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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 $12.60 per bushel-
2012
New Crop contracts for Canola are now available at
$12.76 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
Tuesday, April
3, 2012 |
Howdy
Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch
news update.
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Featured Story:
Cattlefax
Estimates "Pink Slime" Debacle Costing US Beef
Industry $15 to $20 Per Head in Lost Value- and
Will Cost Consumers in Long Run As
Well
All
the hubbub over Lean Finely Textured Beef or "pink
slime" comes at a cost both to producers and
consumers. Two respected commentators on the
economics of the cattle industry have weighed in
on the issue and say the disinformation campaign
will hit beef producers and consumers in the
pocketbook-hard.
Kevin
Good with CattleFax says that his
organization estimates that the loss to the value
of a slaughter animal is between $15 and $20 per
head. He adds that if this source of lean beef is
not utilized in the domestic pipeline- that there
will be a higher cost of ground beef that
consumers will have to pay- and that the lean
product to mix with beef trimmings that are 50%
beef and 50% fat will have to come from imported
sources- or by competing with the new value cuts
developed by the industry and grinding more of the
chuck and round into lean ground beef.
We
talked over this past weekend at the 135th Annual
meeting of the Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers
Convention with Kevin Good and you can hear the full interview by
clicking here.
In
addition, OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist
Dr. Derrell Peel says the
consequences of the "pink slime" controversy will
be disastrous to consumers if they don't start
looking at the science and getting past the
distasteful name for a perfectly healthy product.
"Rejecting
LFTB will have consequences that many consumers
will not like... This may well contribute to the
demise of the dollar menu at your favorite fast
food hamburger chain...whether they use LFTB or
not. This will also result in increased imports of
lean beef, which may be a concern or a consequence
that consumers do not like. Given concerns about
rising food prices, growing global food demand and
food security, we must use beef products in the
most efficient manner possible. LFTB is sort of
the modern equivalent of your grandmother boiling
the soup bones to make beef stock. She could not
afford to waste beef then and neither can we
today. We have the lowest relative food prices in
the world and the reason we do is because we
utilize processes like LFTB to capture the maximum
value of food production."
Click here for Dr. Peel's analysis
from this week's Cow Country News.
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Sponsor
Spotlight
It is great to have as a
regular sponsor on our daily email
Johnston Enterprises- proud to be
serving agriculture across Oklahoma and around the
world since 1893. Service was the foundation upon
which W. B. Johnston established the company. And
through five generations of the Johnston family,
that enduring service has maintained the growth
and stability of Oklahoma's largest and oldest
independent grain and seed dealer. Click here for their website,
where you can learn more about their seed and
grain businesses.
We are pleased to have
American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual
Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of
our daily update. On both the state and national
levels, full-time staff members serve as a
"watchdog" for family agriculture producers,
mutual insurance company members and life company
members. Click here to go to their AFR
website to learn more about their efforts to
serve rural America!
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National
Cotton Council President Mark Lange Calls Out
Grains and Oilseeds Over Farm Bill Money
Fight
Mark
Lange, President and CEO of the National
Cotton Council of America, spoke to growers this
last Friday about what he sees in store for the
new farm bill. He said that getting such a bill
passed is an enormous undertaking and that
producers are unanimous that they need a good bill
and they need it now. He says where the difficulty
comes in is whose definition of "good bill" do you
use?
However-
Lange says that perhaps the desire to get a farm
bill done this calendar year may be one of the few
things that the major commodity groups actually
agree upon at this point. During his speech
this past Friday to the Plains Cotton Growers in
Lubbock, Lange reiterated the mantra of those who
represent the crops grown mostly in the south that
"one-size-fits-all doesn't work."
And
clearly- he threw down the gauntlet with a
bluntness that has not been heard from a commodity
group head here in 2012. And that bluntness boils
down to the finite number of dollars left to write
the 2012 bill. "But the commodity groups
themselves have made it a little difficult on
Congress because the commodity groups aren't
giving the Congress a unified voice. And I don't
mind telling you, because I speak for
cotton--that's my job--that some grains and oil
seeds are trying to take your money. And not just
our money, but they're trying to take the money
that's in the baseline for rice and peanuts and
cotton in order to enrich their revenue programs.
If they think we're just going to roll over and
say 'Oh, yeah, that's just fair,' I don't think
so. So Congress comes to us and says you really
need to give us better direction, but I'm sorry,
as long as the grains and oil seeds are
going to try to steal several hundreds of millions
of dollars annually in support from rice, peanuts
and cotton to enrich their programs, we're not
going to speak with a single voice. It's not going
to happen."
Read more of Mark Lange's perspective
on the farm bill, and listen to his full address
to cotton producers by clicking
here.
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Crop
Weather Update: Warmest Oklahoma March on
Record Speeds Small Grain Growth
March
ended this past week as the warmest March on
record with an average temperature of 59.4
degrees, over nine degrees above normal, according
to the Oklahoma Climatological Survey.
Wheat
and canola conditions across the state continued
to improve and progress was ahead of normal for
most stages. All small grains and canola were
rated mostly good, with 22 percent of wheat and 19
percent of canola rated excellent. Wheat
jointing reached 85 percent complete by Sunday, 20
points ahead of the five-year average.
Canola blooming was 87 percent complete by week's
end, up 18 points from the previous week and 46
points ahead of last year.
Fifty-three
percent of the wheat crop was reported in good
condition, 22 excellent, 19 percent was in fair
condition and only six percent was in poor or very
poor condition.
Likewise,
53 percent of the canola crop was in good
condition, 23 percent was fair, 19 percent was in
excellent shape and five percent was rated as poor
or very poor.
Forty-nine
percent of wheat in Kansas was listed in good
condition, 32 percent was rated fair, 11 percent
was rated excellent, and eight percent was rated
poor or very poor.
Texas
wheat producers reported 33 percent of their crop
was in fair condition, 24 percent was classified
as good, ten percent was in excellent shape and 33
percent was in poor or very poor condition.
Click here for the latest USDA Crop
Weather Report for Oklahoma.
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Senators
Call For an End to the Destructive Death Tax
One
of the issues that continues to crop up in the
field hearings being held by the House Agriculture
Commitee is the death tax. Farmers, ranchers, ag
producers and small business owners across the
country are raising their voices for the tax's
repeal. Recently, Senator John Thune joined with
several of his colleagues introduced a bill to
repeal the tax permanently. This is an editorial
written by Sen. Thune, a Republican from South
Dakota:
I joined with 34 of my Senate
colleagues to introduce the Death Tax Repeal
Permanency Act (S 2242). This legislation will
permanently abolish the federal estate tax, better
known by ranchers, farmers, and family business
owners across America as the "death tax." I
believe the death tax is destructive, misguided,
and inefficient, and that our economy, small
businesses, family farms, and ranches that are
expected to be transferred to future generations
will benefit enormously from its
demise.
America's family businesses,
farmers, and ranchers were spared from the wrath
of the federal estate tax in 2010, but
unfortunately this was merely a short reprieve.
The current rate of 35 percent on estates worth
more than $5 million per individual expires at the
end of the year and will be raised to 55 percent
on estates worth more than $1 million. Successful
entrepreneurs and small business owners across
America are once again subject to a punitive tax
on their hard work, making planning and passing on
farms, ranches, and businesses to the next
generation even more difficult. As it stands
today, more than 70 percent of family businesses
do not survive to the second generation, and
nearly 90 percent of family businesses do not
survive to the third generation.
Click here to read more of Sen.
Thune's editorial on ending the death tax.
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Boxed
Beef, Finished Cattle Prices Down Again Last Week
- Audio with Ed Czerwien
In
this week's beef report, according to Ed Czerwien,
USDA Market News Office in Amarillo, Texas, said
we saw the choice cut market end the week of March
30 down once again. Choice ended the week at
$183.37 cwt, down about $4.00 from the previous
Friday. The total load volume was also lower last
week, indicating retailers are a little reluctant
right now to buy too far ahead.
As far as
the finished cattle trade last week, the trend was
a dollar lower with business in the Southern
Plains mostly at the $125 cwt mark. Business was
mostly $202 cwt in the meat.
The average
live weight of the cattle harvest from the Texas
Panhandle was 1,026 pounds, down about 16 pounds
from the previous week.
You can hear Czerwien's complete
weekly report by clicking here.
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EU
Policy Shuts Off Pumps on U.S. Biodiesel, Costing
Farmers $1.1 Billion
A
soy checkoff study shows a European Union
renewable-energy policy would ultimately cost U.S.
soybean farmers money by lowering U.S. soybean
prices.
The study, funded by the United
Soybean Board (USB), shows the EU's Renewable
Energy Directive, which currently excludes
biodiesel made from U.S. soybean oil in renewable
energy quotas, could decrease U.S. soybean prices
by as much as 35 cents per bushel. If left
unresolved, the regulation would cost U.S. soybean
farmers more than $1.1 billion per
year.
The checkoff contends the policy
unfairly singles out biodiesel made from U.S. soy.
USB Immediate Past Chair Marc Curtis says the
checkoff continues to work with the American
Soybean Association (ASA) on efforts to gain
inclusion for biodiesel made from U.S.
soy.
"The EU is the second-largest market
for U.S. soybeans, and that market is at risk due
to this regulation," says Curtis, a soybean farmer
from Leland, Miss. "We can use this study to show
allied organizations and the U.S. government how
much of an impact this regulation would have on
U.S. soybean farmers. It will also give the U.S.
government facts to demonstrate to the European
Commission that the regulation needs to be based
on sound science."
Read more about how the EU's policy
costs U.S. soybean farmers by clicking
here.
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State
Representative Phil Richardson of Minco Will Not
Stand for Reelection This
Fall
State
Rep. Phil Richardson announced
today his plans to retire from the Oklahoma House
of Representatives after this legislative session.
Richardson is the current Chairman of the Oklahoma
House Ag Committee. The Republican lawmaker is
from Minco.
"It
has been an honor to serve the people of House
District 56 and I look forward to seeing them
around the district as friends and neighbors,"
said Richardson. "I turned 70 this year and
decided it was time to return to my farming and
cattle operations and let someone else step up to
represent the district."
During
his tenure at the Legislature, Richardson has
focused on rural issues. He authored bills that
created the Feral Swine Control Act, preserved the
Oklahoma Wildlife Diversity Program, lowered the
cost of hunting licenses for minors, strengthened
trespassing laws, banned computer-assisted remote
hunting and permitted individuals to protect their
property and livestock from
wildlife.
With
the word out that Phil Richardson plans to step
down at the end of the 2012 session- praise for
the lawmaker quickly came from Roy Lee
Lindsey of the Oklahoma Pork Council.
"Rep. Richardson has done an outstanding job
representing his constituents and all of rural
Oklahoma during his 8 years in the legislature,"
said Lindsey. "As a livestock producer, farmer,
and a veterinarian, Dr. Richardson brought a
unique perspective to the legislature that will be
hard to replace. He has been an excellent chairman
for the House Agriculture, Environment, and
Wildlife Committee and co-chair of the Joint Water
Committee."
Click here for more on the Richardson
announcement on his retirement from his
service in the Oklahoma House of
Representatives.
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Check
the Calendar- Wheat Commission, Canola Field
Events, Cattle Sales and More
The monthly board meeting of the
Oklahoma Wheat Commission comes up tomorrow- it
will beat a building about a block south of the
office building they are in on Classen Blvd in
Oklahoma City- the meeting is set for 1 PM on
Wednesday morning in the Cameron Building, 2915
North Classen. Click here for their latest
agenda.
Go to our calendar pages by clicking here
and note that there are Canola Field Days planned
for both this week- today and tomorrow- as well as
next week- scroll down the listings to find a
location close to you. We will have a Canola TV
update out later today with Josh Bushong of OSU
with more details on the Oklahoma Oilseed
Commission sponsored field days planned for next
week.
We also have several
auctions that stretch from east to west in the
next few days- click here for our auction page
to review them all- ones coming up this weekend
include the McAlester Stockyards Replacement Bull
and Female Sale, the Ratcliff Ranches Female Sale
and the Sutphin Cattle Company Bull Sale.
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God Bless!
You can reach us at the following:
phone: 405-473-6144
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