From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 7:48 AM
To: Hays, Ron
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday January 20, 2011
A service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Oklahoma Soy Expo a Success!
-- Watch Your Downside Risk as Most Ag Prices Are Historically High
-- Lucas, Chambliss and Roberts Tell USDA to Get Back to Sound Science on Roundup Ready Alfalfa
-- Save $25 by Registering by CLose of Business TODAY for the 2011 Oklahoma No Till Conference
-- Talking Cattle on Feed and Feedlot Profitability on Today's Beef Buzz
-- CFTC Approves Changes in Kansas City Hard Red Winter Wheat Contract
-- Biobased Product Label Rolled Out by USDA
-- 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 brand new website!

And we are proud to have P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy as one of our regular sponsors of our daily email update. P & K is the premiere John Deere dealer in Oklahoma, with ten locations to serve you, and the P & K team are excited about their new Wind Power program, as they offer Endurance Wind Power wind turbines. Click here for more from the P&K website.

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.


Oklahoma Soy Expo a Success!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A good crowd showed up for the 2011 Oklahoma Soybean Expo in Stillwater- as the Expo slipped into town the day before snow and ice would have shut it down. Several OSU Plant and Soil Science Department representatives spoke to the crowd, as did the new Secretary of Agriculture for the state of Oklahoma, Jim Reese.

One of the sponsors of the Soybean Expo was the Oklahoma Soybean Board. We talked with their Chairman, Steve Wooderson of Kay County, about the Board and their priorities in how to best spend checkoff monies generated by the sale of soybeans in the state of Oklahoma.

The website of the Oklahoma Soybean Board speaks of the mission of the group chaired by Wooderson- "From uncovering solutions to yield-robbing pests and diseases to building demand for soybeans, the Oklahoma Soybean Board and the soybean checkoff work to increase the profitability of soybean production in Oklahoma."

Click on the LINK below to go and hear our conversation with the Chairman of the Oklahoma Soybean Board, Steve Wooderson.

Click here for our conversation with Steve Wooderson of the Oklahoma Soybean Board


Watch Your Downside Risk as Most Ag Prices Are Historically High
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get some professional advice in marketing your crops in 2011- that's the recommendation of Dan Smith with Top Third Marketing based in Chicago. Smith was a lead speaker at the 2011 Oklahoma Soybean Expo in Stillwater on Wednesday. He says that the wild swings in commodity prices means you have to pay more attention to marketing than ever before. Smith says it is especially important for farmers to protect their downside with current prices for most crops at historically high levels.

We also talked with Smith about many Delta farmers that have left cotton for corn or soybeans who are reluctant to go back into cotton, the impact of Commodity Funds on ag prices, the food versus fuel debate and the impact of oil prices on ethanol.

Click on the LINK below to go and take a listen to a very interesting conversation that we had with Sam, Dan and yours truly.

Click here for our webstory with Dan Smith of Top Third Marketing at the Oklahoma Soy Expo in Stillwater


Lucas, Chambliss and Roberts Tell USDA to Get Back to Sound Science on Roundup Ready Alfalfa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
U.S. Representative Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting the department to return to a science based regulatory system for agriculture biotechnology and to deregulate without conditions genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa.

In the letter, the members point out that while science strongly supports the safety of GE alfalfa, USDA's actions politicize the regulatory process and could set a harmful precedent for open pollinated crops in the future.

We have the text of the full letter linked below which is a part of our webstory on this subject. Congressman Lucas, as the Chairman of the House Ag Committee, has a public forum on this subject planned for later today- click here for the House Ag Committee website and their page for live audio from their hearing rooms- we have been told they will have live audio available from that forum.

Click here for our story on this call by Congressman Lucas for USDA to do right by sound science when it comes to Roundup Ready Alfalfa


Save $25 by Registering by CLose of Business TODAY for the 2011 Oklahoma No Till Conference
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Farmers and ranchers seeking to benefit from the latest developments in no-till cropping systems should register now to attend the Feb. 1-2 Oklahoma No-Till 2011 Conference.

"A key advantage of attending the conference is the opportunity to interact with both technical specialists and experienced no-till farmers," said Chad Godsey, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension cropping systems specialist. "It's a great way for producers to get answers to any number of questions they may have about no-till systems."

The conference will take place at Norman's National Center for Employee Development (NCED), located at 2801 State Highway 9 East. Conference sessions will begin at 8 a.m. on both days and will finish mid- to late-afternoon.
Cost of attending the conference is $125 per person if registering by Jan. 20, and $150 per person thereafter.

More details on the conference are available by clicking on the LINK below- including how you can register today and save $25 on the Registration fee for the two day event.

Click here for more on the Oklahoma No Till Conference coming February First and Second.


Talking Cattle on Feed and Feedlot Profitability on Today's Beef Buzz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The January first Cattle on Feed Report will continue to show larger placements into feedlots compared to one year ago- at least that seems to be the concensus of several analysts we have heard from in advance of the Friday report.

One of those cattle market watchers is Rich Nelson of Allendale. He offers the following thoughts about this Friday's report. "December Placements are expected to be 2.8% larger than last year. This represents five months in a row of higher placements. The industry knows Placement levels will switch to below last year levels soon. The only argument is in which month that change happens. Availability of calves and feeders is a problem and it will get even worse

Allendale anticipates a Marketing total 2.9% larger than December of 2009. That comes after a 5.1% adjustment lower due to one less weekday and one more Saturday than last year. Weekly slaughters will remain larger than last year through spring then will move to even with 2010 by summer. After summer, slaughters will clearly be below previous year. Rich Nelson concludes that total Cattle on Feed as of January 1 will be 3.0% larger than last year.

We have Jim Robb offering his take on the Cattle on Feed Report coming Friday afternoon- as well as details of a LMIC report on how the profits flowed back to feedlot operators in calendar year 2010. Click on the LINK below to jump to today's Beef Buzz for all of that.

Click here for our Beef Buzz with a Cattle on Feed Preview- plus the LMIC Report on Feedlot Financial Health from their 2010 Business.


CFTC Approves Changes in Kansas City Hard Red Winter Wheat Contract
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Kansas City Board of Trade received Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approval for amendments to the KCBT's Hard Red Winter wheat futures contract as of the close of business yesterday. All of the changes will take effect with the September 2011 contract.

There are changes in storage rates for wheat in and out of the harvest season. However, the changes that the KCBT got okayed from the CFTC that has received the most attention is the protein levels needed for wheat to be deliverable.
Effective with the September 2011 futures contract, deliverable grades of HRW shall contain a minimum 11% protein level. However, protein levels of less than 11%, but equal to or greater than 10.5% are deliverable at a ten cent (10¢) discount to contract price. Protein levels of less than 10.5% are not deliverable.

In addition- "Effective September 1, 2011, the vomitoxin restriction shall be reduced from 4 ppm (parts per million) to 2 ppm."

The full listing of these changes are available by clicking on the LINK below.

Click here for more on the CFTC approval of KC Hard Red Winter Wheat Contracts.


Biobased Product Label Rolled Out by USDA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's BioPreferred program announced on Wednesday that a final rule to initiate a voluntary product certification and labeling program for qualifying biobased products will be published in the Federal Register today. This new label will clearly identify biobased products made from renewable resources, and will promote the increased sale and use of these products in the commercial market and for consumers.

"Today's consumers are increasingly interested in making educated purchasing choices for their families," said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. "This label will make those decisions easier by identifying products as biobased. These products have enormous potential to create green jobs in rural communities, add value to agricultural commodities, decrease environmental impacts, and reduce our dependence on imported oil."

Biobased products include everything from carpet to foam insulation to lip care and a whole lot more. We have the USDA Biopreferred webpage linked below for more details on this effort by the Department to promote a wide variety of biobased products.

Click here USDA's view of Biopreferred Products.


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!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 Wednesday, while the 2011 New Crop contracts for Canola are now available are $10.55 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:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone: 405-473-6144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forward email

This email was sent to ron.hays@radiooklahoma.net by ron@oklahomafarmreport.com |  

Oklahoma Farm Report | 10700 Whitehall Blvd | Oklahoma City | OK | 73162