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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!
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.
FedCattleExchange.com has a total of 166 cattle on their showlist for the Wednesday, March 21st sale of finished cattle- details will be available after noon today by clicking here.
Steer and heifer calves were lightly tested Tuesday compared to last week at OKC West - click or tap here for a look at the March 20th sale 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 futures- click or tap here for the report posted yesterday afternoon around 3:30 PM.
Okla Cash Grain:
Futures Wrap:
Feeder Cattle Recap:
Slaughter Cattle Recap:
TCFA Feedlot Recap:
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
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Oklahoma's Latest Farm and Ranch News
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
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 Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue Celebrates the Bounty of the American Harvest in National Ag Day Proclamation
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue led the nation in celebration of National Agriculture Day Tuesday, continuing a tradition that's been around now for nearly half a century. During a ceremony held at the USDA's Whitten Building in Washington, yesterday, Perdue insisted that National Ag Day has connected consumers with the people that produce their food and fiber and demonstrated how important agriculture is to our nation's economy. Watch a video clip of Secretary Perdue's Ag Day remarks, by clicking here. "For the past 45 years, National Ag Day has played a key role in helping people understand where their food and fiber comes from and how important agriculture is to our national economy," said Secretary Perdue. "Our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers in America are feeding and clothing the world - and it's important to never forget that. I am thrilled that we have a day, really a whole week, where we can celebrate the bounty of the American harvest." Members of the FFA, Agriculture Future of America, 4-H and MANNRs, as well as members of Congress, USDA officials, Ag Council of America board members, and agribusiness leaders from around the country were all in attendance. President Donald Trump issued a Proclamation recognizing the importance of America's farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers and directed Vice President Mike Pence to deliver it to those gathered at the USDA during the Ag Day ceremony. Vice President Pence spent a lot of time touting the accomplishments of the Trump Administration- but also spoke about the critically important role America's farmers and ranchers play in helping to feed, clothe and fuel not only 326 million people in the United States, but millions of people around the world. USDA has posted the comments made by Secretary Perdue and Vice President Pence- Click on the video box if you would like to take a look:
National Ag Day is designated each year by the Agriculture Council of America to celebrate the accomplishments of agriculture. This year marks the second year that the current administration has publicly recognized the first day of spring as National Ag Day as a salute to the contributions of America's farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses. Don Tourte, chairman of the board for the Agriculture Council of America, said receiving this type of recognition from the administration and USDA greatly enhances the stature of National Ag Day.
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Sponsor Spotlight
It's great to have the Livestock Exchange at the Oklahoma National Stockyards as a sponsor for our daily email. The eight Commission firms at the Stockyards make up the exchange- and they are committed to work hard to get you top dollar when you consign your cattle with them. They will present your cattle to the buyers gathered each Monday or Tuesday at one of the largest stocker and feeder cattle auctions in the world.
Click here for a complete list of the Commission firms that make up the Livestock Exchange at the Oklahoma National Stockyards- still the best place to sell your cattle- and at the heart of Stockyards City, where you can go around the corner enjoy a great steak and shop for the very best in western wear.
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Chairman of House Conservation Subcommittee Frank Lucas Meets with Conservation Leaders in DC
Oklahoma's Third District Congressman Frank Lucas, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry met with leaders of the National Association of Conservation Districts on Capitol Hill this week during a fly-in where 150 representatives from 27 states had the chance to advocate for farm bill conservation programs.
Lucas and Ranking Member Marcia Fudge of Ohio, spoke to the value of conservation programs and the testimony of those who directly implement locally-led conservation initiatives.
"Locally-led, incentive-based conservation, that's what it's all about," Lucas said. "It enables our farmers and ranchers to go back home and benefit the soil, air, water and society. My colleagues and I are working to deliver a farm bill that will continue to give our producers the ability to implement conservation practices through a voluntary, locally-led approach."
USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey addressed the group as well, yesterday, during a Congressional reception where NACD members networked with policymakers to ensure conservation's seat at the negotiating table.
With the farm bill at the forefront of everyone's minds, our members hit the halls of Congress to rally support for voluntary, locally-led conservation," said NACD President Brent Van Dyke. "These folks are the boots on the ground, the workforce behind preserving our nation's natural resources." Click here to read more about NACD's fly-in this week, and check out some pictures of their visit by following the link to the organization's FLICKR account.
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Interagency Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory Extended in Response to Persistent Dry Weather in Oklahoma
State authorities were prompted to extend the Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory, issued on March 7, through April 4, yesterday, due to continued dry and windy weather across Oklahoma. Despite the limited moisture from Sunday's light showers - gusty winds and a warming trend for the remainder of the week will return wildland fuel moistures to critically low levels by the end of this week.
George Geissler, Oklahoma Forestry Services director, says that while the rain did little to alleviate his concerns of fire danger, it did give firefighting resources a small window to assess needs and prepare to respond quickly to new fire starts.
Citizens are requested to avoid areas where active fire is present, monitor media sources, and adhere to evacuation notices affecting residences and places of employment.
A Governor's Burn Ban, as well as several County Commissioner issued bans are in effect. For the most updated list of counties under a burn ban or additional information about wildfires, click here.
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NCBA Lobbies for Major Funding to Expand FMD Vaccine Bank - a Small Price to Pay Given the Potential Economic Damage from an Outbreak
The need for a national Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine bank to have enough serum readily available in the event of an FMD outbreak in the US, has been discussed for a long time now. Major industries in agriculture such as the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council have been leading those discussions, lobbying Congressional members for their support in funding such an undertaking. In a recent interview with I, NCBA's Chief Veterinarian Dr. Kathy Simmons says it is something the livestock sector desperately needs. Recently, those groups have taken it a step farther, making a formal request for funding in the next Farm Bill.
"We have learned that the global capacity to produce Foot and Mouth Disease vaccine is not to the point where if we would have a Type 3 or larger outbreak in this country - we could readily get enough vaccine for adequate use," Simmons said. "So, we are realizing we are going to have to commit to some level of contracts and we're going to have to expand our current FMD bank so that we can have the needed protection and insurance against a possible outbreak."
Accordingly, Simmons says NCBA and its partners are asking policymakers to include a provision in the next Farm Bill to appropriate $115 million each year for five years to fund an expansion of the current FMD vaccine bank. In comparison, this would be a relatively small price to pay considering a large-scale FMD outbreak could potentially cause a billion dollars or more in economic harm to the agriculture industry. Congressional support in this manner, Simmons says, would go a long way in protecting the nation's food, health and economic security.
"I think it would certainly give us the assurance that we could act more immediately and that we could act over larger volumes of animals," she said. "If this would happen in a very concentrated area of cattle - in some of our high cattle dense states - we would need a large supply of vaccine readily available to really make any kind of impact."
Hear Kathy Simmons and I discuss the livestock industry's need for an FMD vaccine bank on yesterday's show - click here.
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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!
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FAPC to Offer Training Classes to Help Home Bakers Comply with Oklahoma's New Home Bakery Act
Oklahoma State FAPC Center and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture have partnered to offer one-day training courses designed to assist home bakers in understanding and complying with the amended legislation in the Oklahoma Home Bakery Act of 2013.
Recently, the original language of the law that made it legal to prepare baked goods in an uninspected, home kitchen and sell the goods from the homeowner's premises, was changed to allow home-baked items to be sold-off premises in selected locations.
These training sessions will cover good manufacturing practices, allergens, labeling, cross contamination and food safety. A computer worksheet also will be offered to the attendees, aiding in recordkeeping and calculations of income, with decision tools to determine if the baker is capable of expanding to a brick-and-mortar facility.
Several trainings will be held throughout the year with the first two trainings on March 29 and April 12 in Stillwater. The cost is $25 per person and includes lunch, snacks and materials. For more information or to register and for a list of upcoming Home Baker Trainings, click or tap here.
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Monsanto Working with Stakeholders to Ensure the Proper and Effective Use of Dicamba Products
As farmers consider their plans and strategies this year, particularly when it comes to cotton and soybeans, many are wondering if dicamba-based herbicide products are right for their operation given recent discussions that have put such weed-control applications under the microscope. During the 2018 Commodity Classic held in Anaheim, Calif. earlier this month, our own Carson Horn spoke with Monsanto insider, Ty Witten, about the questions circulating regarding issues of dicamba-drift and volatility and where that issue stands today.
He says despite a rather successful launch of the company's Xtend Crop System in 2017, there were some challenges. You may recall the national attention Arkansas has attracted over the past year in its debate of dicamba related drift issues.
"Unfortunately, when you look at Arkansas, they've had some rulings in the state recently that's not going to allow a grower to utilize the technology in the 2018 season," Whitten said. "I think it puts growers at a disadvantage."
To address this issue and any confusion growers may have about the product and how to administer applications properly, Witten says Monsanto and other dicamba registrants are working with state governments and universities across the US to offer producers continuing education and training opportunities to ensure proper use of the product. Part of this strategy has been the decision to file Xtend and other related products as a Restricted Use Pesticide.
"This decision was really predicated on education and training," Witten explained. "So, an applicator must be trained and must keep records, which growers are hopefully doing already. But that gets us back to how we can lead into a successful 2018. We see some good opportunities for all registrants, Monsanto being one of them, to train growers."
More comprehensive record keeping will help provide Monsanto and other providers a more clear account of how farmers administer their dicamba applications and should make plain future mistakes in the field.
Read more on this story or listen to Carson's entire interview with Whitten, by clicking over to our website. |
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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 to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.
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Collin Peterson Says NO NO NO to Conaway Farm Bill Proposal
A terse and emphatic statement was released yesterday afternoon by the top Democrat of the House Ag Committee- Collin Peterson from Minnesota.
Here is the complete statement:
House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson today made the following statement after sharing additional details of the Majority's farm bill nutrition proposals with Democratic members of the House Agriculture Committee.
"The Democratic members of the Agriculture Committee are unanimous in their opposition to the extreme, partisan policies being advocated by the Majority. This opposition will not change."
There has been no reaction from House Ag Committee Chairman Mike Conaway on the position coming from his ranking member- traditionally- the Ag Committees have been able to be non partisan in their efforts to write farm legislation but with a battle over Nutrition programs looming- that working across the aisle may be very difficult this year- and that jeopardizes getting a 2018 Farm Bill in place.
BY the way- the latest agenda coming out of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Convention set for this weekend shows Mike Conaway addressing cattle produers in his home state- we will be there and hope to get some insight from the Chairman at that time. |
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Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, American Farmers & Ranchers, Livestock Exchange at the Oklahoma National Stockyards, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Stillwater Milling Company, National Livestock Credit Corporation, 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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