From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 06:43
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 Tuesday June 26, 2007!
A service of Midwest Farm Shows
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-- The Tale of Two Harvests as Monsoon Season Continues in Central Oklahoma
-- Barely Half Done on Wheat Harvest- Spring Planted Crops Also Lag Normal Progress.
-- Okies Down Under- Oklahoma Ag Leadership Experience of the Oklahoma Youth Expo Doing Australia!
-- Western Kansas Ready to Go- if they can get Custom Harvesters
-- Ralph Grossi of the American Farmland Trust says House Ag Committee making policy by looking in the Rearview Mirror.
-- Some Cotton Farmers Getting Hit with Drifting Herbicides.
-- Koreans decide that the Meat Packers Were NOT to Blame as They Lift the Suspensions.

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.


The Tale of Two Harvests as Monsoon Season Continues in Central Oklahoma
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With rain falling daily on a scattered basis across the center part of Oklahoma- the harvest in this region remains stuck in the mud- and according to Mark Hodges of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, little has been accomplished as a result in the main body of the state. Better progress continues to be reported in the Panhandle- and Mark tells us that the Beaver County OSU Extension wheat plots have now been harvested and several varieties had triple digit yields.

Meanwhile, we got another excellent report of harvest from the Panhandle- this report from Cimarron County, where a couple of fields came in with high yields of heavy wheat- one 220 acre field with a yield of 62.7 bushels per acre and a second field of 50 acres averaging just over 70 bushels per acre- test weights in both fields hitting from 61 to 63 pounds per bushel. Our farmer friend who offers the email on this harvest information is thankful to the Lord for a bountiful harvest and adds, "Nothing like a little winter moisture and fertilizer to make this Cimarron County country respond."

On a less positive note- we get a report of some insect damage in the Panhandle area. Edmond Bonjour, Manager of the Stored Products Research and Education Center at OSU in Stillwater reports that he received some samples of some apparently insect damaged wheat from a wheat elevator in the Goodwell area. "The samples were from farms located east of Goodwell, west of Goodwell, west of Guymon, in Cimarron County, and one from Gruver, Texas. All samples had kernels with evidence of damaged caused by the wheat head armyworm. The Elevator Manager stated that there have been reports of up to 12 IDK (insect damaged kernels) from the Goodwell area and up to 36 IDK from the Stratford area in the Texas panhandle. If a sample contains 32 or more IDK per 100 grams of wheat it is classified as sample grade."

We do have Mark Hodges and more in our latest Wheat Harvest Audio Update, which can be found on our front page of WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com!


Barely Half Done on Wheat Harvest- Spring Planted Crops Also Lag Normal Progress.
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The rains came just about every day last week in one part of Oklahoma or another- and they slowed wheat harvest as we saw another eleven percentage points actually be harvested according to the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update- we now stand at 52% complete versus 41% the week before and well behind the five year average of 86%. Best harvest progress during the week was in the Panhandle- which collaborates the reports that Mark Hodges has been hearing. Outside of Oklahoma- Texas lags normal progress in harvest with 45% harvested versus an average pace of 73% by this date- and Kansas is 20% harvested versus a statewide average by this date of 49%.

Sorghum and Soybean planting made scant progress this past week- we are 13 percentage points behind normal in getting milo planted and 35 percentage points BEHIND normal in planting soybeans. The fields that have been planted are handling the moisture to this point fairly well(altho we have some Cotton problems-see the thoughts of JC Banks further down in this email) with the Oklahoma corn crop rated in 79% good to excellent shape, peanuts in 74% good to excellent condition and sorghum that is planted is called 65% in good to excellent condition.

Hay cutting of both native and alfalfa is well behind normal because of the rains. Our pasture and range conditions show the benefits of the moisture- with a 79% good to excellent rating. Beyond Oklahoma, Alabama is awful while California remains in crisis- the folks in the deep south in Alabama report 85% poor to very poor conditions while California is back to a position they were in a couple of years ago- 95% poor to very poor in their pasture/range conditions.

Click here for the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update!


Okies Down Under- Oklahoma Ag Leadership Experience of the Oklahoma Youth Expo Doing Australia!
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The Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Encounter, a group of 14 Oklahoma State University CASNR students, have embarked on a 10 day educational journey through various areas of Australia. Along with 18 sponsors, including representatives from the Oklahoma Youth Expo, the founder of the program, these students are gaining valuable insight into the culture and agricultural practices of Australia. The international tour tops off a year of agricultural, business and legislative experiences around the state of Oklahoma.

Beth Norvell is with the group Down Under and she tells us they have now had two farm stops. "The first was a purebred Angus operation. Bill Marriott, the owner, discussed with us several aspects of his farm. One thing he talked about was the national identification system implemented in Australia three years ago. The cost for him now is about $3 per tag. As you can probably assume, he said there was some resistance at first with those who were concerned about cost and the time it would take to register animals, etc. However, his opinion was that most are very happy they have it in place now. Mr. Marriott also talked about his operation and how many Australian Angus breeders import semen and embryos from the U.S."

Beth says the second farm stop was going on during the day on Tuesday, Australian time as we slept. "Today, we have just left a farm more focused on cropping. This farm was a totally no-till wheat, barley, sorghum, cotton, canola and sunflower operation. The owner talked to us about current wheat prices in Australia which is around $270 a ton or approximately $7.25/bu. Although this seems to be high, he also mentioned that the price of urea is $500/ton and anhydrous is $900/ton. The price of farm diesel is around $4 a gallon after farmers file for a tax rebate of approximately $1.50/gallon. The owner also had a new John Deere 9750 sts combine with a 36' header which cost him around $490,000." Beth doesn't say whether the farmer was talking Australian dollars or had converted to US dollars for the benefit of the group- but did tell us that the group was definitely taken aback by the high input costs that this Aussie faces. We appreciate Beth Norvell of the Oklahoma Youth Expo supplying us with some of the flavor of this trip now underway through this weekend. Aren't Blackberries incredible?


Western Kansas Ready to Go- if they can get Custom Harvesters
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While a lot of Oklahoma wheat producers may want to hold onto their custom harvesters if they still have them around for a few more days- the call has come from Western Kansas that they need Custom Cutters- and need them quickly.

Dana Peterson with Kansas Wheat emails us of the need- and provides us with their latest report on harvest conditions in Kansas as of this morning. That report includes reports from a couple of locales that are crying for custom harvesters to show up ASAP. "The need for custom cutters is growing urgent as western Kansas wheat ripens. Cutters and producers are asked to call the Kansas Department of Commerce at 785-296-2159 to connect with each other. Linda Weaver is the lady coordinating these efforts of their offices in Topeka.

David Sachem, KA Director from Sharon Springs called in Monday afternoon as he finished with his first field. He confirms the shortage of custom cutters in western Kansas with a lot of fields ready to go and growing concern in the area."

Click below as we have a link to their latest harvest update from the Kansas Wheat Growers Association.

Click here for the latest from the Kansas Wheat Harvest.


Ralph Grossi of the American Farmland Trust says House Ag Committee making policy by looking in the Rearview Mirror.
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Ralph Grossi says he was surprised and disappointed in the decisions made this past week by the House Ag Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities as they marked up the Commodity Title of the 2007 Farm Bill.

Grossi says that the Subcommittee was looking in the rearview mirror when it came to their focus on where agriculture is here in 2007. He says that the 2002 farm bill was written when the needs of agriculture were different and that changes are badly needed in farm policy.

He says that the Subcommittee has taken a pass on these issues and that if the full Committee does not address the changes they see needed- then he believes that changes in how the safety net works, more money for specialty crops, more money for conservation and more attention paid to the consumer issue of supporting efforts to grow more "local" food all are fair game to be addressed by the full House when consideration of the Committee proposal comes up on the floor- possibly as early as in late July. We have our conversation with Ralph Grossi linked below- and we will have a conversation to share with you from the Environmental Working Group tomorrow!

Click here to listen to Ron talk with Ralph Grossi of the American Farmland Trust.


Some Cotton Farmers Getting Hit with Drifting Herbicides.
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2,4-D COTTON DAMAGE is being seen in all cotton producing areas in Oklahoma, according to Dr. J. C. Banks, Oklahoma State University Extension state cotton specialist. "In all cotton producing areas in the state, the crop has been showing symptoms of phenoxy (2,4-D) herbicide injury," he said. "There are a lot of issues (political and otherwise) about in-season use of 2,4-D in cotton producing areas, but the emphasis of this article is how to work through an injury situation in your crop.

"The first thing to do is registering the drift complaint with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. Hopefully, they can identify the source of drift and help prevent problems in the future. Next, we need to determine what needs to be done to the crop to allow it to get back into production as soon as possible. There are many misconceptions on the availability of spray-on products that are supposed to help the plant recover, and how much the injury will cause a reduction in yield. Nutrient solutions or specific plant growth regulators are a waste of time and money unless the plant is suffering from a nutrient deficiency prior to the injury.

"Some work by Dr. Wayne Keeling with Texas A&M University, Lubbock, has determined that the most significant yield loss results from injury at the six to eight leaf stage, or early squaring stage of cotton. This normally occurs 30 to 40 days from planting. The primary question I have been asked is: 'Is it cost effective to continue to take care of the plant or should I abandon the most severely affected areas?' If the cotton is irrigated, and needs an irrigation, you should go ahead and irrigate to allow the plant to continue to attempt to grow out of the injury." You can keep up to date with the latest on cotton crop developments and other cotton industry info by going to the OkieCotton website we have linked below.

Click here for the OkieCotton web site.


Koreans decide that the Meat Packers Were NOT to Blame as They Lift the Suspensions.
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Suspensions against six Cargill and Tyson Beef Processing Plants have been lifted by the South Korean government, after the US government provided them a report that several boxes of "domestic beef" that showed up in South Korea was the result of "human error" and that the plants were the beef was actually placed in the box had nothing to do with the error.

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns issued a statement shortly before midnight last night saying "We are pleased that Korea will allow the resumption of shipments from these plants. USDA has taken action to ensure compliance with Korean import requirements here in the United States and Korea recognized these efforts. Despite some start-up problems, beef exports to Korea are rapidly increasing."

We are beginning a series of Beef Buzz shows on the Radio Oklahoma Network featuring an interview that we did with Gregg Doud, Chief Economist of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association- and Doud talks about this incident- how we get past it and the hopes of the industry to get the Korean market fully reopened to US beef by early fall. The Beef Buzz is heard daily on the Radio Oklahoma Network- and you can hear today's show by clicking below!

Click here to go Beef Buzzing with Ron Hays and Gregg Doud of NCBA on the Korean beef situation.


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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