From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 05:54
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 Friday June 13, 2008!
A service of National Livestock Credit, American Farmers & Ranchers and Midwest Farm Shows!
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-- Wheat Harvest Rolled in Many Locations- Others Wait.
-- Spain Buying US Grain Sorghum- a Boatload a Month!
-- National Ag Groups Say Its Time to Get the Complete Story on Escalating Food Costs!
-- USDA Offers First Announcements on Farm Bill Implementation Specifics.
-- Waiting Til Next Week On Final Farm Bill Action.
-- Mexican Cattle May Be Worth More in Mexico Than Here in the US!
-- Happening this weekend- the Cream of the Crop Sale, Ben Johnson Steer Roping and More!
-- Let's Check 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 National Livestock Credit Corporation as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. National Livestock Credit Corporation works diligently to provide unsurpassed service to their customers in the area of livestock financing. Check out the National Livestock Family of Services website by clicking here.

We are also 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!
And our email this morning is also a service of Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the annual Tulsa Farm Show held each December, as well as the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City. 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.


Wheat Harvest Rolled in Many Locations- Others Wait.
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One of the better reports we got yesterday evening came from Woods County and the Manager of the Dacoma Coop Elevator, Joe Royster. He wrote us about dark an email after we had inquired early afternoon about the status of their harvest- "I am on supper break and just reading my e-mail. I would say the Dacoma area is close to 70% done with our yields from 45 to 60 with early test weight 62 to 64 and after the rain 58 to 60. We will cut three times more wheat (bushels) in this area than we have cut in the last 2 years."

As usual, Mark Hodges of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission checked in with us early this morning- and he reports that we saw cutting all over the place yesterday- even in some fields north and east of Enid- where it remains muddy. Mark also reports on some of the quality factors seen thus far in this 2008 crop- and we have his audio update on our Wheat Harvest webpage that is linked below.

As we write this early Friday morning- we thought we could be seeing a lot of rain in much of that north central area of the state where we still have a lot of acres of wheat to harvest. As of 5:30 AM, the storms have stayed mostly north in southern Kansas- with the development in Oklahoma happening east of I-35. Newkirk reports about a half inch of rain since midnight- and heavier amounts are being reported in Osage County as the tail of the Kansas storms swings through northeastern Oklahoma this morning- it looks like Tulsa may get some of this rain this morning. Perhaps we have dodged this bullet which will get us a long ways toward harvesting a bunch of acres over the next couple of days.

We would love to hear your harvest updates- you can report and we can credit you- or you can report anonymously- it's your choice. We would love to hear from farmers, Elevator Managers and /or extension folks. Speaking of Extension folks, we plan on having Dr. Jeff Edwards on our Saturday morning TV report on KWTV News9- In the Field with Ron Hays. It will air around 6:40 AM tomorrow morning!

Click here for the Wheat Harvest Webpage found on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Spain Buying US Grain Sorghum- a Boatload a Month!
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Even as many Oklahoma producers have made the decision to plant grain sorghum earlier this spring- or in many cases, as a double crop following wheat- we have been told of a real success story in moving significant amounts of US grain sorghum into Europe. Following an overseas sorghum promotion mission late last fall, Abengoa Bioenergy in Spain has begun to use large amounts of U.S. sorghum in their European ethanol production facilities. The new usage comes as a result of a mission to Spain, Morocco, Germany and France during which NSP and U.S. Grains Council leaders met with executives at Abengoa and cleared up some misconceptions about using sorghum for ethanol production.

"They (Abengoa) were importing Argentine corn for their ethanol plants in Spain because they were afraid to use sorghum in fear that end-users of sorghum- based DDGS (distiller's dried grains with solubles) would have concerns with color and overall quality," said Ken Hobbie, USGC president and CEO. "We spent considerable time sharing research with them provided by the National Sorghum Producers to address their concerns and fill the knowledge gap that existed."

According to a more recent meeting between Abengoa and USGC executives, Abengoa has been importing one vessel (1.2 million bushels or 30,000 metric tons) of sorghum per month since February as a result of the information they gained during the USGC/NSP meeting, and are contracted for a total of 9.5 million bushels, or 240,000 metric tons, through September. "We are very pleased that our mission to Spain last winter has yielded such positive results," said NSP CEO Tim Lust. "NSP looks forward to continuing to work with the U.S. Grains Council, Abengoa Bioenergy and others who find that sorghum is, in fact, a high quality, viable alternative to other ethanol commodities."


National Ag Groups Say Its Time to Get the Complete Story on Escalating Food Costs!
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A broad coalition of agriculture interests today called on Congress to investigate ALL the reasons for rising food prices. Critics, citing biofuel production and higher commodity markets, have wrongly blamed record high food prices on farmers. "With 80 percent of the consumer retail food dollar occurring off the farm, I believe congressional hearings will find rising food prices the result of numerous factors," NFU President Tom Buis said. "Food companies are trying to pass the blame on to farmers while many are enjoying record profits."

The groups recognized the affect higher food prices are having on consumers but reiterated the importance of studying the larger picture. With farmers receiving 20 cents of every food dollar consumers spend, other factors, such as labor and energy costs, financial speculation, increased demand, weather production losses, the weak dollar and even excess profiteering, have a more significant impact on food prices.

American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, the National Farmers Union, American Soybean Association, National Sorghum Growers Association and National Association of Wheat Growers signed on to the coalition letter. The letter was sent to several Committee Chairmen and their ranking members- including the Agriculture Committees as well as the Energy Committees of both bodies. We have the letter for you to take a look at- linked below.

Courtesy of the National Farmers Union- here is the letter sent by a coalition that includes the two major general farm groups and several commodity organizations.


USDA Offers First Announcements on Farm Bill Implementation Specifics.
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer today announced USDA has delivered its first actions implementing the new farm bill. Within three weeks of commodity title enactment in the 2008 farm bill, USDA is implementing marketing assistance loan and loan deficiency payment (LDP) provisions.

Secretary Schafer adds "The Department of Agriculture is putting into action the thousands of pages of new farm bill law for crop production, research, marketing, nutrition, conservation, food aid and rural development. Expect more follow-up on farm bill results from USDA."

USDA also announced that county loan rates for 2008 crop of wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, soybeans, and other oilseeds (sunflower seed, flaxseed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, mustard seed, crambe, and sesame seed), State loan rates by class for 2008 crop of rice, and regional loan rates for 2008 pulse crops (small chickpeas, dry peas, and lentils) were posted today on the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Web site- we have that linked below.

As far as some of the specific loan rates- here they are: (note how far below current cash prices these support levels are- it's like being hundreds of feet above your safety net- the net may catch you but the fall may still prove to be deadly!)
Wheat $2.75 per bushel
Corn $1.95 per bushel
Grain Sorghum $1.95 per bushel
Soybeans $5.00 per bushel.
Cotton and Peanut support levels are to be announced separately.

Click here for the FSA Web Site Location with More Information on these 2008 Loan Rates.


Waiting Til Next Week On Final Farm Bill Action.
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A clerical error omitting the Trade Title from H.R. 2419 necessitated full re-passage of the 2007 Farm Bill. The House of Representatives quickly voted on the new bill, passing it by a vote of 306-110. The Senate followed suit last week by re-passing the Farm Bill by a margin of 77-15.

This cleared the way for the bill to be sent to the President - this time complete with all 15 titles. But with President Bush out of the country, no further action on the bill is expected this week. The President will likely veto the bill when he returns, setting the stage for another override vote in each house of Congress.

However, no matter what- everyone seems to agree that 14 of the 15 titles are now the law of the land and that would not change even if the impossible happened and Congress did not override the expected veto. The only problem would be with the Trade title- and that would impact several key areas- including food aid internationally.


Mexican Cattle May Be Worth More in Mexico Than Here in the US!
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That might surprise some folks- but the demand for beef in Mexico is very real- we have learned as they have become our top export market in the aftermath of the Cow that Stole Christmas back in December 2003 when BSE was found in this country and the Asian markets kicked us out.

Our Friday Beef Buzz- as heard on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- features the grand finale of our conversation with OSU Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Dr. Derrell Peel. Peel is a real expert on the Mexican cattle market- he has spent a good bit of time south of the border and has studied their system at length- I would daresay that he is the authority on the Mexican cattle industry here in the United States.

Peel says that the Mexicans are not happy with the prospect of possible discrimination against beef that may end up labeled as a product of the U.S. and Mexico because of Mandatory COOL. He says that the Mexicans will pick their time when its best for them politically to embarrass the US- and then they may cause a stink over COOL. In the meantime, their cattle are worth just about as much south of the border as they are being brought into the U.S. You can hear Dr. Peel's explanation on this Friday the 13th Edition of the Beef Buzz- click below to check it out!

Click here for the Friday Beef Buzz with Ron and Derrell Talking South of the Border Beef!


Happening this weekend- the Cream of the Crop Sale, Ben Johnson Steer Roping and More!
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Saturday the 14th is Flag Day- a time to fly with pride Old Glory! And if you are interested in some of the finest bloodlines in the Club Calf business- you need to check out a sale happening in western Oklahoma Saturday midday. Kris Black's 7th Annual Cream of the Crop Female Sale- at the ranch near Crawford, Oklahoma. We have details you can link to on the Calendar page of our website- that link is below.

Saturday and Sunday will find the cattle industry in Osage County celebrating with the annual Osage County Cattlemen's Convention- complete with a Saturday morning ranch tour and then the Sunday Ben Johnson Steer Roping event- again go to the Calendar page of our website for details.

Finally- jumping out to the first of the week- the Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers have their summer meting planned down south of Dallas a ways near Bastrop at the Lost Pines Resort. They have a most interesting lineup of speakers at this year's event- including our friend Gregg Doud, Chief Economist of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Click here for all of these events and more in the days ahead on our calendar page found on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance and National Livestock Creditfor 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


Let's Check the Markets!
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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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