~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Wednesday September 22,
2010 A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Wheat 2011- We Chat with Mike Schulte About Planting
Progress
-- Armyworm Invasion in Wheat Country
-- Texas Cattle Feeders See a Need for a Mandatory Animal ID
System
-- 2008 Disaster Application Deadline Approaching Rapidly
-- OSU'S Food & Ag Products Center Reappoints Board Members
-- New USDA Study Shows Efficiency Increases in Corn Ethanol
Energy
-- Ranchers Bull Sale At Express Ranches Coming October 4th
-- Let's Check the Markets!
Howdy Neighbors! Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are pleased to have American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click here to go to their AFR web site to learn more about their efforts to serve rural America! It is also great to have as an annual sponsor on our daily email
Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across
Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. W.B. Johnston is welcoming all
fall crops this harvest. They have space to store your grain, and they
look forward to serving you!! For more on Johnston Enterprises- click
here for their website that features their grain, ports and seed
business! If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here. | |
Wheat 2011- We Chat with Mike Schulte About Planting Progress ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We talk about
early planting conditions across the state with the Executive Director of
the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Mike Schulte. He reports that where
moisture was received- many producers have started the process of getting
the 2011 wheat crop into the ground. Schulte says that many of these early acres are intended to be used for wheat pasture, with the "grain only" acres to be planted just a little later. He does believe that after skimping on fertilizer this past growing season- farmers are more interested in getting more nitrogen onto their fields. He adds there seems to be more interest this fall in working on pH levels as well. Besides getting an update on the 2011 wheat crop- we also talked with
Mike about the plans for the second Urban Wheat Field later this week in
Washington, DC. Schulte will be going and helping bake wheat products for
consumers to sample Thursday and Friday- working with the Nebraska Wheat
Commission and their baking facilities that they have hauled to the East
Coast. Click on the LINK below for a chance to hear our conversation with Mike about planting progress early on here in the fall of 2010. | |
Armyworm Invasion in Wheat Country ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The wheat crop
is just now being planted- and already there is a major concern- an attack
of armyworms- potentially lots of armyworms. Dr. Jeff Edwards, State Wheat
Specialist at OSU, emailed us with this update from the Watonga area:
"Mike Rosen with Wheeler Brothers reported very heavy armyworm activity in the Watonga area. A farmer in the area reported armyworms thick enough on the blacktop that you could see your tracks after driving through them. If you have wheat that is emerged or about to emerge you need to actively scout for armyworms and you need to do so frequently (every few days). " Dr. Edwards calls this a very serious situation for anyone with wheat starting to germinate and emerge. Click on the LINK below and we have an OSU Fact Sheet that discusses treatment options for producers. Click here for more on scouting and dealing with Armyworms in your early planted wheat fields. | |
Texas Cattle Feeders See a Need for a Mandatory Animal ID System ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Early in the
Obama Administration, there was a lot of interest by Ag Secretary Tom
Vilsack in pursuing a national Animal ID strategy- he called for and held
a series of meetings around the country to gather input. What happened was a firestorm of criticism from smaller livestock operations as well as horse owners calling anyone who wanted a mandatory program evil. The push against any sort of organized Animal ID program was extremely strong- and the lawmakers who had demanded a mandatory program fell silent, as did the Administration. More recently, the Obama Administration has proposed a voluntary program that will be administered at the state level- with lots of questions not resolved about how to share data from state to state in a timely manner as well as who pays for this mandate. At the recent National Cattlemen's Beef Association Legislative
Conference, fellow farm broadcaster Andy Vance of Ohio caught up with Mike
Engler, Chairman of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. TCFA, based in
Amarillo, is normally lined up very closely with positions advocated by
the NCBA- but not on Animal ID. Engler, of Cactus Feeders, says his group
believes the need for an effective and extremely quick animal disease
traceback system cries out for a mandatory program. Click here for our Beef Buzz with Mike Enger of Cactus Feeders on Animal ID | |
2008 Disaster Application Deadline Approaching Rapidly ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Agricultural
producers who had disaster-related losses in 2008 are encouraged to visit
their local Farm Service Agency office before September 30 to apply for
benefits through the Supplemental Revenue Assistance (SURE) Program.
Francie Tolle, executive director for Oklahoma Farm Service Agency, hopes producers take the deadline seriously. "2008 was a tough year for some of our Oklahoma farmers, and the SURE program is a good way to recoup some of those losses," Tolle said, "but unless that producer comes in to talk with one of our offices by the 30th, it's a lost opportunity." Learn more by clicking on the LINK below- we have more details and a link to the State FSA webpages within our story that is found on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com. Click here for details on the final days of SURE signup for the 2008 crop year. | |
OSU'S Food & Ag Products Center Reappoints Board Members ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Five members
of the Industry Advisory Committee of Oklahoma State University's Robert
M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center have been reappointed to
the committee for a three-year term. Gary Crane, Ralph's Packing Co.; Danny Dupree, Bar-S Food Co.; Virgil Jurgensmeyer, J-M Farms; Rodger Kerr, Southwest Technology Center; and Bill Wiley, BC Solutions, will continue their services to the 16-member advisory committee. "The Industry Advisory Committee offers counsel, makes decisions and takes leadership action to ensure the FAPC makes sound short- and long-term plans to accomplish its mission and objectives," said Roy Escoubas, FAPC director. "We are glad to see the return of these members to the committee and looking forward to the next three years of their services." In addition to Crane, Dupree, Jurgensmeyer, Kerr and Wiley, members of the committee include Gary Conkling, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill; Dick Davis, Agri-Services, Oklahoma Department of Corrections; John Griffin, Griffin Foods; David Howard, Unitherm Food Systems; Tommy Kramer, Durant Economic Development Authority; David McLaughlin, Advance Food Co.; Allen Mills, Reasor's; Paul Schatte, Head Country Food Products; Jill Stichler, Redland Juice Co.; John Williams, Chef's Requested Foods; and Robert Whitson, ex-officio, OSU vice president, dean and director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. | |
New USDA Study Shows Efficiency Increases in Corn Ethanol Energy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A report
released Tuesday by the USDA's Office of Energy Policy and New Uses shows
a net energy gain in corn-based ethanol. The report, which surveyed corn
growers in 2005 and ethanol plants in 2008, concluded that corn ethanol
has seen significant increase in production efficiency. The findings show
for every British Thermal Unit of energy required to make corn ethanol,
2.3 BTU's of energy are now produced creating nearly two and a half times
the amount of energy needed to produce it. This number has increased from
1.76 in 2004.
"The National Corn Growers Association is extremely pleased with the results of this study," said NCGA First Vice President Bart Schott. "But this report really only shows what growers have already known, that ethanol has increased in efficiency much like corn growing. Over the past 20 years, yields have increased by 39 percent allowing growers to produce growing supplies of corn for both food and fuel using only three percent more land. We see this survey as a positive step forward in reaffirming that ethanol provides a viable energy option available to us right now." The report also explains that corn ethanol has evolved from an energy sink, a product that used more energy than it produced, to a substantial net energy gain in the present. American ethanol production has grown from a mere 175 million gallons in 1980 to an expected 12 billion gallons in 2010. This production represents nearly 10 percent of the American gasoline supply. As with corn, ethanol yield continues to improve while making better use of inputs like water and energy. | |
Ranchers Bull Sale At Express Ranches Coming October 4th ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Express
Ranches Rancher's Bull Sale is scheduled for Monday, October 4, 2010 at
the ranch just north of Yukon, Oklahoma. One thousand plus head to sell, including: 250 Angus Bulls 50 Fall Angus Pairs (20 Reg. & 30 Comm.) 700 Commercial Spring-Bred Heifers In the sale catalog for this huge sale- I thought the bull development
strategy of Express Ranches was most interesting- "All bulls are developed
on a high roughage ration from weaning until sale time in large traps
allowing them to get out and be bulls! We feed to obtain optimum
performance while not sacrificing longevity! While extreme weights are
impressive, we feel keeping cattle sound and functional are equally
important. We have spent countless hours developing a feeding program that
not only allows us to amplify the genetic potential, but keeps the cowman
in mind that purchases him. All Bulls are on a 40-45% hay-based ration fed
not over 3% of body weight. After all scan data is retrieved, bulls are
backed off of feed, and hardened up to first turn out condition. This
allows us to eliminate the bulls that fail to respond when conditioning
for the upcoming sale. You can call Express Ranches at 405-350-0044 or click on the LINK below for the Express website and complete details about the cattle to be sold October 4th at Express. They even have a video of many of the top bulls that will sell that day. Click here for the sale details about the Ranchers Bull Sale of Express Ranches | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, American Farmers & Ranchers, KIS Futures and Big Iron Online Auctions 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- FREE! 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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We've had
requests to include Canola prices for your convenience here- and we will
be doing so on a regular basis. Current cash price for Canola is $8.20 per
bushel- as of the close of business yesterday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $8.80 per bushel- delivered to
local participating elevators that are working with PCOM.
Here are some links we will leave in place on an ongoing basis- Click
on the name of the report to go to that link: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|