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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 $12.80 per bushel- based
on delivery to Yukon. The full listing of cash canola
bids at country points in Oklahoma can now be found in
the daily Oklahoma Cash Grain report- linked
above.
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,
September 6,
2012 |
Howdy
Neighbors!
Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch
news update.
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Featured
Story:
US
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack- Thank God He's A Country
Boy!
I
want to warn you- I am going to climb up
on my soapbox this morning for a moment. As
you know, the Democratic National Convention is
underway in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the
mission to nominate President Barack
Obama for a second term as President of
the US. You and I would expect enthusiasm
for the candidate- and Tom
Vilsack showed that as he took his
slightly less than four minutes to talk up his
boss from his perspective as the Obama Secretary
of Agriculture.
The
Secretary gave the President full credit for
robust US Ag Exports and strong farm income
levels- spoke about the President's commitment to
an "All of the Above" energy plan that includes
wind and biofuels and told the audience that the
President has a "detailed plan for a new rural
America" that apparently includes more spending on
the next generation of biofuels and for rural
infrastructure. While some might dispute some of
those statements- especially about the President's
work in promoting US farm goods overseas- I would
consider all of those comments appropriate given
the context of the DNC convention.
However,
to cast Barack Obama as a midwest rooted guy who
totally buys into rural values is a bit much.
The Secretary talked of the President's Mom
being from Kansas and his ties to Illinois- and
you almost wondered which 4-H club he belonged to
and if he gave any biofuel speeches for his local
FFA Chapter. The President never had those
valuable experiences- growing up instead in Hawaii
and Indonesia. He never learned any life
lessons in Kansas- and his life in Illinois has
been mostly about Chicago. As a Senator from
Illinois, he had to interact with rural leaders
from that state- and I have heard he handled
himself well with farm leaders in the brief time
he spent as a Senator.
Of
course in his first term as President, this was
the man who Tom Vilsack says understands rural
values and at the same time had a Secretary
of Labor who wanted to fundamentally change
labor rules for young people down on the farm- and
you know how that turned out.
It's
okay that he's not a country boy- a lot of us that
grew up in rural America might hope for a leader
that shares our experiences and values- but that's
not always going to happen. Farmers and
ranchers and those who hold rural values dear do
want someone who respects their values and their
contribution. I guess when I heard Secretary
Vilsack (who I have tremendous respect for)
channeling John Denver last night when it came to
the President- it sounded a little less than
genuine.
My
suggestion- making claims that he's "one of us"
makes the other claims of exceptional achievement
harder to accept. Please- No More Country Boy
Claims.
Okay-
I am now climbing down off of the soapbox. Rest in
Peace John Denver.
Click here for our story on the web
about Secretary Vilsack speaking to the DNC on
Wednesday. |
Sponsor
Spotlight
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.
We
are proud to have KIS
Futures as
a regular sponsor of our daily email update. KIS
Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers
with futures & options hedging services in the
livestock and grain markets- Click here for the free market quote
page they
provide us for our website or call them at
1-800-256-2555- and their iPhone App, which
provides all electronic futures quotes is
available at the App Store- click here for the KIS
Futures App for your iPhone.
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New
Stanford Study Reports Organic Food is NOT
Healthier and More Nutritious Than Conventionally
Produced Foods
Many
consumers believe they are buying more nutrition
for their dollar when they purchase higher-priced
organic products, but the most comprehensive
meta-analysis to date, conducted at Stanford
University, suggests that less expensive
conventional foods may be just as
healthy.
"There isn't much difference
between organic and conventional foods, if you're
an adult and making a decision based solely on
your health," said Dena Bravata, MD, MS, the
senior author of a paper comparing the nutrition
of organic and non-organic foods, published in the
Sept. 4 issue of Annals of Internal
Medicine.
A team led by Bravata, a senior
affiliate with Stanford's Center for Health Policy
and Crystal Smith- Spangler, MD, MS, an instructor
in the school's Division of General Medical
Disciplines and a physician-investigator att the
VA Palo Alto Health System did the most
comprehensive meta-analysis to date of existing
studies comparing organic and conventional foods.
They did not find strong evidence that organic
foods are more nutritious or carry fewer health
risks than conventional alternatives, though
consumption of organic foods can reduce the risk
of pesticide exposure.
There is a lot more to this story and
you can read it all by clicking
here.
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NCBA
Remains Vigilant on EPA Dust Standard, Says
Election Year Politics Could Play a Part
The
National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA)
clearly spelled out its opposition to any attempt
by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
lower the coarse particulate matter (PM) National
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in its
official comments submitted to the agency last
week.
PM, which includes both urban and
rural dust, is regulated under the Clean Air Act.
Cattle ranches in arid states can have a difficult
time meeting the PM standard due to windblown dust
and dust kicked up by cattle movements. Because of
arid climates and natural phenomenon, it is
difficult for some cattle operations to ensure
compliance with the current standard despite the
use of best management
practices.
We spoke with Colin
Woodall, vice president of government
affairs with the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association, about this issue earlier this summer.
Woodall says EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has
said in the past that the EPA was not seeking to
regulate ag dust, but he says the NCBA has
remained vigilant.
"This could have some
definite election-year politics tied to it.
There's no doubt about it. You know, we've been
fighting it for a couple of years now and all the
iterations of this proposal, a lot of the studies
that have gone on behind this. You know, she has
told us all along that she doesn't want to
regulate farm dust. The original proposal that we
saw does not include farm dust, but until we see
the final regs, she has every opportunity possible
to change that. And a key date is going to be
November 6th. Whatever happens on November 6th
will have a huge impact on what she potentially
does to make that decision that finalizes that
rule which could include ag dust. And that's why
we're staying on top of it."
Click here to read more and listen to
our Beef Buzz with Colin Woodall.
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Heat
Units Past Cutout, Irrigation and Crop Termination
Issues Point to Early Cotton Harvest
In
the latest issue of Oklahoma State University's
Cotton Comments, Extension specialists advise
cotton producers to prepare for an early harvest
due this year's extreme temperatures.
Many
irrigated fields this year cutout early due to
extreme crop evapotranspiration (ET) demand and
diminishing irrigation capacity during July. A
large number of fields hit the five nodes above
white flower physiological stage in late July or
early August. We have been anticipating an early
harvest this year based on these conditions.
According to Mesonet data, since August 1, and
through September 2, the Altus area has obtained
about 760 heat units, Tipton had about 765, Hollis
about 740, and Fort Cobb about 680. This is past
the 500-600 heat units past NAWF=5 trigger for
irrigation termination judgment calls. Even for
fields that reached 5 NAWF by the end of the first
week of August, unless an extremely large boll
load is present, it is likely time to seriously
consider irrigation termination. Fields which were
still producing productive blooms by the middle of
August (few based on my observations) may need
continued irrigation support. Because of drought
and associated high temperatures, fields will
likely wilt fairly soon after irrigation
termination. Based on the Mesonet Irrigation
Planner tool, for the last several days and for a
May 10 planting date at Hollis, cotton ET has
averaged about 0.3 inches/day. Fort Cobb data
indicate about 0.25 inches/day, whereas Tipton has
averaged about 0.32. The crop coefficients change
once open bolls begin to appear, and the cotton ET
rates will diminish somewhat.
Click here for the full story on our
website and a link to more articles in the Cotton
Comments newsletter.
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R-CALF
USA Joins Lawsuit to Preserve Country Of Origin
Labeling
R-CALF
USA joined as a co-plaintiff with the Made in the
USA Foundation to protect the right of all
Americans to know the origins of their food. The
groups filed a lawsuit that asks the federal
district court in Denver, Colorado, to declare the
World Trade Organization's (WTO's) recent ruling
against the U.S. country of origin labeling law
(COOL) to be contrary to U.S. law and, therefore,
null and void.
The
group's lawsuit names U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk
as defendants and alleges that they failed their
respective duties to protect and preserve U.S.
sovereignty by allowing the WTO to second-guess
the U.S. COOL law that was passed under the U.S.
Constitution.
Mike
Schulltz, R-CALF USA region VI director
and COOL committee chair said, "R-CALF USA is
proud to join as a co-plaintiff with the Made in
the USA Foundation in our lawsuit to protect and
preserve the right of all Americans to know the
origins of their food. This was a right given to
U.S. citizens when Congress passed into law and
the president signed the Country of Origin
Labeling Act in 2002.
"For nearly eight
years, the multinational meatpackers, the
governments of Canada and Mexico, and even the
U.S. Department of Agriculture fought to prevent
U.S. citizens from knowing the origins of their
food by vigorously opposing the implementation of
the 2002 COOL law."
Click here for more on this
story.
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No
Margin for Error: Lowering Expenses and Increasing
Profits by Culling Open Cows
Dave
Sparks, DVM, Oklahoma State University
Area Extension Veterinarian and J.J.
Jones, Oklahoma State University Area
Extension Agriculture Economist report on lowering
expenses on carrying over open cows in the latest
Cow-Calf newsletter.
Beef producers
today are again looking at the old good news/bad
news situation. The good news is,
calf prices are higher than most of us ever
thought we would live to see. Unfortunately this
is offset by record high grain and feed prices,
expensive fuel and fertilizer, increasing rental
rates of pasture lands, and labor that is not only
expensive but hard to find. To top off high input
prices, add in the effects of extremely limited
forage and hay due to the ongoing drought. The
bottom line is that profits are within reach, but
only for those that take control of their herd
management.
Perhaps the biggest waste of
expensive inputs is the open, or non-pregnant,
cow. Although costs vary widely between producers
the average cost of maintaining a cow in Oklahoma
is in excess of $450.00/yr. This is for all costs
including feed, supplies, equipment depreciation,
grazing forage, interest, and opportunity costs.
Approximately 80% of this cost is incurred in the
months between October and April. You can do the
math for your herd but it is easy to see that each
open cow is robbing the profits earned by several
cows that wean calves. Cull cow prices are high
and many of these cows are in better condition now
than they will be in the late winter or spring. By
pregnancy checking your cows in the fall you can
eliminate these wasted inputs and use the current
high salvage value to replace open cows with bred
cows or heifers.
You can read more from Dave Sparks
and J.J. Jones by clicking here.
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One
Step Closer- Japan Moving to Reduce Barriers to US
Beef
After
starting and stopping the process multiple times
over the last seven years- Japan is moving toward
relaxing restrictions on American beef imports,
which had been limited because of fears about BSE-
or mad-cow disease.
A
panel of Japanese experts recommended Wednesday
that imports of beef from cows up to 30 months old
be allowed, up from the current 20-month age
limit.
The
proposed change applies to beef imports from the
U.S., Canada, France and the Netherlands- which
means that it removes the argument by some anti-
American groups in Japan that the government
is bowing to pressure from the United States.
The
panel's finding will go to the Health Ministry,
which will invite comments from the Japanese
public before a change is implemented. Officials
in Japan predict that could be later this year or
early next year.
Japan
banned U.S. beef imports in 2003, after the "Cow
that Stole Christmas" was found up in Washington
state- a Canadian Dairy Cow that tested positive
for BSE. . In 2005, Japan allowed imports of beef
from animals 20 months or younger. Animal Disease
experts questioned the science that the Japanese
used to justify the 20 month rule, but it has
stayed in place for seven years.
A move to the 30 month standard will mean
a more consistent year round supply of beef can be
accessed by the Japanese marketplace- and a couple
of years ago- when we thought this trigger was
going to be pulled- the NCBA and CattleFax were
estimating that this decision could mean a billion
dollars annually more in beef exports to Japan. Is
that still a valid number? It's hard to say,
given higher beef values and short supplies of
beef in the US- but it does mean that folks with
orders to fill from Japan don't have to deal with
the restricted supply of beef that will work in
that market- and means Japan will be in the US
market year round instead of just seasonally when
those younger carcasses were easier to source.
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God Bless!
You can reach us at the following:
phone: 405-473-6144
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