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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday February 3,
2009 A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS
Futures!
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-- Cellulosic Ethanol Still a Priority to Governor Brad Henry
-- January Summary of Crop Weather- DRY
-- Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame Deadline is Friday
-- A Canola Call to Action
-- Lamb Vote Underway During Month of February
-- COOL Rule Should Be Allowed to Become Final
-- Humane Society of the US Has Lots to Push in the New Congress in
2009
-- 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 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. 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. | |
Cellulosic Ethanol Still a Priority to Governor Brad Henry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Governor Brad
Henry offered his "State of the State" address on Monday afternoon at the
State Capitol and spoke of both challenges and opportunities.His current best guess for a budget shortfall??? "This year, we face a budget hole of nearly $600 million. As Oklahoma families take a hard look at their own expenses and cut where they can, we must do the same. State agencies must tighten their budgets. Some projects must be put on hold. This fiscal year will be marked by thrift and sacrifice." One priority that the Governor said we should not back away from is an investment in biofuels- specifically cellulosic ethanol. "Two years ago, in recognition of the potential of biofuels, we created the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center to capitalize on the innovative research being conducted in our state. Oklahomans are expanding the possibility and viability of cellulosic ethanol, and it is critical that we continue our commitment to this visionary enterprise. " We have the full State of the State speech within the webstory linked below. Lawmakers generally praised the Governor for his comments- although Republican leaders said his speech was a little light on specifics on how to deal with the budget shortfall. Click here for the story on Governor Brad Henry's State of the State Address on Monday | |
January Summary of Crop Weather- DRY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The word "DRY"
sums up the summary for crop and weather conditions issued on Monday
afternoon by Will Hundl and his team at the Oklahoma NASS office.
Regarding the dryness- the report notes "The State averaged only 0.69
inches of rainfall during the month of January. Topsoil and subsoil
moisture conditions continued to diminish. Eighty-four percent of the
State's topsoil and 75 percent of the State's subsoil were reported having
short to very short moisture levels."
The 2009 winter wheat crop deteriorated with the dry conditions. More than a third of the crop is now rated in the poor to very poor categories (36%), 40% is in fair shape and the remainder is split 21% good and 3% excellent. Wheat grazing is higher than a year ago at 33%, but still less than the norm which is 40%. We have the full report linked below- click on the link to review wheat and pasture conditions as well as the precipitation and temp readings for the state during the month of January. Click here for the Monthly Crop Weather Update for the State of Oklahoma | |
Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame Deadline is Friday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are down to
the last three days before nominations are closed for nominees to the 2009
Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame. The nominations are being accepted for this
year's recipient of the Governor's Outstanding Achievement Award in
Agriculture. The person selected will become the 2009 inductee into the
Oklahoma Agricultural Hall of Fame.
Induction into the Hall of Fame will be held at the state capitol in
conjunction with Oklahoma Ag Day on March 24. Last minute questions about the nomination process should be directed to Jason Harvey at 405- 522-5563 at the State Department of Agriculture. The link below of the News Release on the Ag Hall of Fame provides a link to the nomination form and more information. Click here for more on the Nomination Process for the Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame | |
A Canola Call to Action ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We got a note
yesterday from Gene Neuens of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill about the
current status of the 2009 winter canola crop. Winter Canola is a crop
similar to winter wheat in that you plant in the fall, let it overwinter
and then grow in the spring for harvest in the June timeframe of the
following year.
Gene writes of the current canola crop "We have reports of insects in the Canola crop. You may have Aphids that feed on the underside of the canola leaf and Diamond Back Moths that will feed in the crown of canola. Visit with your local crop production specialist for spray recommendations. To get a good coverage it may be best to use a ground rig." He adds that "Also this is the time to be topdressing your canola.
Check your soil test results. Application for the balance of your
Fertilizer need should be applied. Canola needs 2.5# of nitrogen per
bu.(50# Bu.). Also canola needs sulfur at a rate of 10-20# per
acre." | |
Lamb Vote Underway During Month of February ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is day
two of a nationwide referendum, now underway, to determine if the Lamb
Promotion, Research and Information Order should be continued. This
referendum allows lamb producers, feeders, and first handlers to vote. To
be eligible to vote, persons must certify and provide documentation, such
as a sales receipt or remittance form, which shows they have been engaged
in the production, feeding, or slaughtering of lambs during 2008.
Through February 27, local Farm Service Agency offices will serve as polling places. Eligible voters should obtain form LS-86 from a county FSA office either in person, by mail, fax, or via the Internet at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsmarketingprograms. For eligible voters not participating in FSA programs, voting opportunities will be provided at the county FSA office where the person owns or rents land. USDA monitors activities of the American Lamb Board. The mandatory program is financed by producers, seedstock producers, feeders, and exporters who are assessed one-half cent per pound when live ovine animals are sold. The first handler, primarily packers, pays an additional 30 cents per head on ovine animals purchased for slaughter. | |
COOL Rule Should Be Allowed to Become Final ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It's the law
of the land." That's what Chandler Keys of JBS Swift said about COOL when
he and his boss, Wesley Batista of the Brazilian meat packing giant were
asked about the US labeling law for fresh agricultural products. His
answer is what we feature on our Tuesday Beef Buzz.
Keys says that once the government decides what the final rule will look like- JBS Swift will work to implement it in their operations. Keys did express the hope that we would not see a protracted battle over COOL again with the Obama Administration holding the final rule as issued by the Bush Administration for at least the time being. He says it's almost like the movie Ground Hog Day, with the industry having to possibly relive the uncertainty of what will be required of them to enforce the law. Our link below takes you to our Tuesday Beef Buzz from the Radio Oklahoma Network- heard on radio stations across the state on the RON network. We also have our Beef Buzz shows on our website- go to the Main page (our home page) and look for the Beef Buzz button on the left had side of that page. Click on that and you will see a huge list of Beef Buzz reports from the last several years. Click here to hear our Beef Buzz with Chandler Keys of JBS Swift as we talk about COOL | |
Humane Society of the US Has Lots to Push in the New Congress in 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This past
month, the Humane Society Legislative Fund (HSLF), the lobbying arm of the
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), issued a report called its
Change Agenda for Animals outlining the animal rights organizations' top
goals for the Obama administration. The report includes 100
recommendations. Some of the top points include:
The White House creating an Animal Protection Liaison to help
coordinate animal welfare concerns that cut across many different agencies
(which was initially proposed by HSUS at the Harvard Animal Law Conference
in 2006) Phasing out intensive confinement (like California's Prop 2) - "as
recommended by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal
Production" Click here for the full list of HSUS Legislative/Regulatory Objectives in 2009. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill and KIS Futures 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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Higher money
at the Oklahoma National Stockyards was paid for the run of 8,400
yesterday- our market reporter says "Feeder cattle steady to 2.00 higher.
Stocker cattle and calves 2.00-4.00 higher. Demand for feeder cattle
supported by sharply higher futures. Trading active. Calf demand improved
after some moisture received across much of the region last week. Receipts
included large numbers of heavy feeder cattle as well as heavy, long
weaned calves for this time of year coming off short wheat. This prompting
some to believe that we are seeing a lot of March cattle now." Click
here to review the prices paid during the Monday auction in Oklahoma
City.
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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