Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
From: Ron Hays <ronphays@cox.net>
Date: 9/30/2019, 6:07 AM
To: ron.hays@radiooklahoma.net



 
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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 or tap here for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays on RON.
 

 
 
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Today's First Look:
mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
 
 
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:  
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- as reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture on Friday, September 27th.
 
  
Futures Wrap:  
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network - analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day.
 
Feeder Cattle Recap:  
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
 
Slaughter Cattle Recap: 
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by the USDA.
 
TCFA Feedlot Recap:  
Finally, here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
 


 
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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

Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News

Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
   Monday, September 30, 2019

Howdy Neighbors! 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 
One Featured Story:

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) led a functional exercise with the Oklahoma Pork Council this week, part of a series the agency is conducting to drill the state's pork industry in the event of a domestic African swine fever outbreak.


I sat down with RoyLee Lindsey, executive director of the Oklahoma Pork Council, to discuss the organization's participation in this week's exercise, its role in mitigating a potential outbreak and the impact it would have on the pork industry if an outbreak did ever occur. 


"The economic impacts would be astronomical. If you suddenly lose 27% of the demand for your product, what are we going to do with all that product? Where is it going to go in the market? The value of animals would be next to nothing. In addition to that, the emotional toll of it being on your farm and the dealing with the things you have to do to respond to that would be emotionally trying beyond words," Lindsey remarked. "So, the impacts are not just economics but they're emotional and I think long-term would cause tremendous disruption within the pork industry as a whole. A lot of that though depends on how quickly we can control the disease and how quickly we can get it eradicated and demonstrate that we are negative for the disease moving forward. That's what these exercises are for."


Click here to listen to more of the information from Lindsey regarding this week's exercise. 


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It's not your grandfather's business anymore. The beef industry has evolved dramatically from what it was, even just 20 years ago, and it's likely to continue evolving. Dr. Clay Mathis of the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management says with all the technology available today, producers are able to breed the highest performing cattle ever to make the best possible product for consumers. He told Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, that these new technological capabilities, coupled with good management, are a real game changer for the industry.


"We've had some change... we've had some progress," he said. "We've got these data driven tools for selections that are really enabling us to look inside a cow or a bull and see what they are genetically so we can use them appropriately. We've got these genomically enhanced EPDs that really help our accuracy in using these unproven sires."


In addition to incorporating the right technologies into your operation and making sound selection decisions, Mathis says it is equally important to also manage your cattle well.


You can listen to the whole conversation between Dr. Mathis and I on Friday's Beef Buzz - here


The Organization for Competitive Markets posted a blog on their website at the end of this last week, accusing the National Cattlemen's Beef Association of taking beef checkoff dollars and using them to advance their policy agenda.

The week before last the Beef Checkoff Program budget for 2020 was released, outlining how cattle producers' $40,900,000 in research and promotion funds will be spent in the coming year. The Cattlemen's Beef Board (CBB) Beef Promotion Operating Committee (BPOC) 
named eight organizations as contractors that will be granted the beef checkoff funds. Among them was the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) which was awarded $27,383,347 beef checkoff dollars- all for very specific program proposals that will be monitored by the CBB. 


In a statement released by the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), it was implied that NCBA uses these funds to "build their influence to push pro-packer policies."


According to OCM, "NCBA has used its ill-gotten influence to end mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and to hinder Packers and Stockyards Act rules that would stop predatory market practices against cattle producers." They imply that Beef Checkoff funds are being used to advance this agenda. 


OCM has a long history of opposing the NCBA and is closely aligned with the Humane Society of the US, which has taken both the Beef Checkoff and the National Beef Board to court. 


You can read more from OCM regarding their take on the Beef Checkoff Program and its allegations against the NCBA, by clicking or tapping here 


NCBA's new CEO, Colin Woodall, responded shortly after the Blog by OCM was published- his reaction follows in the next story. 



The National Cattlemen's Beef Association says the Organization for Competitive Markets is using half-truths and smear tactics to pit beef producers against each other, citing a release issued by OCM last week as mentioned in the previous story.


Colin Woodall, recently named NCBA's new CEO, fired back against OCM's claims in a statement remarking that it is clear that the Humane Society of the U.S. has taught the OCM staff some tricks to help them tear apart the beef industry from the inside. Woodall says it's no coincidence that they've chosen to do so at a time when the industry is struggling with market-related challenges and producer unrest to fire their latest shots.


The NCBA points out that both groups would like farmers to think that the industry is weak when in reality the demand for beef is strong. That demand has been climbing for many years in both the United States and overseas. Much of that increasing strength comes from programs that are funded by the Beef Checkoff. HSUS knows this and opposes it because they're against the consumption of animal products, says Woodall.


The NCBA says that's why they've come together with OCM to organize and fund the ongoing smear campaign. Discrediting the beef checkoff and the work done by contracting organizations allows the Humane Society, the OCM, and R-CALF to build up their membership numbers. The NCBA says division within the beef industry serves no one but the industry's adversaries.


You can read more from Woodall regarding OCM's statement, by jumping over to our website


Sponsor Spotlight

 
The vision of the Oklahoma Beef Council is to be a positive difference for Oklahoma's farming and ranching families and the greater beef community and its mission is to enhance beef demand by strengthening consumer trust and exceeding consumer expectations.  

To learn more, visit www.oklabeef.org.  Also, don't forget to like its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/oklabeef for stories on Oklahoma's ranching families and great beef recipes.  

Five COOL is Suddenly Back in the Conversation- Again (Part One)


Okay folks, we have beef talking about and reporting on Country of Origin for literally years- our current website, OklahomaFarmReport.Com has been around since 2007- and I googled "COOL" over the weekend on the search engine that looks at just our website- and it showed 755 stories have the letters COOL in them - there are a few of those stories that are not about Country of Origin- but the overwhelmingly majority of them are about just that.

You can go back to 2008 and we had a story about the first stab at actually implementing COOL- we wrote "Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling officially becomes a part of the US Livestock landscape in a matter of days. It is scheduled to begin as of October 1, 2008. It has invoked strong emotions on both sides of the coin- supporters claim that there will be tangible and immediate benefit to producers as they contend that US consumers will offer support by being willing to choose US produced beef. Detractors of the law say that if this idea had economic merit, the market would already have caused producers to segregate animals and sell USA born, raised and processed at a premium."

Gosh- that sound's familiar, doesn't it?  Our story from eleven years ago featured comments from Ross Wilson of the Texas Cattle Feeders- take a look and listen to a younger Ross Wilson by clicking or tapping here. 

This was the COOL that allowed the so called Multi-Country Label to be used- and preceded the full blown COOL implementation with the Born, Raised and and Slaughtered info on the label which came in the spring of 2013. 

Ahead of that 2013 implementation- there was a lot of debate over how to adjust the label to make it compliant with WTO- a report that we aired on our radio network and posted in our Beef Buzz series highlighted debate in the House Ag Committee on this subject- click or tap here for that July 2012 story.

The second COOL Rule was also ruled WTO non compliant. In December 2014, we featured comments from Dr. Glenn Tonsor that talked about a study that he had worked with Dr. Jayson Lusk on- one of the monthly OSU FOODS Surveys (from November 2014) that showed consumers don't know about the country of origin info on the meat labels and don't care. 

"Tonsor said the public was generally unaware the meat industry labeling existed in showing where an animal was born, raised and slaughtered aspects.

"The study also looked at the public's willingness to pay for a ribeye based on where an animal was born, raised and processed. Tonsor said they found if an animal is labeled born in Canada and raised and slaughtered in the US versus a product that is labeled born and raised in Canada and slaughtered in the US, the public found no difference. He said that is important to note because the 2013 mCOOL rule added more specificity and more cost for labeling, yet there is no offsetting demand benefit."

Click or tap here to listen to Tonsor on the Beef Buzz from December 2014- and you can click or tap here to see Dr. Lusk's work on that Food Demand Survey from mid November 2014.

Much of 2015 saw debate over how the US would respond to the ruling by the WTO against us and for Canada and Mexico. It was a year long drama and saw the end of the second Obama Administration COOL Rule when Congress voted to repeal COOL- the language in an Omnibus spending bill.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack issued this statement on Saturday, December 19, 2015- "The omnibus bill repealed the country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements for muscle cuts of beef and pork, and ground beef and pork. Effective immediately, USDA is not enforcing the COOL requirements for muscle cut and ground beef and pork outlined in the January 2009 and May 2013 final rules."

Proponents of COOL were mad. Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers Union, reacted in a story that posted on our website that week saying NFU "was deeply frustrated and angered by language that would repeal the popular Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) law for not only muscle cuts of beef and pork, but extending to trade-compliant ground beef and ground pork."

Johnson called the repeal legislative "hocus pocus." Read his comments by clicking or tapping here


Since then- those who believe that COOL was the only reason for high cattle prices from 2013 to 2015 have longed for it's return.  

We will look at this "after COOL" time period tomorrow- leading up to the rally in Omaha planned for this Wednesday that will have long time supporters of COOL crying out to President Trump to fix the cattle market.

Ahead of that- you might want to read one long time critic of COOL, Steve Dittmer.  We have posted his Two Part Op-Ed on efforts by OCM to resurrect the mandatory label- click here for Part One  and click here for Part Two. 


The Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society launched the Oklahoma Conservation Heritage Oral History Collection this past week. The Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society has partnered with the Oklahoma State University Library to record and archive interviews with individuals who have made contributions to conservation in Oklahoma. Audio, video, and transcripts of the interviews are posted digitally in the new Conservation Heritage Section of the OSU Library's oral history collections. Interviews are available to researchers and the general public.


Oklahoma holds a unique place within the American conservation movement, as the epicenter of the worst man-made ecological disaster in history, the Dustbowl. Out of the 1930's conservation districts were created by local farmers and ranchers who recognized the need to implement voluntary conservation practices on private working lands. Over the course of the last 80+ years, Oklahoma has been a leader in the adoption of practices that benefit the health of our soils and water while building resiliency on our farms and ranches.


"Please take the time to listen to these great Oklahomans tell their story of bringing our state back from an environmental disaster," said Trey Lam, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. "What a fantastic project teaching history in the first person. Conservationists want to leave the land better for the next generation. Now that generation can learn how these pioneers did it. We owe a huge thank you to the Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society."


You can read more about the announcement from OACD and OCC, by jumping over to our website


Golf enthusiasts who are interested in supporting the Oklahoma 4-H Youth Development Program can do so by taking part in the 22nd Annual Clover Classic Golf Tournament. This event will take place on Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City.


The Clover Classic began as a way to not only raise funds for the 4-H youth in the state, but to also give donors the opportunity to come together for a fun day of fellowship and golf. All proceeds from the tournament will go to support the Oklahoma 4-H Youth Development Program. These funds provide hundreds of opportunities to the Oklahoma 4-H youth in the form of educational programs, scholarships and awards.



"The Clover Classic is the largest generator of unrestricted funds for the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation," said Jered Davidson, Oklahoma 4-H Foundation board of directors vice president. "With more than 140,000 youth impacted each year by the 4-H program, these unrestricted funds are becoming more and more important to provide additional support for 4-H educators, program specialists and volunteers with the resources necessary to deliver quality educational programming and have a positive impact on Oklahoma's youth."

 
Click here to learn more about the fundraiser and how to register. 

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, AFR Insurance,  Oklahoma Pork CouncilOklahoma Farm Bureau, Stillwater Milling Company, National Livestock Credit CorporationOklahoma 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 also appreciate our Market Links Sponsor - OKC West Livestock! 
 
 
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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