From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 7:34 AM
To: Hays, Ron
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 April 13, 2010
A service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
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-- Do You Remember What the 2009 Wheat Crop Looked Like Mid April Last Year?
-- Corn Planting Underway in Oklahoma
-- U.S. Ethanol Industry to Launch First-Ever National TV Ad Campaign
-- AFR to Hold Interscholastics Competition at Redlands on Tuesday- Then Commercial Cattle Grading on Thursday
-- Cattlemen Continue to Call for Estate Tax Fix This Year
-- Water Planning Process Continues- Next Step in May
-- Shorthorn Breed Gathering for Oklahoma Coming Saturday April 24 in Duncan
-- 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 pleased 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!

It is also great to have as an annual sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. Johnston has opened up four million bushels of additional storage space for the 2010 wheat crop. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!

And we are proud to have P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy as as one of our regular sponsors of our daily email update. P & K is the premiere John Deere dealer in Oklahoma, with nine locations to serve you, and the P & K team are excited about their new Wind Power program, as they offer Endurance Wind Power wind turbines. Click here for more from the P&K website.

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.


Do You Remember What the 2009 Wheat Crop Looked Like Mid April Last Year?
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It was April 13th of last year when we were driving out in the Canadian and Kingfisher County area- taking pictures of a wheat crop that looked absolutely awful. White heads were starting to show up- the crop was thin and short and way ahead of normal development because of the drought stress over the winter. We had also endured at least two weekends of very cold temps by this point and all signs were pointing to a very very bad wheat crop. That was 2009. (Our top story of the morning on our website shows a picture we snapped one year ago today in Canadian County in central Oklahoma where you could see the gloomy outlook for that wheat field- short, already headed, thin and some of the heads already totally white.)

The 2010 winter wheat crop is in far better shape this spring versus one year ago, based on the latest crop weather update numbers released by USDA on Monday afternoon. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says overall winter wheat crop condition for this season is the best in some time, with only some of the late planted wheat in soft red country showing serious problems.

In Oklahoma, Small grain crop progress increased due to warm temperatures over this past week. Seventy-six percent of wheat reached jointing by week's end, up 14 points from the previous week, but nine points behind normal. The crop is being rated 71% good to excellent, 25 % fair and only 4% of the crop is rated poor to very poor.

In Kansas, the 2010 crop also is looking better and better as it breaks dormancy. "Ninety-seven percent of the wheat crop has broken dormancy. Of that, 25 percent was jointed by Sunday, behind 35 percent for last year and 47 percent for the 5-year average. Wheat condition was rated as 1 percent very poor, 4 percent poor, 26 percent fair, 56 percent good and 13 percent excellent.

We have more details with links to the weekly crop weather updates for Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas linked in our webstory you can jump to below. Check them out.

Click here for a look at that wheat field of a year ago- and better conditions being seen this spring.


Corn Planting Underway in Oklahoma
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Dry fields and warm weather permitted progress of row crop seedbed preparation. Corn seedbed preparations reached 67 percent complete, up 15 points from the previous week, but still 13 points behind normal. Seventeen percent of the 2010 Corn crop is now planted in the state. Sorghum seedbeds prepared are 30 percent complete, up two points from the week earlier but one point behind normal. Soybean seedbed preparations continue to run behind normal with only 32 percent complete. Peanut seedbed preparations continue to run ahead of normal with 61 percent completed, up two points from the previous week. Preparations for cotton seedbeds reached 57 percent complete, up seven points from the week earlier, still 14 points behind last year but only 4 points behind the five-year average.

Pasture and range conditions were rated mostly in the good to fair range. Grasses are expected to continue to green up as a result of warm temperatures.

Click on the link below to jump to the Oklahoma Crop Weather Update as released on Monday afternoon from NASS.

Click here for the April 12 Oklahoma Crop Weather update.


U.S. Ethanol Industry to Launch First-Ever National TV Ad Campaign
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America's ethanol supporters launched the industry's first national TV ad campaign on Monday to promote what they say is the only renewable, domestic fuel that is an alternative to imported oil, which makes up nearly 60 percent of the nation's fuel supply.

"Ethanol is America's fuel: it's made here in the U.S., it creates U.S. jobs, and it contributes to America's national and economic security. This ad campaign is designed to reach beyond the Beltway to communicate those facts about ethanol to the broader American public - people who until now have only heard one side of the story," said (Ret.) Gen. Wesley K. Clark, Co-Chairman of Growth Energy, the coalition of U.S. ethanol supporters that is airing the "America's Fuel" campaign.

Click on the link below to learn more about this campaign and how Growth Energy and others hope that this will help the perception about ethanol both inside the Washington Beltway as well as all across the US.

Click here for more on the new National TV ad campaign being seen on major Cable News Channels.


AFR to Hold Interscholastics Competition at Redlands on Tuesday- Then Commercial Cattle Grading on Thursday
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It's a busy week for the folks at American Farmers & Ranchers as they are helping sponsor two big youth events on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday, AFR will be sponsoring Speech Contests at Redlands Community College in El Reno, which is a part of the Ag Interscholastics that is held annually at Redlands as a final tuneup before the state interscholastics contest for Oklahoma FFA in Stillwater April 23-24.

On Thursday, AFR is helping sponsor the 2010 Commercial Cattle judging Contest on the Opening Day of the Southern Plains Farm Show. Registration begins at 8 AM, with the activities set to begin at 9AM on Thursday. Over $6300 of scholarships will be given to young people in this competition.

Click here for more details on the Commercial Cattle Judging Contest Set for Thursday morning at the Southern Plains Farm Show


Cattlemen Continue to Call for Estate Tax Fix This Year
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The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), the Public Lands Council (PLC) and a coalition of national organizations representing family farmers, ranchers and growers are joining together in the fight for meaningful and permanent estate tax reform. On Jan. 1, the estate tax temporarily zeroed out for the year 2010, but unless Congress takes action, the tax will come back next year at its staggering pre-2001 levels.
The following is an excerpt from a letter sent by the coalition on Monday to Senate Leadership:

"If estate taxes are allowed to be reinstated at the beginning of 2011 with only a $1 million exemption and top rate of 55 percent, the negative impact on our industry will be significant. We support permanently raising the exemption to no less than $5 million per person and reducing the top rate to no more than 35 percent. It is also imperative that the exemption be indexed to inflation, provide for spousal transfers and include the stepped-up basis.

"We strongly support estate tax relief as outlined above, which provides the greatest relief and certainty for agriculture. We respectfully request your leadership in reforming current estate tax laws to strengthen the business climate for family farmers, ranchers and growers while ensuring agricultural businesses are passed to future generations."

Click here for a PDF copy of a "leave behind" piece that NCBA has developed promoting their stance on Death Tax Reform


Water Planning Process Continues- Next Step in May
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The statewide Oklahoma water plan has been cussed and discussed for several years- and still has a couple of major meetings ahead before we reach the point where a plan will be laid out for all to see.

In late May of this year, the Oklahoma Academy for State Goals will conduct a special Town Hall meeting. The results then will be presented to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB). The OWRB will then begin to draft the water plan. Beginning in the spring of 2011, 11 regional meetings will be held across the state to get feedback and implementation ideas on the plan. Once the results of those meetings are relayed to the Water Board then a final proposal will be made and sent to the Oklahoma Legislature for consideration of the 50-year water policy plan.

This Town Hall Meeting will be held May 23-26 in Norman. Agricultural groups continue to be engaged in the process, as we get closer to an actual proposal that will be sent to the Legislature for their consideration in 2012.
Click on the link below for the 2009 Status Report- which offers a lot of good background information on the Aquifers of the state and a lot more.

Click here for the 2009 OWRB Status Report- as we approach the 2010 Town Hall Meeting that will help define the 50 year water plan for the state.


Shorthorn Breed Gathering for Oklahoma Coming Saturday April 24 in Duncan
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The 2010 Oklahoma Sooner Classic Shorthorn Sale is set for Saturday, April 24, 2010 at the Stephens County Fairgrounds in Duncan. The sale will begin at 1:00 PM

Among the lots that will sell will be Fancy Show Heifer Prospects, Bulls, Bred Females and Cow/Calf Pairs.
A total of fourteen Shorthorn breeders are consignors at the 2010 sale.

For more information, contact Sammy Richardson, Chairman of the Oklahoma Shorthorn Association at 580-658-2709 or 580-467-8267. You can also call Steven W. Crow, State Association Secretary at 405-820-9725.
You can click on the link below for the catalog for the 2010 Shorthorn Classic.

Click here for the catalog and more info on the animals and genetics to be offered at the 2010 Sooner Classic Shorthorn Sale.


Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, AFR and KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites 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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We've had requests to include Canola prices for your convenience here- and we will be doing so on a regular basis. Current cash price for Canola is $7.50 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $7.70 per bushel- delivered to local participating elevators that are working with PCOM.

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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