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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.
Let's Check the
Markets!
Today's
First Look:
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.
Okla
Cash Grain:
Daily
Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- as reported
by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture.
Canola
Prices:
Current
cash price for Canola is $12.18 per bushel-
2012
New Crop contracts for Canola are now available at
$12.44 per bushel- delivered to local
participating elevators that are working with PCOM.
Futures
Wrap:
Our
Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio
Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler-
analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day.
KCBT
Recap:
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap-Two
Pager from the Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all
three U.S. Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on
Hard Red Winter Wheat and the why of that day's
market.
Feeder
Cattle Recap:
The
National Daily Feeder & Stocker
Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Slaughter
Cattle Recap:
The
National Daily Slaughter Cattle
Summary- as prepared by the USDA.
TCFA
Feedlot Recap:
Finally,
here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from
the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.
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Oklahoma's
Latest Farm and Ranch News
Your
Update from Ron Hays of RON
Wednesday, March 7,
2012 |
Howdy
Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch
news update.
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Featured
Story:
Oklahoma
Cattle Producers See Mandatory European Animal ID
Up Close in Ireland and
Scotland
During
our recent travels with Class XV of the Oklahoma
Ag Leadership Program, participants got an up
close and personal look at the current animal ID
program in place in European Union countries. OALP
saw the system at work in both Scotland and
Ireland- and talked to both beef and dairy
producers about its impact on their operations.
In Scotland, the group stopped at the
Lochurd Farm. It's a family farm operated by the
Noble family- and consists of about 1100 acres,
mostly grassland. Their farming operation includes
Suffolk and Cheviot sheep and British Blue Cattle.
They are primarily in the business of producing
animals for meat production, although they also
get a large wool crop off of their sheep annually,
too. We talked primarily with Gordon
Noble and got into quite a discussion on
the amount of paperwork an individual farmer faces
with the animal traceability program. Gordon
explained the system to the Class- and showed the
group an animal passport, which must stay with the
animal each step of his life- either for years as
a breeding animal- or until he or she reaches the
processing plant.
Gordon Noble says
that if you haul the animals off of your farm
without the papers right there in the truck with
you- you can face big fines from the federal
government. And if you should lose the passport
for your animal- you face a replacement cost of
over a hundred dollars US to replace it with a new
one. Noble says the tracking will remain just as
tight as 2012 unfolds, but that the system is
finally shifting away from a paper passport for
every single beef animal on your farm over to an
electronic based system.
Click here to hear today's Beef
Buzz- we visit with two of the Class members
to get their reaction to the very rigorous animal
ID scheme in Europe as opposed to the disorganized
efforts of the USDA for animal disease
traceability.
You can also read more about the
European animal ID system by
clicking here.
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Sponsor
Spotlight
Midwest Farm Shows is
our longest running sponsor of the daily farm and
ranch email- and they are busy getting ready for
the Southern Plains Farm Show
that comes up April 19-21, 2012. For
information on either an indoor booth or an
outdoor space, contact the great folks at Midwest
Farm Shows at (507)437-7969- or you can click here for the website for this
show coming to Oklahoma City this spring.
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 Wind Power program, as they offer
Endurance Wind Power wind turbines. Click here for the P&K
website- to learn about the location nearest
you and the many products they offer the farm and
ranch
community.
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New
CRP Program Draws Accolades From Sportsmen,
Conservation
Groups
Conservation
advocates, sportsmen and agriculture groups have
issued statements of support for the new
1-million-acre Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
initiative to preserve grasslands and wetlands
announced on Friday by Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack. Vilsack highlighted the new CRP
initiative at Cabela's sporting goods store in La
Vista, Neb., surrounded by boaters, hunters,
anglers, farmers, ranchers, land conservationists,
small business owners and others.
USDA's
CRP has a 25-year legacy of successfully
protecting the nation's natural resources through
voluntary participation, while providing
significant economic and environmental benefits to
rural communities across the United States. USDA's
Farm Service Agency (FSA), which administers CRP,
will set aside acres within the program for
specific enrollments that benefit duck nesting
habitat, upland birds, wetlands, pollinators and
wildlife.
Roger Wolf, Director of
Environmental Programs and Services, Iowa Soybean
Association said, "Iowa farmers support USDA's
using continuous sign-up of CRP to achieve greater
environmental benefits. With increasing global
demand for food putting pressure on our land and
water resources, this approach will give us the
best opportunity for productivity, cleaner water
and wildlife habitat."
Click here to read more responses to
the new CRP program or to access USDA's CRP Fact
Sheet.
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National
Bio and Agro Defense Center Still Supported by
Obama Administration- But Costs Skyrocket and
Timeline Slows
The
controversial Ag Disease Center planned for the
campus of Kanaas State University has yet to be
built- and in fact, a reporter from National
Public Radio who went to Manhattan in recent days
says it remains mostly just a large hole in the
ground, surrounded by "Keep Out" signs of the
federal government. The building is adjacent to
some of the College of Agriculture buildings- and
within sight of the K-State football stadium.
At one time, before Kansas won the
right to house the NBAF- Ft. Reno, Oklahoma was on
a short list of sites in the middle of the country
that was being considered by the Department of
Homeland Security. There were a lot of fears
raised by the Oklahoma livestock industry about
how large a catastrophe it would be if the Center
was built west of Oklahoma City and a disease like
Foot and Mouth Disease might escape. Oklahoma's
zeal for the center diminished- and Ft. Reno fell
out of the running.
While the livestock
industry waits on this new center to be built in
Kansas- USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack says the Obama
Administration remains committed to the project-
but that as we wait for the NBAF to be built, that
remedial repairs will have to be made to the Plum
Island Disease Center. In a news conference this
past Friday in Nashville at Commodity Classic,
Vilsack adds that Plum Island can be useful for a
while longer, but is not an acceptable choice for
this kind of work long term.
You can read more about the status of
NBAF as well as find links to a risk assessment
and an NPR story on the facility by clicking
here.
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Oklahoma
Supreme Court Reverses Decision Against
Tyson
The
Oklahoma Supreme Court Tuesday reversed a $10
million jury verdict against the Tyson Foods in
April 2010 and ruled the company is entitled to a
new trial in a case brought by contract chicken
producers in McCurtain County.
The case
involves 54 individuals and business entities that
sued Tyson Foods in association with contracts
under which they were to raise chickens owned by
Tyson on feed supplied by the company.
The
plaintiffs did not allege any contractual breach,
but asserted they had been targeted with poor
quality birds and feed because they refused to
upgrade their chicken houses.
In reversing
the decision- The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled
that: "1) under the facts presented, where
attorneys were advised that voir dire ( refers to
an oath to tell the truth) would be limited to
questions not covered in the juror questionnaire
and jurors gave incomplete, untruthful and/or
misleading answers in those documents, the
appellants are entitled to a new trial; and 2) a
poultry grower having no title to the chickens or
feed placed with the grower for fattening and
future marketing of the birds by the flock's
wonder is not an 'aggrieved consumer' for the
purposes of the Consumer Protection
Act."
The
Court concluded that "We realize the amount
of effort put into this litigation by the bench,
the bar, and the litigants. However, it goes
without saying that any party to an action is
entitled to have the case heard by fair,
impartial, and disinterested jurors. Furthermore,
a juror's concealment, whether intentional or
accidental, of information pertinent to prejudice
or bias, coupled with the parties' inability to
question the jurors on relevant issues is
sufficient to warrant a new trial."
As
you might expect- the Tyson folks are delighted.
They have issued a statement that says in
part "This decision affirms our position
that the trial in this case was so improperly
conducted that the verdict could not stand. The
family farmers who raise our chickens are vital to
our business and we want them to be successful.
Contrary to the claims made in the case, we abide
by the terms of the contracts we have with poultry
farmers and we strive to ensure all of them are
treated fairly."
Click here for the Supreme Court
Ruling issued this week out of Oklahoma City-
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Reducing
Food Waste Tops Agenda of Businesses for Social
Responsibility
At
the recent Bayer Crop Science Ag Issues Forum, one
of the attendees was Kai Robertson, director of
food, beverage and agricultural practices for
Businesses for Social Responsibility. Robertson's
organization advises about 300 companies on how to
adopt more sustainable business
practices.
One of the issues that tops the
organization's agenda is food waste. Robertson
says there is a tremendous amount of food that
could be recovered in the United States
alone.
"According to the EPA more than 67
billion pounds of food were put into landfills in
2010. That, by many estimates, is a low number
because we're missing some key data points. ....
Sixty-seven billion pounds, how many people could
that feed? We've got 47 million Americans who are
living below the poverty line who are struggling
to make ends meet. And if you
took that 67 billion pounds of food and did the
simple math, you'd be able to serve all those 47
million people four meals a day for the entire
year."
Robertson says there are numerous
reasons for 67 billion pounds of loss all the way
from farm to fork.
You can read more from Kai Robertson
or hear an interview with her by clicking
here.
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NFU
Calls on Congress to Include Voluntary Grain
Reserve Plan in 2012 Farm Bill- and on Obama
Administration to Defend COOL
Delegates
to the 110th Annual Convention of the National
Farmers Union passed three special orders of
business today, setting priorities for farm bill
negotiations and maintaining its support for
Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL).
NFU
delegates adopted a special order of business
calling for the inclusion of the Market-Driven
Inventory System (MDIS) in the 2012 Farm Bill. A
study of MDIS, commissioned by NFU, found that
over the next ten years, farmers and ranchers
would receive a slightly higher income under MDIS
compared to current policies.
"NFU
calls on Congress to enact a new federal farm bill
that uses MDIS as its central component to
maintain a return on the cost of production plus
an opportunity for reasonable profit for farmers
and ranchers," the statement says.
Delegates
also voted for a "special order" that demands the
Administration attempt to negotiate with Canada
and Mexico to settle their beef with the US over
our mandatory Country of Origin Labeling
Law. Should that fail, the USTR must appeal
the WTO decision because it is a frontal assault
on U.S. sovereignty, the transparency and
integrity of our domestic markets."
Click here for more on all three
special orders that were voted on and passed
by the delegates to the 2012 National Farmers
Union convention in Omaha.
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This
& That- 2012WheatWatch Pics, Rain Cometh and
So Does Hall- Coyote Hills Bull Sale
WheatWatch
2012 traveled into northeastern Canadian
County on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 and grabbed some
pictures of both wheat fields that we have taken
previously- as well as some new wheat fields as
well. The wheat has broken dormancy- is generally
past first hollow stem- and is sitting in ground
that looks to be on the dry side. We have
several pictures up on our webpage- click here for those photos as well
as the link to get on to our FLICKR page where
we have a complete set of pictures of the 2012
wheat crop from the time it was emerging from the
ground last fall till now. The following of the
2012 wheat crop as it develops is a service of the
Oklahoma Wheat Commission,
working hard for the Oklahoma Wheat
Producer.
Gary
McManus, our Associate State
Climatologist, says that we seem to have a full
fledged gullywasher coming for a good portion of
the state. "Looks like we have our first
really slow-moving upper-level storm of the spring
on tap for the next few days. With any luck, it
will sit out over the Four Corners area spinning
and pumping moisture up over Oklahoma from the
Gulf of Mexico. And apologies in advance for any
folks affected by possible flooding, but that
pretty much comes with the territory to get
springtime rains in Oklahoma. At least there is
not an indication of widespread severe weather
with this episode." Unfortunately, the
heavier rains will be in Eastern Oklahoma- and the
amounts of rainfall are more modest in the western
counties of the state- compared to eastern
Oklahoma. Click here for Gary's latest Oklahoma
OCS Mesonet Ticker for graphs and more when it
comes to rain that could be arriving later
today.
Arriving
Saturday is the 2012 edition of Hall-
Coyote Hills Spring Bull sale. The
Hall-Coyote Hills Ranch, All Black - All Polled
Bull Sale is scheduled for the ranch, one mile
west, two miles south and one mile west of
Chattanooga, Oklahoma on Highway 5.
The
sale will begin Saturday afternoon, March 10 at
1pm selling:
90
Black Polled Limousin and Lim-Flex Bulls
60
Fall Yearlings, 10 Purebred and 50 Lim-Flex (Angus
hybrid)
30
Spring Yearlings, all Lim-Flex
80
Homozygous Black, 70 homozygous Polled
Click here for more details and a
link that will take you to our auction
calendar- where you can jump on to the sale
catalog for this weekend's sale.
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God Bless!
You can reach us at the following:
phone: 405-473-6144
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