Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
From: Ron Hays <ronphays@cox.net>
Date: 5/18/2017 6:23 AM
To: ron@ronhays.com



 
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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 
sunk lower Wednesday on FedCattleExchange.com - 1,621 cattle were sold with prices ranging from $130.84 to $135.16 - weighted average price this week was $133.43. 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 17th.
  
  
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 18, 2017


Howdy Neighbors! 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 
Featured Story:
PerdueTopUSDA Secretary Perdue Engages House Ag Committee in Discussion on the Ag Economy and How USDA Can Help 

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue made his first formal appearance before Congress today, during a hearing called by the House Committee on Agriculture yesterday to discuss the state of the rural economy in America.

Perdue testified before the committee that he would work diligently to optimize the operations of the USDA to best serve ag communities across the country during this period of tough economic times, which has seen as much a 50 percent declines over a four-year basis in farm income.

The Secretary explained to the committee that his recently announced plans to restructure the USDA, are part of a big picture strategy to achieve his ultimate goal of serving US agriculture to the best of his ability.

To read the Secretary's prepared remarks, given at yesterday's hearing, or to watch a video clip of his testimony, click here.

The Secretary's remarks obviously hit home for many. Members of the wheat growing community offered praise to the Secretary's dedication and commitment to agriculture, who they contend brought attention yesterday to the plight of rural America.

"Between a rapidly declining market and years of sustained low prices, farmers are having a difficultly getting by, particularly young and beginning farmers who weren't able to build up reserves during the high price years. Funding in the 2018 Farm Bill must be increased to address the significant reductions in farm prices and income incurred since 2013," stated the National Association of Wheat Growers in a release issued after the hearing. "NAWG also thanks Secretary Purdue for stressing the importance of crop insurance in his remarks."

Click here to read NAWG's complete statement.


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.

LucasCongressman Frank Lucas Seeks CRP Extension from Perdue for Producers Impacted by Wildfires 

During yesterday's hearing on the state of the rural economic situation, before the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma's own, Congressman Frank Lucas, took the opportunity to ask Secretary Sonny Perdue if he would consider an extension for farmers who were impacted by recent wildfires across the western Great Plains and granted access for emergency grazing for cattle on CRP land.

"I've lived all my life in Northwest Oklahoma, but I have never seen anything of the magnitude of these fires," said Congressman Lucas. "The potential for the extension of USDA's initial 90-day emergency authorization will have a tremendous impact on the farmers and ranchers in our region who are working to rebuild."

Secretary Perdue acknowledged the Congressman's request with understanding of the situation these farmers and ranchers are faced with and agreed that the Congressman's proposal to allow an extension for these producers to continue grazing on CRP land would be a reasonable request.

"I appreciate Secretary Perdue's and the Trump administration's responsiveness on this critical matter, as well as the secretary's willingness to consider our request.," Lucas said.


Prior to this hearing, Congressman Lucas, along with Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), sent a letter to Secretary Perdue requesting an extension beyond the current 90-day emergency grazing authorization. You can read that complete letter and watch a video clip of yesterday's proceedings, by clicking or tapping here.

WeatherWeather Risks Run High for Southern Kansas and Northern Oklahoma This Afternoon and Evening
 
The weather system that spun up the tornado in the Elk City area on Tuesday was plenty bad- but today's weather is being seen as even more severe- with the bull's eye running from Dodge City to Pratt to Wichita and southward into Oklahoma- From Jed Castles and News9- here is the storm threat map for Oklahoma for later today:



Purple is bad.

The large hail is a major worry as the counties in the enhanced zone are the counties that have the best winter wheat crop potential in both states- hail and wheat that is closing in on harvest DO NOT mix.



This system and the one that follows for the weekend will be carrying a lot of rain- and that will especially be the case in eastern counties- here's that graphic for rain between now and Saturday night:



Alan Crone with the News on 6 offers verbiage which describes what the top 2 graphics are showing- "A stout closed upper level trough will be positioned over the Rockies later this afternoon and evening with a surface low developing across southeastern Colorado today and advancing into southwestern Kansas later this afternoon.   A dry line extending southward from this feature and a developing front out of the Rockies will all work to produce thunderstorms across the western half of the state later this afternoon and evening.  

"Storms closer to the surface low ( NW OK-SW Kansas) will be in a favored position for deep sustained tilted updrafts resulting in very large hail and the possibility of strong long-tracked tornadoes."

Serious stuff- you can read all of Alan's analysis in his morning blog by clicking or tapping here.


BUZZOklahoma Cattlemen's Foundation Committee Meets to Begin Distribution Process of Fire Relief Funds

While Congressman Frank Lucas works in DC to help those farmers and ranchers affected by the March wildfires, for an extension on CRP grazing, others here at home are working to get some much needed relief funding in the hands of these producers. Jeff Jaronek of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Foundation has been working tirelessly since the fires first spread to help coordinate efforts to bring assistance to these folks of Northwest Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. The application process to receive funding from the OCF officially met its deadline at the beginning of this month. The next step will entail a committee that will review the applications over the
next few days and begin distributing the funds.


"We've gotten about 150 applications in, so it's quite a bit to sort through, but they're going to do their best to get through those and distribute those funds as equitably as possible, based on need," he said. "The grass is greening up, those cows need to be turned back out onto those pastures, so we want to provide them the means to do that."


With close to $1.2 million in the kitty, donated by individuals and organizations from across the nation, in addition to more than $125,000 in fencing supplies, and massive amounts of feed hay, Jaronek says the morale of these farmers has been greatly uplifted and says they have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from their neighbors far and wide.


Jaronek will join me for our weekly In the Field segment on KWTV News9 in the Oklahoma City area on Saturday morning at 6:40 a.m. Be sure to catch him then. In the meantime, you can listen to our off-camera conversation right now, by clicking or tapping here, for yesterday's Beef Buzz.
As the state continues to struggle with budget issues, those in the field are starting to feel the effects of a budget unbalanced. This week, Dean Tom Coon, vice president of the Division of Agricultural Resources and Natural Sciences at OSU, authored an op-ed describing the situation he finds his department in amid deep cuts to the University's coffers.
Essentially, Coon says the situation calls for some old fashioned belt tightening but notes, too, that these financial challenges should be viewed as way to strengthen DASNR and the way it functions.
While he says there will be downsizing in a natural process of leaving vacancies as they occur, and absorbing responsibilities, the department will become leaner and more specialized.
As much as he hates to say it, Coon insists that the days of a general ag educator in each county funded through the Extension system are coming to an end. He says though that the college's commitment to rural communities can stay as relevant as ever before though through the use of technology and increasing the area in which agents cover.
Coon believes that in the digital age, DASNR should get with the times - using webinars, podcasts, social media and video among other tools of connectivity, to reach and serve farmers across the state in an effective and efficient manner. He says the benefits and rationale to using these strategies are incredible and claims faculty will be able to complete its mission better than ever before, as a leaner, more focused organization.
For more details on the specifics behind these budget cuts, or to listen to my conversation with Dr. Coon explaining his vision for the future of DASNR, click here.

Sponsor Spotlight
 
 
KIS FUTURES specializes in Futures and Options for Institutions, Commercials, Hedgers, and Individual Traders and executes trades for its clients in the following markets: Livestock, Grains, Energy, Metals, Softs, Financials, Currencies, and Stock Index Futures. For more information, please give them a call Toll Free at (800) 256-2555. Click here for their website to learn more.


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.   


Oklahoma's beef cattle industry celebrated Beef Day at the Capitol on Wednesday, with several groups setting up informational booths around the rotunda inside the Capitol building in Oklahoma City, sharing the story of beef cattle production with lawmakers, capitol staff and visitors during the morning hours.


The Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association cooked 750 burgers to serve at midday, with the beef being provided by Lopez Foods of Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Cattlewomen served the burgers and fixings to lawmakers and others. The Oklahoma Beef Council, the animal science department at Oklahoma State and the Nobel Research Institute also took part in the day's activities.


I talked with Michael Kelsey, Executive Vice President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association,who says Beef Day offers a great opportunity to share with the state legislature how important the beef industry, as the largest segment of the agricultural economy in Oklahoma, is as an economic driver for the rural parts of the state- and really for the state as a whole. It's also a relaxed way to say Thank You to the lawmakers and their staffs for tackling the difficult issues in helping Oklahoma state government function.


Kelsey also talked about the final days of the State Legislative Session and the fact that State Lawmakers are totally about finding a budget deal- and that he sees it as danger time now and looking ahead for agriculture in protecting the Ag Sales Tax Exemption for farmers and ranchers.


You can hear our conversation about Beef Day and the Budget struggle lawmakers are in the middle of by clicking here.

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.

 


If you are a stocker operator here in Oklahoma and received a survey in the mail from USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, but haven't returned it yet - don't be surprised if you get a call soon asking you to help complete it over the phone.


OSU's Dr. Derrell Peel says the stocker segment of the industry has never really had any hard data collected and this survey has been created to give insight into the production, management and marketing practices - which prior to this survey were never before available.

"We are excited about the possibilities this data will open up for us to understand and provide help and insight for Oklahoma cattle producers," said Peel, who is the state's OSU Cooperative Extension livestock marketing specialist. "We're very grateful to producers who take the time to provide this information on a sector of the cattle industry that is not well understood."

The importance of stocker producers in Oklahoma's economy is known to be significant, but just how significant?

"Nobody really likes filling out a survey but this one is pretty important in regards to what it means to Oklahoma's stocker cattle industry," Peel said. "Not only will it provide detailed information to help researchers and industry analysts understand the vital economic role of the stocker industry, it will provide insight into such things as the disease threats associated with cattle movement into and out of stocker production."

Learn more about this survey being conducted on the stocker segment of the beef industry, by USDA/NASS on our website, by clicking here.

John Fenderson is a commercial manager with Monsanto brand Westbred, covering the Enid, Oklahoma area. He took time during the Oklahoma State University Wheat Tour in Kildare, Oklahoma this week to speak with me about how some of the varieties have performed this year and what Westbred has to offer wheat farmers as they begin considering what to sow this fall.


"We've had a good year and Northcentral Oklahoma I think as a whole - the wheat is fantastic. I don't know that I've seen it look a whole lot better than it is this year," Fenderson said, despite some concerns he has about the weather's impact on the crop and some issues with disease. "Hopefully, we got in there, got it sprayed appropriately and I think we're going to see some really good yields coming out this year."


And while many farmers haven't even got their wheat out yet, they are still already thinking about what they will be putting back in, come fall. Fenderson says with market prices as low as they are currently, he can understand how wheat may not be the most attractive to farmers right now. However, he suggests a few options that he thinks will help farmers get the most for their money, and round out their investment, with dual-purpose varieties that can be used to graze cattle in addition to harvesting grain.


"We understand the economics that farmers are facing today," he said. "And cattle are attractive right now. We've had a nice rebound in price so products like WB-4458 in particular is an older variety that we have. It's a very, very good dual-purpose with high yield potential to it as well."


For more of Fenderson's recommendation on what the Westbred brand has to offer, you can listen to our full conversation, by clicking here.
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  

 


 

God Bless! You can reach us at the following:  

 

phone: 405-473-6144
 


 





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