KCBT Wheat Trade Heads to Chicago 

For those of us (and there are a lot of "us" living here in the southern great plains) that have made the trip to Kansas City at some point and gone to the Board of Trade- and watched hard red winter wheat futures traded on the trading floor there- it's hard to imagine that the end of an era is now upon us. BUT- I guess it is. The CME Group announced it will transition open outcry trading of Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT) hard red winter (HRW) wheat futures and options to its Chicago trading floor beginning Monday, July 1, 2013, pending CFTC review. This transition will accelerate efficiencies and trading opportunities for customers trading both the HRW wheat and CBOT Soft Red Winter (SRW) wheat varieties. KCBT wheat futures and options will continue to trade on CME Globex and be listed by and subject to the rules of KCBT.

The last day of open outcry trading on the KCBT floor will be June 28. CME Group will operate an electronic trading center in the former KCBT floor space until the end of September, providing a place for Kansas City-based traders to execute trades on CME Globex.

"Throughout the integration process, we've remained focused on our customers who manage global price risk associated with these two classes of wheat," said CME Group COO Bryan Durkin. "By moving Kansas City wheat to the Chicago floor later this year, we will make it as efficient as possible for our customers to trade both products and the spread between the two."

In addition, beginning April 15, subject to CFTC approval, customers will benefit from the integration of KCBT clearing services into CME Clearing, which will provide cross-margining and other capital efficiencies for market participants.  

NCC Economist Blasts Renewable Fuels Standard, Urges Congressional Reform 

"The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is broken, but Congress can fix the rule by acting now and opening an inclusive, robust debate that leads to extensive reform," said Dr. Thomas Elam, president of FarmEcon, LLC, today at a media briefing with approximately 50 reporters in Washington, D.C.   Elam presented his remarks on behalf of the National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation.

Congress in 2005 enacted the first RFS which mandated levels of ethanol to be blended with gasoline. In 2007 that ethanol mandate was expanded, and biodiesel was added.

"We did not then, and still do not today, have the volume of agricultural raw materials, or the required cellulosic ethanol technology, to meet the 2007 RFS goals," he said. "Nearly six years later, it's still not a commercial reality. The courts just a few weeks ago ruled this to be the case, as well."

Corn production has declined while RFS mandates have increased, Elam said while discussing the past three years.   Smaller supplies have resulted in more than doubling of the most important input cost to poultry production-feed. 

You can read more from Dr. Elam by clicking here.  

CattleWomen Announce Beef Cook-Off Winner

The Oklahoma CattleWomen, Inc., recognized Debra Clifton, of Minco, as the grand prize winner of the 2013 Oklahoma Beef Cook-off/Recipe Contest for her dish Papa's Lasagna. Clifton received $2,000 cash and all finalists received Beef Gift Certificates.

The runner up in the Budget Busting Meals entrée category was Aunt Ruby's Rave Review Meatloaf by Lady Branham, of Norman. Second runner up was another recipe by Clifton called Spicy Drip Beef.

The winner of the Beefed Up Beginnings appetizer category was Michelle Mitchell Robertson from Moore.

The Oklahoma Beef Cook-off is a production of the Oklahoma CattleWomen, Inc. and is supported by the Oklahoma Beef Check-off and the Oklahoma Beef Council. Winners of this year's contest were announced at the Oklahoma City Home and Garden Show. 

You'll find a link to all the winning recipes on our web page by clicking here.

Rebuilding the U.S. Cow Herd Won't Be Easy, Derrell Peel Says

The numbers are now in and they show a continued decline in the number of cattle in the U.S. The USDA's Cattle Inventory Report counted 89.3 million head of cattle in the U.S. That's down two percent from one year ago. Beef cow numbers are off three percent from last year, down to 29.2 million head.

Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel, says with those kind of numbers and with drought looming for another year, rebuilding the cow herd is not going to be easy.

"It's increasingly difficult because of the hole that we're in. And that is the predicament. If it starts to rain and we start trying to do that process in 2013, or if we don't, or whenever we do it, it's increasingly difficult. We're going to have to have an even more pronounced trade-off in the short run between trying to maintain total beef production in an era where we don't have enough cattle to do that and still hold back enough heifers. It suggests that if we don't rebuild, beef production's going to fall."

Of course, tighter supplies means higher prices for consumers and, at some point, consumers will push back. Peel says we may already be at that point.

"I think there's already some push back. We've seen a bit of a ceiling in terms of boxed beef prices. All through 2012, repeatedly during that year, when we saw choice boxed beef push up against that $2 a pound mark it was not able to break through that."

Derrell has a lot more to say in our current Beef Buzz.  Click here to listen to our conversation.  A more detailed analysis of the Cattle Inventory Report was also the topic of Derrell's weekly column in the Cow-Calf Newsletter.  Click here to go there.

 

Agriculture Groups Unite to Relaunch Farm Policy Facts Education Campaign

A diverse coalition of agricultural organizations that came together during the 2008 Farm Bill debate under the name Farm Policy Facts announced that they are stepping up education activities during the 113th Congress.

Those groups, which include the American Sugar Alliance, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Cotton Council, and USA Rice Federation, also announced two new members of the coalition: National Crop Insurance Services and Southwest Council of Agribusiness.

"The unifying messages we will rally behind, regardless of Farm Bill politics, is the positive role that agriculture has and will continue to play in the economic recovery, the huge return on investment taxpayers see from farm policy and the disproportionate funding cuts that agriculture has already shouldered," said former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Larry Combest, who works with the coalition.

Click here to read more.

 

Boxed Beef Volume Continues Downward Spiral, Ed Czerwien Says

The boxed beef trade continues to slide, according to Ed Czerwien of the USDA Market News Office in Amarillo, Texas. In the most recent ten-week rolling average, boxed beef sales averaged 6,639 loads per week compared to 7,321 loads per week in the same period last year.

Producers sold 22,000 fewer loads in 2012 than they sold in 2011. That was 34,000 fewer loads than were sold in 2010. Czerwien said that was also 12,000 loads less than the same period in 2008, another tough year for the industry.

The choice cut market ended the week of February 2nd at $182.56 cwt which was $4.88 lower than the previous week.

The general trend in the finished cattle trade was $1.00 to $3.00 higher with live sales mostly at $125 cwt. Dressed sales were $200 to $202.00 cwt.

The average live weight from the cattle harvested in the Texas Panhandle was 1,270 pounds, dropping one pound from the previous week.

You can listen to Ed Czerwien's latest weekly analysis by clicking here. 

Our Apps Have Arrived!

It feels like I have been working on getting our apps up and running forever- but finally we got the emaila couple of days ago that we were waiting for from our developer- Loud Out- our Iphone App is now available in the Itunes Store!  We will be telling you more in the days ahead- and we will be fine tuning the content that goes on the App on a daily basis- but we finally have the App here and we have the links for both the Apple version and the Android version of your smartphones.

If you have an Apple Iphone or Ipad- click here to go and download our free app.

If you have an Android device- click here for the download.

If you have downloaded either App- let us know what you think- and how we might tweak things to make it more useful to you.

We have talked to a few folks about sponsorship- but if you are interested in getting in on the ground floor of sponsoring this newest way that RON will be getting information out to farmers, ranchers and anyone interested in the business of agriculture in our great state- drop me an email- we'll be glad to share more details of how you can get involved!!!