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We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network weekdays-
if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it-
click here for this morning's Farm news from Carson Horn on RON.
Let's Check the Markets!
OKC West is our Market Links Sponsor- they sell cattle three days a week- Cows on Mondays, Stockers on Tuesday and Feeders on Wednesday- Call 405-262-8800 to
learn more.
Today's First Look:
mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
At OKC West feeder steers and heifers traded 3.00-5.00 higher on limited comparable sales -
click here to review the complete report from the USDA.
Each afternoon we are posting a recap of that day's markets as analyzed by
Justin Lewis of KIS futures- click
or tap here for the report posted yesterday afternoon around 3:30 PM.
Okla Cash Grain:
Futures Wrap:
Feeder Cattle Recap:
Slaughter Cattle Recap:
TCFA Feedlot Recap:
Our Oklahoma Farm Report Team!!!!
Ron Hays, Senior Farm Director and Editor
Carson Horn, Associate Farm Director and Editor
Pam Arterburn, Calendar and Template Manager
Dave Lanning, Markets and Production
Kane Kinion, Web and Email Editorial Assistant
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Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
Thursday, August 22, 2019
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
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 Featured Story:
The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking comments on ten pesticide applications to expand their use on hemp. The requests are the result of the December 2018 Farm Bill provisions that removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, legalizing hemp for
commercial use and production.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler says the comment period is the next step toward registering crop protection tools for hemp in time for use during the 2020 application and growing seasons.
Hemp farmers told the Trump administration and Congress earlier this year pesticide availability is one the biggest challenges in hemp production. The ten products are existing insecticides and fungicides from Agro Logistic Systems, Marrone Bio Innovations
and Hawthorne Hydroponics.
Comments are due 30 days after the notice publishes in the Federal Register, expected in the coming days. Once public comments are received, EPA anticipates deciding about the possible use of the specified products on hemp before the end of 2019 to help growers
make informed purchasing choices for the upcoming growing season.
Click
or tap here to read more about the EPA's announcement and how to comment on their decision.
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Sponsor Spotlight
The Oklahoma Farm Bureau - a grassroots organization that has for its Mission Statement- "Improving the Lives of Rural Oklahomans." Farm Bureau, as the state's largest general farm organization, is active at the State Capitol fighting
for the best interests of its members and working with other groups to make certain that the interests of rural Oklahoma are protected.
Click
here for their website to learn more about the organization and how it can benefit you to be a part of Farm Bureau.
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You might call Illinois another of the states that qualify as a clunker in the 2019 corn and soybean arena. That's based on the findings and the comments being generated from the ProFarmer Midwest Crop Tour as it nears it's conclusion later today.
Karen Braun with Reuters offered the following tweet about the Illinois numbers last night- "Illinois
corn yield comes in at 171.17 bushels per acre, down 11% from last year's tour and down 9% from the 3 year average. USDA's yield is down 14% YOY. Soybeans at 997.68 pods in a 3x3' plot, down
25% from last year's tour and 23% from 3yr avg. USDA's yield is down 15% YOY." (YOY is year over year)
The
website Ag Pro quotes Brian Grete who is the leader of the eastern leg of the tour that saw Illinois first hand-
"The Illinois crop was sub-par. It just wasn't there. Too much variability in the crop within fields and field to field. It's hard to build much yield with variability. The eastern side of the state is worse than the western side of the state."
The northwest part of the state, north of I-80, really struggled to get planted this year and scouts say that was evident in their samples. While the crops might look good from the field, they were full of skips and plants without ears-byproducts of planting
in less-than-ideal conditions, Grete adds.
And the story is really the same on soybeans- In terms of soybeans, Illinois is just the third in a line of disappointing yields on the east side of the crop tour. All three sampled so far, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, haven't broken more than 1,000 pods
per 3x3 square.
On the western leg of the tour- the scouts spent their time in Iowa- and the western parts of Iowa seem to be in line with recent years-
Braun offers these soybean results from Wednesday- "Pod counts for
soybeans on pftour19 in Western Iowa. Northwest up 1% from last year's tour and close to 3 year average.
"West Central down 5% YOY and down 3% from 3 year avg. Southwest down 16% YOY and down 8% from 3 year avg."
As far as the corn crop in western Iowa is concerned- "Corn results from
#pftour19 in Western Iowa. Northwest yield down 1% from last year's tour and close to 3 year avg.
"West Central yields up 3% YOY and up 5% from 3 year. Southwest yield up 4% YOY and in line with 3 year."
The complete picture for Iowa will be finished tonight as the east and west scout groups meet in Rochester, Minnesota.
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During the 2019 American Pecan Congress in Dallas, Texas this week, I visited with
Bob Redding, contract lobbyist for the National Pecan Federation in Washington, D.C. Redding serves as the first unified voice for the American pecan industry in our nation's capital. According to him, as a non-program or Title 1 commodity,
pecan growers have been on their own when it comes to fighting for legislative representation up until now. Catching the pecan industry up in those terms and engaging in the political process, Redding says, has kept him very busy.
"They've got a lot of issues, because they've never had a lot of issues addressed," he remarked. "But, they're growing and there's a lot of energy. Participating in the political process is key, so we've got a new political action committee (PAC) and
there is a learning curve here - but we're working on it and we're really excited about that."
Since the pecan industry came together to organize its legislative efforts, several priority issues have been identified and grassroots policy is now being developed to address them. For instance, Redding says there is much work that could be done to
improve the current tree loss crop insurance program, which he says currently is weak and ineffectual. However, the industry's production insurance program is one example where current policy shines. More pressing issues, though, have commanded most of Redding's
time to ensure that pecan growers are included in recent USDA initiatives like the Market Facilitation Program (MFP).
You can listen to the whole conversation between Redding and I regarding his position with the National Pecan Federation,
by clicking or tapping here.
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The Department of Commerce announced yesterday a new draft agreement between the U.S. and Mexico on fresh tomato trade. Mexico and the U.S. have a preliminary agreement in place to suspend the ongoing anti-dumping investigation of fresh tomatoes from Mexico.
The Commerce Department says the agreement will protect U.S. tomatoes from unfair trade practices.
For years, the U.S. has disputed the roughly $2 billion worth of tomatoes that are imported from Mexico annually. The disputes led the Commerce Department to terminate an earlier suspension agreement. The U.S. also continued an investigation that could have
led to duties of 25 percent for most Mexican tomato producers. The draft includes a brand-new inspection mechanism to prevent the importation of low-quality, poor-condition tomatoes from Mexico.
The draft agreement also allows the Commerce Department to audit up to 80 Mexican tomato producers per quarter. The statute requires a 30-day notice and comment period. United Fresh says the draft agreement "will be beneficial for the entire distribution chain,
most importantly growers and consumers."
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall remarked in a statement that the tomato agreement with Mexico shows the United States can work out trade disputes without resorting to tariffs and underscores the need to ratify the USMCA,
the American Farm Bureau Federation said today.
"We are pleased and relieved to see progress with one of our largest and most important trading partners," Duvall said. "Mexico is a vital trading partner for American farmers and ranchers. We need this agreement and are grateful negotiators
capitalized on the close relationship that exists between our two nations. We look forward to more progress on the trade front and are counting the days until the USMCA becomes law."
The agreement is expected to take effect September 19, 2019 following a 30-day comment period. You can read more from Duvall regarding the agreement made with Mexico, by
jumping over to our website.
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Sponsor Spotlight
Dating back to 1891, Stillwater Milling Company has been supplying ranchers with the highest quality feeds made from the highest quality ingredients. Their full line of
A & M Feeds can be delivered direct to your farm, found at their Agri-Center stores in Stillwater, Davis, Claremore and Perry or at more than 125 dealers in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Texas. We appreciate Stillwater Milling Company's long
time support of the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and we encourage you to
click here to learn more about their products and services.
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Without advance warning, cattle prices got slaughtered last week after the arrival of news that the beef packing plant in Holcomb, Kan. was being shut down due to a fire related mishap. Kansas State University Extension Ag Economist Dr.
Glynn Tonsor says that while cattle prices tanked, higher wholesale boxed beef prices and profitability for producers have done just the opposite and climbed sharply. According to him, Choice cut-out jumped $22 for the week after the fire to
$238.69 and Select cut-out rose just under $20 for the week to roughly $213 with Tuesday and Wednesday capping the largest daily changes ever recorded since 2000 when mandatory price reporting began. Tonsor explains the economics at play behind this surprising
event.
"The way I've been describing this is when you have a major event like we had in Holcomb, the processing capacity in the industry was shrunk. The ability to handle cattle compared to the day before that event was reduced and that increased the cost of
operating and processing cattle - so, what did that do?"
Tonsor continued to explain that in economic jargon, "that decreased the derived demand for fed cattle," which resulted in the pushback the markets saw in fed cattle prices and subsequently feeder cattle prices. Tonsor says that in itself was not exactly
surprising - economically speaking - but what was surprising was the magnitude of the cut-out price increase. Reportedly, the cut-out was up about 9% for the week while cattle prices declined near 5%.The good news in all of this, Tonsor explains, is
that strong demand indicators actually manifested in the market after this event occurred. Tonsor hesitates to say this level of demand might in fact be strong enough to reverse the overall impact but suggests it could at least help to pull the industry out
of the current situation.
You can listen to the entire conversation between Tonsor and I on Wednesday's Beef Buzz -
here.
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U.S. Poultry & Egg Association has announced the release of the U.S. poultry industry's first-ever report quantifying antimicrobial use on broiler chicken and turkey farms. The new report shows dramatic reductions of turkey and broiler chicken antimicrobial
use over a five-year timeframe.
"As part of its commitment to the transparency and sustainability of a safe food supply," the release states, "the poultry industry aims to strike a balance between keeping poultry flocks healthy and the responsible use of antimicrobials, especially those medically
important to human health."
USPOULTRY Vice President of Research, Dr. John Glisson, DVM, MAM, PhD, affirms, this research is the first step in determining how antimicrobials are used in the entire poultry production system of the U.S. and, "to succeed,
we need participation from the majority of companies. We couldn't be more pleased with the response of the poultry industry."
Click
or tap here to read more about the report released by the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association regarding the use of antimicrobials.
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In this week's edition of Checking In on the Beef Checkoff - Heather Buckmaster, executive director of the Oklahoma Beef Council, visited with us about the growing number of beef producers who have proactively embraced
the Beef Quality Assurance program and its principles.
"We know beef producers are dedicated to responsibly raising safe, wholesome, high-quality beef," Buckmaster said. "Being BQA certified tells consumers that producers have a commitment to delivering a product that is backed by science-based standards.
Certification also addresses many questions that consumers have about beef production."
The certification process only takes a few hours and consists of visual learning modules and simple questionnaires that serve as a checklist for producers to help them make sure they are using the latest management practices.
Learn more about the BQA program and how you can become certified for free or listen to my whole conversation with Buckmaster on this week's
Checking In on the Beef Checkoff -
here.
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Our thanks to
Midwest
Farms Shows, P
& K Equipment, AFR
Insurance, Oklahoma
Farm Bureau, Stillwater
Milling Company, National
Livestock Credit Corporation, Oklahoma
Beef Council, Oklahoma
AgCredit, the
Oklahoma Cattlemens Association 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- at NO Charge!
We invite you to check out our website at the link below too that includes an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.
God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
phone: 405-473-6144
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