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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 $12.86 per bushel at the Northern
Ag elevator in Yukon as of the close of business
yesterday.
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
Thursday,
July 26,
2012 |
Howdy
Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch
news update.
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Featured
Story:
Farm
Bill Follies- House Leaders Still Shun Debate on
House Ag Committee Passed Bill But Extension is
Possible as is Stand Alone Livestock Disaster
Assistance
It's
hard to tell the players without a score card- and
events continue to unfold- and depending on your
perspective- they are coming either really fast or
in slow motion.
On
Wednesday, we listened to the Chairlady of the
Senate Ag Committee, Debbie
Stabenow, appeal for Plan A- which would
be for the House to take up the House Ag Committee
Farm Bill, pass it quickly and allow she and
Frank Lucas to go to Conference
in August to craft what Chairman Lucas has called
more than once the "ultimate farm bill." Click here to hear her full
comments- we posted them as an Ag Perspectives
Podcast yesterday. Stabenow said that talk
of an extension was still premature- and that
everyone would be better served with a full five
year bill.
David
Rogers with Politico.Com wrote yesterday
evening about the farm bill scramble- quoting
Chairman Frank Lucas as saying
"I do believe, just like past farm bills,
given a chance on the floor that we'll achieve the
coalition of the middle and move forward. But I
don't control the floor schedule and I'm asking
politely." Rogers says Lucas was seen in an
animated conversation on the House Floor with
Majority Leader Eric Cantor on
Wednesday. He also says that Lucas is
warming to the idea of a one year extension of
current farm policy- saying that could provide
some certainty to producers. based on the
latest in Politico- click here to read the full
article- that Republican leaders still have no
interest in bringing the Committee's bill to the
floor- at least not yet.
Click here for our Thursday morning
farm news as heard on the Radio Oklahoma
Network- we have audio from Stabenow as well as
Deputy Whip Tom Cole of Oklahoma-
who sticks up for his colleague from Oklahoma- and
says if the bill comes up- he sees it passing with
the bi- partisan vote. We also have audio
from our Colin Woodall interview where he offers
concerns about how many amendments might be
offered when the bill is brought to the floor-
which could result in a protracted floor fight
which could last for days if not weeks.
FINALLY- there is a Bloomberg report out from
last night that the House Republicans- including
Frank Lucas- are now working on a Livestock
Disaster package- and that could be what ends up
being voted on next week on the House floor.
Click here to read this latest
twistin the farm policy arena as the clock
runs out in advance of the August Congressional
Recess.
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Sponsor
Spotlight
We welcome
Winfield Solutions and
CROPLAN by Winfield as a sponsor
of the daily email- and we are very excited to
have them join us in getting information out to
wheat producers and other key players in the
southern plains wheat belt more information about
the rapidly expanding winter canola
production opportunities in Oklahoma.
CROPLAN has had three varieties in the winter
canola trials this year- all three Glyphosate
resistant- HYC115W, HYC125W and HYC154W. Click here for more information on
the CROPLAN lineup for winter
canola.
We
are also excited to have as one of our sponsors
for the daily email Producers Cooperative Oil
Mill, with 64 years of progress through
producer ownership. Call Brandon Winters at
405-232-7555 for more information on the oilseed
crops they handle, including sunflowers and
canola- and remember they post closing market
prices for canola and sunflowers on the PCOM website- go there by
clicking here.
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As
Congress Prepares for August Recess, NCBA's Colin
Woodall Keeps Tabs on Legislative
Progress
Cattle
industry insiders are watching a number of issues
very closely as Congress's August recess
approaches. Colin Woodall of the
National Cattlemen's Beef Association spoke with
Ron Hays at the Summer Cattle Industry Conference
being held in Denver.
Woodall said one of
the big issues that was resolved this week was the
House's passage of the Family Farms Preservation
Act. The bill bars the Department of Labor from
enacting proposed rules making it almost
impossible for children to work on the farm.
Woodall said the bill was necessary despite
reassurances from Labor Department that the rules
would not be promulgated.
"It still sends
a very strong signal to Secretary Solis and the
Department of Labor that they need to really
shelve this thing and never dust it off again.
This is something we've been working on for more
than a year now and really was a surprise to all
of agriculture, but agriculture mounted a huge
offensive to take this fight back to the
secretary. And because of that she announced back
in May that she was going to withdraw that rule.
This bill that passed the House, Mr. Latham's
bill, would just provide a little insurance to
make sure it stays on the shelf and doesn't see
the light of day again."
Colin
spoke at length on a number of issues. Click here to listen to our full
conversation.
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Farm
Bureau Concurs with Congressional Report Showing
Real Harm of Estate Taxes
The
American Farm Bureau Federation today said it
concurs with a Joint Economic Committee report
that details the financial harm posed by estate
taxes on family businesses. The JEC, a bipartisan
committee composed of members from the House and
Senate, issued its report, "Costs and Consequences
of the Federal Estate Tax," on Wednesday.
According to the report, there are
extensive costs associated with the estate tax in
terms of the dissolution of family businesses,
slower growth of capital stock and a loss of
output and income over time. This can be
particularly hard on farm families, who own 98
percent of the nation's 2.2 million farms.
"With the average age of a farmer being 58
years old, the estate tax creates even a steeper
barrier for young farmers and ranchers to take up
the profession at a time when farming is already
difficult to enter," said AFBF President
Bob Stallman.
Economists
on the Republican staff of the Joint Economic
Committee point out the "Death Tax," as some label
it, has robbed almost as much capital stock from
the U.S. economy as this tax has generated in
revenue in its 96 years of existence. The total
revenue produced by this tax in almost a century
is only $1.2 trillion, which would barely cover
the federal deficit during this budget year
alone.
You'll find more on this story by
clicking here.
The
other major ag player on the Death Tax issue-
NCBA- has also weighed in- you can hear
Colin Woodall on this subject by
checking out our interview with him that is found
earlier in this email.
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Early
Weaning Spring-born Calves Could Allow Cows to
Maintain Better Body Condition
In
the latest edition of the Cow-Calf Newsletter,
Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State
University emeritus Extension Animal Scientist
takes a look at the pros and cons of early
weaning.
The summer of 2012 has again
diminished pastures and harvested forages. Those
producers that still own spring calving cows that
are nursing calves should consider the option of
early weaning the calves to give the cows the best
opportunity to maintain some body condition going
into winter.South Dakota State scientists examined
this scenario (using mature cows) by comparing the
effect of weaning date on performance of the beef
cows. They weaned half of the cows at the time of
the first real cool spell (September 14). The
other half of the cows had their calves weaned at
a traditional time (October 23). The scientists
then monitored body condition and rebreeding
performance of the cows. Note that this study
included two different nutritional levels: 1) A
low group to mimic an early winter or a dry
summer; 2) A moderate group to mimic more ideal
summer and early winter seasons. Only the data for
those cows exposed to the low nutritional group
are presented here. They more nearly reflect what
may happen for young cows in a drought than will
the moderately fed cows.
This data
indicates that the 40 days earlier weaning allow
the cows to maintain more body condition score
(0.5 BCS) going into winter. More of the early
weaned cows were cycling at the start of the
breeding season, conceived early in the breeding
season and should wean heavier older calves the
following year. In addition a small amount of high
protein supplement (i.e. cottonseed meal or
soybean meal) will enhance the cow's ability to
utilize the declining quality of the late summer
forage and/or low quality grass hay. Therefore
allowing more body condition to remain on the
young cows before frost arrives. This combination
of management techniques should be a cost
effective way to slow the decline in re-breeding
rates of drought-stressed, spring calving
cows.
For more of Glenn Selk's
recommendations on early weaning spring calves,
click here.
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Oklahoma
Women in Agriculture and Small Business Conference
set for Aug. 9-10
Oklahoma's
Statewide Women in Agriculture and Small Business
Conference is open to all women from across
Oklahoma and will take place Aug. 9-10 at the
Moore-Norman Technology Center.
"The focus
of the two-day conference is to provide the latest
information on topics that empower women to solve
issues and concerns of importance to them, their
families and communities," said Damona
Doye, Oklahoma State University
Cooperative Extension farm management
specialist.
Cost is $50 per participant if
registering by Aug. 1 and $60 thereafter.
Registration includes two breakfasts, two lunches,
all refreshment breaks, conference materials,
post-conference training and a Taste of Oklahoma
reception on Thursday evening, Aug.
9.
Links to registration forms and
additional information are available by clicking here, or by calling
the OSU department of agricultural economics at
405-744-9836.
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Flap Between
NCBA and USDA Over Meatless Mondays Comes and Goes
Wednesday Afternoon
It
was a a story that came and went in a heartbeat-
but blood pressure levels were raised here in
Denver at the Summer Cattle Industry Conference as
this all unfolded.
It
started this week when the USDA posted on their
website statements embracing "Meatless Mondays"
which is a concept promoted in recent years by
Vegan groups wanting consumers to give up meat for
a day to help the environment and perhaps get some
of them on their way to a vegetarian lifestyle.
On
Wednesday afternoon, having seen the webpage on
the official USDA website, JD
Alexander, President of the National
Cattlmen's Beef Association, blasted USDA in a
news release that we received at 2:15 pm- the
release saying the fact that "the agency
embraces the "Meatless Monday" concept calls into
question USDA's commitment to U.S. farmers and
ranchers. USDA stated "one simple way to reduce
our environmental while dining at our cafeteria is
to participate in the "Meatless Monday"
initiative," which Alexander said is an animal
rights extremist campaign to ultimately end meat
consumption."
NCBA
adds "USDA goes one step further in its quest to
reduce meat consumption, according to Alexander,
by specifically calling out beef and dairy
production as harmful to the environment.
Additionally, the USDA cites health concerns
related to the consumption of meat. These concerns
are not at all based in fact, according to
Alexander, but simply spout statistics and
rhetoric generated by anti-animal agriculture
organizations. The fact is the consumption of beef
is not only healthy, but the carbon footprint of
the production of beef has dramatically decreased
as a result of innovative environmental
stewardship implemented by America's farm and
ranch families throughout the country."
Well,
USDA apparently read the NCBA release and
something hit the fan in Washington. An email
statement from USDA came to our inbox at 4:13 PM-
calling the support for "Meatless Mondays" a rumor
and offered this terse one sentence statement-
"
"USDA
does not endorse Meatless Monday. The statement
found on the USDA website was posted without
proper clearance and it has been removed."
NCBA
responded to USDA in another news release at 4:44
pm- with a statement attributed to JD
Alexander- "We appreciate USDA's swift
action in pulling this disparaging statement off
its website. USDA publicly stated today that it
does not support this campaign. We appreciate USDA
making this right. The agency is important to all
cattlemen and women, especially as we face
unprecedented challenges, including drought and
animal rights extremist groups spreading fiction
to consumers who need to know the importance of
beef in a healthy diet.
"USDA
did right by scrapping this statement and
acknowledging the important role of America's farm
and ranch families in providing food for the
world. USDA denouncing support of the Meatless
Monday campaign is an important step in correcting
misinformation about the safety and sustainability
of U.S. beef production."
Case
closed.
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Chefs,
Nutritionists Attack Bi-Partisan Ag Committee Farm
Bill as 'Flawed'
More
than 60 chefs, authors, food and agriculture
policy and nutrition experts, business leaders and
environment and health organizations have sent an
open letter to Capitol Hill objecting that the
House agriculture committee's proposed farm bill
would "steer the next five years of national food
and farm policy in the wrong
direction."
The signatories urged lawmakers
"to vote a resounding 'no' should the legislation
come to a House floor vote , unless the bill is
extensively rewritten through the amendment
process."
Signers include Chefs Mario
Batali and Ann Cooper, Food Inc. film director
Robert Kenner, authors Michael Pollan and Laurie
David, New York University nutrition professor
Marion Nestle, pediatrician Dr. Harvey Karp and
medical expert Dr. Andrew Weil.
"The House
bill will leave millions of people without enough
food to eat, help fewer farmers and contribute to
the loss of millions of acres of wetlands and
grasslands," said Ken Cook,
president of Environmental Working Group.
"Meanwhile the cost of crop insurance is poised to
set another record---at the expense of the
American taxpayer."
There's
more to this story and a link to the coalition's
letter on our web page. Click here to go there.
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God Bless!
You can reach us at the following:
phone: 405-473-6144
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