crop in southern and central areas of the state.

In north central Oklahoma, we spent a few minutes on the phone with Kent Prickett of Pond Creek last night- and he told us that they had test cutting in his area yesterday afternoon- over half of their wheat is laying down- he thinks mostly from freeze damage in his area and that he believes that yields could be off 40% from a normal year in his trade area. We have an audio update and we have linked our website below as that report is there on the front page of our site. We may well have other updates as the day goes by- and checking back there from time to time will give you the latest information that we have on harvest activities as we get reports.

Click here to go to WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com and the wheat harvest audio report with Mark and Kent is dead center on the page!


Freeze Damage??? Or is it Leaf Rust?
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Kent Prickett of Pond Creek is probably correct that his area suffered from significant freeze damage from the Easter Weekend cold snap that hit much of Oklahoma agriculture hard in north central and northeastern counties. However, further south into central areas of the state and further south- the freeze probably did not do as much damage to the wheat plant here in 2007 as did leaf rust.

That argument is being made by Mark Hodges of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission- who says that the 2007 Oklahoma wheat crop may be known as the year that the law of averages finally catches up to us and our decade long love affair with Jagger wheat will come back to bite wheat producers hard. According to a survey done earlier in the 2006-2007 growing season, Jagger was planted on 40.8% of the wheat acres in the state, and the second highest planting percentage of an individual wheat variety is 16.8%- and that is Jagalene. Jagalene has been hit even harder than Jagger in proving to be susceptible to leaf rust this season- although Jagger has proven to be very susceptible as well. Add to the fact that both of these wheats are early maturing varieties-and the Easter Freeze hit them harder than many other varieties.

Will this hard learned lesson be applied this fall when we plant the 2008 wheat crop? Time will tell- but the wheat production specialists advise(and have been for the past decade) to spread your risk by planting some early and late maturing wheat varieties- and to pay attention to things like disease resistance from problems like stripe rust(seen two years ago) and leaf rust(since in huge amounts this year)


HB1916 and SB609 among the bills now signed into law by Governor Henry
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Two measures that deal with the developing world of bioenergy have been signed into law by Governor Brad Henry- SB609, which will establish a Biofuels Center here in the state, and HB1916, the so called Thad Doye bill, which will allow an individual farmer to brew biodiesel in small quantities on his farm without tax penalties.

SB609, signed by the Governor is legislation to help position Oklahoma as a global leader in renewable energy. A key component of Gov. Henry's 2007 legislative agenda, Senate Bill 609 establishes the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center to coordinate biofuels research and development at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and the Ardmore-based Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. The state's expertise in energy and agricultural issues makes it well-suited for a leadership role in biofuels, the Governor said. "The Oklahoma Bioenergy Center will have a significant impact on future generations of Oklahomans, and all Americans," he said. "Biofuels are a critical component in reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil, protecting the environment, creating high-paying jobs and diversifying our state's economy." Biofuels research supported by the OBC will include development of feedstocks (primarily cellulosic biomass), collection and transportation, conversion technologies and distribution.

HB1916 offers an exemption to the state fuel tax for a farmer who produces his own biodiesel from his own crop. It was inspired by the on farm experimentation and development of a biodiesel production system by Thad Doye, who farms near Lawton, and produced his own biodiesel from Sunflowers that he grew on his place.


It is being called a "Temporary" ban on US beef by South Korea.
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We will see how "temporary" this latest ban on US beef really is, as South Korea says they are waiting on an explanation from the United States as to what happened that allowed a beef export distributor to accidently ship several boxes of bone-in beef short ribs to South Korea- product that was supposed to be for our domestic market. The "accident" includes USDA's inspectors who are supposed to know the export rules to South Korea- but they blinked (or something) and by golly, those boxes just slipped right on through.

It is very hard for US interests to buy this story-given the sensitive nature of our trade with this newly re- opened market for US beef; given the rejection last fall of three shipments that had tiny bits of bone found by the Koreans who said it had to be totally boneless down to the hangnail size of a piece of bone or nothing; and given the fact that we are trying to get Korea to accept the international animal health communities assessment that US beef is safe from BSE- and that we want them to accept all US beef, boneless or bone-in of whatever age- why weren't these people paying attention?!?

From the Korean point of view, they smell conspiracy and will probably take their sweet time in responding to this latest snafu of those who handle our product as it goes into the global market. We have comments from one of the key USDA players in talking to the Koreans- Dr. Chuck Lambert- and he joins us for today's Beef Buzz as heard on the Radio Oklahoma Network. Click below to check that angle of the story out.

Click here to listen to Ron and Chuck Lambert on today's Beef Buzz.


June Dairy Field Days planned for the next two weeks.
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Our thanks to State OSU Dairy Specialist Noah Litherland, who provides us details of four dairy field days planned- two for next week and two for the following week here in the state. Litherland says OSU extension is sponsoring Oklahoma Summer Dairy Field Days, which are an excellent opportunity for Oklahoma youth and adults to visit dairies throughout the state. During the field days we have a judging contest for FFA and 4-H with all six breeds of dairy cattle (Ayrshire, Guernsey, Holsteins, Brown Swiss Milking shorthorn, and Jerseys). Additionally, host dairy farms allow visitors to view their facilities and share with them their philosophies for successfully dairying in Oklahoma.

The two field days planned for next week include the Ayrshire/Guernsey Field Day in Inola on June 12 and the Holstein Field Day in Talequah on June 13. The following week will find the Brown Swiss/Milking Shorthorn Field Day in Perkins happening June 18 and the Jersey Field Day in Crescent on June 19.

You can contact Dr. Noah Litherland Dairy Extension Specialist with questions at 405-744-6058- and we have linked below information about the Field Days in a Word Document.

Click here for more on these four Dairy Field Days coming up this month.


The Coyote is a Great Companion as you Roll that Wheat Combine!
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We have several great radio stations that will keep you entertained and informed as you work the next several days in the 2007 wheat harvest. For those of you in west central and down into southwestern Oklahoma- I might suggest our friends at the Coyote, KWEY AM and FM, based in Clinton/Weatherford.

The carry our agri news and market updates through the day on KWEY- offer lots of weather updates and play great country music. SO, whether you are riding in the combine cab- or sitting in line at the elevator waiting to dump wheat- the Coyote will be glad to be your companion!

Click here for the lineup of programs from the Radio Oklahoma Network that KWEY carries- and remember, we have outstanding radio stations from border to border as you do wheat harvest here in 2007- all ready to ride with you through this important season and all helping keep you informed about the business of agriculture through our reports- Ron Hays on RON!

Click here for the schedule of Ag Reports on KWEY in Weatherford and Clinton!


Farm Policy Mark-up Continues in Washington
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The House Agriculture Committee continues to work on drafting a 2007 farm bill- and two more subcommittee hearings are planned for this week to nail down provisions of the proposal within their jurisdiction. The Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development, and Foreign Agriculture meets this morning at 9 am central time to work on their areas of responsibility, while the Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture meets tomorrow at noon central time for a markup in their areas of interest.

We have linked below the House Ag Committee's page that lists all of the work they have done thus far on the farm bill- and the draft ideas of Chairman Peterson that he is handing to these two subcommittees to start with today and tomorrow. Of interest today, the committee will be dealing with Peanuts and Sugar as the Specialty Crop component of that Subcommittee's jurisdiction.

From the page we have linked, you can navigate and listen to the farm bill markup sessions on the Internet. Both of these sessions are planned for 1300 Longworth, the main hearing room for the Committee.

Click here for the Farm Bill Page of the House Ag Committee.


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 and make plans to be an exhibitor at either the Tulsa Farm Show this December or the Southern Plains Farm Show next spring!

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



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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