Oklahoma's Latest Farm
And Ranch News
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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
- Saying Good Bye to Two of the Good Ones
- Oklahoma Wheat Improves Slightly- First US Crop Progress Report of Season Released
- Conservation Day at the State Capital Happens Thursday- As Does Opening Day of Oklahoma City Farm Show
- Strong potential for Lots of Wildfire Activity in Western Oklahoma Rest of This Week
- Biden Administration Pushing to Expand Definition of WOTUS
- Dr. Derrell Peel Talks Meat Production and Consumption Decreasing
- Growth Energy Submits Comments, Research to Further Debunk Anti-Ethanol Study
- Southern Plains Podcast With Sean Babington, Senior Advisor for Climate to the Secretary of Agriculture
- And Finally- Neighbors Helping Neighbors
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Saying Good Bye to Two of the Good Ones
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Over the last few days- Oklahoma Agriculture has lost two tremendous leaders- Bob Howard and Kenneth Holloway.
Robert “Bob” Sam Howard, 75, of the Navajo community was called to his heavenly home on Friday, April 1, 2022. Services will be this afternoon, Tuesday April 5, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. at the Altus First United Methodist Church.
Bob served on the Jackson County Farm Bureau Board for more than 30 years, being on the Jackson County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees for more than 10 years, serving on the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Board for one term and being a state board member for the Oklahoma Wheat Growers’ Association.
At the time of his death- he was serving on the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Board- and with his funeral set for today- the Wheat Growers postponed their Wheat Day celebration at the Capitol today and will announced a new date soon.
It seems like I saw Bob at all of the organizations' meetings over the years- and he always had a encouraging word for me when we greeted one another.
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Word came on Sunday that Kenneth Holloway of Chattanooga had passed away.
Kenneth was the patriarch of Coyote Hills Limousin Ranch in southwest Oklahoma- and was a cattle industry leader here in Oklahoma and in his chosen breed- Limousin- a past President of the North American Limousin Foundation in 2002-2003.
About Kenneth Holloway- Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association's Michael Kelsey writes: "OCA mourns the loss of past president Kenneth Holloway who passed on Sunday evening, April 3rd. He led the OCA in so many ways culminating in his term as president from 1999 to 2001 and being honored as Cattleman of the Year in 2006.
"Kenneth was a cattleman in the greatest since of the word and will be deeply missed. Memorials can be sent to the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Foundation where the Holloway family will establish a leadership scholarship."
Daughter Shari has shared that her Dad's service will be Friday, April 8th at 2 PM at the Chattanooga School Gerald Gravlee Center.
Kenneth was another of those in leadership in our ag business that I had great admiration for- and he was always quick with a warm greeting when I would see him at OCA industry events.
Both of these wonderful men will be greatly missed- but both have left the business of farming and ranching better because they invested themselves into others.
Rest in Peace Kenneth and Bob.
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For more information on our services or to find a location near you, visit our website here.
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Oklahoma Wheat Improves Slightly- First US Crop Progress Report of Season Released
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The first national Crop Progress report of the season is out- and shows we have just barely started spring planting of corn, cotton and grain sorghum. Two percent of the US Corn crop has been planted- 4 percent of the US Cotton crop has been planted and 13% of the grain sorghum crop has been planted(all based on 43% of the Texas crop in the ground)
Click here for the first USDA Crop Progress crop of the 2022 growing season.
The report also offers us some insights into the 2022 winter wheat crop- with the first national condition report showing we are in much worse shape with the 2022 crop compared to the 2021 crop. Last year at the start of April- 53% of the crop was rated good to excellent- this year it's 30%. The poor to very poor rating stands at 36% this year- in 2021 the crop was at 16% poor to very poor. That does not bode well for a bumper crop here in the United States.
For our southern plains hard red winter wheat crop- this week offers a slight improvement for the Oklahoma Crop as we have a Good to Excellent rating in Oklahoma of 22%- up from 18% last week- poor to very poor rating fell 9 points to 44%.
The Kansas wheat crop is the same as a week ago at 32% good to excellent and improved slightly on the poor to very poor rating to 30%- two points better than last week.
Texas remains awful- 7% good to excellent(same as last week) while the poor to very poor number slips 5 points and is now 81% poor to very poor.
More details from the Crop Progress state reports for Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas can be seen on the web story found on our website- the link is below.
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Conservation Day at the State Capital Happens Thursday- As Does Opening Day of Oklahoma City Farm Show
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It's a busy which includes the Oklahoma City Farm Show as well as Conservation Day at the State Capital on Thursday. I spoke with the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, Trey Lam about both. He said it's going to be great to have everyone back at the capital, "On Thursday, we will focus on conservation. Conservation districts and their directors from all over the state will meet with representatives and leadership to talk about some of the things they are interested in."
Lam said they didn't think this would be a busy year for conservation issues, but new opportunities have appeared. Lam said The Healthy soils program bill has made it through the house and will be heard this week. Lam said this will show official state support for that policy to implement a soil health program, "We've had that here at the Commission for several years now, but it will make it they are official stances of the state. So we're really excited for that opportunity."
After folks spend some time at the capital Thursday, he encourages them to run over to the Oklahoma City Farm Show, where they will also have a booth, "People want to get out and see what's new, but also just see people that they've done business with. So we'll have a booth out there, so we'll be talking about our soil health programs and regenerative ag and different things like that. It's a great opportunity for us to interact with others."
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For our farmers who have either- always have had cotton on their farms- or those who have more recently have added the fiber crop to their operations- we have a daily report heard on several of our Radio Stations- It's Called Cotton Talk!
Click on the Button below to listen to our most recent report
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Strong potential for Lots of Wildfire Activity in Western Oklahoma Rest of This Week
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There is strong potential for a very active period of wildfire activity in western Oklahoma this week. Rain and storms moving over parts of Oklahoma last night provided some moisture improving both live and dead fuel moisture values in south central and eastern Oklahoma.
Energy Release Component values across western Oklahoma improved a bit with a late-week rain although the strength of fire weather over predominantly dormant fuels in western Oklahoma will drive increasing ERC values as well as potential for high-severity wildfires in the Oklahoma Panhandle, northwestern and western Oklahoma.
Translated- Much of western Oklahoma remains extremely dry- and winds blowing from 10 to 30 mph add up to fire danger. Right now- Thursday looks especially windy.
Click here for the latest Oklahoma Burn Ban map as of late yesterday afternoon
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We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network weekdays-
if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it- click below for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays and KC Sheperd on RON.
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Sponsor Spotlight
The vision of the Oklahoma Beef Council is to be a positive difference for Oklahoma's farming and ranching families and the greater beef community, and its mission is to enhance beef demand by strengthening consumer trust and exceeding consumer expectations.
And Check out this video below that helps you learn more about the Beef Checkoff- .
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Biden Administration Pushing to Expand Definition of WOTUS
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Now that the Biden Administration has taken public comments on their ideas regarding a new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, US agriculture must now wait to see what the next steps will look like.
Scott Yager, chief environmental counsel for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association told me recently that the Biden Administration is well along in their efforts to do away with the Navigable Waters Protection Rule put in place during Trump’s presidency.
“The Biden Administration laid out a two-step process, much like the Trump administration did several years ago,” Yager said. “Today, we are in the middle of step one in that two-step process.”
Yager said the EPA has put out their proposal which sets the foundation for their definition of WOTUS. They are reverting to the pre-2015 regulations, with the addition of the Biden Administration’s interpretation previous Supreme Court decisions which have happened since then- mainly the 2006 Rapanos decision.
A more expansive definition of WOTUS can be expected when the Biden administration unveils its second proposed WOTUS rulemaking.
Yager said he speculates the administration will target some of the large democratic items such as climate change and environmental justice in the form of a new WOTUS definition in step two of their rule.
AND- in the midst of the Biden EPA's efforts to rewrite the Rule to their satisfaction- you have the Supreme Court set to hear arguments about which interpretation of that 2006 Rapanos case is the right one- that will be happening later here in 2022.
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Dr. Derrell Peel Talks Meat Production and Consumption Decreasing
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Mondays, Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, offers his economic analysis of the beef cattle industry. This week, Dr. Peel talks about meat production and consumption decreasing.
"Declining beef and pork production may offset increased broiler production and lead to a decrease in total meat production in 2022. The latest forecasts from the Livestock Marketing Information Center suggest that total red meat and poultry production will total 106.25 billion pounds, down slightly year over year. If realized, this would be the first decrease in total meat production following seven consecutive years of increasing production since 2014. Total 2022 per capita meat consumption is forecast at 222.4 pounds, down year over year from 224.2 pounds last year. Pork, broiler and beef production represent 94 percent of total meat production in the U.S. Most of the remaining 6 percent is turkey production, along with small totals of veal, other poultry, and sheep and lamb production.
"High feed prices will impact all livestock industries and may moderate meat production going forward. Feed costs increased significantly in 2021 and will push even higher in the coming months. Beef will be additionally impacted by drought conditions and reduced production of pasture and hay. Drought may impact the timing of beef production with drought liquidation potentially increasing beef production temporarily but leading to a larger decline in beef supplies later.
"Retail prices are high for all meats. Reported retail prices in February were up 14 to nearly 16 percent year over year for beef, pork and broilers. Meat prices are not expected to continue rising but may stabilize and hold near current higher levels."
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Growth Energy Submits Comments, Research to Further Debunk Anti-Ethanol Study
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Growth Energy submitted comments in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) workshop on the greenhouse gas lifecycle analysis (LCA) of land-based crop biofuels used in the transportation sector. Growth Energy’s comments call on EPA to update LCA of biofuels, and ethanol in particular, to accurately reflect the latest science that shows ethanol achieving nearly 50% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
“Updating the LCA of ethanol is critical not only to faithfully implementing the Renewable Fuel Standard program (the only Clean Air Act program explicitly aimed at reducing GHG emissions), but for sound policymaking on a range of future potential rulemakings designed to facilitate the use of E15, flex fuel vehicles, and use of higher-level ethanol blends like E85, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF),” wrote Growth Energy. “Robust and accurate cost-benefit analyses depend on accurate assessment of the GHG impacts of biofuels, particularly given utilization of the social cost of carbon (SCC) to monetize the benefits of anticipated GHG emission reductions.”
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Southern Plains Podcast With Sean Babington, Senior Advisor for Climate to the Secretary of Agriculture
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In his latest episode of Southern Plains Podcast, Clay Pope visits with Sean Babington, the Senior Advisor for Climate to the Secretary of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. Sean Talks with about his work for Secretary Vilsack and about the strategy USDA is undertaking to help farmers and ranchers deal with the challenges they are facing from climate change.
Sean says it's a it's a wonderful job working for a wonderful secretary. He says one of the goals is to tackle climate change, "To both think about how we adapt and become more resilient, but also pursue steps that can mitigate problems. And the Secretary created this job to try and help him coordinate across the USDA, multiple mission areas, all of which really has an important role to play here."
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And Finally- Neighbors Helping Neighbors
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From our friend Tracy Taylor who lives near Cheyenne- she shared a story on Facebook about how she and Jimmy were able to join in helping several northwest Roger Mills County ranchers who got hit by wildfires in recent days- this picture is from the weekend of a hay caravan taking feedstuffs to those burned ranches.
These trucks were loaded and heading down the road to deliver lunch for a bunch of cattle.
Several names were mentioned- but Jimmy Clark was the local rancher who organized the effort- and lots of folks helped him.
What a blessing- congrats to all!
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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.
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Today's First Look:
Ron on RON Markets as heard on K101
mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
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Wholesale Boxed Beef Prices Were mixed on Monday, April 4th- Choice Beef was up 90 cents and Select Beef was down 82 cents.
Click on the Button below for the latest report from USDA Market News
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Oklahoma National Stockyards had 8,000 head on Monday, April 4, 2022.
Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers steady to 3.00 lower. Steer and heifer calves 6.00 -10.00 lower. Quality plain to average. Demand moderate to good. More rain falling across the state overnight and on Monday, however Western Oklahoma remains dry. Cattle futures fell sharply Monday as grain prices forged higher. This, all on uncertainties of events taking place overseas and how long there will be unrest.
Click below for the complete closing report.
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The Joplin Regional Stockyards had a total run of 6,364 head for Monday April 4, 2022.
Compared to last week feeder steers under 800 lbs. traded steady, with heavier weights steady to 3.00 lower. Feeder heifers traded steady. Quality was not as deep as last week. Supply and demand was moderate. Internet buying was active.
Click on the button below for details of the trade as compiled by the USDA Market News Service.
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Each afternoon we are posting a recap of that day's markets as analyzed by Justin Lewis of KIS futures - click below for the latest update on the Livestock and Grain Futures Trade..
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Okla Cash Grain:
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- as reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture- The report available after the close of the Futures Trade for that day.
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Our Oklahoma Farm Report Team!!!!
Ron Hays, Senior Farm/Ranch Broadcaster and Editor
KC Sheperd, Farm Director and Editor
Dave Lanning, Markets and Production
Pam Arterburn, Calendar and Template Manager
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Rural Oklahoma is full of some of the greatest success stories throughout the entire state and is a big reason why Oklahoma is on track to become a top 10 state.
The Road to Rural Prosperity dives into these stories, bringing you stories covering rural life, agriculture, energy, healthcare, tourism, and politics affecting rural America.
The Road to Rural Prosperity is here to tell stories about rural America, for rural America.
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Our Latest RRP features Don Schieber, the 2022 winner of the Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture Award, which is the highest award given by the Governor of Oklahoma to honor distinguished Oklahoma agriculture producers. This prestigious award honors leaders in the agriculture industry who exemplify personal values, performance, and achievement.
Governor Kevin Stitt presented Schieber his award during the Oklahoma celebration of Ag Day on March 24th- after riding with the honoree in a mule drawn wagon up Lincoln Blvd to the front steps of the Oklahoma State Capitol.
Schieber is the 25th award winner and becomes the newest inductee into the Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame. Ron and Don talk about his career in production agriculture- his work on behalf of wheat farmers with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission and US Wheat Associates that included traveling to 26 countries taking the Oklahoma wheat production story to buyers of wheat around the world. Don is a major supporter of the wheat breeding work of Dr. Brett Carver- having provided ground on his farm in Kay County for an OSU wheat Variety Field Plot for 17 years.
Search for Road to Rural Prosperity and subscribe on your favorite Podcast platform.
To hear this podcast, you can click here or tap below:
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Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Ag Mediation Program, Great Plains Kubota, Stillwater Milling Company, National Livestock Credit Corporation, Oklahoma Beef Council, Oklahoma AgCredit, Union Mutual Insurance, 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.
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God Bless!
Reach Out To Us:
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Tim West
President/General Manager
Rural Oklahoma Networks
405-317-6361
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Mike Henderson
Director of Sales
405-615-4922
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KC Sheperd
Farm Director
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network
405-443-5717
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Ron Hays
Senior Farm/Ranch Broadcaster
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network
405.473.6144
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