From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 07:16
To: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
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Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Friday December 29, 2006
A service of Midwest Farm Shows
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-- Winter Weather returns to the Oklahoma Panhandle- Rain returns over the balance of the state.
-- Poultry Poop- One of the Big Stories in 2006 for Oklahoma Agriculture will continue to unfold in 2007
-- The Jawboning over US Beef into South Korea continues.
-- Some Calendar Items for the early days of 2007
-- Ag Enhancement and Diversification Grant Applications due in a week.
-- Ron Hays will be saying Howdy Neighbors on the Coyote starting Tuesday!
-- The Countdown to 2007- under 3 days to go!

Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. Our email this morning is a service of Midwest Farm Shows, featuring the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City April 19-21, 2007, as well as the Tulsa Farm Show held each December. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows by clicking here.

If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here.


Winter Weather returns to the Oklahoma Panhandle- Rain returns over the balance of the state.
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Texas County has already gotten a good soaking overnight, with 1.47 inches of rain picked up since midnight at the Hooker Mesonet station. More rain is in store today- before it turns to snow and they could see up to eight inches of snow by the latter part of the weekend in and around Guymon. That might be closer to 11 inches of snow for Boise City and Cimarron County. Add to that strong northerly winds and you have miserable conditions with probably more moisture to be received this go round compared to last week's storm. Feedlot conditions are sure to be wet, cold and stressful for the cattle.

Moving down into the main body of the state of Oklahoma- this final storm system of 2006 will bring just about everybody a good rain with 80% to 100% chances of precipitation in the cards today and especially tonight. Those highest chances continue into Saturday for eastern counties of the state- and we will be watching our ponds and lakes to see if this system can bring some much needed runoff moisture to end 2006.

One final thought on the winter storm that will catch our Oklahoma Panhandle- this is shaping up to potentially be the first time in several years that we have had extended muddy feedlot conditions over a lot of the Plains feedlot territory- it will hit cattle performance and that will be something to watch as packers scramble to find cattle with enough finish on them for their slaughter needs.


Poultry Poop- One of the Big Stories in 2006 for Oklahoma Agriculture will continue to unfold in 2007
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It's been a story that we have had in play for quite some time- the legal action that Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has brought against 14 northwest Arkansas poultry companies and indirectly against the poultry farmers those companies contract with in northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas. Edmondson alleges that poultry litter is the major cause of pollution in the Illinois River watershed and is a hazardous waste- so he is using the so called Superfund Federal Regulations to sue these companies. We currently are in the "discovery" phase of the lawsuit, with a trial date likely in 2008. This case has attracted national interest as the livestock industry is fearful that if the Superfund Law is successfully applied in this case- it's a slippery slope for animal agriculture across the country in many other situations- thus the push for federal legislation that would clarify that manure is not a hazardous waster under the Superfund Laws.

We had a chance in recent days to visit with Janet Wilkerson of Peterson Farms who has served as a spokesperson for the multiple poultry companies that are being sued by our Attorney General- and she says that there is always a chance that the legal case could be settled before a court date- that both sides at one time or another have expressed their willingness to do so. But she stresses that for the poultry companies- that will mean the ability to talk about poultry litter's role in the watershed and how to best solve this part of the phosphorus problem from a sound science perspective.

She also said that even as the legal action grinds on- the poultry companies have supported efforts to help poultry farmers band together and find buyers for the litter- and get it shipped out. She spoke of the group known as Best Management Practices (BMP) which has actually shipped out 52,000 tons of poultry litter from the watershed this calendar year. She says that the poultry companies "want to be part of the solution." You can hear our conversation with Janet by going to the link provided below.

Click here to listen to Ron's conversation with Janet Wilkerson with a poultry industry perspective.


The Jawboning over US Beef into South Korea continues.
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The latest on the mess with South Korea are threats from South Korean lawmakers to demand closure of their market to U.S. beef if the U.S. Congress continues to press the matter. The lawmakers claim that this is "viewed by most South Koreans as an infringement on their sovereignty."

USDA's Under Secretary Chuck Lambert has fired back that the comments of the lawmakers is rather insignificant in that the US government is not dealing directly with Korean lawmakers on this issue. And he adds that a threat to close the market is not relevant because the South Koreans have effectively kept the border closed with their extreme interpretation of the rules the two sides agreed to for reopening of that market.

Dr. Lambert says "From our viewpoint, the South Korean market has never been open. They've rejected three loads out of three loads since October. That's why we're trying to reach an agreement, so it is commercially viable." He adds that the US is trying to set a date and an agenda that will meet everyone's needs to resolve this bone chip issue.


Some Calendar Items for the early days of 2007
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American Farm Bureau Convention: January 7-10, 2007. The 2007 AFBF convention is set for Salt Lake City, Utah, with some 80 Oklahomans planning on being in attendance this year. That's a smaller group than will normally go to an AFBF meeting from Oklahoma- but the colder climates of Salt Lake City slimmed down the desires of many to go to this year's convention- plus Oklahoma made the decision not to have a beef and wheat promotional booth at this year's gathering. We will be covering this event and have reports for you from Salt Lake City.

Beltwide Cotton Conference: January 9-12, 2007. This meeting is the first big agricultural event to return to New Orleans and is a gathering of all segments of the U.S. cotton industry. Everything from production to policy is fair game at this annual gathering. We will coverage from this event through the help of several farm broadcast colleagues who will be on the scene.

Rhett Laubach's FFA Speech Camps: Past State FFA President Rhett Laubach offers two FFA Speech training camps in early 2007. The first is for younger FFA members- they call it a "rookie" camp and it will be held January 27th in Edmond. Their camp for "advanced" FFA speakers is planned for February 2nd, also in Edmond. Contact Ashley Laubach for more information on either of these training opportunities at 405-216-5050.


Ag Enhancement and Diversification Grant Applications due in a week.
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This coming Tuesday- January 2, 2007, is the deadline to submit applications for the Oklahoma Agricultural Enhancement and Diversification program. If you have some innovative ideas you would like to implement into your farm or ranch operation- or your value-added enterprise- you need to check out the web site and get moving on the application.

There will be both Grants as well as some interest free loans that will be awarded to successful applicants in three categories: Cooperative Marketing Loans, Marketing and Utilization Loans and Basic and Applied Research Loans.

Time is short if you are just thinking about starting the application process- but we have linked below the location on the ODA web site where more information is available. Contact person for this program at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture is Jason Harvey- his phone number is 405-522-5563.

Click here for more information from the ODA site on the Ag Enhancement and Diversification Grants available.


Ron Hays will be saying Howdy Neighbors on the Coyote starting Tuesday!
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The Radio Oklahoma Network is very pleased to welcome KWEY AM and FM in Clinton and Weatherford to our growing stable of radio stations that carry our agricultural reports daily. Starting this coming Tuesday, you will be able to hear Ron on RON on the Coyote, including our morning farm news at 5:50 am, morning market recap at 6:35 am, opening markets at 9:35 am and our midday Stocker Feeder Review at 1:03 pm. A total of nine reports a day will be heard on these signals that boom across much of west central Oklahoma. We have linked the full list of reports and the times they will air on KWEY 95.5 FM and 1590 AM below.

In addition, we will also have four reports a day on their sister AM radio station, KCLI AM, at 1320 on the AM dial. That will include our morning farm news to be heard twice in the 7 AM hour at 7:17 and 7:47 am, our morning Beef Buzz as well as opening and closing markets. KCLI offers the finest in news-talk programming for western Oklahoma!

We look forward to working with a long time supporter of our agricultural reports, Harold Wright, on these two great Oklahoma radio stations! Take a listen to the Coyote, KWEY AM 1590 and FM 95.5, as well as KCLI 1320 AM this coming week as Ron on RON joins the team!

Click here for the full schedule of ag reports to be heard daily on KWEY in Western Oklahoma!


The Countdown to 2007- under 3 days to go!
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As we hit the end of this week between the holidays- we will see the agricultural futures have a limited day of trading today- with Chicago, Kansas City and New York markets all planning to close at 12 noon central time. They remain closed through New Year's Day on Monday, and will open for their first 2007 trading session Tuesday morning.

Likewise, our livestock auction barns remain in holiday mode- as they remain generally closed through at least Monday. It varies from market to market- but gradually they begin to reopen for their first sale of 2007 next week. Check with your local sale barn for their exact schedule before you load any bovines or other critters for market this coming week.

As we end 2006, it has been quite a remarkable year for yours truly- and I remain amazed at how well this daily effort has been received by so many of you. You may not find every single story of interest to you- but I hope that several times a week- you find something that we can bring to your attention that will help in your farming, ranching or other agricultural pursuit. Share this e-mail with friends and colleagues if you find it useful and encourage them to subscribe for free! Thanks for reading and for listening to us on the radio- not just in 2006, but down through the years since 1977 here in the state of Oklahoma. I appreciate your support!


Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows for their support of our daily Farm News Update. Go to their website at the link at the top of today's email for more information on either the Tulsa Farm Show or the Southern Plains Farm Show.

We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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