From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 7:03 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 Friday April 30, 2010
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS Futures!
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-- Animal Rights Groups Have Multi Generational Plan to Destroy Animal Agriculture
-- Congressman Lucas Calls on Colleagues to Help Put EPA in Their Place on GreenHouse Gases
-- NCBA Joins AMI in Calling for Expiration of Long Standing Tax Breaks for Ethanol
-- Renewable Fuels Association Shoves Back
-- Wheat Prices Continue to Hang Around $5 for Kansas City July Contracts- Even with Harvest Nearing
-- House Ag Committee Ready to Kick Off Eight Field Hearings on US Farm Policy.
-- Where's Your Application for Class 15 of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program?
-- 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 handle, 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 Southern Plains Farm Show, as well as the Tulsa Farm Show. Click here for more on the December 2010 Tulsa Farm Show, including information on how you can be an exhibitor.

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.


Animal Rights Groups Have Multi Generational Plan to Destroy Animal Agriculture
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The agriculture industry is under attack from a powerful, popular and well-funded lobby - animal rights groups, which want to see it die completely, said two speakers at the Animal Agriculture Alliance 9th Annual Stakeholders Summit in Arlington, Va., Wednesday. One was David Martosko of the Center for Consumer Freedom- we have reported to you about David's work before, including his very well done HumaneWatch website.

"You are not dealing with people who want to reach accommodation with the agricultural industry about what is proper animal husbandry," Wesley Smith, author of the 2010 book "A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement," told the audience, which comprised primarily members of the animal agriculture industry. "Their intent is that you have no pigs, that you have no chickens- in fact the agenda is to do away with all animal domesticity, which they see as a multi-generational project."

Both Smith and Martosko consider HSUS as the most serious enemy of livestock agriculture. Oklahoma ranch lady Andrea Hutchison is in Arlington for this meeting- and she has emailed us about Martosko's comments on the HSUS, saying in part "HSUS is not going away, they're in it forever. Endless war. We will never fully pacify these people . The animal rights movement believes animals have rights. Josh Balk from PETA/HSUS was quoted as saying that cage free isn't humane free enough. A new campaign will emerge. Public opinion is everything. 83% think HSUS is good guys , 71% of Americans also think it's an umbrella group for animal shelters, 59% think it gives most of its money to hands on animal shelters. There is no public opinion tooth fairy. We must do it! They are working 24-7 to sway next generation."

We have some comments from Wesley Smith on the differences between animal rights and animal welfare. Click on our link below to hear his thoughts on our Friday Beef Buzz. Our Beef Buzz shows are heard on great radio stations across the state

Click here for more on the animal rights agenda as defined by Wesley Smith on today's Beef Buzz.


Congressman Lucas Calls on Colleagues to Help Put EPA in Their Place on GreenHouse Gases
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The place where EPA belongs on this issue- is on the sidelines- according to the Congressman from Roger Mills County who is the top Republican on House Ag Committee. Lucas and Congressman Joe Barton have teamed up to call for support of H.J. 77, a measure that will stop EPA from starting the process of regulating Green House Gas Emissions.

The letter reads in part "In December, the EPA declared war on greenhouse gases by formally concluding that the breath we exhale is a dangerous pollutant and should become subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act. We are especially concerned because the endangerment finding marks an unprecedented move by the federal bureaucracy to expand its authority over American agriculture."

The letter asks their fellow lawmakers to step in- "As the Ranking Members of the Agriculture and Energy and Commerce Committees we joined over 100 Republican colleagues in the House to cosponsor a disapproval resolution (H.J. Res. 77) that would nullify the EPA's endangerment finding. A similar resolution (H.J. Res. 76) was cosponsored by Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and has also been introduced in the House. These resolutions have the backing of 175 agriculture groups."

Read the full letter from Congressmen Lucas and Barton by clicking here.


NCBA Joins AMI in Calling for Expiration of Long Standing Tax Breaks for Ethanol
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Major livestock and poultry trade associations asked the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday to allow a 30-year-old tax credit and a protective tariff for ethanol to expire at the end of this year. The request was made in a letter signed by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and other industry trade associations, including the American Meat Institute, the National Turkey Federation, and the National Chicken Council.

"Although we support the need to advance renewable and alternative sources of energy, we strongly believe that it is time that the mature corn-based ethanol industry operates on a level playing field with other commodities that rely on corn as their major input," the groups wrote in a letter to Congressmen Sander M. Levin of Michigan and Dave Camp of Michigan, chairman and ranking Republican members, respectively, of the tax-writing committee. "Favoring one segment of agriculture at the expense of another does not benefit agriculture as a whole or the consumers that ultimately purchase our products."

We have the full letter that has been sent to these lawmakers linked in our webstory on this call by these groups. Click on the link below to read more.

Click here for more on this effort by NCBA and other groups to end ethanol tax breaks as they call for a leveling of the playing field for users of feed grains.


Renewable Fuels Association Shoves Back
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A major group that represents the ethanol industry has rolled out a heated response to this letter we detailed in the story above, saying "Trotting out tired and oft-refuted rhetoric yet again, the nation's corporate livestock lobbies seek to stand in the way of America's transition to renewable fuels." The Renewable Fuels Association invoked the "greed" card against animal agriculture over this issue as they offered this headline to their news release "Corporate Livestock Seeks Profit at Expense of Farmers."

In their News Release- RFA claims "Once again, corporate livestock interests are seeking to return to the days they bought corn under the price of production for the American farmer. Such practices resulted in farmers getting more income from the government than they could from the marketplace, while corporate livestock industries prospered."

RFA adds "Ethanol is not the major driving force behind corn prices, whether they are rising or falling. Oil prices, speculation, weather, and a host of other factors have far more to do with the price of corn than ethanol production.
"American farmers have repeatedly shown the capability to produce enough corn to meet all needs and still have bushels left over at the end of the year. To continue blaming ethanol for corn prices after such arguments have been roundly refuted is beyond misleading."

Click here to check out the RFA and their pro- ethanol stance.


Wheat Prices Continue to Hang Around $5 for Kansas City July Contracts- Even with Harvest Nearing
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OSU Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson believes that while there are some disease problems popping up in parts of Texas and southern Oklahoma in the 2010 winter wheat crop- it's not widespread enough to have much impact on prices- especially since most of the southern plains wheat crop looks very good. He is encouraged that wheat prices have held right around $5.00 a bushel- based on the Kansas City July wheat futures. That translates into $4 wheat at local elevators in much of Oklahoma's wheat belt.

Dr. Anderson sees little chance that corn prices will have much of a chance to jump higher and support wheat during the summer months. The corn crop is well on its way to being in the ground- and early indications point to perhaps even more acres in corn than USDA projected a few weeks back.

You can hear all of Kim's thoughts on the wheat market before you can see them on SUNUP- and you can find out the rest of the SUNUP lineup by clicking on the link below. SUNUP is the OSU produced program seen Saturday mornings on OETA across the state of Oklahoma.

Click here to jump to Kim Anderson's take on the wheat market- plus the Lineup for SUNUP for May First.


House Ag Committee Ready to Kick Off Eight Field Hearings on US Farm Policy.
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At 1 PM this afternoon, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson begins a series of field hearings to hear from people about U.S. farm policy in advance of the 2012 Farm Bill.
The first of these hearings is in Des Moines, Iowa after lunch today.

Other field hearings will be held in Nampa, Idaho; Fresno, California; and Cheyenne, Wyoming tomorrow and this coming Monday and Tuesday. The Committee will hold a second series of field hearings May 14-18 in Morrow, Georgia; Troy, Alabama; Lubbock, Texas; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

We have details of all of these hearings for you at the link below- and a link to the audio/video that will be available from each of these hearings over the next couple of weeks.
These field hearings follow the initial two and half hour discussion of farm policy that the Committee had with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack last week. To help remind you of that day- click here for the Q&A that Secretary Vilsack had with Congressman Frank Lucas to get a feel for where the Administration wants to go on this issue.

Click here for more details on the House Ag Committee Field Hearings that begin this afternoon.


Where's Your Application for Class 15 of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program?
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Oklahomans who are engaged in the agricultural industry and are looking for a way to enhance their leadership skills should consider applying for the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Program. Since its inception in 1982, OALP has graduated more than 400 participants and continues to grow and offer class members new and exciting opportunities, said Edmond Bonjour, who was recently named OALP director.

We have stayed engaged with the OALP since its beginnings as I was part of Class One of the OALP- and have served for the last several years on the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Advisory Council to OSU- who administers the program. The grads of OALP continue to rise up and be the leaders in the agricultural industry of our state- and in many cases- beyond our state. Folks like our last two Secretaries of Agriculture in Oklahoma- including current Secretary Terry Peach- are alums. So is Mike Spradling, President of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Don Schieber, Chairman of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, State Senator Mike Schulz from Altus, Oklahoma Wheat Growers Executive Director Tim Bartram and current State FSA Director Francie Tolle.

The OALP has made a difference in the life of hundreds of men and women in the state of Oklahoma that love rural Oklahoma and farming and ranching in our state. We talked to one of the grads of Class 14- Scott Neufeld- about this program and he says that there is an investment you must make to be in OALP- but that the rewards far exceed the time and money you put in. Consider being a part of Class 15- we have details in the webstory linked below. AND- we will be talking about Class 15 during our Saturday morning News9 segment, In the Field, with Edmond Bonjour, the new Director of the OALP program. Tune in and check us out.

Click here for the story on OALP and the call for applications for Class 15.


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 $7.45 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $7.45 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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