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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 Ron Hays 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.
OKC West in El Reno had their largest run since the Coronavirus Pandemic hit- just 0ver 9,700 for the week- Feeder steers under 800 lbs were 6.00-8.00 higher, over 800 lbs sold 3.00-5.00 higher- click or tap here for the complete report from USDA Market News.
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
KC Sheperd, Associate Farm Director and Editor Sam Knipp, Farm Editor Pam Arterburn, Calendar and Template Manager Dave Lanning, Markets and Production
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Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
Thursday, April 23, 2020
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
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Time to buckle up and take a listen to Roy Lee Lindsey of okPORK and Michael Kelsey with the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association get to the Meat of the Matter in our brand new Road to Rural Prosperity Podcast- Episode 30 in the our series.
These meat industry leaders explain how the Beef and Pork Sectors are navigating the world of COVID-19. We talk about their work to educate the Oklahoma Legislature how the beef and pork producers of Oklahoma are dealing with the price plunge since late February, how big the resulting losses are, a tutorial of how the beef and pork pipelines function, the people aspect of processing plants and their vulnerability to coronavirus and the emotional toll cattle and hog producers and their families are facing as a lifetime of work crumbles in front of their eyes.
This latest podcast is a service of BancFirst, Loyal to Oklahoma and Loyal to You.
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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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Today, the Animal Agriculture Alliance released its updated "Sustainability Impact Report" in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
The report highlights how the animal agriculture industry shares the same values as today's consumer with its never-ending commitment to environmental stewardship, animal care, responsible antibiotic use, food safety and nutrition. To access the report, go to https://animalagalliance.org/issues/sustainability.
The 33-page report covers nine sectors of animal agriculture: dairy, beef, veal, pork, chicken, turkey, egg, sheep and aquaculture. "As the world celebrates Earth Day, we want to shine a light on the farmers and ranchers who treat every day like Earth Day," said Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance president and CEO. "The animal agriculture community is constantly evolving and looking for innovative ways to improve the environmental sustainably of farming and ranching."
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The Navigable Waters Protection Rule, the Trump administration's replacement for the Obama era WOTUS rule, is now officially in the books.Today we discuss what that means with Scott Yager, Chief Environmental Counsel of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
The Trump administration repealed WOTUS in September of 2019. This week it was published in the Federal Register and goes into effect in 60 days, on or about June 21.
We've been working towards this for more than 5 years, Yager said.
Yager said there are already lawsuits in the pipeline by environmental groups protesting the new rule, so there could be a long legal road ahead.
This is a fund-raising opportunity for them, Yager said.
The old WOTUS rule regulated nearly every water feature on your property, Yager said. Overall, the new rule is getting rid of those ephemeral features. Those are the features that only convey water during or after a rain or snowmelt; that was something that was categorically regulated under the Obama administrations rule.
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Producers signed a record 1.77 million contracts for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2019 crop year, which is more than 107 percent of the total contracts signed compared with a 5-year average. USDA also reminds producers that June 30 is the deadline to enroll in ARC and PLC for the 2020 crop year.
"Producers for several years have experienced low commodity prices, a volatile trade environment and catastrophic natural disasters," said Richard Fordyce, Administrator of USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA). "Farmers looking to mitigate these risks recognize that ARC and PLC provide the financial protections they need to weather substantial drops in crop prices or revenues."
Producers interested in enrolling for 2020 should contact their FSA county office. Producers must enroll by June 30 and make their one-time update to PLC payment yields by September 30.
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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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The American Soybean Association (ASA) and other interested parties have joined together as intervenors to block a challenge that would toss out the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) plans to reregister glyphosate. The group filed a joint motion to intervene April 20 in Rural Coalition et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency et al and Natural Resources Defense Council et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to support EPA's decision.
Caleb Ragland, chair of ASA's Regulatory Committee and Kentucky soy grower said, "Glyphosate is an important tool in helping farmers produce more food in a sustainable manner. ASA support EPA's interim registration decision, which clearly defends the safety of glyphosate when used according to the label."
Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides worldwide. Growers and others depend on it for effective weed control and to minimize tillage farming practices, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and preserve more land for native habitats. ASA believes in a science and evidence-based regulatory system for crop protection tools and relies on EPA and other federal regulators to use the best available data and sound science to make decisions regarding the safety of available products in the marketplace.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) are partnering with University of Missouri to host a joint Virtual Career Expo on April 28, 2020, building on an event last year that attracted more than 400 attendees. Both agencies relocated most of their operations to the Kansas City region last fall and are continuing to grow their workforces.
"This is a unique time for our nation and USDA continues to build the ERS and NIFA workforce using innovative techniques," said Deputy Under Secretary Scott Hutchins, who leads USDA's Research, Education, and Economics mission area. "Both agencies deliver important scientific programs and services that support American agriculture."
ERS and NIFA continue to fill open positions and current listings are on USAJobs. Interest in positions has been strong, generating many qualified candidates. Vacancies include positions for economists, geographers, accountants, grant specialists, financial specialists, and communications specialists, among others.
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 Cattle Feeders Tell Perdue Limits on Disaster Help Wrong- and Tyson Shutting Indiana Pork Plant for COVID-19 Testing
The Texas Cattle Feeders Association has written U.S. Agriculture Sec. Sonny Perdue- calling on him to remove payment limitations on producers that have suffered extraordinary losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are grateful for Sec. Perdue's support of U.S. agriculture and the cattle industry during these unprecedented times, and appreciate USDA's payment assistance," Paul Defoor, TCFA chairman, said. "We understand that USDA is in the difficult position of allocating assistance levels for each segment of agriculture; however, the $125,000 payment limit per commodity fails to recognize the size and scope of the many cattle operations in Texas and across the nation. The proposed limit will preclude most cattle feeders in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico from receiving any meaningful assistance relative to their actual losses."
Defoor adds "USDA has precedence for not establishing payment limitations on producers who have suffered extraordinary losses as a result of disasters. Disaster assistance in response to COVID-19 should be no exception."
Click here to read the full release from the Cattle Feeders and to have a chance to read the letter actually sent to Perdue and the Congressional delegations of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.
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Tyson Fresh Meats is temporarily closing its Logansport, Ind., pork processing facility while its more than 2,200 team members undergo COVID-19 testing, the company and the Cass County Health Department said Wednesday in a joint statement.
The plant suspended production for one day on Monday for additional deep cleaning and sanitizing. Since then, the facility has been running at limited production and is expected to stop production on or before Saturday, the statement said.
"The combination of worker absenteeism, COVID-19 cases and community concerns has resulted in a collective decision to close," it said.
It's uncertain how many days that this plant, the 14th largest pork plant in the US, will be offline. The National Pork Board, in their ranking of the top 15 pork plants in the US- says that Logansport can process 15,400 hogs a day- which is 3% of the US Pork Processing Capacity.
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Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, AFR Insurance, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Great Plains Kubota, 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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