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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday March 3, 2011
A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
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-- Wheat Growers Focus on Four Priorities at the 2011 Commodity
Classic
-- Sorghum Closer to Being on Par with Corn Than Ever Before
-- Congress Trying to Beat the Clock on Duplicative Permitting of
Pesticide Use
-- Final Weather Stats for February Feature the Extremes of Mother
Nature
-- Take a Listen to Our Extended Visit with former Trade Ambassador
and Ag Secretary Clayton Yeutter
-- Cattle Market Sitting on Its Fundamentals
-- Wichita Falls Ranch and Farm Expo Opens Up Next Wednesday
-- 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! 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. | |
Wheat Growers Focus on Four Priorities at the 2011 Commodity Classic ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wheat growers
who volunteer to represent their state producer organizations on the
National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) Board of Directors are in
Tampa, Fla., this week to meet as part of the 2011 Commodity Classic.
Pressing topics expected to come to the forefront of discussions include looming federal budget cuts, the future of farm policy, concerns about the Obama Administration being too slow in allowing Free Trade Deals to come to Congress for ratification and efforts to combat overreaching environmental regulations. We talked with Dana Peterson, Chief Executive Officer of the organization about these four priorities as the meeting was getting ready to roll here in Tampa- and you can hear our full conversation about all of these topics with Dana by clicking on the LINK below. Policy meetings began yesterday for NAWG- continuing today and will culminate with a Board of Directors meeting on Saturday afternoon. | |
Sorghum Closer to Being on Par with Corn Than Ever Before ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sorghum prices
are trading at a relatively small discount to corn as we begin the 2011
planting season for spring planted crops- and that is an encouragement to
Tim Lust, Executive Director of the National Sorghum Producers, on the eve
of the start of the 2011 Commodity Classic.
This is the third year that sorghum producers have joined with the three other organizations that make up the Commodity Classic. The event, getting underway officially today, will draw farmers from not just the sorghum industry, but also producers that raise wheat, corn and soybeans. We talked with Tim Lust here in Tampa about some of the key things that sorghum producers will be discussing during their time here at the 2011 Classic- and you can hear that conversation by clicking on the LINK below. | |
Congress Trying to Beat the Clock on Duplicative Permitting of Pesticide Use ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reps. Bob
Gibbs (R-OH), Jean Schmidt (R-OH), and Joe Baca (D-CA) on Wednesday
introduced HR872, a bipartisan bill to reduce the regulatory burdens posed
by the case National Cotton Council v. EPA (6th Cir. 2009). Joining in
this effort as original cosponsors were House Agriculture Committee
Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK), as well as Reps. Collin Peterson (D-MN), John
Mica (R-FL), and Mike Simpson (R-ID).Under the court ruling, pesticide users, which include farmers, ranchers, forest managers, state agencies, city and county municipalities, mosquito control districts, and water districts, among others would have to obtain a duplicative permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for the use of pesticides. Pesticide applications are already highly regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The order of the court goes into effect on April 9, 2011. At that time,
pesticide applications not covered by a National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit are subject to a fine of up to $37,500
per day per violation. In addition to the cost of compliance, pesticide
users will be subject to an increased risk of litigation under the citizen
suit provision of the CWA. Oklahoma Congressman Lucas- who is Chairman of the House Ag Committee,
believes that the court ruling was a result of the judge involved in the
decision being uninformed about how pesticides are already heavily
regulated. He is hopeful that the legislation can be in place to beat the
April 9th deadline. Click here for more on the eforts to clarify the Clean Water Act as it relates to pesticide use. | |
Final Weather Stats for February Feature the Extremes of Mother Nature ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In a state
accustomed to extreme weather, February was a bit startling to even the
most seasoned veteran of Mother Nature's whimsy. The roller coaster ride
began on the month's first day with a crippling blizzard and ended on its
last with tornado warnings. The month was peppered with records, including
the state's all-time lowest minimum temperature and greatest 24-hour
snowfall total. Those extremes occurred amidst the larger backdrop of an
intensifying drought across the western two-thirds of the state.
The month's first 10 days brought three separate snowstorms and a prolonged visit with arctic air. The first storm combined heavy sleet and snow with winds of over 60 mph to produce blizzard conditions over much of the state. Tulsa set a record for its snowiest day ever with 13.2 inches on the first. Oklahoma City reported 12.1 inches to set the record for its snowiest day ever in February. Totals of 10-15 inches were common across the northeast with 1-6 inches reported in southern Oklahoma. Another 2-6 inches fell across the eastern half of the state on the fourth before a more powerful storm system moved in on the ninth. That storm dumped over 20 inches of snow in the northeast, including 27 inches in less than 24 hours at Spavinaw, breaking the state's all-time 24-hour snowfall record. The final epitaph of those three storms was remarkable. Preliminary reports indicate approximately 40 inches of snow fell in some areas in the northeast. The 22.5 inches of snow ranks February as the snowiest of any month in Tulsa's history and helps its seasonal total of 26.1 inches to rank as the most on record as well. Oklahoma City's final total of 18.9 inches shatters its previous February record of 12.9 inches from 1913. The snow cover on the 10th combined with calm winds and clear skies to drop temperatures into territory never before seen in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Mesonet site at Nowata reached 31 degrees below zero, shattering the record for lowest temperature ever recorded in the state. The previous record of 27 degrees below zero was set three times previously at different locations in Oklahoma's first half-century of statehood, most recently at Guthrie in January 1947. | |
Take a Listen to Our Extended Visit with former Trade Ambassador and Ag Secretary Clayton Yeutter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Clayton
Yeutter is one of the most knowledgable people on agricultural and trade
policy in the world- and he was a keynote speaker ag the Ag Issues Forum
sponsored by Bayer Crop Sciences this week in Tampa.
After his presentation, we sat down and spoke with him for almost twenty minutes- with topics ranging from politics to the writing of the next farm bill to trade issues. We spent a good bit of our time talking trade, including Dr. Yeutter's critique of the Obama Administration and their reluctance to move forward with any of the three George W Bush trade deals left for the new President- those Agreements with South Korea, Columbia and Panama. We also talked dairy policy, the beef trade issue with Japan and how to deal with China. It's afairly long interview- but we talk about a lot of stuff and get the insight of one of the most intelligent men I have ever worked with- Dr. Clayton Yeutter. Click on the LINK below to go and take a listen. Click here for more on ag and trade issues as seen by Clayton Yeutter. | |
Cattle Market Sitting on Its Fundamentals ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jim Robb with
the Livestock Market Information Center says that the current sky cash
prices for all classes of cattle are at or very close to record levels-
and he contends that you can defend most of the price strengh you see in
cattle prices from the feedlots to the pastures on solid fundamentals.
We discuss the fundamentals of the cattle market, as well as gain some insight into what is going on with the competing meats of pork and poultry as well on today's Beef Buzz. The Beef Buzz is heard daily on great radio stations across our region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network- and can also be heard on our wonderful website- www.OklahomaFarmReport.Com. Previous Beef Buzz shows are up on the web- waiting for you to go and listen at your convenience. Click here to jump to our website and get a dose of Jim Robb talking cattle markets. | |
Wichita Falls Ranch and Farm Expo Opens Up Next Wednesday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's the
second year for Darren Dale and his team operating the Wichita Falls Ranch
and Farm Expo- and Darren tells us that he is excited about having a full
year to work on this year's event.
Darren tells us that the number of exhibitors has grown- and that several other features of this year's show have been improved as well.Over $5,000 in prizes will be given away to those who show up and register to win. And when you arrive, you'll find admission and parking will be free once again as well. The dates on this year's show is March 9 and 10- click on the LINK below to get more information- have a link to their official website and have a chance to hear our conversation with Darren Dale with the show about the 2011 Wichita Falls Ranch and Farm Expo. | |
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 $10.10
per bushel- as of the close of trade Wednesday, while the 2011 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $10.85 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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