From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 6:17 AM
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 September 16, 2008!
A service of American Farmers & Ranchers, Johnston Enterprises and KIS Futures!
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-- The Texas Coastline Cattle Roundup- Racing Against Time
-- The Rains of Last Week Keep Farmers on the Sidelines
-- Nationally- Corn and Soybeans Lag Badly as we Hit Mid September
-- Caviness Beef Packers to Consolidate in Hereford
-- Oklahoma Wheat Producer Curtis Vap Selected for Wheat Industry Leadership Training
-- The Incredible Shrinking Brain- Courtesy of a Vegan Lifestyle!
-- A Tip of the Hat to the Coyote!
-- Looking at our Agricultural Markets...

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 E-Mail. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for their recent TV Commercial or call them at 1-800-256-2555.

We are also pleased to have as a regular sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to have served agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!
And we are proud to have American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click here to go to their AFR web site to learn more about their efforts to serve rural America!

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 Texas Coastline Cattle Roundup- Racing Against Time
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Thousands of head of cattle in Texas were lost due to Hurricane Ike and thousands more are running loose in search of feed and water. Texas AgriLife Extension Service and a number of state of Texas agencies and associations have joined to create a resource staging area, feed collection and transportation network to address the immediate needs of cattle and horses victimized by Hurricane Ike.

"As we understand it, Chambers and Jefferson counties have about 20,000 head of cattle and some horses that are still in the flood surge zone and haven't had anything to eat or drink since that storm surge hit on Friday," says Dr. Ed Smith, director of Texas AgriLife Extension Service. "Those animals have got to get some water and dry hay fairly quickly and nearly all the fences are down. It's important we act quickly." Chambers and Jefferson Counties are the counties on the coast of Texas from the Louisiana state line over to Galveston Bay.

We have more on this story on our website- including an audio update of the situation and a link for people to go and donate money to help in the rescue efforts. There is also a toll free number where ranchers can call and offer hay as a donation through the Texas Department of Agriculture. The link to that story is below.

Click here for more on the mess left by Ike in cattle country.


The Rains of Last Week Keep Farmers on the Sidelines
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According to the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update, "Oklahoma received its second straight week of heavy rainfall. Eight of the nine districts received over an inch of rain last week. The major wheat producing North Central district received slightly above 4.75 inches of rain which delayed small grain seedbed preparation and planting. Row crop conditions remained in the mostly good to fair range despite the heavy moisture and reported insect activity. Hurricane Ike did not cause as much damage as originally predicted but still caused flooding in southeast Oklahoma."

"Small grain seedbed preparation and planting almost came to a complete halt last week due to the heavy rain and saturated fields. Winter wheat seedbed preparation increased one percentage point from the previous week to reach 71 percent complete. Eleven percent of wheat had been planted by week's end."

For our row crops- "Rains delayed row crop harvest in some areas for the second week but conditions still were rated mostly good to fair with double-cropped corn and soybeans expected to benefit from the recent rains. About half of the State's crops were reporting light insect activity with some isolated areas reporting moderate to heavy activity."
You can read more of this week's crop weather update by clicking on the link we have provided below.

Click here for this week's Oklahoma Crop Weather Update.


Nationally- Corn and Soybeans Lag Badly as we Hit Mid September
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The development of the 2008 corn crop continues to lag far behind the five year average pace. The most telling numbers lie in the percent of the corn crop now being called mature. By this date, the five year average says we have historically have been at 44% mature- in 2007, we were at 58% mature- but this year we stand at just 11% mature. States across the corn belt that really stick out include Iowa with 11% mature versus the five year average of 45%, Illinois at 16% mature versus the five year average of 58% and Missouri at 30% mature versus the five year average of 82% mature by this date.

The maturity figure for the soybean crop is based on the percent of the crop now at the stage of dropping leaves. The five year average is 41%- we were at 48% last year but have just 21% of the crop dropping leaves as of Sunday. Illinois lags badly with 7% of the crop now dropping leaves versus the five year average of 39%, Iowa at 16% versus the five year average of 44% and North Dakota checking in at 30% versus the five year average of 52%.

The first numbers of the year that have been offered for the percent of the winter wheat crop planted are out- and they show that nationally we have 11% of the expected crop planted this year- versus a five year average of 16%. Oklahoma has 11% now planted- the first figure we have seen this season- normally by this point we would have 17% in the ground. That could be a signal that fewer farmers are very interested in planting wheat primarily for wheat pasture. beyond our state- we have Texas at 8% planted- the five year average is 20% and Kansas comes in at 5%- the five year average is 9%.
We have the full USDA Crop Progress numbers linked below from Monday afternoon- check them out.

Click here for the September 15 Crop Progress Numbers from NASS


Caviness Beef Packers to Consolidate in Hereford
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Most of the fabricating of carcasses for Caviness Beef Packers will be consolidated at their expanded facility in Hereford, Texas- about 60 miles down the road from their fabricating plant in Amarillo. About 200 employees are moving to the Hereford location from Amarillo, where the processing has been done and where the company continues to produce ground beef under the Palo Duro name.

The expansion, which adds 60,000 square feet of processing floor to the existing 80,000 square feet in Hereford, is intended to resolve a bottleneck in the company's operations, Caviness said. It also will allow the company to save on transportation costs of carcasses between the Hereford and Amarillo locations.

Caviness is a major buyer and processor of cull cows and bulls in the southern plains. Their website says "Our products are marketed extensively to food service, retail and further processing customers. We also market a large portion of our ground beef to the USDA, AMS, Federal School Lunch Program."


Oklahoma Wheat Producer Curtis Vap Selected for Wheat Industry Leadership Training
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Eleven growers and grower representatives have been selected to attend the 2008 Wheat Industry Leaders of Tomorrow (WILOT) leadership training program in October. The 2008 class will include:

Kody Bessent, Texas Wheat, Amarillo, Texas;
Eric Hasselstrom, Winchester, Idaho;
Wayne Hurst, NAWG, Burley, Idaho;
Kent Kalcevic, Bennett, Colo.;
Tom Niera, Bennett, Colo.;
Darren Padget, Grass Valley, Ore.;
Dana Peterson, Kansas Wheat, Manhattan, Kan.;
Gordon Stoner, Outlook, Mont.;
Curtis Vap, Newkirk, Okla.;
Chad Wetzel, Sherman, Texas; and
Robert Wisness, Watford City, N.D.

WILOT, which is sponsored by Monsanto, is targeted at producers who are interested in becoming more involved - or involved for the first time - in their state wheat grower associations. Program curriculum focuses on personal leadership styles; dealing effectively with the media; agricultural policy; advocacy; technology issues in wheat; and the NAWG structure. Friendships made between growers during program training are another important element of WILOT.
This year's WILOT training will be held in St. Louis from Oct. 25 until Oct. 30, immediately before meetings of NAWG's and U.S. Wheat Associates' Boards of Directors in Dallas.


The Incredible Shrinking Brain- Courtesy of a Vegan Lifestyle!
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It was reported last week that scientists at Oxford University in England have discovered that a meat-free diet may be bad for your brain. Researchers found that people who adopt a vegan or vegetarian diet are six times more likely to sustain brain shrinkage than meat eaters due to the former's lack of Vitamin B-12, which is found in meat, fish and dairy products including cheese.

"Many factors that affect brain health are thought to be out of our control, but this study suggests that simply adjusting our diets to get more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals, or milk may be something we can easily adjust to prevent brain shrinkage and so perhaps save our memory," says study author Anna Vogiatzoglou, MSc, with the University of Oxford.

In looking through some of the Google results as we researched this story- it was amusing to see one blogger making the comment that this study explains the intelligence of PETA very nicely. I guess you could say "A little red meat does a body- and a brain- good."


A Tip of the Hat to the Coyote!
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We are pleased to spotlight one of our great affiliates that we partner with on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network- KWEY in Clinton and Weatherford. They call themselves the Coyote- and Harold Wright and the gang at KWEY do a great job serving western Oklahoma on both sides of I-40 from Hinton out to the state line. KWEY's country music, local news and farm and ranch news and markets with Ron Hays and Ed Richards can be found at 1590 on the AM dial and 95.5 on the FM dial.

KWEY offers our RON ag updates throughout the day-
5:50 am - Morning Farm News
6:35 am- Morning Market Recap
8:03 am - Oklahoma Energy Report
9:35 am - Opening Agri Markets
10:50 am - Market Update
11:35 am - Midday Farm News in Brief
12:50 pm - Market Update
1:03 pm - Oklahoma Cattle Market Review
1:35 pm - Closing Markets
4:15 pm - Market Wrapup

Their sister station, KCLI- AM at 1320 on the AM dial also carries several of our RON ag reports daily.
Our Radio Oklahoma Ag Network reports are heard on 34 radio stations around the state- and if your local station doesn't carry "Ron on RON" ask them, Why not? If you are not sure what station closest to you carries our reports, drop me an email and I will be glad to let you know which stations carry our reports near your location.


Our thanks to Johnston Enterprises, KIS Futures and American Farmers & Ranchers for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked at the top of the email- check them out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis!

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


Looking at our Agricultural Markets...
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The commentary was most interesting coming out of the Monday close for the Oklahoma National Stockyards- the market reporter commenting on the attitude's of the day- "Feeder cattle and calves 1.00-3.00 lower, instances 4.00-5.00 lower on planer, fleshy or stressed offerings. Demand moderate at best with some buying interests out of the market. Many cattle buyers with a wait and see attitude. Uncertainty in the financial, grain and futures markets adding to the pressure on cattle prices. Lighter runs showing up now as many of the summer yearlings get cleaned up and the fall calf season not yet in full swing. Heavy rain in Western and Eastern areas of the state has also slowed cattle movement some. Sale barns and commission companies continue to make plans to request documentation from owners on the origin of cattle arriving at the markets." A total of 6500 cattle were consigned for yesterday's auction- click here for the full Oklahoma City report.

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- One Pager From Country Hedging- looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges 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.



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