From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 06:15
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 Monday June 2, 2008!
A service of Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma, KIS Futures & Johnston Enterprises!
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-- Twas a Good Weekend for Oklahoma's Wheat Harvest!
-- South Korean Government Caves to the Crazies- US Beef Faces Another Delay.
-- Only FOUR Complaints Against Poultry Litter This Spring by the State- Minor Infractions All!
-- Goober Going Ons- Oklahoma Style!
-- Oklahoma Farm Bureau Applauds Congress For Farm Bill
-- OSU Researcher on Beef Cattle Welfare Symposium Last Week in Manhattan.
-- Thanks- Welcome- and a BIG Mile Marker!
-- Checking the 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 website or call them at 1-800-256-2555.

We welcome as our newest regular sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to have served agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. Johnston Grain wishes our wheat producers a safe and prosperous harvest this month- for more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!
And finally, we are glad to have Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma has ten branch offices to serve your farm financing needs and is dedicated to being your first choice for farm credit. Check out their website for more information 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.


Twas a Good Weekend for Oklahoma's Wheat Harvest!
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An email that we received seems to capture a lot of the positive "vibes" that we are hearing about wheat harvest in the southern one third of the state of Oklahoma. This Sunday email is from former State Wheat Grower President David Gammill of Chattanooga- "We finished yesterday evening. Had a wonderful harvest; dry ground, hardly a breakdown one, great quality, great yields, great price. There was plenty of thankfulness in church this morning! Last night we took the combine crew out for a steak to celebrate. Test weights from 62 to 65.7 which are fantastic for us. Yields in the 40s. After so many years of scraping by, I am actually feeling pretty high on this year."

In his Monday morning harvest report- Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mark Hodges confirmed we are seeing pretty good harvest results in many locations in southern Oklahoma thus far- with the big challenge falling on the shoulders of the grain elevator people- as they scramble for a way to move the wheat from the local elevator by rail or truck to a larger facility. Jim Stafford offered an article on that subject over the weekend as well from newspaper land- and we have a link to that on our Wheat Harvest page- that's another thing you can go and check out on that page that has been posted since this past Friday morning.

One of the items we added late Friday that you can scroll down and listen to is a complete conversation with Mark Hodges of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission on some of the factors that impact this year's wheat crop- the almost perfect filling weather- as well as the fact that Mark was "shocked" that we have not had more disease and insect problems because of the trash of last year's aborted harvest season. Scroll down and check our conversation with Mark that is on the Wheat Harvest page- it's an entry dated May 30.

Click here to jump to the Wheat Harvest Webpage at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


South Korean Government Caves to the Crazies- US Beef Faces Another Delay.
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South Korea says it will delay the resumption of U.S. beef imports. Agriculture Ministry spokesman Kim Hyun-soo says his ministry decided to delay the final administrative step needed for imports to begin.

He offered no further details Monday.

Angry South Koreans have held almost daily rallies for a month, claiming that U.S. beef is unsafe and blasting Lee for ignoring their concerns. South Korea agreed on April 18 to reopen what was formerly the third-largest overseas market for U.S. beef. The country had banned it for most of the past four and a half years after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease was found in Washington state in 2003.

On Saturday night, students, labor union members and office workers were among those who filled a plaza in front of city hall for a peaceful rally. Police estimated the crowd at 38,000. Some protesters later tried to march toward the presidential Blue House but were blocked in the early hours Sunday by police buses, prompting angry reactions and sporadic clashes.

The fears have zero basis in science- but wild accusations on a national TV show and followup on the Internet has sparked these recent protests- many housewives and others fearful that US beef is somehow chock full of BSE. This is despite the fact that there are multiple firewalls to keep BSE out of the food supply- and there has been no positive tests for BSE in the past two and half years- with only two cases of the three found in the United States were animals born in this country.
President Lee's been blasted repeatedly by the opposition political parties who were soundly beaten by Lee in recent months- now they have found a way to get back at their enemy. The demonizing of US beef doesn't have to be true- but the opposition to Lee has found that if they say it loud and often- they have been able to dupe many South Koreans into buying their claims. Will the ban on US Beef be eventually lifted? Probably, but the damage that will have to be overcome is enormous- and will cost the US beef Industry millions of dollars to repair its image- if it is repairable.

Click here for one of the latest reports from Seoul and the Continuing Protests Over US Beef!


Only FOUR Complaints Against Poultry Litter This Spring by the State- Minor Infractions All!
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It is a most interesting Blog that has been set up by a couple of the members of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission that details the complaints made against poultry operators this spring- and what the Department of Agriculture found when they investigated.

The Blog also contains a letter sent to Dan Parrish, the head of the Environmental Division of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture- congratulating the state as well as the farmers of the Illinois River watershed for doing a wonderful job in minimizing incidents that could have (but did NOT) result in pollution getting into the water table.

As we mentioned, there are four complaints filed by the Attorney General's office. One incident was a situation in which a poultry farmer had a family emergency and had to leave the farm before a contractor arrived to haul his poultry litter. The complaint was filed on April 14th - when the inspector arrived on April 15th the contractor had picked up the litter. The farmer was unaware that there had been any delay in the litter being picked up, since it was gone when he arrived home.
Another complaint that has filed and investigated by the government was the report of a cattle farmer who purchased poultry litter could not apply it to his fields because the fields were too muddy - the contractors moving the poultry litter had piled the litter at the entrance to the fields but had not constructed a berm around the poultry litter as is required. The inspector reported that the poultry litter had been spread four days after his initial contact with the farmer.
We have the other complaints filed against poultry operators- also very minor in nature- and additional details of what the investigators actually found as they checked out these complaints- they were finding farmers working out each problem without being asked- and without damage of any kind to the environment or the Illinois River. You can see all of these details by checking out the Blog that we have linked below.

Click here to read the letter sent to the Department of Agriculture- as well as details on the four Complaints investigated this spring in the Illinois River Watershed.


Goober Going Ons- Oklahoma Style!
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Courtesy of Mike Kubicek- Executive Director of the Oklahoma Peanut Commission- Governor Brad Henry has re-appointed Love County peanut farmers Mike Mayes of Leon and Anthony Reed of Thackerville to a 3 year term, effective July 1, to the Oklahoma Peanut Commission- they represent District 1.

Mike also reports that "we should be 99% planted by the end of next week- with the exception of some Spanish acres expected to be planted behind wheat. Timely rain showers earlier this past week were beneficial to early planted peanuts and spared producers from irrigation needed to complete planting and herbicide incorporation. All in all, we're off to a great start."


Oklahoma Farm Bureau Applauds Congress For Farm Bill
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The President of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Mike Spradling of Sand Springs, has written an opinion piece on why he believes the mostly passed farm bill- 14 of the 15 titles now the law of the land- is a good bill. Spradling's comments come as a response of several of the newspapers around the state that were critical of the policy as it worked its way through Congress this spring.

Mike Spradling says that "The new farm bill is good for Oklahoma. It offers a financial safety net for farmers while providing food assistance and nutrition programs for needy Oklahomans. The bill helps conserve our natural resources and improves food safety. While commodity supports for farmers are often the only aspect editorial writers focus on, it is important to point out that of the entire $300 billion dollar package only about 21 percent goes to farmers and ranchers. Two thirds of the bill is allocated for nutrition programs including food stamps, school breakfasts and lunch, Women, Infants & Children's (WIC), and similar programs."

He adds "Without getting into all the complicated intricacies of the farm bill it's important to understand the cyclical nature of agriculture. Producers have no control of the weather and the markets often move in cohorts with disaster. When disaster strikes, producers are at risk of losing everything. Commodity support programs are designed to provide a safety net when the road is filled with potholes. Farmers and ranchers want to provide a safe abundant and affordable food supply. It's in everyone's interest that they accomplish this goal."


OSU Researcher on Beef Cattle Welfare Symposium Last Week in Manhattan.
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Oklahoma State University agricultural economist Jayson Lusk, a featured speaker at the International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare at K-State, reported on the results of a just-completed national survey of consumers, which sought their input on the issue of livestock welfare.

We have comments with Jayson on our Monday edition of the Beef Buzz, a regular radio feature heard on great radio stations on the Radio Oklahoma Network. The Beef Buzz shows of the past are also archived on our website- WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com- and you can check out the variety of subjects that we have covered on the Beef Buzz all the way back to the fall of 2006- click here to jump to that Beef Buzz page on our site!

We also have today's Beef Buzz linked below for your review- featuring Jayson Lusk on the latest attitudes that consumers have on animal welfare- click below for today's Beef Buzz from the Radio Oklahoma Network.

Click here for our Monday Beef Buzz with Ron and Jayson Lusk on the latest


Thanks- Welcome- and a BIG Mile Marker!
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First of all- I wanted to say thanks for the warm reception that I received this past Friday into the early hours of Saturday as we participated for the second year in a row as the Emcee of the Major County Relay for Life- the major fund raising event that happens at the local level and raises big bucks around the country. Nobody does Relay for Life better than the Major County folks- and they succeeded in beating their goal of $60,000 at this year's event. They did not just beat their goal- they smashed it- raising $73,000 for the fight against cancer!!! A lot of farm families were represented- and the participants and guests heard from the State Chairlady of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Women- Clara Wichert of Fairview- herself a cancer survivor! Thanks again for letting me be a part of something so important!

Secondly, we wanted to say WELCOME to Johnston Enterprises for joining our family of sponsors on our daily farm and ranch news email. Johnston Enterprises has been serving the Oklahoma Farm Community since 1892- and they currently have several divisions- Johnston Grain, Johnston Seed and Johnston Ports. We have a link to their website linked above- you can go to their Grains portion of their website- and check grain elevator prices at almost two dozen Oklahoma communities- as well as several in Texas. We appreciate their support- and we encourage you to consider their products for use in your farm operation- or perhaps some of their world famous grass seed for your home lawn!

Finally- a big thank you to each and every one of you that subscribe to this FREE daily service of agricultural information that we provide. It has grown steadily since we began it a couple of years ago- and mostly by word of mouth- we have added subscriber after subscriber. As we begin our June emails- we have now passed the 2,000 Email Address mark- that's how many email addresses we are sending this report out to on a daily basis! Thanks for being interested- we hope you find items of interest on a regular basis! AND- if you enjoy it, forward it along to a friend, family member or colleague that you think will find it useful as well!


Our thanks to Johnston Enterprises, KIS Futures and Farm Credit of East Central Oklahomafor 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


Checking the Markets...
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We saw cash cattle sales at $96 in the Texas/Oklahoma feedlots on Friday- which is a dollar higher than a week earlier. Market watchers say that higher wholesale beef prices and expected tight supplies of cattle in the weeks ahead encouraged the better money for slaughter cattle this past Friday.

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. Previous Day's Energy Market Recap- also from Country Hedging
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.



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