From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2011 6:12 AM
To: Hays, Ron
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
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Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday January 17, 2011
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Midwest Farm Shows and Big Iron OnLine Auctions!
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-- Gary Sherrer Chosen to Serve as Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment by Governor Mary Fallin
-- US Beef Exports Surging While Pork Paces Ahead of Year Ago- November Numbers Released by USMEF
-- Uncle Sam and Ag Futures on Holiday Today- MLK Day.
-- Can wheat grain protein levels in Oklahoma be predicted ahead of time?
-- American Farmers & Ranchers Set 106th Annual Meeting February 18-19 in Norman
-- Research Can Yield a More Efficient and More Humanely Treated Pig
-- South Korea FMD Outbreak Has Resulted in Nearly 2 Million Animals Culled
-- 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 invite you to check out Big Iron Unreserved Online Auctions. Their next auction is Wednesday, January 26 - featuring Low Hour, Farmer Owned Equipment. Click here for their website to learn more about their Online Farm Equipment Auctions.

We are also excited to have as one of our sponsors for the daily email Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, with 64 years of progress through producer ownership. Call Brandon Winters at 405-232-7555 for more information on the oilseed crops they handle, including sunflowers and canola- and remember they post closing market prices for canola and sunflowers on the PCOM website- go there by clicking here.

And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the just concluded Tulsa Farm Show.. Click here for the Midwest Farm Show main website to learn more about their lineup of shows around the country, including the Southern Plains Farm Show next April in Oklahoma City.

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.


Gary Sherrer Chosen to Serve as Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment by Governor Mary Fallin
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Governor Mary Fallin announced on Friday she has selected Gary Sherrer to serve as secretary of environment.

Sherrer, a former state representative from southeast Oklahoma, served as caucus chairman, assistant floor leader and chaired the House Agriculture Committee during his tenure in the Legislature. He served as secretary of environment under former Governor Frank Keating and also was appointed the state's first secretary of agriculture by former Governor David Walters.

"Gary Sherrer brings with him to the job a wealth of experience and I know he's a tireless advocate for all of Oklahoma," Fallin said. "I look forward to having Gary serve in my administration as secretary of environment."

Early reaction from the Oklahoma farm and ranch community is positive. Scott Dewald of the Oklahoma Cattleman's Association called the appointment a great selection for rural Oklahoma- "We are very fortunate Secretary Sherrer has agreed to accept this important position. We have worked with Secretary Sherrer for many years and we look forward to working with him in this new capacity."

Sherrer currently serves as assistant vice president for external relations in Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. He will remain employed by OSU.

Click on the LINK below for the rest of the release from the Governor's office- he was selected early on to be on a special transition taskforce for then Governor Elect Fallin after her election in November.
Gary is truly one of the most gracious and thoughtful leaders I have ever worked with- Governor Fallin has picked well.

Click here for more details of Governor Fallin's Choice to be her Secretary of the Environment- Gary Sherrer.


US Beef Exports Surging While Pork Paces Ahead of Year Ago- November Numbers Released by USMEF
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November exports of U.S. pork and beef reached their highest monthly volumes in more than two years, according to results compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Pork exports totaled 177,203 metric tons valued at $443.4 million - increases of 5 percent in volume and 15 percent in value over November 2009. For January through November, exports were up 2 percent in volume (1.73 million metric tons) and 10 percent in value ($4.34 billion). The cumulative value total is just 4 percent below the all-time record pace set in the first 11 months of 2008. For the year, exports accounted for 23.6 percent of production with a per-head value equivalent of $43.61 ($44.80 in November alone). For the same period in 2009, exports equated to 22.5 percent of production with a per-head value of $38.42. In the record export year of 2008, the per-head value was $42.30.

The Beef export numbers are once again amazing. Beef export value in November was $389.5 million, an increase of nearly 50 percent over November 2009. By volume (101,323 metric tons), beef exports exceeded the year-ago level by 32 percent. For the first 11 months of 2010, exports were 18 percent above 2009 in terms of volume (964,369 metric tons) and 30 percent higher by value ($3.67 billion). The value total is about 1 percent ahead of the 2003 pace when beef exports went on to set a single-year record of $3.86 billion. Exports accounted for 11.6 percent of production with a per-head value equivalent of $150.36 ($178. 20 in November) - up dramatically from the 2009 totals of 9.8 percent and $117.80.

"November was clearly one of the best months on record for U.S. meat exports," said USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng. "With economies improving throughout the world, U.S. pork and beef are well-positioned for strong growth. We worked through some very difficult economic circumstances in 2009, but we're now seeing those persistent marketing efforts pay big dividends as exports are adding more and more value to every animal produced."

Click on the LINK below for country by country highlights of both the pork and beef export numbers for November of 2010.

Click here for our full story about the November meat export numbers from USDA.


Uncle Sam and Ag Futures on Holiday Today- MLK Day.
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It's a Federal holiday in observance of the birthday of Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King. That means most Federal government employees will be off today- as will the equity markets and the ag futures market.

Some of our livestock markets that normally operate on Monday will be open- and we anticipate market information to be flowing from those markets about as normal.

Ag Futures will have overnight trading resume this evening and open outcry kicks back in on Tuesday morning.


Can wheat grain protein levels in Oklahoma be predicted ahead of time?
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There are several outstanding articles in the latest Plant and Soil Science Newsletter that was sent out on Friday from the OSU Division of Ag Department- but the one that caught my eye is the one that had the title that I used in the headline for this story about protein levels. It was written by a team of OSU folks with the lead author Brian Arnall. They make reference to the Kansas City Board of Trade announcing a discount for low protein back in November of this past year. And they have good news for producers in how they answer the question that is above.

"Wheat protein is affected by weather, variety, and nitrogen fertility. Weather is beyond our control and variety is locked in at this point, so what can be done midseason to address grain protein? The answer is adequate nitrogen fertility. If N is not limiting, grain protein levels (even when yields are high) will not be below 11%."

You can click on the LINK below and read the rest of this article- as well as others on subjects like:

Top-dress N timing, source, and application
Once you decide how much N to apply to wheat, there are still the questions of when to apply and how to apply it. Read this article for some guidance.

Grazing intensity and grain yield
Ever wonder why some varieties seems to bounce back from grazing better than others? OSU student Dillon Butchee describes his research project and how it will help explain why this happens.

Click here to jump to our website for our story where you can download the PDF of the entire newsletter.


American Farmers & Ranchers Set 106th Annual Meeting February 18-19 in Norman
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The 2011 meeting of the AFR promises to be a spirited event, with Director elections drawing multiple candidates in all districts that are up for election. There are four candidates for the at-large spot on the Board. Current AFR Secretary Bobby Green is unopposed in his bid to be reelected- and the office of President is not up for election this year as Terry Detrick will continue as President for another year.

Perhaps the most interesting race to watch at the 106th Annual Meeting of the AFR/OFU will be the seat for the Northwest District Board Member. Three members are running- including former state Secretary of Agriculture Terry Peach. Running against Peach is Eric Bilderback of El Reno and Duane Shanks of Waynoka.

Considering and adopting policy will again be a top priority at the annual American Farmers & Ranchers Convention to be held February 18-19, 2011 in Norman. Serving on the AFR Policy Committee this year are Chairman Dustin Tackett, Ft. Cobb; James Covey, Custer City; Dwayne Danker, Wellston; Randy Gilbert, Tecumseh; Willa Mae McClure, Calvin; Norville Ritter, Alva; Marion Schauffler, Porter; Jeremy Scherler, Walters; and Jo Terry, Mangum. They will bring recommendations for the delegates to consider during the annual meeting.

Click here for more details and a link to a full schedule of the 2011 AFR meeting coming next month.


Research Can Yield a More Efficient and More Humanely Treated Pig
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Dr Paul Sundberg is the Vice President for Science and Technology for the National Pork Board. Sundberg is responsible for coordinating all work on science and technology issues within National Pork Board and the pork industry. Sundberg works to represent the industry's concerns to researchers, industry and government officials for pork safety, pork quality, swine health, animal care and human nutrition programs including PRV eradication, animal health and welfare policy development, food safety, HACCP, PRRS research, emergency preparedness and more.

We talked with Dr. Sundberg while he was in Oklahoma City this past week during the January board meeting of the National Pork Board about several of these areas that he has responsibilities in. One area that is of concern to Oklahoma pork industry interests is transporting piglets from Oklahoma to other states to be fed out. Oklahoma moves as many as 100,000 pigs each week out of state from our sow farms- and the talk in Europe of limiting how far a truck loaded with livestock can travel in one day before having to stop is of concern to Oklahoma producers.

Dr. Sundberg says that it's important that for this issue- and any issue having to do with animal agriculture- that we have sound science and a bit of common sense applied to the discussion. He cites a situation with pigs being transported in Europe. He told us about a animal welfare rule that was introduced that mandated a limited number of pigs that could be loaded into a truck and moved. The animal welfare advocates had no research backing their position of wanting to have fewer animals in the truck to limit crowding. Sundberg says that the problem was that the animal welfare position went too far the other direction. When they put a camera into the back of the truck it was found that the animals were bouncing around with every stop and start of the truck- and around every curve. There were not enough pigs in the truck to help brace them from the normal movement you would find in a transport vehicle. He says the bottom line is that sound science was not allowed to work out the right number- a number was picked out of the air and then applied to the situation- not knowing what the impact on the animals would be.

Click here to jump to our webstory to hear this story- and the rest of our conversation with Paul Sundberg of the National Pork Board.


South Korea FMD Outbreak Has Resulted in Nearly 2 Million Animals Culled
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According to the News Agency Xinhua- "South Korea said on Monday it has culled and buried nearly two million livestock as it grapples with the severest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). A total of 1,986,987 animals, including cattle, pigs, goats and deer, from 4, 155 farms nationwide have been culled and buried as of Monday, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
"The outbreak of FMD, first confirmed in Andong on Nov. 29 last year, is estimated to have inflicted losses of more than two trillion won (1.8 billion U.S. dollars)."

The report also updates the effort to vaccinate most of the remaining animals at risk in the country. "The country had moved to vaccinate a limited number of animals on Dec. 25 after initial quarantine efforts proved inadequate to contain the outbreak that has spread to most parts of the country.
"More than 2.13 million animals have been vaccinated so far with all resources being used to complete the administering of shots before the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Feb. 3 this year."


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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Let's Check the Markets!
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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 $10.00 per bushel- as of the close of trade on Thursday, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $10.45 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:
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler- analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day-
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.
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's market.
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- As Reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture. <
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Finally, Here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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