From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2010 6:22 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 Thursday May 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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-- Some Parched Oklahoma Wheat Fields Offered a Drink by Mother Nature
-- Number Two at USDA In Oklahoma Today
-- Debris in pastures potential health risk to cattle
-- American Power Act Introduced- Another Run at Climate Change Legislation on the Table.
-- Farm Groups Weigh in on Kerry- Lieberman Bill
-- Happening today- the House Ag Committee Hears from the Land Grant Farm Policy Watchers
-- Steady Money in the Feedlots- Yearling Steer Prices Higher in El Reno
-- 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. For the 2010 wheat harvest, Johnston has opened up four million bushels of additional storage space. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!

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Some Parched Oklahoma Wheat Fields Offered a Drink by Mother Nature
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The storms of overnight finally brought rains to some of the drier areas of the Oklahoma Wheat Belt- and continue to dump rain in north central Oklahoma as well as along a leading line that is now well into eastern portions of the state.

Very little rain was received in Harper County- except for a couple of tenths of rain in the southeastern corner of the county- and no rain received in the three Panhandle counties. However, Woods, Woodward, Ellis, Major and Alfalfa Counties all got from a half inch to more than two inches of rain in some of Ellis County. Well, many wheat fields needed more- at least some precipitation came into this area that has been the driest areas of the Oklahoma wheat belt.

More rain seems to be in the cards for Friday- later in the day and that night- the heaviest of this could be everywhere in the state except for the northwestern counties. After that, a drier pattern may be setting up for next week.

Click on the link below of the Oklahoma Mesonet page of current precipitation- I have linked you to the rainfall amounts of the last 24 hours across the state.

Click here for the real time Mesonet Rainfall Accumulations from the last 24 hours.


Number Two at USDA In Oklahoma Today
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Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan will visit Kingfisher and Shawnee, Okla. today to discuss the Obama Administration's priorities underway at USDA to invest in rural infrastructure as well as improve the health and nutrition of children across the nation. Deputy Secretary Merrigan is the number two person at USDA, serving under USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The Deputy Secretary will also be meeting in a closed to the media session with Oklahoma agricultural leaders- and later in the day, after lunch in Shawnee with school children, will be meeting with tribal leaders about conservation and other issues.

Click on the link below for our story on the Deputy Secretary's visit- and we hope to be able to spend a few minutes with the Secretary later in the day to get an overview of the things discussed in meetings with Oklahoma ag leaders and officials.

Click here for more on our story about Kathleen Merrigan in Oklahoma on this Thursday


Debris in pastures potential health risk to cattle
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The aftermath of Oklahoma's recent tornadoes has many cattle producers walking their pastures looking for insulation, building materials and other debris that may negatively affect animal health and time management costs.

Cattle will eat just about anything that looks interesting in the pasture, cautions Doug Maxey, Okmulgee County Extension director and agricultural educator.
"Producers are going to have to pick up as much debris from their pastures as possible," Maxey said. "This can be a painstaking, labor-intensive process given the potential amount of small debris."

Dr. Gene Parker, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service veterinarian and area food animal quality and health specialist, said a single piece of wire consumed by a bull, cow, heifer or calf can drop down into the reticulum, the first stomach, where it potentially can pierce the heart.
Other problems sometimes associated with "hardware" disease are the shutting down of the rumen, depression, acute pain and decreased milk production.
"Cattle producers may want to use rumen magnets if there appears to be a significant amount of metal debris in pastures," Parker said. "A rumen magnet may be a health-care investment well worth the money."

Click here to read more about how to deal with the Debris that may have blown into your field from the storms of this week.


American Power Act Introduced- Another Run at Climate Change Legislation on the Table.
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Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman have introduced the American Power Act which is designed to transform our economy, set us on the path toward energy independence and improve the quality of the air we breathe. The pair of Senators said their bill will create millions of good jobs and it will launch America into a position of leadership in the global clean energy economy. They said their bill will - reduce carbon pollution by 17 percent in 2020 and by over 80 percent in 2050.

The bill provides that farmers would no longer be subject to mandatory pollution compliance obligations. But, they would be eligible to participate in a new multi-billion dollar revenue stream through a domestic offset program. That program encourages farmers to reduce emissions.
In addressing the pricing of carbon, the bill sets a floor of 12-dollars, but provides for an annual inflation rate increase of 3 percent. When the price hits 25-dollars then the price inflation increase rises by 5 percent annually. The bill keeps states from implementing mandatory greenhouse gas reduction program.

In a joint news release the Senators said - our approach sets an achievable national pollution reduction target and refunds the money raised right back to American consumers and American businesses. They point out - this is not a plan that enriches Wall Street speculators. And this is certainly not a plan to grow the government. It is a plan that creates jobs and sets us on a course toward energy independence and economic resurgence.

Click here to see the News Release from the Joe Lieberman Senate Website.


Farm Groups Weigh in on Kerry- Lieberman Bill
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The National Farmers Union embraces the latest Climate Change/Energy Bill coming down the pike in the US Senate- as described above. NFU President Roger Johnson calls this measure a positive step in the right direction. Click here for the NFU release on this measure.

Meanwhile Farm Bureau's Bob Stallman says to hold the phone- he sees problems with the bill. Stallman says, - as with other climate change bills, we have concerns about the economic impact on farmers and ranchers because of potentially higher fertilizer and energy costs. We do not want to see farmers driven out of business due to additional regulation and the potential for higher input costs. Agriculture also could be forced to shrink due to land moving out of production into trees to sequester carbon. Click here for the AFBF release and full statement in response to the proposal.

Meanwhile the National Corn Growers want time to study the bill- and perhaps see which way the wind blows on perception of this bill- before supporting or opposing the measure. National Corn Growers Association President Darrin Ihnen says, " NCGA could not support the Waxman-Markey bill on the House side due to the potential adverse economic impacts on corn growers. In light of that, we will once again conduct an analysis of the new Senate version of climate legislation before taking a position on the Kerry-Lieberman proposal. NCGA will also wait for the official analysis from the Environmental Protection Agency in the coming weeks."


Happening today- the House Ag Committee Hears from the Land Grant Farm Policy Watchers
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I say its a lineup of Ag Economists and Ag Policy gurus from the Land Grants- it's mostly from the Land Grants as six of the eight panelists indeed come from a traditional ag school. Two of those that the Committee will listen to do not- Professor Neil Hamilton, Professor and Director, Agricultural Law Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa and then Rob Paarlberg, Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts. Dr. Paarlberg is the author of that article we linked you to earlier this week entitled "Attention Whole Food Shoppers. "

It's disappointing to me that the panels are loaded with corn belt policy experts- and that the plains states are not represented by anyone from OSU, K-State, Texas or even Nebraska. One former OSU professor is on the second panel- Dr. Darryl Ray, who now calls the University of Tennessee home.

Click on the link below to listen to the whole day of academia telling the lawmakers about the good, bad and ugly of rural and farm policy in this country. The hearing today is planned for the main hearing room of the House Ag Committee, 1300 Longworth so audio and video should be available.

Click here for the House Ag Committee website-and the page on Audio/Video for their hearings.


Steady Money in the Feedlots- Yearling Steer Prices Higher in El Reno
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Feedlots in Kansas sold cattle for a second day at $100 per hundredweight- and the lower live cattle futures of Wednesday convinced feedlot operators in Texas and Oklahoma to join the party at the same price- a dollar a pound. That was steady with last week. at that level, closeouts on the pens of cattle being marketed right now are making a profit of $150 or more per head. Click here for the Daily Volume Report from the Texas Cattle Feeders to see how the cattle sales broke down in the TCFA area.

Meanwhile, OKC West in El Reno had another good sized run of cattle- and higher money for yearling steers as they sold steady to a dollar higher. Calves were lightly tested in this week's sale at this Canadian County market that had a total run of 9,483. Five to six hundred pound steers sold from $126 to $139.50, while the seven to eight hundred pound yearlings cleared from $114.75 to $119. Click here for the complete report from OKC West as compiled by our USDA Market News Reporters.


Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers, KIS Futures and Big Iron Online Auctions 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- FREE!

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 $7.35 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $7.35 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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