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 December 2009 Tulsa Farm Show. Click here for more information on the Tulsa Show, coming up December 10,11 and 12, 2009.

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.

Scott Dewald of the OCA tells us that the Trade Show will be another dandy this year, with booths both upstairs and downstairs at the Reed Center- and some excellent sessions have been planned for those that attend. Saturday Morning, Jim Robb of the Livestock Market Information Center out of Denver will be at the convention- he will be offering the traditional Saturday morning market outlook- and will spend time looking at how the economy is impacting the prices that cattle producers receive.

While Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank Lucas is not on the agenda for Saturday- if House Speaker Pelosi lets the House out early enough on Friday- Congressman Lucas may be able to stop by and offer some greetings from Washington, and a few insights on the current push in the House regarding Health Care and more.

We have the full agenda of this year's event on our website in the Calendar section- click on the link below and take a look- we hope to see many of you there at this year's event.

Click here for more info on the 2009 Oklahoma Cattle Industry Meetings in Midwest City

According to Senator Harkin, as the Senate begins to take up the issues of energy and global warming, this hearing will further explore the interests and concerns of farmers, ranchers, forest land owners and rural communities. Harkin has continually emphasized that the views and concerns of agriculture and forestry must be heard and addressed as the Senate shapes climate change legislation.

Republican Senators, including the Ranking Minority Member, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, have told both USDA Seccretary Vilsack as well as EPA Administrator Jackson that they better have specific numbers that will reflect the cost to farmers of the proposed program. That showdown will unfold in the second half of the day's two part hearing.

Click here for the Senate Ag Committee Website for the latest details of today's hearing

"I have worked closely with Sen. Cornyn over the years, including during the farm bill debate last year, to craft farm policy that benefits all Americans, including Texas farm and ranch families. Sen. Cornyn understands the issues producers in his state face and I greatly respect his knowledge of commodities key to the Texas agriculture economy. We have a tremendous amount of work to do this Congress and I am pleased to have Sen. Cornyn on the committee as we work to reauthorize child nutrition programs, improve food safety standards, oversee the farm bill implementation process, address climate change and reform our financial markets."

In a letter that has been sent to the Obama Administration, the governor said ongoing drought conditions combined with floods, hail, fire, high winds and freezing temperatures to inflict serious damage and losses to Oklahoma's agriculture and ranching industries. The letter noted that the state's wheat harvest was expected to be far below normal, and that livestock loss caused by a forage deficit in hay and grazing caused significant damages as well. "Our farmers and ranchers endured about every form of bad weather imaginable last year, and their crops and livestock suffered accordingly," said Gov. Henry. "A federal declaration won't address all of their losses, but it would be a step in the right direction."

In his letter, the governor asked that the feds authorize the Farm Service Agency to complete damage assessment reports on all Oklahoma counties. The period of extreme weather was from September 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009. If the disaster declaration is approved, Oklahoma farmers and ranchers will be eligible for low-interest loans to address losses caused by the extreme weather conditions.

In fact, Ramey says that for both steaks and other whole muscle cuts of beef, as well as ground beef get high marks from consumers for safety. Ground beef has even surpassed poultry in safety grades by consumers.

Click on the link below and check out this portion of our conversation from last week with Tom Ramey, the CEO of the Cattlemen's Beef Board.

Click here and go Beef Buzzing with Ron and Tom Ramey of the CBB

The Panel's report first examines the state of the agricultural sector and notes that, in general, it has fared somewhat better than the broader economy. The balance sheets of farmers and agricultural lenders have remained relatively strong, though some parts of the agricultural economy, most notably dairy are in crisis. Rural areas were generally less exposed to the housing bubble, providing some protection for rural community banks from the shock of the financial crisis, until more recently.

Recent trends and projections in farm lending are troubling. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) expects net farm income to decline by 20 percent in 2009, which may reduce some farmers' ability to repay loans later in the year, although the impact may be mitigated by an increasing reliance on off-farm income. Demand for direct operating loans from the agricultural lender of last resort, the Farm Service Agency (FSA), increased 81 percent over the last year, and demand for direct ownership loans increased 132 percent.

We have more on this report- and we have the link to the entire report on our website- click on our link below to read more.

Click here for more on this study asked for by Congress about the Farm Lending Situation

The Companies say SmartStax is the agriculture industry's most advanced, all-in-one corn trait platform. It combines each company's corn traits to provide farmers a broad spectrum of above- and below-ground protection against insects and weeds. The technology uses multiple modes of action for insect control and provides state-of-the-art proven means to reduce structured refuge and maintain long- term durability of corn trait technologies.

Phillip Miller, Vice President of Product Management at Monsanto, says SmartStax corn yields should show a five to ten percent improvement for farmers. Next year's launch will cover three to four million acres, and Miller explains why Monsanto and Dow project a total acreage opportunity of 65 million. "Above ground insect protection is something that spans the entire corn geography, and most geographies do experience rootworm pressure. But as we approach this in the market we will offer the SmartStax broadly in all geographies, and then we will plan on pricing these products to the value they bring in that specific geography."

For more information on this new technology that will be available in 2010- click here for a presentation from the Companies found on the Dow website.

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.