From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 8:07 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 Tuesday February 17, 2009
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS Futures!
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-- Oklahoma Farm Bureau Honors Four Lawmakers
-- State Senator Mike Schulz Pulls Bill Regulating 2,4 D
-- Final Installment Coming From the Poultry Industry
-- Attorney General's Office Decides Poultry Litter May Have Caused Death in Locust Grove Last Year
-- Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack Talks With Agri-Pulse
-- On the Calendar- The Frank Lucas Roadshow and a Jim Mintert Market Crystal Ball Reading
-- For Great Agricultural Information in Central Oklahoma- Go to the Right Side of the Dial
-- 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.
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.


Oklahoma Farm Bureau Honors Four Lawmakers
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During their annual Legislative and Leadership Conference, the Oklahoma Farm Bureau has announced the group's 2008 Meritorious Service Awards- presented to four state lawmakers last night- as nominated by county Farm Bureau organizations. Lori Peterson, Vice President for Public Policy for OFB, says the four awards were given "in appreciation of the lawmaker's efforts on behalf of Oklahoma Agriculture."
The four lawmakers include:

Senator Don Barrington of District 31. Barrington was nominated by the Comanche County Farm Bureau and represents parts of Comanche, Cotton, Grady, Jefferson and Stephens Counties.
State Representative Danny Morgan- the Democratic Minority Leader of the House. Morgan was nominated by the Lincoln County Farm Bureau and serves Lincoln and portions of Creek counties.

State Representative Phil Richardson of district 56. Richardson was nominated by both the Caddo and Grady County Farm Bureaus- and was cited by the organization for his advocacy and sponsorship of stronger trespass laws. Besides Caddo and Grady Counties- Richardson's district also covers a part of Canadian County.
State Representative Dale DeWitt of District 38. DeWitt was nominated by the Kay County Farm Bureau and has served as the House Ag Committee Chairman in the past- and currently serves as the Appropriations SubCommittee Chairman for Natural Resources.


State Senator Mike Schulz Pulls Bill Regulating 2,4 D
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One issue that won't be dealt with by state lawmakers in 2009 is increased oversight over the use of 2,4,D here in the state of Oklahoma. the sponsor of the Senate measure that would have called for those using the broad spectrum weed killer to let officials know the day and the conditions when they used the chemical has been pulled by its author, Senator Mike Schulz of Altus.

Schulz told us at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legislative Reception last night that he had thought about a compromise over the weekend- but had decided yesterday that it was not the way to go- and elected to not have the bill heard by the Senate Ag Committee yesterday afternoon.

We talked with Schulz about this measure, as well as his efforts to get a bill that offers some protections to animal agriculture in the state through the Senate. The link to our story on these Senate bills is below- click and check out our quick conversation with Senator Schulz.

Click here for our webstory on 2,4,D and more with Senator Mike Schulz.


Final Installment Coming From the Poultry Industry
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At this evenings Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission meeting in Tahlequah, members of the poultry industry will present their final $275,000 check to the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission. This gift completes the $1.1 million donation pledged to the OSRC in 2005 to be paid over four years.

These monies have been used by the OSRC to help preserve and protect the Illinois River watershed. Efforts have helped control erosion, stabilize streambanks, acquire riparian easements and make other health and public safety improvements along the banks of the Illinois River in its watershed.

We have talked with Jackie Cunningham, Director of Community Relations for the Poultry Community Council about the gift and about some of the legal issues that continue to hang over the poultry industry by virtue of the Attorney General's lawsuit against the poultry companies of northwest Arkansas. Click on our link below for our story found on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

Click here for more on the Final Installment of the Poultry Industry Gift to the OSRC


Attorney General's Office Decides Poultry Litter May Have Caused Death in Locust Grove Last Year
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Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson blames chicken manure used as fertilizer near a restaurant for causing a disease outbreak that led to the death of a man from Pryor, Okla. A six-page memo about the attorney general's investigation, provided to the Radio Oklahoma Network, describes how investigators last September began looking into the August death of Chad Ingle and illnesses of 313 other people who ate at the Country Cottage Restaurant in Locust Grove, Okla.

Edmondson claimed the restaurant's well was polluted by poultry litter, describing the material as a "possible source" of the bacteria. The AG's office took their investigative work (done by their own investigators- not the state agencies with the expertise in these areas) to several state agencies and pushed them to take further action. The Attorney General's representatives were especially unhappy with the Department of Agriculture and the meeting with State Ag Secretary Terry Peach- calling their meeting with the ODAFF officials "not constructive" with the attitude of the agency being "dismissive and disrespectful."

The Daily Oklahoman has an editorial on this subject in today's paper- and they take dead aim at Drew Edmondson in what they conclude is irresponsible action by the top law enforcement official in the state. Click on our link below for more on this developing story- and drop me an email if you want to see a copy of the five page internal report that the AG's office has written on their investigative efforts.

Click here for more on the AG promoting the idea that Chicken Litter was the Source of E Coli last year in Locust Grove.


Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack Talks With Agri-Pulse
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Our colleagues at Agri-Pulse had the chance to sit down and talk for about forty five minutes at the end of this past week with the brand new Secretary of Agriculture- Tom Vilsack, the former Governor of Iowa.

Vilsack sees traditional farm programs becoming less important- and more and more emphasis within USDA on rural development, organic agriculture and energy.

We have a link below to the Agri-Pulse front page and on the right hand column- you will see the link for their "Open Mic" and picture of Mr. Vilsack. Click on the start button provided and take a listen to where Vilsack hopes to take USDA as the Obama Administration takes shape.

Click here for the Agri-Pulse Front Page with the Open Mic Interview with Tom Vilsack of USDA


On the Calendar- The Frank Lucas Roadshow and a Jim Mintert Market Crystal Ball Reading
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Today is the second of two days of Town Hall meetings for Third District Congressman Frank Lucas, who is the ranking Minority member of the House Ag Committee. The schedule for Lucas today begins in Seiling at the Seiling City Hall at 10 AM, then on to Watonga for a 12:30 PM meeting at the Watonga City Hall- Kingfisher is the next stop at 2:30 PM at the Chisholm Trail Museum and finally he wraps up the day in Yukon at the Dale Robertson Senior Center at 4:30 PM this afternoon. As always, these meetings are open to the public- the Congressman usually will open with a quick overview and then will spend the balance of the time listening and interacting with those who show up.

A week from today- Will Cubbage tells us about the Osage County Stocker Cattle Conference that is being held at the Osage County Fairgrounds in Pawhuska, starting at 6 PM. I guess you could say it's dinner and the markets, as they will have supper, along with Dr. Jim Mintert of Kansas State to offer a beef cattle market outlook, as well as have Bob Woods, northeast area Agronomist to talk about Complementary Forages in a Stocker System. The Osage County Cattlemen's Association will have a brief meeting that will follow the speakers- you can register by calling 918-287-4170.

As always- check our calendar at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com for all of the latest farm and ranch happenings- lots to check on as we end into the final days of February- and we are starting to add a lot of March events as well. We have the link to the Calendar section of our website linked below.

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


For Great Agricultural Information in Central Oklahoma- Go to the Right Side of the Dial
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We are proud to have great radio stations all across the state that partner with us on the Radio Oklahoma Network. Our station with the most power on the AM dial sits right dead center in the middle of the state in Oklahoma City- KOKC at 1520 on the AM dial.

KOKC offers news and information and great talk shows throughout the day- and with 50,000 watts, they reach out across a lot of the state. KOKC takes four of our shows daily, as well as the daily feature produced by Sam Knipp and his Farm Bureau communications team- Agriculture First that is heard just before 7 AM weekday mornings.

KOKC carries our morning farm news around 6:40 AM, the daily Energy Report at 7:40 AM, midday Farm News at 12:25 PM and closing markets at 2:31 PM. We have more information on KOKC- including a coverage map of where you can hear them on our website- and it's linked below for your to jump to. Check it out!

Click here for more on our Oklahoma City Radio Oklahoma Network Affiliate- KOKC Radio!


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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Let's Check the 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.
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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