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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!
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 offered 1,060 head Wednesday with 851 cattle actually selling with a weighted average price of $110.07. Click here to see their complete market results.
OKC West sold feeder steers mostly steady to firm and feeder heifers 2.00 - 4.00 higher on Wednesday compared to last week's sale - click or tap here for the complete report from the USDA found on our website.
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
Thursday, August 2, 2018
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Howdy Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
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Featured Story:
More than 600 cattle industry leaders came together in Denver, starting yesterday, at the Cattle Industry Summer Business Meeting, during which they are working to create direction for critical industry programs. "During these important meetings U.S. cattle producer leaders actively discuss and develop the direction of industrywide policy and demand-building programs," said Kevin Kester, a California beef producer and NCBA president. "It's a critical component of our grassroots process as we set stage for upcoming organizational efforts." Joint Committees and Subcommittees will meet today and Friday to develop proposals for 2019 checkoff-funded research, education and promotion programs. Also, on Friday NCBA policy committees will meet to determine priorities and discuss strategies for 2019. Click here to learn more about this week's event. With the Farm Bill a step closer on the pathway to passage this week (Click here for our conversation with Colin Woodall on the 2018 Farm Bill developments,) one issue that is certain to dominate discussions at this meeting is whether or not the highly anticipated conference committee for this legislation will deliver the necessary appropriations needed to realize what's become known as the Secure Beef Supply Plan. You've likely heard about this discussed in the form of the Foot & Mouth Disease vaccine bank that the livestock industry has lobbied for the last few years. We are currently in the Mile-High City covering the meeting this week, and caught up with NCBA's Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Kathy Simmons who briefed us on where the industry is at currently, in getting that funding nailed down. "As we find out what the funding levels will be - we will be able then to work with USDA and others to try to make this a reality and protecting ourselves against foreign animal and transboundary diseases," she said. In the meantime, though, she says there is still much planning to be done in anticipation that the final legislation authorizes the project to move forward.
Click here to learn more about the Secure Beef Supply Plan and all that has gone into it thus far, by listening to my full conversation with Dr. Simmons.
AND- we have posted more of our coverage from Denver on the website-
Trade issues important to the beef cattle industry is boiling up ALL OVER the place- we talked ALL Things trade with Kent Bacus, the Director of International Trade and Market Access for NCBA- and we go deep on trade related to the EU, Japan, China, Canada and Mexico with Kent. Click or tap here for our complete Q&A on trade with Kent Bacus.
Midday today- we will be listening to the CEO of Tyson, Tom Hayes, address the joint luncheon of the groups as he provides his views on where the protein business is headed - and we will be sharing his comments later this afternoon on our website and highlight them in tomorrow's email.
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Sponsor Spotlight
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 Jim Inhofe Applauds Senate Passage of Appropriations Bills that Support Rural Development in Okla.
Yesterday, our state's Senior Senator, Jim Inhofe, alerted us to the Senate's passage of four appropriations bills that will provide funding that will directly support rural development efforts in Oklahoma. "The bills today include many provisions I authored that will benefit Oklahomans by supporting rural community development, agricultural research, airport and surface transportation infrastructure, rural electric utilities and even our inland waterways," Inhofe stated. "By expanding opportunity in rural communities, we can drive greater economic growth for families and businesses." The final bill also included an amendment from Sen. Inhofe that would support inland waterways, like MKARNS, by directing DOT and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to work together to develop a path forward to allow alternative funding eligibility for inland waterways improvements. Inhofe remarked on the positive impact this will have in the state, offering Oklahomans another option for shipping freight once necessary improvement funded through this legislation are made. Sen. Inhofe also cosponsored a provision that would strengthen our ability to prevent Chinese-owned companies from dominating the transit market by blocking Federal Transit Administration funds from procuring transit rolling stock from entities owned, directed or operated by China. With this amendment, Inhofe and his co-sponsor Sen. Cornyn are in effect curbing China's efforts to dominate our domestic production of rolling stock and weaken our national security. It is important to note, we did confirm that these bills still await reconciliation with the House.
Click here to read more about the recent legislative and policy efforts of Oklahoma's Senior Senator Jim Inhofe.
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 Oklahoma Receives Portion of $97M USDA Rural Broadband Infrastructure Grant to Improve Service
In an announcement underscoring USDA's priority to promote rural economic development inspired by the President's Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue revealed on Wednesday an investment $97 million by the USDA in 12 projects designed to provide or improve rural broadband service in 11 states, including two projects in Oklahoma. Secretary Perdue remarked that a person's location should not determine whether he or she has access to modern communications infrastructure. According to Perdue, these investments will expand access to educational, social and business opportunities for 22,000 subscribers nationwide and help grow their rural communities and America's economy. The investments are being made through the USDA's Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program and the Community Connect Grant Program. One investment for instance involves Osage Innovative Solutions, LLC in Tulsa, Okla. With a $2.7 million grant, the company will "construct a hybrid fiber-to-the-premises and fixed wireless system in an unserved and economically depressed portion of the Osage Nation in Osage County. The company will offer speeds up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload to 139 households and 22 businesses. This project will give customers access to high-quality telecommunications services to improve economic, education and health care opportunities. Osage will provide a community center where residents can access the internet free of charge." Perdue contended that investing in telecommunications infrastructure connects people to each other: businesses to customers, farmers to markets, and students to a world of knowledge.
Click here to learn more about this USDA investment, one yesterday's top stories on our website.
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 Checking In on the Beef Checkoff - Investment in Export Markets Essential to Producers' Bottom Line
This week's episode of our new ongoing conversation, Checking In on the Beef Checkoff, features our recent visit with Tom Fanning, board member of the Oklahoma Beef Council. Fanning visited with us about the importance of international export market access to Oklahoma's beef producers and how Checkoff funded programs help maintain those relationships.
"Almost $300 per head of the beef carcass value is represented in our export markets," Fanning said. "About 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside of the US and if you put those numbers together you can see exports represent a critical value to US producers, not just today but in the future."
Given today's political uncertainty and the volatile nature of trade relations anymore, Fanning says it is important to protect the relationships and the access we have to ensure that value is not diminished and thereby negatively impact producers' bottom line. Fanning says producers have elected to take this task upon themselves by investing Checkoff dollars into international beef promotion programs through the US Meat Export Federation.
"The USMEF has offices throughout the world and they work every day to make sure US beef is represented and promoted in those markets," he said. "The Oklahoma Beef Council Board believes that is a truly critical investment."
For more stories about what your Beef Checkoff is doing or to listen to Fanning and I speak about the importance of the Checkoff's research efforts, click here.
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Sponsor Spotlight
Midwest Farm Shows is proud to produce the two best Farm Shows in the State of Oklahoma annually- the Tulsa Farm Show each December and the Oklahoma City Farm Show each April.
They would like to thank all of you who participated in their 2018 Oklahoma City Farm Show.
Up next will be the Tulsa Farm Show in December 2018- the dates are December 6th, 7th and 8th. Now is the ideal time to contact the Midwest Farm Show Office at 507-437-7969 and book space at the 2018 Tulsa Farm Show. To learn more about the Tulsa Farm Show, click here.
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 Senate Ag Leaders Applaud Chamber's Vote to Begin Farm Bill Conference, Conferee Appointments
The Senate Wednesday named members to the farm bill conference committee following action a day earlier to move forward with the conference process. Click here to read the original announcement.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell named himself to the committee, along with Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, and fellow Republicans John Boozman of Arkansas, John Hoeven of North Dakota and Joni Ernst of Iowa.
Meanwhile, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer named ranking Agriculture Committee member Debbie Stabenow, and fellow Democrats Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota to the committee.
The Hagstrom Report notes that Republican leadership followed seniority in their choices. The Democrats skipped over four more senior members - Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Joe Donnelly of Indiana - to name Heitkamp, who has a tough re-election race in a state in which agriculture is particularly important to the economy.
"This strong group of Senate conferees knows how to work together on a bipartisan basis to get the Farm Bill across the finish line," said Roberts and Stabenow. "We look forward to beginning the conference process so we can provide certainty to our farmers, families, and rural communities."
The House Republican conferees were announced earlier this month, as were the House Democrats. A public meeting of the Conference Committee will be announced at a later date.
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 Let's Face It, These Days Advocacy Has Become Just Another Part of Doing Business on the Ranch
Ryan Goodman works with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association primarily in regard to the association's grassroots advocacy efforts. He explained in an interview with our own Carson Horn during the recent Oklahoma Cattlemen's Convention, that his role allows him to work closely with producers to help them understand the principles of being a better communicator, insisting that isn't generally a soft skill one picks up while working on the farm or ranch.
"I think we're realizing that advocacy is very much a part of doing business today," Goodman remarked. "Our market research team at NCBA has done a lot of work trying to figure out what our consumers are asking and how they want that information delivered. And so, I think it's important that everybody understands how to tell your story through those lenses and how we're contributing to being good stewards of (our) resources."
When it comes to advocacy, though, Goodman says social media is what generally comes to mind these days, but insists it is much more than just regurgitating data and facts over Facebook and Twitter, etc.
"When we're out in our communities and interacting with everyone, we're making an impact and an impression. So, we need to make sure that's a good impression," he said. "So, focusing on how well we're listening to what people are asking and then thinking about not just how to share the facts, but putting it into your experience as well.
"People really connect with the experiences of others, so I think our stories can go a lot farther than just sharing statistics and facts."
Listen to Goodman speak more about the skills it takes to be an effective advocate for the ag industry, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.
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 Oklahoma Angus Association Contributes $50,000 to National Junior Angus Show Endowment Fund
Seven states, including Oklahoma, recently presented generous donations to the Angus Foundation during the 2018 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) closing ceremonies. The funds will be permanently endowed in the NJAS Endowment Fund. Available annual investment earnings from the Fund will be provided to state Angus associations hosting the NJAS in the future. "It was truly a humbling moment to see so many state associations pitch in and invest in Angus youth at the 50th National Junior Angus Show," said Milford Jenkins, Angus Foundation president. "Our initial fundraising goal for this visionary initiative is $2 million. These states encourage other state Angus associations and individuals to join them in contributing to this Fund helping to secure a prosperous future for the National Junior Angus Show the next 50 years and beyond." In total, the combined contributions of the seven states came to $393,000 - of which the Oklahoma Angus Association donated $50,000.
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Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, Livestock Exchange at the Oklahoma National Stockyards, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Stillwater Milling Company, National Livestock Credit Corporation, Oklahoma Beef Council, 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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