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.

And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show, as well as the just concluded Tulsa Farm Show. Click here for more information on the Southern Plains Farm Show, coming up April 15,16 and 17, 2010.

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.

These cuts are considered rather small, given the huge losses that producers have suffered over the past two years. University of Missouri's Ron Plain has called the current industry mess as bad as the one we saw in the 1990s, when live hog values slumped to the low teens and red ink caused massive losses to this sector of the ag industry.

Pre report guesses show a range from 96.8 to 99.2 percent of a year ago for the size of the hog herd as of December first, with the number of animals kept for breeding estimated by nine analysts from 95.3% to 98% of a year ago.

Joe Victor of Allendale offered us a few bullet points of what they believe these numbers will be saying including:
Smallest December 1 herd size in three years.
- Five quarters of a declining numbers.
- Cool and mild late summer/fall will keep breeding herd efficiency at high levels.
- Sow slaughter is not as high as hoped. Large imports of Canadian sows in the mix.
- Hog slaughter will remain under previous year in all of 2010.

Regardless of experience level, the 2010 Winter Conference will cover the issues common to No Till production as found on the High Plains. Courses are available for all experience levels. Topics include Producers' Real Life Experiences, Fertility and Soil Health, Cover Crops and Alternative Crops, Grazing Systems/Livestock, Water Management and Utilizing No-till Under Irrigation, How to Apply New Technologies, Rainfall Simulator & Soil Demonstrations, Managing Residue, plus many more.

Brian Lindley, Executive Director of No-till on the Plains, comments, "If you are a producer looking for an agronomic advantage and a way to improve your management, then the 2010 No-till on the Plains Winter Conference is the place to be. The motivation, vision, and experience of the speakers offered at this event is absolutely of the highest quality. Regardless of your experience with no-tillage, we have sessions that you can utilize immediately. Additionally, the producer networking opportunity is unmatched. Come ready to learn!"

Click here for more on the No Till on the Plains Conference- including links for their website and registration details.

"There is no effective treatment for bulls, and once infected, they can continue to spread trichomoniasis when they breed," said Dr. Dee Ellis, who, on January 1, will be Texas' new state veterinarian and head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state's livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. "Infected cows may clear the infection, but only if they are given rest from breeding for 120-150 days-an expensive option, as a calf crop will be missed. A vaccine also is available to help in the management of infected cows, but it will not prevent infection."

Click on the link below for more details on the Texas rules on this disease, rules that the Texas Animal Health Commission believes will save cattle producers a lot of money in the years to come.

Click here for more on the Texas rules on Cattle Trichomoniasis.

Retail sales of Certified Angus Beef increased by seven percent over the previous year and international sales were up four percent. Foodservice sales were off five percent for the past fiscal year- but Stika believes that there is opportunity to see a rebound in this sector later in 2010.

Click on our link below for this edition of the Beef Buzz, as heard on great radio stations around Oklahoma.

Click here for more from the Beef Buzz on Certified Angus Beef sales in fiscal year 2009.

In 2009, there was likely some economic damage from soybean rust in the US Delta, especially in the state of Mississippi. In 2009, soybean rust has been found in 16 states and over 576 counties in the United States, and in three states and nine municipalities in Mexico. In 2008, soybean rust was found in a total of 392 counties.

Starting in 2010, the United Soybean Board (USB) and the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP) and state checkoff programs will leverage checkoff funds to fund the sentinel plot program, while USDA will support the ipmPIPE Web site and one predictive model. Another change affects the placement of sentinel plots. This year sentinel plots will be primarily in the South, in order to warn Southern farmers where rust is likely to strike. There will be a reduced number of plots in the North funded by state checkoff boards and others, with a greater reliance on ad-hoc observations based on risk determined by model predictions and observations in the South. This partnership provides valuable information that saves soybean farmers money.

Click here to read more on the plan to monitor for Asian Soybean Rust in the Coming Growing Season Across the United State.

On the National Steak website, the following statement addresses this situation and explains that they have undertaken this voluntary recall. "We take the safety and wholesomeness of our products very seriously and that's why we are working with the USDA to conduct this recall. This is the first recall in our company's nearly 30-year history. Given our long history of focusing on product safety and our standards of excellence, we will error on the side of being cautious with this recall."
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service believes that there is an association between non-intact steaks (blade tenderized prior to further processing) and illnesses in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington.

"USDA has been aware of the E. coli risks associated with mechanically tenderized steaks as early as 1999, but has refused to act," DeLauro said in statement. "The USDA should move immediately to require labeling that clearly identifies mechanically tenderized beef and pork products for all processing facilities, retailers and consumers. Restaurants, grocery stores, and consumers should be made fully aware of the products they are receiving so they can assure that they are cooked at the appropriate temperature."

Click here for our earlier story on the National Steak beef recall of Christmas Eve.

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture distributes nomination forms and accepts the completed applications. An independent selection committee comprised of leaders from various agricultural organizations chooses each year's inductee. Nomination forms are available from the ODA by calling Jason Harvey, (405) 522-5563 or by writing Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Ag Hall of Fame, 2800 N. Lincoln Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73105. You can also go to the ODAFF webpage, which we have linked below.

Any living person who derives the bulk of their income, or has retired from an agricultural enterprise, is eligible for nomination. Candidates for consideration are agricultural leaders who have exemplified personal values, excelled in production and performance and who have provided a strong role model for the state's youth. "Without question this is the most prestigious award in Oklahoma agriculture and honors the finest people who make up our state's farming and ranching industries," said Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture, Terry Peach. "The contributions to our state's economy, character and leadership provided by our top agriculturists cannot be overstated."

Last year's inductee into the Oklahoma Agriculture Hall of Fame was Elmore Bathurst, Blackwell, OK farmer and rancher.

Click here for the ODAFF Website and the Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame Page.

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

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.