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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday September 10,
2009 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- You Can Call Her Madam Chairlady- Senator Blanche Lincoln Moves in
to Chair the Senate Ag Committee.
-- Saxby Chambliss- Top Republican of Senate Ag Committee Calls House
Passed Climate Change Bill Problematic
-- Turkey Creek Protection Coming Because of Stimulus Money From
Uncle Sam (and all of us taxpayers)
-- Is Switchgrass Fuel or Forage?
-- Biodiesel Has Positive Affect on Soybean Prices
-- Ag Department Releases SNAP Funds- Oklahoma Included in Grant
List
-- Oklahoma Limousin Honors Ron Wayland With Lifetime
Achievement
-- 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 KIS Futures as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for the free market quote page they provide us for our website or call them at 1-800-256-2555. 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 handle, including sunflowers and
canola- and remember they post closing market prices for canola and
sunflowers on the PCOM
website- go there 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. | |
You Can Call Her Madam Chairlady- Senator Blanche Lincoln Moves in to Chair the Senate Ag Committee. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Senate Ag
Committee has a new chairman. Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln has taken
the seat formerly held by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin. Harkin has accepted the
chairmanship of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee, succeeding the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
Senator Lincoln confirmed the moves Wednesday afternoon. She told reporters in Washington - with such priorities as child nutrition reauthorization, farm bill implementation, and regulation of commodities, the Committee has a full plate. She promised to - devote my full energy to producing forward-looking, balanced priorities on behalf of all families and communities. House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said of the new Senate Ag
Chair, - Senator Lincoln's passion and support for American agriculture
make her an excellent choice. She grew up on a farm and knows first-hand
how much hard work and dedication it requires. We talked about this move in the Senate as our featured story on our morning farm news on the Radio Oklahoma Network today- we turn that Morning Farm News into a Podcast daily which you can subscribe to on Itunes- or find at the bottom of our front page of our website. We have today's report linked below- click on it to listen to Senator Lincoln as she talks about some of her priorities- as a farm gal- she sounds like she "gets it." | |
Saxby Chambliss- Top Republican of Senate Ag Committee Calls House Passed Climate Change Bill Problematic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. Senator
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Ranking Republican Member of the Senate
Agriculture Committee, today heard testimony during a full committee
hearing on cap and trade and its effects on agriculture. Sen. Chambliss
said the hearing offered the committee the opportunity to hear directly
from producers and those who will be regulated under a cap and trade
system. In his opening statement, Sen. Chambliss noted that Texas A&M
University's Agricultural and Food Policy Center (AFPC) last week released
a report illustrating the effects of the House- passed American Clean
Energy and Security Act on 98 representative farms in its database.
"The ground-truth that this study shows is very serious," said Sen. Chambliss at the hearing. "The study says that 71 of 98 farms will be worse off under the House cap and trade plan, even in the early years of the program. Most concerning, the 27 farms that benefit do so only because other producers go out of business. Not one rice farm or cattle ranch benefits, while only one cotton operation and one dairy benefit mainly due to the fact that they both grow a significant amount of feed grains." You can read more about the concerns raised by Senator Chambliss after this Wednesday hearing by the Senate Ag Committee- click on the link below. | |
Turkey Creek Protection Coming Because of Stimulus Money From Uncle Sam (and all of us taxpayers) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the turn
of a shovel and the clicking of camera shutters, The USDA Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Oklahoma Conservation
Commission, the Turkey Creek Conservancy District and the Garfield County
Conservation District today broke ground on the first upstream flood
control dam in the United States to be built with funds from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), better known as the Federal Stimulus
plan. The dam will be the first of several new conservation projects
throughout Oklahoma and the nation made possible by the passage of the
stimulus act, said Trey Lam, President of the Oklahoma Association of
Conservation Districts.
"This new dam signifies the first step in what promises to be a huge investment in the conservation infrastructure of Oklahoma and the Nation," Lam said. "The dollars made available by the stimulus plan will help us not only build new upstream flood control structures like the one we broke ground on today, but they will also provide much needed assistance in repairing aging flood dams throughout Oklahoma and the nation and will provide funds for other conservation initiatives as well. This groundbreaking is a great way to kick off this new wave of investment in natural resource protection." Total cost of this flood control structure, called Turkey Creek #3, is just over a half million dollars. We have more on this new structure- and other plans for new construction coming in this program in the days ahead- click on the link below for this story on our website. Click here for the Turkey Creek story on our website, WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com | |
Is Switchgrass Fuel or Forage? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Switchgrass
offers promise when it comes to a biomass feedstock for cellulosic
ethanol- but that promise is still well out into the future, so says the
head of the Ag Division of the Noble Foundation, Billy Cook. Cook tells us
that while switchgrass has attributes that would make it great as a
feedstock once we get the cellulosic ethanol rolling- the problem is
getting producers able and willing to invest into this new "crop" that is
otherwise unproven in their farm or ranch operations. Oklahoma farmers and
ranchers won't plant the switchgrass until a market develops, and the
refiners won't invest in biorefineries until they have an available
feedstock.
Cook is our guest today on this latest edition of the Beef Buzz, as heard on the Radio Oklahoma Network and also heard on your schedule on our website. We have our Beef Buzz shows, new and old, stored there, waiting for your selection- listen when you want to 24/7. Click on the link below for today's Beef Buzz- we talk about switchgrass with Billy Cook- and the work that Noble does with landowners and farmers and ranchers across Oklahoma and north Texas. Click here for our Thursday Beef Buzz- featuring Billy Cook of the Noble Foundation | |
Biodiesel Has Positive Affect on Soybean Prices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It should
really come as no surprise- but Biodiesel actually helps raise prices that
farmers get for their soybeans. A new study funded by the United Soybean
Board and soybean checkoff reveals that U.S. soybean farmers received an
additional 2.5-billion dollars in net returns over the last four years due
to the biodiesel industry's demand for soybean oil. This demand added up
to 25 cents in support for the per- bushel price of soybeans. USB Domestic
Marketing Chair Lewis Bainbridge says - this is a significant return on
investment for soybean farmers.
Because the price of petroleum diesel has such a large influence on the price of biodiesel and soybean oil, the study asserts that the biodiesel industry has essentially created a new floor for soybean oil prices. The Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri predicts that soybean oil will be used as the feedstock for approximately 54 percent of the biodiesel produced in marketing years 2009- 2013. And the Institute adds prices for soybean oil and whole soybeans could continue to receive support from biodiesel production. The study also accounted for the possibility that biodiesel demand for soybean oil will decrease due to a proposed regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency that limits the use of vegetable oils for meeting the draft federal Renewable Fuel Standard. Use of soybean oil in biodiesel manufacturing could fall by approximately 1.5 billion pounds by 2013 if this regulation is not revised. Soybean farmers could see net returns decrease by about 2-billion from projections over that time period. Click here for the full report on the economic impact of Biodiesel on the Soybean Sector | |
Ag Department Releases SNAP Funds- Oklahoma Included in Grant List ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on Wednesday almost $5 million in grants
for seven State agencies to simplify the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) application and eligibility systems and improve access to
program benefits for America's low-income households. Formerly known as
the Food Stamp Program, SNAP helps ensure that people have access to
healthy and nutritious food; the program is currently serving 66 percent
of all who are eligible to participate. The Oklahoma Department of Human
Services is one of the state agencies receiving grant money to help with
reaching consumers with SNAP.
This year's participation grants focus on modernizing and streamlining the application process and eligibility systems or measures to improve access by eligible households. One priority for this year's grants is to fund projects designed to improve the retention of eligible households at the point of recertification. A number of the projects are receiving funding that will support development or enhancement of on-line application systems that will facilitate both initial entry and retention of eligible households. The other priority area is to fund a partnership between a State agency and one or more private non-profit organizations. Read more on this grant for the Food Stamp Program- or now SNAP- by clicking on the link below. | |
Oklahoma Limousin Honors Ron Wayland With Lifetime Achievement ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Surrounded by
family and friends, Ron Wayland of Arnett, Oklahoma, was named the 15th
recipient of the Oklahoma Limousin Breeders Association Lifetime
Achievement Award at the organization's annual meeting and banquet held in
Oklahoma City.
"Ron has served or been closely associated with OLBA for the last 20 years and has been directly involved in helping Oklahoma host three National Junior Limousin Shows," said immediate OLBA past president Richard Hefner. "Few if any have had a more positive impact on this association the past two decades." Wayland has been a faithful user of Limousin genetics since the late 1970s. He became an active member of the OLBA in 1986, serving in many capacities including the organization's president in 1994 as well as it's executive secretary for 11 years. "The role he has always enjoyed the most was mentoring youth," his
daughter Sherrill said during her portion of the presentation. "From his
involvement with the Boy Scouts, church youth groups, 4-H, FFA and the
Oklahoma Junior Limousin Association, seeing youth grow and mature into
responsible young adults is a role he has taken seriously throughout his
life." A plaque bearing Wayland's name as well as the names of previous
Lifetime Achievement Award winners hangs in the Oklahoma Cattlemen's
Association Board Room in Oklahoma City. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, AFR and KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites 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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The OKC West
market in El Reno had a total run of 4,852 cattle on Wednesday, with
yearling steers called steady, yearling heifers $1 to $2 higher and the
calf trade stronger as well. Five to six hundred pound steers brought from
$104 to $109, while seven to eight hundred pound steers cleared from $97
to $102.50. Click
here for the full OKC West El Reno market report from USDA's market
news. We've had requests to include Canola prices for your convenience here- and we will be doing so on a regular basis. Current cash price for Canola is $7.30 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $7.55 per bushel- delivered to local participating elevators that are working with PCOM. 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: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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