From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 6:49 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 Thursday April 9, 2009
A service of Johnston Enterprises, KIS Futures and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
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-- House Bill 2151 and Senate Bill 452 Both Advance This Week
-- Farm Program Sign Up - The Devil's in the Details
-- Pork Producers Demanding Obama Administration Study Impact of Ethanol Expansion in US
-- OSU Honors Jimmy Wayne Kinder and Ed Regier as Master Agronomists
-- April's Calendar is Crowded.
-- No Mad Cow is No Surprise to NCBA 's Elizabeth Parker
-- Oklahoma Shorthorn Association to Have Sooner Shorthorn Sale April 25
-- 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 pleased 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!

It is also great to have as an annual 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!
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House Bill 2151 and Senate Bill 452 Both Advance This Week
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It appears that both Senate Bill 452 and House Bill 2151 could end up becoming law in Oklahoma this year- just different laws. The two measures started life as companion bills for what some groups have called the livestock preemption bill. This is the measure that establish the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture as the only government entity in the state to determine what rules and regs should be followed by livestock agriculture when it comes to animal well being. A local community cannot make their own stricter rules if a member of PETA or the HSUS suddenly becomes the mayor of the town and they decide they believe it ought to done. Cities retain the right to have zoning rules regarding animals inside their city limits. House Bill 2151 contains this language and has passed the state Senate this week- and should be headed to the Governor's desk for a signature very soon.

Senate Bill 452 started with that language, passed the Senate and then the House Ag Committee with that same language- but now has been stripped of that language and is now carrying a proposal that could turn into a listing of what animal husbandry practices should be allowed to be practiced by anyone with expertise- not just veterinarians. In recent months, the state Vet Medical Board has cracked down on several individuals and companies that have been doing what they consider to be practices that Vets can do- the Vet Medical Board's contention is that ONLY Vets should be allowed to do those things. The lightning rod issue is something called teeth floating or equine dentistry which includes the removal of enamel points from teeth and the leveling of dental arcades in cattle and horses. Other practices, like embryo transfer, are being disputed as well.

On Wednesday, authors of this revised language, led by House Ag Committee Chairman Don Armes, moved an amended SB452 to the floor and ended up with a 99 to 0 vote on a watered down measure. Armes was pleased, saying that this bill will allow those who want these practices to be expanded beyond just the Vets in local communities to come up with something that everyone can live with. Armes told lawmakers that he and a couple of his colleagues had set down with the Veterinarian leadership in the state on Tuesday- had agreed to discuss and come up with a deal. Armes tells us that it will mostly be a House negotiation, with the three Vets that are members of the Oklahoma House, Brian Renegar, Lee Denney and Phil Richardson, will huddle with Armes, Dale Dewitt and Eddie Fields to come up with language that both sides can endorse. It's expected that Senator Mike Schulz and Senator Ron Justice will be consulted as well to bring this bill along to consensus.
Representative Armes sounds optimistic that there will be a deal from these conversations over the next few days. One lobbyist at the Capitol has told us that this has really been an issue where passions have been stirred up- and that his phone has been ringing non stop from those who want change from the current status quo.


Farm Program Sign Up - The Devil's in the Details
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American Farmers & Ranchers (AFR) recently submitted comments on the 2008 Farm Bill proposed Interim Rule set forth by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Farm Program Payment Limitations and Payment Eligibility. Terry Detrick, President of AFR, commented that "AFR worked diligently representing farmers and ranchers during the 2008 Farm Bill debate, knowing full well that once the bill was passed the rules would be a whole new process and something that AFR planned to follow closely. While getting the Farm Bill passed was an accomplishment the devil is always in the details and when you are talking about legislation that means the rule making process."

Detrick went on to say, "AFR whole heartedly supports the efforts of Congress to make certain that farm program benefits are actually going to those that are responsible for producing the food, fiber and energy for this country and beyond. We also recognize that the 2008 Farm Bill is extremely complex, however, the interim rule takes the complexity to a whole new level that we believe exceeds Congressional intent and makes farm program sign up difficult and cumbersome for producers."
AFR commented on the cause and affect that the rules may put on the way landowners lease their ground, for example on a share basis or a cash basis. In addition, comments included AFR's disagreement with the interim rule on restrictions that are put on producers in regard to financing their operations, whether or not a spouse would be eligible to participate in farm programs, problems for eligibility due to farm business structure, the possibility that retiring farmers would become ineligible for farm programs, the unnecessary personal information that has been required during producer sign up, along with several other concerns.

Detrick adds "The bottom line is that AFR asks that the USDA take this opportunity to simplify the rule and remove the restrictions that were never intended or even suggested in the statute. The timing of this is critical and farmers cannot be and should not be faced with changing their entire operation only to find out that the rule has changed again." AFR will continue to monitor the rulemaking process on behalf of agriculture producers.

Terry Detrick's comments line up with what Francie Tolle of AFR told us during their annual meeting in Oklahoma City several weeks back. We have the link to the story we did at that time, which includes a link to farm program signup procedures as released by USDA as well as the audio with Francie on this subject.

Click here for our earlier story on Farm Program Signup with Francie Tolle of AFR


Pork Producers Demanding Obama Administration Study Impact of Ethanol Expansion in US
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The National Pork Producers Council is insisting that the Obama administration study the economic impact of an expansion of corn-ethanol production and usage. In a letter to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy, the EPA Administrator and Carol Browner, who is assistant to the President for energy and climate change, NPPC asked that the administration bring stakeholders together to consider all possible impacts of corn-ethanol expansion.

NPPC wants the group to consider the extent to which increasing blend limits will further increase market speculation, affect grain and commodity markets and actually help the ethanol industry. Also, NPPC says, the administration should lead an effort to examine the effects of such an expansion on corn availability, the price elasticity of corn, the users of corn and rural work forces and industries associated with corn.

"In this new era of openness and transparency and calls for scientific integrity in Washington, I can't imagine anyone or any organization being opposed to a study on the effects of producing and using more corn ethanol," said NPPC President Don Butler. "We hope the Obama administration and Congress provide answers to the questions surrounding ethanol expansion before rushing to change ethanol policy - that's the America way."


OSU Honors Jimmy Wayne Kinder and Ed Regier as Master Agronomists
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Jimmy Wayne Kinder from Walters and Ed Regier of Enid were named as Master Agronomists and honored earlier this week at the 2009 Agonomy Banquet at Oklahoma State University. The "Master Agronomist" award was initiated in 1947 as a means of recognizing individual farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma. The recipients have actively participated in agronomic education efforts and have contributed valuable public service because of their unique efforts in the fields of soil conservation, range management, or crop production. In many cases, these individuals have provided land, equipment, time, and effort in helping OSU carry out research and demonstrations on their farms. They have hosted field tours, and in some cases served as speakers on educational programs. These individuals are very active and involved in agriculture, and are highly respected leaders in agriculture, community, and church. Many serve on local, state, and regional committees, boards, and councils.

Jimmy Wayne Kinder is known, not only in his local community, but across Oklahoma for his use of no-till in a wheat/stocker system. Jimmy Wayne has been a presenter at several no-till meetings. He follows OSU recommendations and has been an early adopter of the Greenseeker technology, owning his own sensor. He routinely keeps OSU personnel abreast of current conditions in his area and is quick to entertain OSU folks to discuss no-till. He is always looking for a better way to increase his bottom line. His occupation is listed as Farmer/Rancher but in the recent past it would have been listed as Rancher/Farmer. For several years, no-till forage wheat has been his livelihood, but with wheat grain prices as they were in 2008, he shifted into more of a no-till grain system. He was an OKanola cooperator in 2006-7 and has used grain sorghum and sunflowers in his rotation in the past and has several acres of canola this year.

Ed Regier owns and operates a diversified crop production farm in Garfield County, just north of Enid. His current crop production system includes 3000 acres of wheat, soybeans, corn, grain sorghum, and sunflowers and has also grown winter canola. Ed was one of the first in Garfield County to implement No-Till production practices on his farm. Ed was also one of the first producers in the area to implement the use of a stripper header for his wheat harvesting system to assist with moisture savings for double crop production systems after harvested wheat. Ed has worked with an array of Research and Extension Specialists for the past 13 years. His first on farm research project was with Dr. Tom Peeper. At that time, Dr. Peeper was working with crop rotations to reduce weed pressures in fields and also implement no-till production systems in northwest Oklahoma. While working within this project, Ed also participated in soybean variety plots that included some planting date type trials. Regier also began working with Rick Kochenower to experiment with early planting grain sorghum and with double crop grain sorghum production following wheat harvest. These trials included hybrid performance evaluations and also seeding rate and plant population studies for grain sorghum. Ed was one of the first producers to participate in the OKANOLA Project. This project was the first to look at growing winter canola in Oklahoma.


April's Calendar is Crowded.
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I got an email reminder from Matt Ball of Senator Coburn's staff yesterday of the Senator's Town Hall Meetings planned for next week- fortunately, I can report to Matt that we are on the ball and have those town Hall Meetings in our Calendar listings- Click here for the first of them next week on Monday in Cushing and Sapulpa. Scroll through our full listing of events next week to see what location may be closest to you to catch up with Dr. Coburn- that link is below for our Calendar section of WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com.

Also this week and next- we have town hall meetings listed for Tom Cole and Frank Lucas- we checked with Dan Boren's office and they indicated he was getting around the district during this two week break- but had no town hall meetings planned.

Another of the multiple listings that include several stops next week are the Farm Bill Informational meetings that are underway this month and next. April 15, there will be a session planned for Goodwell- and April 17- the farm bill informational road show will pull into McAlester.

There are also a whole host of winter canola meetings- which will give us our first look at how the canola plants have handled the hard freeze of earlier this week. AND- there are a couple of big events coming later in the month- The Southern Plains Farm Show and the 2009 Oklahoma FFA Convention, both in Oklahoma City.

Click here for our full Calendar Listing- as found on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.com


No Mad Cow is No Surprise to NCBA 's Elizabeth Parker
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It's no surprise to Dr. Elizabeth Parker of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association that we have not had any confirmed cases of BSE for several years now- even as APHIS continues to test for BSE at a higher level than world animal health guidelines suggest. We talk about this with Elizabeth on our Thursday Beef Buzz.

It's that lack of BSE being discovered that should help the Food and Drug Administration to rethink their decision to plow ahead and implement the Enhanced Feed ban by the end of June. Dr. Parker says that it will cause enormous unintended consequences as the disposal of carcasses will become much more difficult when this rule is fully implemented.

We have both our Wednesday Beef Buzz where we talk about the FDA movement toward implementing the Enhanced Feed Ban- as well as our Thursday Beef Buzz with Dr. Parker talking about how the US and many other countries are convinced that BSE is on the decline. Click on the link below to get to both of those Beef Buzz shows- as heard on the Radio Oklahoma Network all across the state.

Click here for the BSE/Enhanced Feed Ban story as found in our Beef Buzz segment at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Oklahoma Shorthorn Association to Have Sooner Shorthorn Sale April 25
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The Oklahoma Sooner Shorthorn Sale, presented by the 2009 Oklahoma Shorthorn Association will be happening Saturday April 25 at 12:30 PM on the Stephens County Fairgrounds in Duncan, Ok.

The Oklahoma Shorthorn Association will offer a tremendous set of Shorthorn bulls, Bred Heifers, Bred Cows as well as Semen from some of the leading Shorthorn bulls in the breed.

For details, call Sammy Richardson, Chairman of the Oklahoma Shorthorn Association at 580-658-2709 or his cell: 580-467-8267. And, we have the link to the catalog with more details of the event on our website in our calendar and auction listings. Click on the link below for more information.

Click here for more on the 2009 Oklahoma Shorthorn Association Sooner Shorthorn Sale on April 25 in Duncan.


Our thanks to KIS Futures, Johnston Enterprises and AFR 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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It was a pretty good sized run on Wednesday for OKC West in El Reno- with an auction total of 5,615. According to the market reporter- "Feeder steers and heifers 3.00-5.00 higher. Steer calves 1.00-3.00 higher. Heifer calves 4.00-10.00 higher. Demand extremely good for all classes. Quality of feeder cattle attractive with several nice loads off wheat available. Feeder cattle in slightly thin to fleshy conditions." Five to six hundred pound steers brought $111 to $118 while seven to eight hundred pound steers cleared from $94.50 to $99.50. Click here for the full report from OKC West from Wednesday April 8.

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.



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