~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday March 2, 2009
A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Johnston
Enterprises!
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-- From the Commodity Classic- The Four Groups Meeting Here tell
Obama Administration to Leave the Farm Safety Net Alone
-- Oklahoma Wheat Commission Efforts at Commodity Classic a Big Hit-
Again.
-- Conservation Commission and Conservation Districts Agree- The
Court Got it Wrong
-- Into the Snow Storm- The Peanut Story Headed to the Big
Apple
-- First Hollow Stem Has Arrived- the Word from Dr. Jeff Edwards,
State Wheat Specialist
-- National Farmers Union Details Full Day of LawMakers a Week From
Today at National Convention
-- 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. It is wonderful to have as a regular 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! 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. | |
From the Commodity Classic- The Four Groups Meeting Here tell Obama Administration to Leave the Farm Safety Net Alone ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In response to
the Obama Administration's budget proposal that calls for phasing out
direct payments to larger farm operators- the four groups that were
meeting jointly in Grapevine, Tx during the Commodity Classic have offered
the following statement:
"As the leaders of participant organizations at the 2009 Commodity
Classic, which represent almost 90 percent of our nation's crop area
planted, we would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the
importance of the farm safety net as written in the 2008 Farm
Bill. "Production agriculture is a volatile business, and a workable farm safety net is vital to the security of our industry. The continued production of an abundant, affordable and safe food and feed supply for Americans and all those we export to around the world will be affected if this safety net is changed. The purpose of a five-year farm bill is to provide stability to producers, agricultural operations and the food system. The 2008 Bill should not be reopened before it expires in 2012. "Our organizations look forward to continued work with the Obama
Administration and Congress to ensure farm program monies are spent
wisely." | |
Oklahoma Wheat Commission Efforts at Commodity Classic a Big Hit- Again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a big
hit at the 2009 Commodity Classic- the baking of Cinnamon Rolls and Bread
in the Oven owned by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. Since the days of
Wheat Commissioner Henry Jo Von Tunglen, who initially baked loaves of
bread for legislators and other VIPs in his home in Canadian County to
now- the Oklahoma Wheat Commission has taken their bread baking efforts to
national farm meetings, to New York City in a lower Manhattan exhibit this
past year to dozens and dozens of events that take place inside the state.
Jeff Krehbiel says the National Association of Wheat Growers helped with the costs to have the Wheat Commission bring the oven and facilities on the road to Grapevine, Texas and the 2009 Commodity Classic, with more than 4,500 in attendance. The Chairman of the Wheat Commission says they served more than 8,000 pieces of Cinnamon Rolls to Classic attendees, as well as a lot of slices of bread, and had the chance to talk with a lot of folks about wheat promotion efforts as a result. Besides their bread baking efforts- we chatted on Friday with Jeff Krehbiel about their efforts at the Wheat Commission to find a new Executive Director to take the slot vacated by Mark Hodges- Krehbiel says they hope to do interviews of the top candidates in mid March with a selection to come fairly quickly after that- and we talked about how dry it is across a good bit of the Oklahoma wheat belt for 2009. Click on our link below and you can take a listen to our visit with the Hydro farmer. | |
Conservation Commission and Conservation Districts Agree- The Court Got it Wrong ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Extremely
disappointing." That is how Trey Lam, President of the Oklahoma
Association of Conservation Districts described the ruling of last
Thursday by the Oklahoma Supreme Court that voided the $25 million bond
issue passed last legislative session to repair damage to conservation
infrastructure throughout the state of Oklahoma, including several
severely damaged flood control structures. "It is amazing that the court
would take this action," Lam said. "This ruling puts the lives and
property of Oklahomans at risk."
In light of Thursday's Supreme Court ruling, Conservation Commission Executive Director Mike Thralls is urging the Legislature to reauthorize the bond this session. He said critical repairs to Oklahoma's conservation and flood control infrastructure are desperately needed. "We at the Conservation Commission understand that Supreme Court was not asked to decide on the value of the projects included in the bonds, but on the constitutionality of the vehicle that carried them," Thralls said. "There is legislation currently in the Legislature to enact the conservation bond in its own bill," he added. "We are hopeful that the bill will be passed on its own merits for the public safety of the state of Oklahoma. And we are anxious for the resolution of the bond issue so we can begin to put those vital conservation measures on the ground," he said. About $16 million of the funding from the bond would be used to repair and rehabilitate flood control dams across the state and would be matched by the same amount of federal dollars. Another $4 million would be used in a flood protection project in the Kingfisher area. Another $3 million would be used to repair dams in Caddo County that were devastated in the tropical storm Erin that swept inland and across Oklahoma in 2007. "In 2007 Oklahoma experienced many severely damaging weather events, from the snow storms in the Panhandle, 'hurricane' Erin in the west and southwest, the ice storms in the east and the devastating flooding in the far northeast," Thralls said. "We are anxious see this bond in place so we can get to work rebuilding at least a portion of the infrastructure that has played such a vital role in the public safety of Oklahoma - protecting homes, businesses, roads and bridges and especially human lives," Thralls said. The Executive Director of the OACD, Clay Pope agrees with the urgency of the situation. "We hope the legislature and the Governor will take action to reauthorize this bond and let us get to the work of repairing the damage caused by the storms of 2007," Pope said. "It's almost storm season in Oklahoma and if we have heavy rainfall in the areas previously damaged by the floods of 2007 the results could be tragic. The bottom line is that this ruling by the court has put the lives and property of Oklahomans at risk. We can only hope that the Legislature and the Governor will once again act in the interest of the public safety of our citizens and reauthorize this bond issue." | |
Into the Snow Storm- The Peanut Story Headed to the Big Apple ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unless the
snow storm that is rolling across the eastern seaboard throws too big of a
monkey wrench into the works, the peanut industry will unveil a new slogan
with a lot of hoopla on Wednesday and Thursday of this week as they tell
the world about "Peanuts- Energy for the Good Life!"
The Peanut Industry PR folks tell us "On March 4th and 5th, New York will be transformed into a veritable Peanutopolis, with cooking demonstrations by world-renowned chefs, free food samples, educational exhibits and more. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal will be "Energy Central." Here, you'll encounter an actual peanut field, with farmers from across the peanut-growing regions on hand to show you around." That's where the Oklahoma connection comes in, as Mike Kubicek write us
in an email that he is in the process of driving "an Oklahoma grown peanut
field to Vanderbilt Hall at NY Grand Central Terminal. Grown under the
supervision of The Center for Peanut Improvement in Stillwater, the 20' x
20' field will become center stage for this major peanut showcase. Joining
me from Oklahoma will be peanut producers John Clay of Carnegie, and Joe D
& Gayle White of Frederick. Oklahoma Shellers, Alan & Pam Ortloff
from the Madill based Clint William's Co will also be on hand." Here's more on the event from the National Peanut Board Web Site. | |
First Hollow Stem Has Arrived- the Word from Dr. Jeff Edwards, State Wheat Specialist ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OSU Wheat
Specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards reports in the latest OSU Plant and Soil
Science Newsletter issued on Friday afternoon that First Hollow Stem has
arrived in some Oklahoma wheat fields for some of our earlier varieties.
Specifically, Dr. Edwards has found First Hollow Stem in Stillwater. "Some
varieties have already reached FHS. Once this process starts, it does not
take long for all varieties to reach FHS, so now is the time to be making
plans for cattle."
In the plots Dr. Edwards is following in El Reno, dry weather has delayed the arrival of First Hollow Stem, but Dr. Edwards says the drought conditions dictate moving quicker than normal on those fields where cattle are still being grazed. "However, due to this reduced fall growth it is more critical to remove cattle from drought stressed fields slightly before First Hollow Stem." We have the latest newsletter from the Plant and Soil Science Department at OSU linked on our website- our link is below, so go and check out this story as well as the latest on wheat diseases from Dr. Bob Hunger of OSU. Click here for the latest on First Hollow Stem and its arrival in Oklahoma. | |
National Farmers Union Details Full Day of LawMakers a Week From Today at National Convention ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National
Farmers Union members attending the organization's 2009 national
convention will have the opportunity to hear directly from a full-slate of
national leaders, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy
Pelosi and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Farmers Union is incredibly
fortunate to welcome Secretary Vilsack and Speaker Pelosi to our 107th
annual convention. Speaker Pelosi has made issues affecting rural America,
such as the 2008 Farm Bill, COOL, renewable energy and access to
affordable healthcare, a top priority; and Secretary Vilsack will be
playing a key role in shaping our nation's agriculture policies over the
coming years," NFU President Tom Buis said. "The chance to meet and hear
directly from this outstanding line-up of speakers is a once in a lifetime
opportunity for our members."
The schedule for Monday, March 9 follows: Buis will be stepping down as NFU President and convention delegates
will elect a new leader during the event. Those interested in the position
must submit a petition signed by no fewer than 10 delegates to the NFU
Secretary by noon, Sunday, March 8, the vote will take place at noon,
Tuesday, March 10. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill 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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was late
Friday afternoon- but we did sell cattle in the southern Plains feedlots-
the Texas Cattle Feeders report that it was mostly at $82, up two dollars
a week ago, with some 30,550 head selling at the 82 dollar price. The Woodward cattle market had another big volume sale day on this past Friday, as 9,078 cattle were sold, with yearlings $3 to $6 up and calves cashing in from $1 to $5 stronger. The five to six hundred pound steer calves sold from $104.50 to $113.25, while seven to eight hundred pound yearlings brought $89.85 to $98.50. Click here for the full Woodward Livestock report- it should be updated for their February 27th sale on the USDA site after 8 AM central time. 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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