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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.
Choice Boxed Beef was down again on Wednesday- off $5.43 to $404.04 while Select Beef went higher- up $2.31 to $391.18- click here for the complete report from USDA Market News
OKC West in El Reno had a big run this week- totaling 14,957 cattle- yearling trade on Wednesday saw Feeder steers weighing over 900 lbs fully steady to firm, under 900 sold 1.00-3.00 lower- Click here for the complete report.
Okla Cash Grain:
The latest Oklahoma Hay Report has been released- including details of first cutting for alfalfa- click here for the details. 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, May 21, 2020
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
-- Finally- Some Bits and Pieces- FFA Alumni Camp is a NO Go and Payment Details on CFAP
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The following statement is attributed to Mindy Brashears, Ph.D., USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety, and Frank Yiannas, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response.
As the COVID-19 pandemic response continues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been working around the clock on many fronts to support the U.S. food and agriculture sector so that Americans continue to have access to a safe and robust food supply. As a next step in carrying out Executive Order 13917, the USDA and FDA today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help prevent interruptions at FDA-regulated food facilities, including fruit and vegetable processing.
This is an important preparedness effort as we are approaching peak harvesting seasons, when many fruits and vegetables grown across the U.S. are sent to be frozen or canned. The MOU creates a process for the two agencies to make determinations about circumstances in which the USDA could exercise its authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) with regard to certain domestic food resource facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods, as well as to those that grow or harvest food that fall within the FDA's jurisdiction.
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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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Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced the impending opening of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) farmer aid payments to be delivered by the United States Department of Agriculture.
CFAP will make $16 billion in aid available to farmers who suffered economic losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it fails to meet its Congressional mandate to compensate all farmers fairly and represents a missed opportunity to help build more resilient food systems and markets that benefit both farmers and consumers.
"The President recognized the importance of farmers who sell directly to their customers during his announcement of the CFAP program. It is unfortunate that the program USDA created does so little to support them," said Eric Deeble, Policy Director. "CFAP fails to deliver for many farmers who are the backbone of local, resilient, sustainable food systems."
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition conducted an initial review of CFAP details released today and found several deficiencies that will limit the effectiveness of the program and the opportunity for many farmers to be compensated fairly for their losses.
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Boxed beef prices have quickly fallen from their record high of $479 last week and that is no surprise to Dr. Glynn Tonsor, Kansas State University Extension livestock market economist.
The supply story has changed in the last two weeks, Tonsor said. We do have meat, the supply chain concerns are easing, and the demand side has slackened, he added.
The market changes are in-line with Tonsor's study on meat demand.
Tonsor, along with Dr. Jason Lusk at Purdue University (formerly with OSU), are among a select group of economic experts focused on meat demand and the impact of COVID-19.
The special COVID-19 impact report, as part of the meat demand monitor project, funded by beef and pork checkoff funds, shows many consumers started the month of May with full freezers, Tonsor said.
March consumer demand for beef, poultry and pork was very strong, Tonsor said, in comparison to March of 2019.
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Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, many businesses and schools have closed down to practice social distancing. Many parents are at home with their kiddos, wondering, "What do we do now?" Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom has come up with some excellent daily activities you can do with your kids and family.
Today we are featuring Ag Tech Tuesday where the focus is Fishing! Fishing is a fun activity you can do alone, or with your family and friends, and can make for a pretty fantastic dinner too! Did you know that fish can be raised on farms also? Aquaculture, is the process of farming or growing animals and plants in a controlled water environment. According to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, there are 22 licensed Aquaculture producers in Oklahoma. They raise a wide variety of fish including Bluegill, Koi, Catfish, Bass, Tilapia, and many more!!
You can sit down together and create "Fish in a Bottle" where students can build fish ecosystems and observe and write about changes they observe. You can also learn about the life of a catfish, and even make an edible aquarium! Check out all the resources and recipes here. They can also learn about what fish live in Oklahoma bodies of water like man made lakes, ponds, and surface acres of water
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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 National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) recently conducted a non-scientific email survey of farmers and ranchers regarding COVID-19 and its ramifications on their livelihoods and farm-radio listening habits.
"In these unprecedented times, NAFB knows its farm-broadcaster members are working harder than ever to bring unbiased and honest reports to their listeners across the country," said Tom Brand, NAFB executive director. "This survey shows that farmers and ranchers are listening to farm radio during the pandemic for timely, accurate news."
NAFB received more than 220 responses, with 186 completed surveys by participants.
Survey respondents were asked how many days per week they currently listen to farm radio for news, weather, market reports and ag information. A robust 75.1% replied they listen five or more days per week.
When asked about their current interest in learning about new or existing agricultural products important to their operations during the pandemic, 71.2% of respondents said their interest level was "extremely important" or "important."
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AFR Insurance automobile policy customers statewide will receive premium refunds related to COVID-19. Oklahomans from all parts of the state have expressed worsening financial stress due to the state's economic shutdown and increased unemployment. In response, AFR Insurance is providing refunds to its automobile policyholders through the AFR Cares Auto Relief Program.
"AFR Insurance has a long history of standing by our customers in time of need," said AFR Insurance CEO Jon Srna. "The AFR Cares Auto Relief Program is our way of showing appreciation and hopefully easing our customers' financial burden."
Through the AFR Cares Auto Relief Program, AFR Insurance is refunding five percent of annual premiums for all of the company's more than 38,000 automobile customers. This policyholder refund ranks among the best in the industry nationwide. In addition, AFR Insurance had already extended payment grace periods and suspended all fees for late payments and nonsufficient funds.
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As America fights to curb the spread of COVID-19, Oklahoma State University's College of Veterinary Medicine announced today that its OSU/OVMA Summer Seminar will be a virtual event on June 26 and 27.
"We are committed to the health and safety of our faculty and staff and those seeking continuing education," said Dr. Rosslyn Biggs, director of continuing education and beef cattle extension specialist at the veterinary college. "In line with OSU's mandate regarding face-to-face events through July 1, we moved Summer Seminar online. Attendees can kick back, relax, save transportation costs and forget about parking."
Biggs has a great lineup of speakers planned covering topics such as vaccinations, marijuana toxicity in companion animals, minimally invasive procedures, dog parks, equine theriogenology, equine para nasal disease, beef cattle summer nutrition, blood transfusions in ruminants and more. Participants can earn a total of 10 hours of CE.
Early bird registration is open now until June 1. The cost for veterinarians is $250 and $200 for technicians and other staff.
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 Finally- Some Bits and Pieces- FFA Alumni Camp is a NO Go and Payment Details on CFAP
The hope had been that Oklahoma FFA Alumni Camp could happen this summer in some form or fashion- but that is not to be in 2020- and so the latest youth casualty of the year is the full cancellation of the Alumni Camps- where in past summers over a thousand FFA members would gather over the course of several sessions.
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The details have been released by USDA on the handing out of the $16 billion dollars under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program- and now Extension Economists are moving quickly to get the right information about signup and what crops and livestock get what money.
One of the early efforts came on Wednesday from Robin Reid, who talked with Eric Atkinson of the K-State Radio Network about the program.
You can hear their conversation about the signup details and what money might be available for various crops by clicking or tapping here,
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Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, AFR Insurance, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Great Plains Kubota, Stillwater Milling Company, Oklahoma Cotton Council, 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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