Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
From: Ron Hays <ronphays@cox.net>
Date: 5/19/2017 7:11 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 Ron Hays on RON.
 
  
  
Let's Check the Markets!  
 
   
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 Thursday, May 18th.
  
  
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
   Friday, May 19, 2017

Howdy Neighbors! 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 
WeatherFeatured Story:
Storms Pound Oklahoma- Crop Damage to be Determined  
 
High Winds, Hail and Tornadoes were all part of the landscape during the afternoon, evening and early morning across Oklahoma- rainfall amounts were hit and miss across the state as there were three bands that netted more than an inch of rainfall since yesterday morning.



High rainfall totals include three inches of rain in Waurika, 2.84 inches in Centrahoma in southeastern Oklahoma and 2.64 inches in Pryor outside of Tulsa.

Also note the 2.13 inches in Walters and 1.52 inches in Grandfield which stops wheat harvest for a while longer.

In multiple places west of I-35, there were reports of large hail- and daylight will allow farmers a chance to scout their fields and determine damage to wheat and canola, both close to harvest, as well as damage to young spring planted fields.

Tornado and straight wind damage was reported in multiple communities- Cordell, Waynoka, Wagoner and Muskogee just to mention a few.


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NAFTATrump Administration Formally Announces to Congress It Will Seek Modernization of NAFTA - Ag Community Offers to Help 

Craig Uden, President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association calls NAFTA, "one of the greatest success stories in the long history of the U.S. beef industry." Since it's was implemented in 1993, exports of American-produced beef to Mexico have grown by more than 750 percent. And today, exports now account for as much as 13 percent of overall U.S. beef production.


Nonetheless, President Trump's administration yesterday, formally announced to Congress that it will seek to renegotiate the NAFTA trading agreement as it exists today. Always very critical of the trade agreements in place, this action is a promise the President campaigned on prior to the election.


While the agriculture community initially reeled just from rumors that the President would take this sort of action on NAFTA, which is universally thought to be a boon to the US agriculture industry, attitudes have seemed to have moderated some. Some organizations even acknowledge that there are some policies within the agreement that could stand to be tweaked. But still, no one in the ag sector wants there to be even the slightest disruption in trade.


After news broke of the administration's intentions, several trade associations voiced their support for the action, but with an air of hesitation. It seems that these renegotiations are going to happen with or without the support of these associations, so the best strategy would be to offer support and at least earn a seat at the table for when they happen, to protect interests and maintain relationships with our NAFTA trading partners.


NCBA and it's foreign counterparts in both Canada and Mexico, have sent a joint letter to the leaders of the three involved nations, requesting that they do not hastily jeopardize the success of NAFTA.


"Recent statements about the possible dissolution of NAFTA or potential renegotiation of NAFTA are deeply concerning to us because of the unnecessary risk it places on our producers," the letter states. "While there may be general agreement among the countries to improve some parts of the NAFTA trade framework, we urge you to recognize that the terms of the agreement affecting cattle producers are strongly supported as they currently exist and should not be altered." You can read more about this letter, or the letter itself in its entirety, by clicking here.


The American Farm Bureau Federation issued a statement saying it "looks forward to working with the administration, Congress, other agricultural groups, and officials in Canada and Mexico to protect these important markets while also addressing issues that have limited the trade potential of U.S. farmers and ranchers. We remain committed to the goal of a positive, market-expanding and modernized NAFTA. Achieving this objective starts with ensuring the negotiations protect U.S. agriculture's benefits under the current trade agreement." Click here to read the full statement.


"Our top priority in the modernization of NAFTA is to maintain this market access and keep in place what we and our customers have built," stated the US Grains Council in reaction to the announcement. "We look forward to working with the Trump Administration, Congress and our partners in Canada and Mexico as this process progresses to ensure our neighbors remain our top customers." To read USGC's full response, click here.

Farmers and ranchers of Beckham County are finally taking account of the damage done by Tuesday evening's tornado that struck the Elk City area, now that the dust is settling from the severe storms that have continued throughout the week.


Our Associate Farm Director Carson Horn spoke yesterday to Beckham County FSA Executive Director Brian Pritchard about the situation there and what programs through his office are available to those affected.


"We've been getting reports of quite a few dead cattle and horses and miles and miles of fence that are just gone," Pritchard said. "And then I think they were reporting about 100 homes damaged or destroyed, and then numerous barns and equipment."


Pritchard says that more than 100 head of livestock have been reported either missing, injured or dead.


Efforts are already underway to clean up the mess left behind, but Pritchard is also encouraging those with damage to their farms, to apply for the assistance programs available through FSA, including the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP).


Pritchard stresses for those with dead livestock, to document their losses with photographic evidence, before the carcasses are disposed of, as proof of loss is required in order to apply for assistance.

 

 

Listen to Pritchard brief Carson about the ongoing situation in Beckham County, by clicking here. 

SUNUPThis Week on SUNUP - Kim Anderson Explains Why Egypt's Purchas of Wheat is Good News for US

This week on SUNUP! - OSU's Dr. Kim Anderson joins host Lyndall Stout once again talking wheat prices and this time he says, there is some hope on the horizon that wheat prices could get an uptick as we move through harvest into the fall.


"I think there's some hope in sight," he said. "If we have a good quality crop, I think we may see slightly higher prices."


According to Anderson the price for wheat right now is hovering between $3.30 and $3.50 with a basis at -.95 to -.75 and the loan rate at $2.97.


Meanwhile, the US has sold two different loads of HRW to Egypt this week, each contract for 60,000 metric tons, or roughly 2.2 million bushels for $5.08 and $5.05 at port. The freight to Egypt was $0.56 and $0.61/bu. totaling $5.64 and $5.66 on board at Egypt.


"That's very good news for wheat," Anderson said. "It's been a while since we've sold wheat into Egypt."


That price fell below that of other competing countries such as Russia, Romania and Ukraine, offering wheat within a range of $5.36 and $5.39.


"Our price was the lowest, so that means we're competitive on the world market," Anderson said.
To listen to Anderson's full remarks, or for a full line up of this week's episode, click here.

Sponsor Spotlight


We are pleased to have American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update. On both the state and national levels, full-time staff members serve as a "watchdog" for family agriculture producers, mutual insurance company members and life company members.

Click here to go to their AFR website to learn more about their efforts to serve rural America!

BUZZSonny Perdue Testifies Before House Ag Committee That Having a Vaccine Bank is a Wise Decision

The House Committee on Agriculture, Wednesday, called a hearing to discuss several topics relevant to the industry right now. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was there to offer his perspective on several of the issues brought up, including a few of interest to the livestock industry. One topic in particular, the need for a vaccine bank, to thwart the potential threat of an outbreak, such as Foot and Mouth Disease.


"I guess the saying we have in Georgia - when the mule's out the gate, it's too late to close the gate," Perdue quipped. "You don't get the opportunity after an outbreak has occurred. So, I think you all are wise in considering a vaccine bank, whether it's Foot and Mouth disease, or whether it's hi-path Avian Influenza."


Perdue mentioned that as a veterinarian by trade, he understands the benefits of vaccination and compared a vaccine bank to having insurance with a "priceless" policy.


"The fact is, we cannot psychologically afford even a Foot and Mouth scare here at all," Perdue said. "We saw what BSE did to us. You got to have a vaccine availability ahead of the time so I look at it as a wise insurance program."


Listen to more of Perdue's comments on disease prevention in the livestock industry and more with me, on yesterday's Beef Buzz.
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.

 


Weather, high debt-service, a lack of liquidity and the difficulties of passing on land from one generation to the next all weigh on the economic situation afflicting rural communities across the nation. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, which testified before Congress yesterday on the matter - taxation is obviously a very important issue for farmers and ranchers and to reform these burdensome laws are essential to improving the economic situation with which the ag sector is currently faced with.


AFBF asked legislators to ensure that tax reform results in lower effective tax rates for small and family-owned farms and ranches as well as for corporations. The group urged lawmakers to turn their attentions to achieving solutions to several issues including matters such as preserving interest deductibility, reducing capital gains taxes and eliminating the estate tax.
AFBF says that making sure these measures, along with a few others, are essential to improving the quality of the lives of those living in rural America.
For a complete list of the measures AFBF is advocating for in regards to comprehensive tax reform, or to view a copy of the organization's testimony to Congress, click here.

Precision Ag has tremendous promise for farmers and ranchers- and in a new report from the RaboResearch Food & Ag group, the Farm Inputs team explores the status of Precision Farm/Digital Ag under the heavy umbrella of current commodity prices. The report, Bungle in the Ag Tech Jungle - Cracking the Code on Precision Farming and Digital Agriculture, finds that the fourth and newest wave of innovation, digital agriculture has enormous potential, but has several hurdles that must be overcome before data intensive farming methods can add value to growers.

In recent years, digital agriculture has been, for the most part, funded by venture capital investors and venture capital units of several agriculturally based companies. During the past two and a half years over $6.5 billion (USD) has been invested in the broad category of ag technology (excluding food e-commerce), split among software, hardware and other emerging sciences and information technology startups.

According to RaboResearch F&A Farm Input Senior Analyst Kenneth S. Zuckerberg, "digital agriculture offers the promise of higher income and lower in-field variability and volatiltiy." He goes on to explain that, "improved agronomic practices, coupled with more precise field decisions can create the promised value through higher crop yields and lower input costs."

To continue reading the full story behind RaboResearch's report on our website, click here.
ThisNThatThis N That: Jeff Jaronek In the Field, Magruder Plot Celebrated Today and Jerry Brown Trying to Zero Out Support for FFA
 
Our guest for our In the Field segment on KWTV News9 this weekend will be Jeff Jaronek of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Foundation- as we get an update on the OCF getting ready to write checks to ranchers in northwestern Oklahoma hit by the wildfires in March of this year.

Jeff tells us that they are up to about $1.2 million in money in the fund for these ranchers- and they are hoping to have checks to the ranchers by Memorial Day.

Check out our visit with Jeff at 6:40 AM tomorrow morning on KWTV News9- and later in the day on the KWTV website in their video section- we will be posting it on our website as well.

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We were told that rain or shine- mud or not- the OSU Field Day that will be celebrating the Magruder Plots will be happening this morning- details about the field day can be read by clicking or tapping here.

The field tours could be adjusted- but the plan is to be starting shortly after 8 AM this morning- our own Carson Horn will be covering the festivities at the site right on Highway 51.

**********
I think most of you know my opinions about the importance of FFA in the lives of young people- from personal experience growing up as a son of a Vo-Ag Teacher. (that was way back- when they called Ag Teachers Vo-Ag Teachers, the organization was the Future Farmers and they were just deciding to allow girls in- but I digress.)

Because of my love for the Blue and Gold- the story from California is a reminder of how fortunate we are in Oklahoma to have a Governor, Lt Governor and lawmakers who understand the value of the organization.

Governor Jerry Brown is proposing in his new budget plan for that state to zero out state support for the FFA as well as other career tech type things. Click here to read the story on this that we have posted this morning- it's small change for a state the size of California- but the lack of intelligence that it shows speaks volumes about a society when it gets too far away from food and fiber production.

To me- this story is not about the money- it's about living in a state that has a governor who is so ignorant about what is important for young people and how FFA can help them find themselves and prepare for life in ways that few (if any) groups are able to do. 
 
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, American 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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