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!

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.

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.

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Some of those key bills include: SB530- The Livestock Lienholders Bill was signed into law earlier in the week by Governor Mary Fallin.

HJR 1002 by Rep. David Dank, proposes a constitutional amendment reducing from 5 percent to 3 percent the maximum amount by which the fair cash value of any locally assessed real property. It has been approved by the Legislature and will go to a vote of the people in the fall of 2012.

HB1249- This is bill commonly known as the Trespass bill- it is a measure that basically says that if you have livestock or a dog wander onto private proerpty, you will need to get the permission of the land owner before you go after those animals. This measure has gone through the process and has been signed by the Governor.

Click on the LINK below for more on what has happened of interest to the beef cattle industry- and you will be able to take a listen to our conversation that we had with Scott Dewald this past Friday.

Click here for a look at our first of May Legislative Update wtih Scott Dewald of the OCA

The nearly 2 inches of rain one weekend ago likely will start some foliar diseases, but the only place I could find significant leaf rust in trials around Stillwater was in a strip of Jagalene that was planted early last fall. This strip, which has leaf rust in the 25-­‐65% range on the flag leaves, was also hit hard with powdery mildew and BYD. Scattered leaf rust pustules can be found in susceptible varieties in other fields/plots.

According to Dr. Bob Hunger, the wheat disease specialist for the state of Oklahoma- the Panhandle also has very little going on- "Rick Kochenower (Area Res & Extn Spec - Panhandle) confirmed that only virus diseases such as BYD, WSM, etc. are appearing in the panhandle."

Click here for the rest of the report that Dr. Hunger filed on Friday- which includes some disease updates from surrounding states.

"Severe weather this spring is making things very difficult for many ranchers and farmers. Whether it's wildfires in the Southwest, flooding or tornados in the Midwest, Plains, and Southeast, learning about our FSA disaster programs is an important first step for producers in the recovery process," said Dolcini.

FSA administers several important programs that help producers recover from disaster damage and livestock deaths. Among the key programs available to address impacts from disasters are the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP), the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP), the Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Program.

Check with your local FSA office to gauge your eligibility for any of these programs- or click on the LINK below for more info- including a lnk in our story over to the FSA website.

Click here for more on this story about programs designed to give relief for farmers and ranchers hit hard by Mother Nature

Canola U will feature a morning of sessions at the PCOM plots on the west side of Oklahoma City- and then after lunch at the Convention Center- a couple more sessions are planned in the afternoon.

There will be a discussion of varieties, weed and pest control and harvesting and marketing options as well. Canola U is a joint effort of Monsanto and High Plains Journal- click on the LINK below for more details and the phone number to call to register- registration is free but they really need to know if you are coming for the meal count.

Click here for more on Canola U on Tuesday in Oklahoma City

Not so fast- A new study conducted in Europe cautions that any shift from conventional cage housing for layers to alternative housing such as aviary or floor housing requires not only maintenance of salmonella surveillance programs but optimization of them due to an increased risk of bird-to-bird and egg contamination in the alternative systems.

According to the study's lead scientist, Dr. Jantina De Vylder in the department of pathology, bacteriology and avian diseases, the researchers sought to identify the effect of housing systems on the spread of salmonella in a group of layers and on internal egg contamination.

She said they found that aviary and floor systems present a greater risk of bird-to-bird transmission of Salmonella enteritidis (SE) than conventional and colony-type/enriched cages do. She said they also found that a higher number of eggs were internally contaminated by SE when produced in aviaries than in cage or floor systems.

Click here to read Rod's full story on this study- which could help undermine the credibility of the HSUS in their drive for free range chickens.

Most of the touring will be in Kanas, the nation's largest wheat producing state. However, the tour will include reports from southern Nebraska, eastern Colorado and Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma numbers will be compiled on Wednesday morning during the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association spring meeting in Oklahoma City. Click here for our report from the end of last week where Dr. Kim Anderson is talking in the ballpark of just 70 million bushels being produced in Oklahoma this year- versus 126 million bushels a year ago.
We will be at the report session in Oklahoma City this Wednesday- and will be tweeting from there as the numbers come together from crop scouts from across the state. The Oklahoma number will be reported on Wednesday evening in Wichita at that stop of the Kansas tour.

Also this week, the 2011 Oklahoma FFA Convention cranks up on Tuesday and runs through Wednesday evening. We plan on arrivng in time on Wednesday morning to hear National President Riley Pagett adress his home state's convention- Riley is a member of the Woodward FFA Chapter. Click here for details of the 2011 meeting that will be happening in downtown OKC.

Land Judging practice for 4-H and FFA teams from more than 30 states will be happening on Tuesday and Wednesday- then the 2011 National Land Judging Contest will have these young people judging for real on Thursday. Click here and read more about this annual rite of spring for central Oklahoma.

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

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.