From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 6:38 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 Friday February 13, 2009
A service of Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers and Midwest Farm Shows!
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-- AFR Convention Underway and "Standing Strong!"
-- Chairman Collin Peterson Slams Through Derivitatives Legislation in the House Ag Committee
-- Generations and Beef Demand- Dr. Jim Mintert
-- Grain Markets Continuing Sideways- Dr. Kim Anderson
-- Machinery Link is Gearing Up for 2009 Harvest
-- This Coming Week Proclaimed as Farm Bureau Week
-- One of the latest Calendar Adds- Northeast Oklahoma Row Crop Meeting in Wagoner
-- Looking at our Agricultural 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 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!

We are also pleased to have as a regular sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to have served agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!
And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the just concluded Tulsa Farm Show, as well as the April 2009 Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows 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.


AFR Convention Underway and "Standing Strong!"
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For more than a hundred years, farmers have been gathering under the banner of the Oklahoma Farmers Union- and today and tomorrow- they gather once again- under a bigger tent of not just Farmers Union but also the American Farmers & Ranchers. The general farm group is meeting this year back out at the Biltmore Hotel at I-40 and Meridian after spending a couple of years in downtown Oklahoma City.

They have a robust Trade Show set up and open in and around the meetings today and tomorrow- and a full lineup of speakers that range from House and Senate Ag Committee Chairmen Ron Justice and Don Armes to national policy analyst Francie Tolle to talk 2008 farm bill rules and regs(looking forward to her take on the complicated sign up issues we are hearing about) and several commodity updates from folks like Heather Buckmaster from the Beef Council to Jackie Cunningham who represents the eastern Oklahoma/Western Arkansas poultry industry.

And- Lt. Governor Jari Askins continues her worldwide ag tour(okay- it's just statewide at this point) as she will make remarks at their banquet planned for tomorrow night at the Clarion on the south side of the Interstate. Askins has announced her intentions to run for Governor and we have seen her at about every ag function that has happened in recent weeks- as she talks about her belief in Oklahoma agriculture and rural Oklahoma.
Click on the link below and get the full rundown on speakers and more from the 2009 AFR convention that is up and running in Oklahoma City.

Click here for more on the 2009 AFR meeting


Chairman Collin Peterson Slams Through Derivitatives Legislation in the House Ag Committee
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the House Agriculture Committee approved legislation to increase the transparency and strengthen oversight of futures, options and over-the-counter (OTC) markets. By voice vote, the Committee approved the Derivatives Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2009 as amended, a bill sponsored by Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota. The legislation, H.R. 977, will bring greater transparency and oversight to futures and OTC derivatives markets. It toughens position limits on futures contracts for physically-deliverable commodities as a way to prevent potential price distortions caused by excessive speculative trading. The bill also imposes a clearing requirement on OTC derivatives contracts and empowers the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with the ability to suspend trading in naked credit default swaps under certain circumstances.

"This bill broadens and improves on last year's bipartisan derivatives legislation that passed the House by a wide margin," Chairman Peterson said. "The urgency to fix the problems in regulated and unregulated futures markets magnified by the credit crisis and the collapse of some of America's largest financial institutions: entities that were heavily involved in the trading of off-exchange credit derivatives like swaps contracts. Their failures have put the American taxpayer on the hook, so just sitting back and doing nothing is not an option. Congress should act quickly and pass a bill that will bring much-needed transparency to derivatives markets."

H.R. 977 contains provisions similar to a bipartisan bill to strengthen the oversight of futures markets from the 110th Congress. That bill, introduced by Chairman Peterson, passed the House last September by a vote of 283-133. In addition, the Committee held three hearings on credit derivatives late last year, along with two hearings last week with industry and stakeholder groups to examine derivatives legislation.
Go to the link below and we jump you to the House Ag Committee website for details of what this bill would change if enacted into law.

Click here for more on the Derivatives Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2009


Generations and Beef Demand- Dr. Jim Mintert
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Our end of the week Beef Buzz is the wrap up of our conversation with Dr. Jim Mintert of Kansas State University- as we look at beef demand and how the generations will play a role in how successful we are in moving beef through the pipeline. For example, the Millennials were born between 1980 and 2000 and offer a huge market for beef if we tell them the nutritional story of beef and offer them enough convenient ways to enjoy beef.

Dr. Mintert tells us that another factor to watch in future years may be Boomers wanting to continue to eat beef as they age- but demanding smaller portion sizes. That could impact the per capita amount of beef consumed.

Click on the link below- it's to our story that has the final Beef Buzz of the week and the fourth of four segments with Dr. Jim Mintert. It also has within it a short recap of the previous three segments and links to those Beef Buzz reports on Mintert's work on Beef Drivers that have not been considered before when calculating beef demand.
The study done by Mintert sets the stage for where the beef industry needs to focus scarce resources in beef promotion and education efforts in the years to come.

Click here for our segments of the Beef Buzz from this week with Dr. Jim Mintert.


Grain Markets Continuing Sideways- Dr. Kim Anderson
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Our grain markets continue to slide sideways- although each time we bump up against the top- it seems that the top is just a little bit lower- so says OSU Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson. Anderson tells Clinton Griffiths for the weekend show SUNUP on OETA that he believes that the wheat market is waiting on how the 2009 US winter wheat crop comes out of dormancy- and how many acres of corn and soybeans will eventually be planted this spring in the US.

We have Kim's comments(click below) that you can hear now from this weekend's edition of SUNUP to be seen on OETA. SUNUP is the weekly half hour TV production of the OSU Division of Agriculture- resurrected from the discard pile at OETA after the daily version of the show was discontinued several years back.

Click here for our story from Clinton Griffiths with Kim Anderson on current grain market outlook


Machinery Link is Gearing Up for 2009 Harvest
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MachineryLink, Inc., North America's leading provider of combine leasing programs for agricultural growers, today announced plans to upgrade and expand its fleet to include 165 new 2009 John Deere 9770 STS and CaseIH 7088 AFX combines. The fleet upgrade and expansion is in direct response to increased grower demand for harvest equipment accessed through the company's managed lease program. According to Craig Hiemstra, MachineryLink's vice president of sales, grower lease commitments are up 20 percent over the same period in 2008.

"Now, more than ever, North American growers are looking for innovative ways to maximize cash flow and manage risk," said Hiemstra. "By incorporating our managed lease program into their harvest strategy, growers realize just that -- financial savings, improved cash flow and the technology benefits gained from dependable, well-calibrated, state-of-the-art equipment. In today's economy that's a winning combination."

MachineryLink also is now offering growers on-farm grain platform rentals and premium combine option packages. Grain growers can select from a limited number of 2009 John Deere 630R, 630D or 635D platforms and can arrange delivery through a network of local John Deere dealers. Growers leasing John Deere 9770 STS combines, will be offered premium package add-ons including TouchSetTM, HarvestSmartTM, AutoTracTM, and high-intensity light systems.
"Our approach breaks with traditional thinking about combine ownership," added Hiemstra. "We believe we have found a better way for the farmer to have it all at harvest - the best equipment with a significantly reduced financial investment."


This Coming Week Proclaimed as Farm Bureau Week
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Governor Brad Henry has signed a proclamation designating February 16-20 as Farm Bureau Week in Oklahoma. The week is part of a statewide observance during which county Farm Bureaus will make a concerted effort to enroll members, introduce the community to Farm Bureau volunteer leaders and explain the organizations goals and objectives.

During this week county Farm Bureaus will be hosting open houses, receptions, luncheons and other activities highlighting the groups community involvement.

We have a link below to an audio video package that shows some pics of Governor Henry with the proclamation- and a conversation that he had with Sam Knipp about the importance of rural Oklahoma to the overall economic health of the state.

Click here for more on the Farm Bureau week proclamation with Governor Brad Henry


One of the latest Calendar Adds- Northeast Oklahoma Row Crop Meeting in Wagoner
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The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service's Northeast District Winter Row Crop Meeting will take place from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Wagoner Civic Center, located at 301 S. Grant Ave. just off State Highway 51. "Producers don't have a lot of downtime so it's nice to be able to get together in February and look at management techniques and technology that might improve profit potential," said Bob Woods, OSU Cooperative Extension area agronomy specialist.

We have details of this event and a lot of others that are going on today and next week as we roll through the month of February. For more on this event- click on the Calendar link we have provided below and scroll down to February 19- and you will see the listing for you to click on.

We do remind you that when your organization has meetings or events planned- be sure and email them to me- and it does not hurt to send me a reminder if you don't see it added on the web after two or three days- the volume of my email is getting heavier and heavier- so just making sure that I got it is important to me- and beneficial to you. Thanks in advance for your continuing support as we offer this free daily email and our website- support our sponsors when you can and let them know that you appreciate the information that they make possible.

Click here for the Calendar page for WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, American Farmers & Ranchers and Johnston Enterprises 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


Looking at our Agricultural Markets...
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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.



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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