Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
From: Ron Hays <ronphays@cox.net>
Date: 5/4/2017 6:40 AM
To: ronphays@cox.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 here for this morning's Farm news from Carson Horn on RON.
 
  
  
Let's Check the Markets!  
 
   
Finished cattle prices 
rallied higher Wednesday on FedCattleExchange.com - 547 cattle were sold with prices rising as much as $8.47 from the last sale- weighted average price this week was $140.15. Click here to see their complete market results.
 
 
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 futuresclick 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 Wednesday, May 3rd.
  
  
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.
  


  
Our Oklahoma Farm Report Team!!!!
  
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

Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News

Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
   Thursday, May 4, 2017

Howdy Neighbors! 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 








-- Ridge Hughbanks of Alva Will Lead the 2017-18 Oklahoma State FFA Officer Team

Featured Story:
BUZZPerdue Convinced Once Chinese Taste US Beef, They'll Want More - And There's a Lot of Them 

During my visit to Washington, DC this week for the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Washington Watch fly-in, I had the opportunity to participate in a news conference with our new Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. I had the chance to ask the Secretary a question during the session brought up the issue about China buying US beef and what can be done now that China's President Xi has indicated to President Donald Trump, he is interested in reopening his country's markets to our beef exports.


"Secretary Ross and I discussed that and we think we're making good progress in that area," Perdue responded. "We think there's some things they would like that we are very comfortable in agreeing to. Particularly if we can get US beef into China."


While the Secretary believes we are off to a good start in getting the negotiations underway and start shipping product, he understands there is still going to be a lot of red tape to cut through first.


"Sometimes dealing with the Chinese and Southeast Asians, these things can roll out. But, we are very determined, we're very purposeful in that," Perdue stated. "I'm convinced that if those Chinese start eating US beef, they're going to want more of it - and there's a lot of them."


Listen to Perdue's full explanation of his position and the status of negotiations with China to open their markets to US beef, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

Sponsor Spotlight
 
 
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StarOneLaverne FFA's Lane Fanning Named State Star Farmer and Ryan Noland of Springer as State Star in Agribusiness 

The 91st Oklahoma State FFA Association Convention kicked off this week in Oklahoma City. During yesterday's program, the winners of the four State Star contests were announced and presented with their awards.


This year's State Star Farmer award went to Lane Fanning of the Laverne FFA Chapter.


His supervised agricultural experience was recognized as the top agricultural production program among the 797 FFA members who received the State FFA Degree.


Fanning said he takes great pride in his SAE project and values the lessons he learns from it.


"I have met and greatly exceeded my expectations of my goals when I began my beef stocker program," Fanning said. "Profitability is ultimately the key indicator of a sustainable and growing business."


In addition to his cattle operation, Fanning and his siblings developed Beef for Each and Every Family Project, a community service project with the cattle he raises.


"While this will be my final year in the FFA, there are many lessons and values I will take with me," Fanning said. "The hard work, leadership and self-motivation that I have learned throughout my agricultural education and FFA experience I will cherish forever."


Read more about Fanning and his SAE project that earned him the honor of State Star Farmer or watch a video featuring Fanning, by clicking here.


Receiving the honor of State Star in Agribusiness was Ryan Noland of the Springer FFA Chapter.


Noland said he first learned about landscape management through helping his parents and grandparents with lawn projects at their homes and rental properties. Today, he maintains more than 35 residential and 10 commercial properties throughout the year.


The Springer High School agricultural education program and his father's support has helped his business succeed, he says.


"My dad showed me the pride in doing a job well," Noland said. "He taught me not to stop at the simple mowing and trimming, but to go above and beyond what the customers expect and do every little thing."


Noland now has an Oklahoma applicators license and uses soil testing to recommend fertilizer applications to his customers. He plans to continue operating Noland Lawn Management after graduating from high school.


Read more about Noland and his SAE project that earned him the honor of State Star in Agribusiness or watch a video featuring Noland, by clicking here.
StarTwoMeet Your State Star in Ag Placement Will Shelby of Madill and Nicole Stevens of Yukon as State Star in Agriscience

Two more State Stars were named during the Oklahoma State FFA Convention yesterday, including Will Shelby of Madill and Nicole Stevens of the Yukon FFA Chapter.


Shelby was announced as the winner of the State Star in Ag Placement for his passion for veterinary medicine,  assisting his father, a veterinarian, on farm calls and at the sale barn,  to help with aging, tagging and processing cattle.


Throughout his employment with his father's veterinary services clinic, Shelby said he learned a wide variety of knowledge about the agricultural industry as well as experiences in veterinary medicine. He also expanded his knowledge of the beef industry, having been given the opportunity to work at the sale barn, he said.


"From my agricultural education and FFA experience, I have learned skills which will help me throughout life," Shelby said. "Time management, record keeping and making lifelong friends are all valuable skills I have learned through these opportunities."


Read more about Shelby and his SAE project that earned him the honor of State Star in Ag Placement or watch a video featuring Shelby, by clicking here.


Finally, Yukon FFA member Nicole Stevens has participated in FFA events ranging from public speaking to livestock shows, but she found her passion in science.


Stevens' devotion to scientific investigation led to her selection as the 2017 State Star in Agriscience.


During her freshman year, Stevens partnered with a local farmer to install soybean-based spray foam insulation in her school's agricultural mechanics shop to improve energy efficiency. Her project qualified for national competition, where she earned ninth-place honors.


Stevens said she had access to two greenhouses, which allowed her to perform several plant-based experiments. She said she compared genetically modified soybeans to standard ones, studied soil types and their effects on fertilizer runoff, and bio-gas production.


"A passion for science runs in my family," Stevens said. "Both of my siblings competed in the Agriscience Fair. I have always been interested in science and figuring out how and way things work the way they do."


Read more about Stevens and her SAE project that earned her the honor of State Star in Agriscience or watch a video featuring Stevens, byclicking here.

I sat down with Mark Hodges of Plains Grains yesterday after the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association's 2017 wheat harvest outlook meeting, where the 37th Annual Oklahoma Wheat Crop Estimates were released. This initial crop yield estimate suggests a smaller Oklahoma Wheat Crop in 2017, compared to a year ago.


"There was a lot of talk about acres of abandonment, in whatever for that takes, but I think the theme was also - those better acres were the ones they saved," Hodges said. "I feel good about what the production is going to be, so the potential is there."


So, what is the potential he speaks of - well, according to the figures calculated by the members of the meeting that participated in a poll, averaging their estimations, the first guess at this time predicts the Oklahoma wheat crop will come in at 2.97 million harvested acres with a yield of 33.7 bushels per acre and a potential total crop of 100.14 million bushels. This compared to 3.5 million acres harvested in Oklahoma in 2016- a record 39 bushels per acre yield and the result of 136.5 million bushels combined last season.


"I'm comfortable with that number as well based on what I've seen," Hodges said. "Obviously, we do have a ways to harvest yet. We've got some issues out there, diseases and other things. But, hopefully we're going to come up with that number when it's all said and done."

Read more or listen to Hodges and I speak briefly after yesterday's meeting about these initial estimates being made on this year's wheat harvest - click or tap here.


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And- their iPhone App, which provides all electronic futures quotes is available at the App Store- click here for the KIS Futures App for your iPhone.   

KansasWheatTourWestern Kansas Wheat Crop Remains a Mystery While Central Kansas Wheat Looks Pretty Doggone Good
 
Day two of the 2017 Wheat Quality Council's Hard Winter Wheat Tour across Kansas started off slowly, as scouts weren't able to evaluate many of the fields in the western third of the state.

About 70 scouts left Colby early Wednesday morning, May 3, and made their way south and east across the state, ending up in Wichita by evening. The average yield for the day between 18 cars and 205 stops was 46.9 bushels per acre. This was down from 49.3 bushels per acre over the same area last year.

However- there are fields that were not measured for a potential yield.

"The tour provides a formula for us to use and a component of that formula is row space and height of wheat plant and being able to count the number of stalks or heads in one foot," said Kansas Wheat's Aaron Harries, VP of Research and Operations. "In the area where snow had flattened the wheat, we're just not able to do that. So, it was our decision not to try to estimate yields on those fields. Rather, we'll would just look at them and take notes. There's no way we can possibly accurately determine a yield. We'd only be guessing, so we just aren't including those fields in the average we're doing for western Kansas. We're able to find some fields where we can determine those things, and we're using those fields as part of our average. It may be skewed a little bit toward central Kansas, but most of our participants will take that into consideration when they submit their estimates."

It wasn't until cars reached Hodgeman County to the east and Meade County to the south that the snow disappeared and scouts were able to start making yield assessments.

Harries said, "Wheat in south central Kansas really looks good. There's obviously plenty of moisture. Most of the fields we stopped in today were pretty clean. Yields might not be quite as high just because some of the stands are a little thinner. We did stop at some fields that are projected to be above 70 bushels an acre, so there's pretty good potential here. The one thing we're having trouble determining is freeze damage. It seems that we're still a little bit early to see the impact of that freeze about a week ago."

Click here to read more from Day Two of the Kansas Wheat Tour- and we have an audio summary of the day from Chris Kirby of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission.

Want to Have the Latest Energy News Delivered to Your Inbox Daily?
 

Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains- Click here to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.

 


Each year, Oklahoma FFA Chapters join the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma in fighting childhood hunger. This school year through the Hunger Challenge, chapters were asked to donate livestock and raise monetary donations to provide the equivalent of 1 million protein sticks for the Oklahoma Food Bank's Backpack Programs. At the Oklahoma FFA Association's 91st State FFA Convention yesterday, it  was announced that the Oklahoma FFA Chapters met - and exceeded - their goal.


"It is inspiring to work with so many students who are committed to ensuring children have enough to eat over the weekend," said Katie Fitzgerald, chief executive officer of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. "Their compassion and generous support provide hope, in the form of much-needed food, to chronically hungry children across Oklahoma."


The Beef for Backpacks and Pork for Packs programs create collaborative relationships with local farmers, manufacturers and processors to provide protein sticks for the Oklahoma Food Bank's Food for Kids Backpack program. This program provides chronically hungry elementary school children with a backpack full of kid-friendly, non-perishable and nutritious food every Friday to sustain them over weekends and school holidays. Last year, 29,000 elementary school children received food during the school year through this program.

I had the chance to speak with Ms. Fitzgerald yesterday at the State FFA Convention about this amazing and committed act of philanthropy by our young people in agriculture. You can listen in on our conversation and read more on this story, here.

Pork has been the fastest-growing protein in foodservice since 2011, according to Technomic, Inc.'s 2017 Volumetric Assessment of Pork in Foodservice. Over the past six years, pork use has grown on a pound basis by more than double chicken, which is the next fastest growing protein. Pork use increased by 1.145 billion pounds, while chicken use grew by 515 million pounds.


On a percentage basis, pork grew three times the rate of turkey, which is the next fastest growing protein, at 3.6 percent versus 1.2 percent. During this same time period, pork represents 61 percent of all protein growth in the foodservice industry (1.145 billion pounds of a total growth of 1.867 billion pounds).


The pork category continues to increase in foodservice, with a growth rate of 0.8 percent from 2015 to 2017. Totaling 5.9 billion pounds, the growth reflects a volume increase of 114 million pounds over the 2013 to 2015 period.


"We are pleased to see continued growth of pork use in foodservice," said National Pork Board President Jan Archer, Goldsboro, North Carolina. "The volumetric study shows that pork continues to be a strong performer in the foodservice industry, underscoring pork's popularity specifically in value-added pork products such as ham, bacon and sausage."

Click or tap here to get the full story on the pork industry's rapidly growing trend of success in the foodservice sector, plus more of NPB President Jan Archer's commentary.
RidgeFFARidge Hughbanks of Alva Will Lead the 2017-18 Oklahoma State FFA Officer Team
 
Ridge Hughbanks (front center), member of the Alva FFA Chapter, will lead the more than 27,000 members of the Oklahoma FFA Association for 2017-18.




Members elected the 19-year-old to his presidential position during the 91st Oklahoma FFA Convention on May 3. Hughbanks previously served as the 2016-17 Oklahoma FFA Northwest District vice president and is the son of Kyle and Trina Hughbanks.
    
Seven additional FFA members will join Hughbanks on the 2017-18 Oklahoma FFA officer team:
Truitt Taylor (front left), Oklahoma Union FFA, secretary
Brooklan Light, Garber FFA, reporter
Beecher Owens (back left), Mannford FFA, northeast district vice president
Dawson Haworth, Fairview FFA, northwest district vice president
Kade Killough, Stillwater FFA, central district vice president
Cole Eschete, Rock Creek FFA, southeast district vice president
Emilie James, Altus FFA, southwest district vice president.

The election of the 2017-18 State FFA Officer team concluded the 2017 State Convention of the organization.
 
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K EquipmentAmerican Farmers & Ranchers, Livestock Exchange at the Oklahoma National StockyardsOERBOklahoma Farm BureauStillwater Milling Company, Oklahoma AgCreditthe 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 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  

 


 

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