From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2008 06:48
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 Thursday July 3, 2008!
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma and Midwest Farm Shows!
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-- Regional Water Meetings Are Set Across Oklahoma.
-- Check out the New AgWeather Site of the Oklahoma Mesonet.
-- About Face- Not Canola But Instead "HEAR"
-- More Beef Buzzing with Dr. Jim Mintert
-- Another Ag Group Jumps Into YouTube.
-- Congrats to Bobby Smith of Fairview- He's the New President of the LMA.
-- Holiday- AND- Check that Calendar!
-- 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 excited to have as one of our new sponsors for the daily email Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, with 64 years of progress through producer ownership. Call Brandon Winters at 405-232-7555 for more information on growing Nu-Sun Sunflowers this year- and check out the full story on PCOM on their website by clicking here.

It's also great to have the Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma with us regularly as an Email Sponsor- Financing Oklahoma is their business! Check out their website which shows their locations statewide by clicking here!
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.


Regional Water Meetings Are Set Across Oklahoma.
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The next phase of the planning process is about to get underway. Now that the Local Input Meetings are over the facilitators for the Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan are finalizing Local Input Meeting Reports and are consolidating them into eleven regional and one Statewide comment summary. They have set the regional meeting sites that will occur over the next four months.

There will be a total of 11 regional meetings, with the first of these set for August 7 in Big Cabin- this is Region 9, the northeastern corner of the state. Meetings will continue into early November in all areas of Oklahoma. We have the full list of meetings linked below for you to review.

In each region, there will be two meetings on the same day, one at 3:00 pm and one at 6:30 pm. The discussants are welcome to stay for the evening meeting but are not required to. In the first meeting, the discussants will prioritize issues for their region. In the later meeting, the public will have an opportunity to hear and comment on the results of the first meeting.

Those that have been appointed to these regional water planning groups are being notified this week- we will be giving you an idea sometime next week as to how well agriculture is represented on these regional bodies.

Click here for the full list of Regional Meeting Sites for the Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan process.


Check out the New AgWeather Site of the Oklahoma Mesonet.
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It's new- it's improved- it'll cure what ails ya! Well, I doubt that Al and Laura at the Oklahoma Mesonet would cover me on that statement- but the new look of the Oklahoma Mesonet is in place and is looking very good.

You will need to download some fresh "active X" type of software that allows the features to actually be used on the site- that will take just a few moments and is relatively painless. Once there- you will notice it is much more graphical, but is still built on the excellent information that has been available down through the years on the Mesonet.

We will reserve judgement until we have to try to save a specific map to bring over and drop in as a link for you to see on this email one day soon. But, you need to go and take a look and get a feel for how you can navigate from one spot to another for general weather data like temperatures and rainfall to more specific products that they offer like maps showing cattle stress locations around the state- based on temperatures and humidity.

Click here to jump to the AgWeather site of the Oklahoma Mesonet- They have a new look.


About Face- Not Canola But Instead "HEAR"
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After some back and forth between Dr. Tom Peeper of OSU and yours truly over a report that we offered early this week on some producer meetings planned for next week here in the state- we visited with the company involved and let them know we could not include their information on our calendar page because of their crop being misnamed as a "canola" when in reality it is a high Erucic Acid Rapeseed.

Well, the about face came yesterday morning from Technology Crops International. They offered the following statement: "In some of our recent U.S. communications, the premium specialty crop known as "high erucic acid rapeseed" or "HEAR" in other countries, was referred to as "high erucic canola" or "HEC." The new term was used because both HEAR and canola are the same plant genus, Brassica napus, and are identical with the exception of the amount of erucic acid in the oilseed. The crop offers an exceptional opportunity to Oklahoma growers, and because HEAR is an unfamiliar term to U.S. producers, the name high erucic canola was used solely to simplify communications, while still differentiating the crop as having high erucic acid content. However, to avoid any possible confusion, and to be consistent with the name used in other parts of the world, we have changed the references to the crop back to HEAR, and will reference it as HEAR in all future communications."

With that said- they are still wanting to let producers know about production plots they have had this just concluded growing season- and have planned four meetings in Blackwell, Frederick, Oklahoma City (two in the OKC at this point) and you can get more information by going to the link we have provided below- or by calling (877) 780-5882.

TCI is working with a couple of our email supporters, including Johnston Seed Company and our friend Gene McVey. McVey, president of Johnston Seed Company, believes new crops like HEAR are important to the future for agricultural producers in the region. "We need to keep our kids on the farm and hopefully products like high erucic acid rapeseed will do that. HEAR and canola are identical to grow and we know that canola is excellent in rotation with other grains and leaves the seed bed in ideal condition for the following crop. When a cereal crop is grown following canola, the yield can be absolutely huge, so it stands to reason the same is true for HEAR," says McVey. "Growers just need to be mindful of using good identity preservation practices, as this specialty crop has different genetics from canola."

Click here for more information on HEAR


More Beef Buzzing with Dr. Jim Mintert
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We stay a second day with Dr. James Mintert of Kansas State University- who talks with us about the uphill fight to find profitability in the feedlot sector of the cattle business- as well as the strong feeder cattle price that we continue to see- as Dr. Mintert answers the question how long can we keep feeder cattle values where they are.

It's all a part of our July third edition of the Beef Buzz- our daily beef industry radio show heard on great radio stations across the state of Oklahoma on the Radio Oklahoma Network.

We also have an archive of Beef Buzz shows on our website- and will continue that tradition as we move onto our new and much better website in the days ahead. Go to WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com and click on the button on the left hand side of the page- Beef Buzz and you can jump right there- meanwhile, we have today's Beef Buzz with Dr. Mintert linked below- check it out.

Click here to go Buzzing with Ron and Jim Mintert on Cattle Market profitability and prices.


Another Ag Group Jumps Into YouTube.
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First, it was the beef industry with the Beef Ambassadors- more recently, we reported on the Pork Industry's move into YouTube, and now you have the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

The Animal Agriculture Alliance launched two videos on YouTube, a popular website demonstrating great impact on today's social culture, where almost anyone can share videos. The first Alliance video focuses on the importance of moderation and balance in making dietary choices. It suggests talking to a dietitian or nutritionist about a balanced diet and warns against adopting diets based on political causes or trends. The second video points out that over 90% of America's farms and ranches are family-owned. It also explains farmers and ranchers commitment to their animals, their land and their community.

The videos feature Brad Johnson - who grew up on a ranch and went on to become an actor with credits including Comanche Moon, Crossfire Trail, Flight of the Intruder and Rough Riders. The Alliance's 60-second video on moderation in diet was accepted as part of USDA's MyPyramid Corporate Challenge, an effort to promote healthy, balanced diets and to encourage youth and adults to base their food choices on advice from nutrition experts.

Click here to view the YouTube from the Animal Agriculture Alliance Praising Farmers and Ranchers in the US.


Congrats to Bobby Smith of Fairview- He's the New President of the LMA.
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The Livestock Marketing Association reports that Oklahoman Bobby Smith is its new president for 2008- 2010. Smith, 57, owns Fairview Sale Barn in Fairview, Okla. He took office during LMA's June 25-27 annual meeting. Smith succeeds Jim Santomaso, Sterling, Colo., who becomes chairman of the board.

Smith acknowledged the association has some "heavy lifting" on the issue of humane handling ahead of it. "We must be vigilant and know who is on our property (and) we must make sure our employees know and follow humane handling practices at all times."

He said LMA will continue to speak out, "making it clear that, while there are some exceptions, the overwhelming majority of America's 1,000 or so markets use humane handling practices."


Holiday- AND- Check that Calendar!
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Our futures ag markets- as well as most cash markets- are winding down today as we end this holiday shortened week of activity. The futures will be closed tomorrow and will observe a three day holiday weekend as we celebrate the birthday of our country on this July 4, 2008.

The holiday is important to the livestock industry- as it is one of the major "grilling" holidays of summer- and the hope is that there will be significant clearance of beef, pork and chicken that passes over the backyard grills of Americans the next three days or so.

At the same time- next week is shaping up to be a VERY BUSY week for agricultural happenings- I invite you to go to our calendar page that we have linked below and take a look at all that is going on next week as well as the next two or three weeks.
And it's my hope that you will have a great holiday weekend and will have the chance to enjoy some fun time with family and friends!

Click here for the Calendar page at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma and Producers Cooperative Oil Mill 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


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. <
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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