From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 7:16 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 Monday January 19, 2009
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Johnston Enterprises!
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-- MLK Day- Some Stuff Closed- Some Stuff Not
-- Excellent Cattle Meeting Happening This Wednesday
-- The Answer is Blowing in the Wind
-- In the Waning Moments of the Bush Presidency- Peru Free Trade Deal Declared Done
-- USDA Looking for a Few Good Statistics- From YOU
-- Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas Offers Some Thoughts on Being New Ranking Member of House Ag Committee
-- Beef Buzzing for a Monday with John Lundeen of the NCBA
-- 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. It is wonderful to have as a regular sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!

We are also excited to have as one of our 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 the oilseed crops they are crushing, including sunflowers and canola- and remember they post closing market prices for canola and sunflowers on the PCOM website- go there by clicking here.
And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the just concluded Tulsa Farm Show, as well as the April 2009 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.


MLK Day- Some Stuff Closed- Some Stuff Not
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It is a Federal government holiday- so no USDA offices are open and no mail service is to be expected. The ag futures markets and the stock market is on the third day of a three day holiday. They will have overnight trade tonight ahead of Tuesday's open outcry session.

However, in checking with the livestock auction markets, they are generally open and we should have reports on locations like Oklahoma City and Joplin at midday today as we normally do. I have linked our markets page below this story to allow you to jump there later in the day (after 12 noon) to get our midday markets (the middle of the three market reports you can click on and listen on this page). We should have a recap of the cash markets for this Monday at that time- and we will review where the settlement prices were last Friday for the ag futures markets.

Click here for MARKETS page as found on our website, WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Excellent Cattle Meeting Happening This Wednesday
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OSU Area Livestock Specialist Greg Highfill dropped me a note this past Friday and asked me to remind everyone of the Stocker Receiving Management Conference that is planned for the Garfield County Fairgrounds this coming Wednesday, January 21.

Greg writes "If you could give a reminder about my Stocker Receiving Management Conference on Monday - it would be greatly appreciated. The office is closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day, but cattle producers can register Tuesday at 580-237-7677 or we will take walk in's.
"For those that can not make it to NCBA in Phoenix to hear Curt Pate and Ron Gill - they can hear them right here at home. Their program will be in the arena demonstrating on horseback. Also Dan Thomson is one of the best stocker vets in the nation. Dr. Derrell Peel of OSU will cover COOL and markets."

We have details of this event on our website- the link to it is below- check it out.

Click here for the details on the Stocker Receiving Management Conference This Wednesday in Enid


The Answer is Blowing in the Wind
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Old Bob Dylan got it right- and he didn't even begin to understand the question in the context that we see today. The question is how can Oklahoma be a major player in the sustainable energy game over the next number of years.

That's right, the answer is blowing and blowing and blowing some more along the ridge lines we see across western Oklahoma. And Jess Langston of OG&E offered an update on this subject this past Friday evening during the Panhandle Ag Days Celebration in Guymon that we emceed.

Langston offered an update about where OG&E is when it comes to large capacity transmission lines from Oklahoma City to Woodward- and then Woodward on to Guymon. It's a huge investment for the power utility- but they see a world of promise from these projects that continue.
Our conversation with Langston while we were both in Guymon is linked below- click and listen to learn more about their strategy in building a very large transmission link to where the wind is to where the people are, in order for Oklahoma to provide lots of megawatts in the future.

Click here for our conversation with Jess Langston of OGE as found on our website, WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


In the Waning Moments of the Bush Presidency- Peru Free Trade Deal Declared Done
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With just hours remaining in his Presidency, George W. Bush signed a proclamation implementing the U.S. - Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. The agreement is significant to U.S. farmers because more than two-thirds of current U.S. farm exports are now duty-free. Other tariffs on agricultural products will be phased out within 15 years.

Also, the agreement creates a Trade Capacity Building Committee, which will help Peru build its capacity to implement the obligations of the Agreement and to benefit more broadly from the opportunities it creates. Assistance programs to be discussed include programs for farmers.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley said, - it's good to see that after a lot of work on the part of this Administration and the Peruvian government, the trade agreement has entered into force. The Senator pointed out that, - increasing international trade can play an important role in our economic recovery.

Click here for an earlier fact sheet on the US-Peruvian Trade Deal from the USDA


USDA Looking for a Few Good Statistics- From YOU
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Farmers and ranchers will soon have the opportunity to update production input costs and asset resource data to reflect the issues that affect them - and to help ensure that policies and programs are based on accurate, real-time data. This is the goal of the annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) - the parent agency of the Oklahoma Ag Stats Division. The ARMS is the primary source of information on production practices, resource use and economic well-being of Oklahoma's agriculture operations and households.

"Just about every federal policy and program that affects farmers and farm families is based on information from ARMS," said Wilbert Hundl, Jr., Director of the Ag Stats Division. "This information is used not just by USDA, State and Federal government, but also by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Oklahoma State University research and extension, Oklahoma commodity groups, producer organizations, agribusinesses and others who make decisions that shape the future of Oklahoma agriculture."

Between now and the end of March, USDA enumerators will contact Oklahoma farmers and ranchers by mail, phone or personal visits to complete the survey. Producers will be asked to provide data on their operating expenditures, production costs and household characteristics.


Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas Offers Some Thoughts on Being New Ranking Member of House Ag Committee
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The office of Congressman Frank Lucas offers this opinion piece from the Third District lawmaker this past Friday which offers some of his insights as he takes on the job of being the House Ag Committee's top Republican. "In December, my Republican colleagues honored me by selecting me to serve as the Republican leader, or Ranking Member, of the House Agriculture Committee. I have served for nine terms as a member of this committee, including three terms as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research and one term as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research. My new leadership position on this committee means that I will serve as my party's policy leader for all areas of the committee's jurisdiction, including oversight of USDA and its various agencies and programs. As many of you know, agriculture is the backbone of the economy of Oklahoma, and I am pleased that my new position will allow me to bring an Oklahoma perspective to this nation's farm policy.

"My first order of business will be to work with Chairman Peterson and the members of the committee to ensure that the 2008 Farm Bill is properly and promptly implemented. There has been some discussion recently of the incoming Obama administration running a budget reconciliation bill. This would allow them to re-allocate some portions of the budget, meaning they would take funding from some areas and put it towards other areas. As the Ranking Member of the committee, I will fight to ensure that no production agriculture programs established in the 2008 Farm Bill will be cut.

"This country is facing many challenges today, and I want the people of the Third District to know that I will continue to represent their voices and values in Congress. In addition, I will use my enhanced role on the House Agriculture Committee to make certain that Oklahoma farmers and ranchers have the necessary resources to not only survive, but thrive."


Beef Buzzing for a Monday with John Lundeen of the NCBA
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I came away from the International Livestock Congress in Denver last week very impressed with the lineup of speakers that was assembled for that one day program. One of the speakers that offered a lot of insight into where the beef industry must go to sell beef in the future was John Lundeen, the Executive Director for Market Research at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Lundeen will be our guest for several days this week on the Beef Buzz- and he says of the consumer here in 2009 "they are trying to economize" which has split consumers into three camps. Lundeen says there is a segment of consumers who have dug their heels in and said- we will not cut back on beef in our life. A second group is trying to stretch their beef purchases dollars and doing things like eating beef a couple of times less per week- or may be trying down to a less expensive cut in order to keep beef on the menu. The third group is mostly made up of lighter beef users- and they have opted to trade away from beef to other protein sources.

We have today's Beef Buzz linked below- and we remind you that the Beef Buzz is a regular feature that we offer on great radio stations across the state and region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- and we have our Beef Buzz shows archived on our website as well.

Click here for our Monday Beef Buzz with John Lundeen of NCBA as we look at the ever changing Beef Consumer


Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill and Johnston Enterprises 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- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat 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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