From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 6:58 AM
To: Hays, Ron
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday May 6, 2010
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and KIS Futures!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Oklahoma Wheat Crop Could Double From Horrible 2009 Crop
-- Meanwhile in Kansas- Crop Size Seems About Even With a Year Ago.
-- Frank Lucas Says the Message From Farmers in First Set of Field Hearings- Leave Current Farm Policy Alone
-- Senator Mike Johanns Remains Unhappy With the Japanese and Their Unwillingness to Accept More US Beef
-- Ethanol Advocacy Group Calls Gulf Tragedy a "Teaching Moment"
-- Angus Genetics Inc. Announces First Genomic-enhanced EPDs
-- 59th Annual National Land and Range Judging Contest Underway in Central Oklahoma
-- 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 springtime 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.


Oklahoma Wheat Crop Could Double From Horrible 2009 Crop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 2010 Oklahoma wheat crop faces challenges between now and when the combines roll in a few weeks- but the snapshot based on the first few days of May point to a crop that is twice as big as the extrememly small 2009 crop of 70 million bushels. Scouts that fanned out across Oklahoma expect the 2010 crop to total 141 million bushels, based on 33 bushels an acre with just over 4.2 million acres expected to be harvested.

OSU Area Agronomist, Roger Gribble told our colleague Ed Richards that the wheat is moving along nicely, but of course a big concern is what "Mother Nature" could still throw at us. Another major concern is both stripe and leaf rust, a major issue yet to play out. He added that most of the Oklahoma wheat is nearly headed out.

Click on the link below and you can hear Roger's assessment of the wheat crop for 2010- and you can hear that edge of concern in his voice about the dryness in some areas and leaf and strip rust being found across the region that could still hurt this 2010 crop badly.

Click here for our story and the audio on May first estimate of the Oklahoma Wheat Crop


Meanwhile in Kansas- Crop Size Seems About Even With a Year Ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dry topsoil surprised scouts on a western leg of the hard red winter wheat tour. A crop scout on his ninth tour said the subsoil moisture profile looks pretty good, but he thought topsoil moisture would be more plentiful.

"But it appears with warmer temperatures, wind blowing and crop growing that topsoil moisture got used up pretty quick," said Justin Gilpin, CEO of the Kansas Wheat Commission. "While the crop looks pretty good now and subsoil moisture is good, it needs a shot of rain in the near future."

Click on the link below for a complete look at Day two of the Wheat Quality Council's winter wheat tour- complete with an audio overview of the day that Mike Schulte of the OKlahoma Wheat Commission provides as he rolled along a route that took him across portions of both Kansas and Oklahoma.

Click here for more on the Kansas Wheat Crop Tour and info as found in this story.


Frank Lucas Says the Message From Farmers in First Set of Field Hearings- Leave Current Farm Policy Alone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first round of field hearings by the US House Ag Committee on farm policy has been completed- and Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas, top Republican on the House Ag Committee, tells us that the one segment agriculture that wants policy overhaul at this time is the dairy industry. Beyond dairy producers, he says one early conclusion that can be drawn from the farmers at four different venues in five days is that they are generally satisfied with the current farm law, but are concerned about the budget pressures that may prevent our ability from keeping current policy place. Congressman Lucas also claims that farmers are worried about the Administration wanting to de-emphasize the Commodity Title as the next farm bill is written.

As we continue to spend time this week in Washington, we sat down and talked with Congressman Lucas about a variety of subjects, including Secretary Vilsack and his desire to promote Rural Development as a predominant part of the 2012 farm bill, the future of the CRP, Ethanol and a lot more. We ask the first few questions and then we are joined by colleague Jeff Nalley from Kentucky as we talk with Congressman Lucas.

Click on the link below to jump to the audio conversation that we had with Congressman Lucas on Wednesday- lots of perspective available that you'll hear as you listen to his comments.

Click here for our conversation with Oklahoma Third District Congressman Frank Lucas as we sat down with him in his Washington, DC office.


Senator Mike Johanns Remains Unhappy With the Japanese and Their Unwillingness to Accept More US Beef
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Japanese are dragging their feet and have no justification for keeping out US beef from animals older than 21 months of age. That continues to be the contention of the current US Senator from Nebraska, Mike Johanns, who was the US Secretary of Agriculture under President George W Bush.

Senator Johanns spoke to members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters in Washington on Wednesday- and he says that the Japanese need to start working under the international guidelines established by the OIE, which indicate that US beef coming from cattle of any age is safe from problems with BSE- as long as you remove the specified risk materials.

The Senator seemed to offer current USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack a way to push the Japanese to a favorable solution. He suggested that Secretary Vilsack let his counterpart in Japan know that while he is sympathetic to their situation, that he was unsure how much longer he could "hold Congress back" over the lack of progress in getting more access into the Japanese market for US beef producers.

Click here to jump to our Beef Buzz for today and you can hear Mike Johanns explain his thoughts on where we stand with Japan and our US beef access into that market.


Ethanol Advocacy Group Calls Gulf Tragedy a "Teaching Moment"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Addressing the tragedy hitting the Gulf of Mexico and coastal areas requires both an aggressive short term response and an equally aggressive long term energy and environmental strategy. Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen has written President Obama urging him to use this accident as a - teaching moment - to address the underlying problem that made this oil spill possible: America's reliance on petroleum. As Dinneen noted, - the juxtaposition of a green American farm field and the copper-toned oil slick spreading across the Gulf is striking.

Specifically, Dinneen presented three proactive steps the Obama Administration could take to address this issue. First, Dinneen wrote, - the EPA should immediately move to allow for the blending of 12 percent ethanol by volume in each gallon of gasoline. He added, - while this is a good interim and immediate step, it does not address the need for a longer term vision.

Second, Dinneen continued, - EPA should grant a full waiver for the use of 15 percent ethanol blends as soon as the Department of Energy testing of catalytic converters is completed early this summer. And third, Dinneen concluded, - the Department of Energy must reevaluate current loan guarantee programs to make them more accessible to next generation ethanol technologies, such as cellulose-to-ethanol conversion. He said , - the largest obstacle facing the commercial deployment of these cleaner and more sustainable technologies is access to capital.


Angus Genetics Inc. Announces First Genomic-enhanced EPDs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) announces the introduction of the first genomic-enhanced expected progeny differences (GE-EPDs) derived from a High Density Whole Genome Scan with 50,000 markers (HD WGS). This milestone in genetic advancement is a direct result of the collaboration between AGI, a subsidiary of the American Angus Association® (AAA); the University of Missouri; Iowa State University; and IGENITY, a division of Merial.

The high-accuracy GE-EPDs are powered by the new high-accuracy IGENITY profile for Angus that includes 14 economically important traits derived from the 50,000-marker HD WGS. Today, the high-accuracy IGENITY profile for Angus is the only genomic test available that provides GE-EPDs for young animals, resulting in significantly improved accuracies for Angus EPDs.

"Individual Angus producers who are interested in making rapid genetic advancement through the use of DNA technology should use the IGENITY profile for Angus," says Bill Bowman, AGI president. "This is the industry's only DNA profile used by AGI and the American Angus Association in the formulation of GE- EPDs. We are excited about this development because it will continue to give Angus breeders and IGENITY customers a significant advantage in the marketplace today."

Click here for more on this genetic advance in EPDs for the Angus breed.


59th Annual National Land and Range Judging Contest Underway in Central Oklahoma
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The actual judging is happening this morning in central Oklahoma as about a thousand young people from around the United States have come to Oklahoma City for the 2010 Land and Range Judging competition.

The teens, 4-H and FFA members, qualify for the national event by placing among the top five teams at contests in their home states, according to contest co- chairman Trey Lam. Lam is president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, one of the contest's principal sponsors. He says the teens match their skills in judging the adaptability of the land for various purposes including farming, range management and home development. He notes the skills the teens apply at the contest involve principles they can apply in career fields like environmental and agricultural management, natural resource conservation, homebuilding and construction. Lam notes the idea of a land judging contest was invented by three Oklahoma conservationists in 1942. They decided which soil qualities could be judged and developed score cards to test skills. The idea caught on and Oklahoma City has been hosting the national contest since 1952.

Click on the link below for our earlier story on this event- and we hope to have results from the 2010 contest tomorrow or Monday at the latest from this Super Bowl of Land Judging for young people.

Click here for details about this year's National Land and Range Judging Contest.


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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 $7.40 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $7.40 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:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone: 405-473-6144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forward email

Safe Unsubscribe
This email was sent to ron.hays@radiooklahoma.net by ron@oklahomafarmreport.com.

Oklahoma Farm Report | 10700 Whitehall Blvd | Oklahoma City | OK | 73162