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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday December 13,
2010 A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- Governor Elect Mary Fallin Tells Oklahoma Wheat Growers- She Knows
Healthy Agriculture is Important to Oklahoma
-- The New Chairman of the House Ag Committee- Frank Lucas- Another
Headliner at the 2010 Oklahoma Wheat Growers Meeting
-- Congrats to Brett Carver for being named Mr. Wheat
-- Pawnee FFA Chapter Captures Livestock Handling Skills Championship
at Tulsa Farm Show
-- US Supply Demand Numbers Offer No Major Surprises
-- Tax Package Votes May Happen Today in US Senate
-- Beef Board Members Named by Secretary Vilsack
-- 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. One of the great success stories
of the Johnston brand is Wrangler Bermudagrass- the most widely planted
true cold-tolerant seeded forage bermudagrass in the United States. 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. | |
Governor Elect Mary Fallin Tells Oklahoma Wheat Growers- She Knows Healthy Agriculture is Important to Oklahoma ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The President
of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association told the annual meeting of the
organization on Saturday that to this point- the Governor Elect of the
state, Mary Fallin, has a perfect record with the organization. Jimmy
Musick told the group that Fallin promised wheat growers during the
campaign, that if she won the election, she would make an appearance at
their annual meeting here in December. She won, becoming the first female
Governor in the state's history, and she kept her promise by showing up-
and as she noted, showed up on time.
The Governor Elect seems to "get it" about the importance of agriculture as a part of the Oklahoma economy- as well as the importance of the rural lifestyle to many in the state as well. She emphasized multiple times during the speech to the OWGA that she believes Oklahoma agriculture is important- and that helping Oklahoma agriculture is one way to help Oklahoma achieve prosperity in the days to come. After her speech to the OWGA, we talked with her about several subjects, including the possibility that has been raised by some groups of creating a super environmental agency within the state. Earlier this month, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs called for taking all water quality functions out of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture and the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and giving them to the Department of Environmental Quality and then consolidating in the water board-basically setting up a state EPA. Ag interests have recalled for us a similar battle when the DEQ was first organized a few years back. Governor Fallin said that she would be counting on input from the industry's impacted by any government consolidation efforts, but she adds that all ideas will be on the table to find ways to help government be more efficient and work better. Click on the LINK below to read more of the Governor-Elect's appearance at the OWGA meeting- and to listen to our conversation with her on Saturday after she spoke. | |
The New Chairman of the House Ag Committee- Frank Lucas- Another Headliner at the 2010 Oklahoma Wheat Growers Meeting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The incoming
Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma Third District Congressman
Frank Lucas, told the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association on Saturday
afternoon that it was time for him to roll up his sleeves and get to work
as the start of 112th Congress nears.
So that's what he did- and then spent the next several minutes talking about his plans for the House Agriculture Committee for the next two years. While he does not know the exact makeup of his committee as of yet- he told the wheat producers that he was still trying to decide if there would be five or six subcommittees this coming year- he did indicate that there will be a learning curve for the almost 100 new members of Congress who will be sworn in the first week of January. Lucas says that he will use much of 2011 to educate those newer members of the House Ag Committee about the many different aspects of the 2008 Farm Law to prepare them to write in a bi-partisan way the 2012 farm bill early that year. We have posted his entire remarks to the OWGA online at our website, www.OKlahomaFarmReport.Com. Click on the LINK below for that webstory and a chance to listen to what Congressman Lucas is thinking about the next couple of years and how they might play out within the House Ag Committee. | |
Congrats to Brett Carver for being named Mr. Wheat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Oklahoma
Wheat Growers have been handing out an award that they call Mr. Wheat for
as long as I have been going to their annual meetings- several decades
worth- and the recipient this year was one of the premiere wheat breeders
in the US, Dr. Brett Carver of Oklahoma State University. The Mr.
Wheat award is designed to honor an individual within the wheat industry
that has made a positive impact on the business in the state- and has
improved the Oklahoma wheat industry because of that impact. Brett Carver
has most certainly done that, with several varieties released in recent
years from the OSU wheat breeding program that have improved wheat
production for those that are using them.
The wheat growers handed out several "honorary" wheat grower memberships- including one to Governor Elect Fallin and another to Congressman Lucas. They also honored outgoing Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach with their "Promoter of Wheat" award for 2010. Peach said his interest in wheat is nothing new- as he told the crowd that the Peach family had been growing wheat in what is now northwest Oklahoma since 1898. Peach has served the last eight years as the Secretary of Agriculture and all of the duties that goes along with that. We will have a lot more in the days to come from a multitude of other
speakers at the 2010 Wheat Growers meeting- a tip of the hat to Tim
Bartram for his work in lining up a most impressive program that was
superior to almost any other meeting I have been to in recent years that
had a focus on the wheat industry. Click here for pictures from the 2010 Oklahoma Association of Wheat Growers Meeting in Oklahoma City | |
Pawnee FFA Chapter Captures Livestock Handling Skills Championship at Tulsa Farm Show ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The team from
Pawnee FFA has won the 2010 Tulsa Farm Show Livestock Handling Skills
Contest over second place Madill FFA. Just a single point separated the
two top teams in this year's contest.Pawnee's team included Macey Skidgel, J.D. Steele and Chase Collins. Each team member received a commitment for a $250 scholarship and the Pawnee FFA Chapter receives a Priefert Cattle Chute (model S0191) for their winning efforts. The Pawnee FFA Advisor who coached his team to this Championship is Brian Skidgel. Second place team comes from Madill FFA, with their team made up of Levi Shelby, Turner Armitage and Shiann Burns. The second place team earned scholarships worth $200 per team member. We have details on the 3rd, 4th and 5th place teams as well on our website- plus the video of the winning team working one of their calves. Also at the link below- we have the link to our FLICKR set of pictures from the Friday Tulsa Farm Show- and we have pictures of all ten teams receiving their awards from Terry Detrick of the American Farmers & Ranchers midday Friday. | |
US Supply Demand Numbers Offer No Major Surprises ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The USDA
issued their monthly Supply Demand data this past Friday morning- and no
big surprises were included in this latest set of numbers.
According to the report- "U.S. wheat ending stocks for 2010/11 are projected 10 million bushels higher this month reflecting lower domestic use. Projected food use is lowered 10 million bushels on the latest mill-grind data from the U.S. Census Bureau which indicate flour extraction rates that are higher than the long-term average for a third straight year. With historically high wheat prices, millers continue to get more flour out of each bushel of wheat. Total exports are unchanged, but small shifts among classes result in higher projected exports of Hard Red Spring and White wheat and lower projected exports of Hard Red Winter wheat and durum. The projected marketing-year average price received by producers is narrowed 5 cents on each end of the range to $5.30 to $5.70 per bushel." As for the feed grains- "U.S. feed grain supplies for 2010/11 are virtually unchanged as a small increase in corn imports is offset by a reduction in barley imports both reflecting feed grain production changes for Canada this month. U.S. corn imports are raised 5 million bushels with record production reported for Canada. U.S. corn ending stocks are raised accordingly. Barley imports are lowered 5 million bushels with lower production in Canada and the slow pace of imports to date. U.S. barley food, seed, and industrial use is lowered the same amount as domestic beer consumption remains weak slowing demand for malting barley. The projected marketing-year average price received by U.S. corn producers is unchanged this month at $4.80 to $5.60 per bushel. Farm prices for barley and oats are both projected slightly lower based on prices received by producers to date." | |
Tax Package Votes May Happen Today in US Senate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Actual bill
language has not yet been released, but it is widely believed that the tax
package negotiated by the Obama Administration and congressional
Republicans includes language that for the next two years will extend the
2001 and 2003 tax cuts for all income levels, set the estate tax rate at
35% on assets in excess of $5 million for an individual or $10 million for
a couple and maintain the capital gains rate at 15%. The package also is
believed to contain provisions to reduce the Social Security tax by 2% for
2011, allow businesses to write off 100% of capital investments made in
2011 and extend unemployment insurance for 13 months. The package now
includes a one-year extension of the ethanol blender's credit, the ethanol
import tariff and the small producer's credit.
"The Texas Cattle Feeders Association is pleased that an agreement appears to have been reached on the estate tax and extension of many of the other Bush-era tax cuts, but we are disappointed and frustrated that Members of Congress and the Administration have apparently decided to thumb their collective noses at consumers and livestock producers by agreeing to continue the corn-based ethanol subsidies," said TCFA Government Relations Director Josh Winegarner. "Thirty years of support has created a mature corn ethanol industry that now needs to compete fairly in the marketplace. I can't think of any other industry where the federal government subsidizes production, shields the product from outside competition and creates an artificial market for the product by mandating its use. If they're really serious about ensuring competition in agriculture, maybe DOJ and USDA should start from within." Winegarner adds that the TCFA will continue to work with Senators and Representatives from their three state region (including Oklahoma) to strike the ethanol subsidy extension, which is projected to cost approximately $5 billion, from the final package. Meanwhile, ethanol supporters are relieved the credits are apparently in the package- Bob Dineen of the Renewable Fuels Association is quoted as saying the lawmakers who have added these credits back into the Obama-GOP deal have done the right thing- ""While this extension is not as long as we had hoped, it is a common sense approach that will ensure American ethanol production continues to evolve and new technologies commercialized. We urge Congress to move expeditiously to pass the legislation. Then, honest and good faith discussions about how we reform all energy tax policy, including for all oil and ethanol technologies can occur." | |
Beef Board Members Named by Secretary Vilsack ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forty nominees
for the Cattlemen's Beef Board have been announced by the USDA to serve
three year terms on the board that oversees the dollar per head beef
checkoff.
Three of the nominees are from Oklahoma. Tho three that are from
Oklahoma include Brett Morris, Brian Healey and Terry Detrick. Morris is a
daily farmer, operating Morrisland Dairy in Ninnekah. Terry Detrick currently serves as the President of the American Farmers
& Ranchers and has a cow-calf and stocker operation in Ames, Oklahoma.
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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 $9.40 per
bushel- as of the close of business yesterday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $10.10 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
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