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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Monday March 12, 2007!
A
service of Midwest Farm Shows
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-- Oklahoma Youth Expo 2007- 14,000 animals, 7000 Youth and $1.5
Million in Prizes and Scholarships!
-- Finally- Rain visits Oklahoma over the weekend once again!
-- Should we simply extend the Commodity Title of the 2002 Farm Bill
in 2007? YES, according to Collin Peterson.
-- New World Biofuels Understanding signed by President Bush and Lula
in Sao Paulo
-- Speaking of Ethanol- Terry Detrick responds to Livestock Industry
concerns about Ethanol and Feed Costs.
-- MiloPro 4Lä is Back for Sorghum Producers- National Sorghum
Producers help orchestrate the deal.
-- R-Calf loses their organization in Texas.
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. | |
Oklahoma Youth Expo 2007- 14,000 animals, 7000 Youth and $1.5 Million in Prizes and Scholarships! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first
weekend of the 2007 Oklahoma Youth Expo is behind us- with two of the
market animal Grand Champions being selected on Sunday afternoon. The
Grand Champion Market Lamb was shown by Baylor Newcomb of Merritt
FFA with his Natural Color Lamb, with the Reserve Grand Champion Lamb the
Crossbred Division winner shown by Tara Burchfield of Fairview
FFA(She had the Grand Champion Lamb last year). The Grand Champion Wether
Goat was shown by Stasha Harp of the Kansas FFA Chapter, while the
Reserve Grand Champion Goat exhibited by Mary Walterscheibt of
Hennessey FFA. Back on Friday, The Supreme Champion Ewe was the Suffolk
was shown by Kaylee Lindsey of the Tonkawa FFA while the Reserve
Supreme Champion Ewe was the Southdown shown by Madison McGolden of
the Fairview FFA.
The Breed Champions in the Sheep Division include the following young
people: Jeramy Rich of the OYE says that this event has continued to grow- with more exhibitors and animals than ever before, with close to one and half million dollars in prizes and scholarships to be handed out before it's all over on March 19th. March 19 is the date for the Oklahoma Youth Expo Premium Auction of the top market animals in the four species featured at this show. We will have more details later in the week for those that want to get involved as a supporter during that premium auction a week from today. | |
Finally- Rain visits Oklahoma over the weekend once again! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The western
two thirds of Oklahoma received good and timely rains over this past
weekend. And, it appears the chances of precipitation continue for several
days- including today. As of early this morning, it looks like the
heaviest rain over the weekend has fallen in Walters (based on Mesonet
data) with 2.27 inches of rain in their gauge.
Nearly two dozen other locations received over an inch of rain since Saturday through early this Monday morning- from Erick and Cheyenne on the west to Haskell in East Central Oklahoma. The northern half of the state appears to be on the light side of the precipitation amounts, although Major County has checked in with three quarters of an inch of precip- and Lahoma checking in right at an inch on the Major/Garfield County line. The rains in western counties is especially valuable to the winter wheat that has broken dormancy and really starting to take off. Most notable is the lack of rainfall in the Panhandle and the very small amounts that Grant, Alfalfa and Woods county received thus far. Medford did receive a half inch of rain at their Mesonet site, but Cherokee only got two tenths and it was less than a tenth of an inch of rainfall recorded at the Woods County locations. Those wheat producing counties remain in critical shape when it comes to their 2007 wheat crop prospects. | |
Should we simply extend the Commodity Title of the 2002 Farm Bill in 2007? YES, according to Collin Peterson. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's all about
the money, honey. The Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Collin Peterson,
told reporters at the end of this past week that after examining the
Congressional Budget Office projections of the basic farm subsidy programs
that the best way to preserve a farm safety net for producers is to extend
the current programs. The reason is that if grain prices go south and the
program costs go up as LDPs and Countercyclical payments are handed out-
that increase is handled under the budget rules- but if we change the
subsidy program and the price tag that is projected for it is higher- you
have to turn around and find an offset to allow it to go forward under the
so called Pay-go rules.
In other words, under the "pay as you go rules" that have been put in place by the Democrats in Congress, the farm bill cannot spend more money in future years than it has spent on previous programs without finding an offset- you have to find the money from some other program funded by the Federal government. Peterson says that he knows that wheat producers will not like the idea of staying with what we now have- as they feel the target price and direct payment number now in place is too low- but Peterson says the current safety net will provide more money to growers of the major commodity crops IF the CBO projections are wrong and prices for those crops fall over the life of the 2007 bill. Peterson does say that he will ask for more money as they prepare to craft a 2007 farm bill for rural development, conservation and biofuels development. Specifically, Peterson is asking the Budget Committee for $6 billion over a ten year period to help speed the commercial viability of cellulosic ethanol in the U.S. | |
New World Biofuels Understanding signed by President Bush and Lula in Sao Paulo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ President Bush
sealed a deal with Brazil Friday morning that is intended to promote
international production of ethanol. But the President did not go along
with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s desire to reduce a
54-cent-per-gallon tariff charged by the United States on Brazilian
ethanol. Several lawmakers as well as National Farmers Union President Tom
Buis expressed concern about the deal as it relates to the tariff- Buis
saying that the new pact will open the door for foreign ethanol producers
to by-pass the tariff by simply importing Brazilian sugarcane and
processing it in the Caribbean - which is exempt from the tariff.
The tariff issue hasn’t received much attention - but the memorandum of understanding signed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim did. The agreement promises to advance research and development of new technology - and stimulate private sector investment in other countries - starting in Central America and the Caribbean. In part - the agreement provides for the development of common biofuel standards and codes that will govern international production for years to come. President Bush says wider use of ethanol would not only diversify energy supplies - but also create jobs and help clean up the environment. Political observers believe the pact could also lessen the regional influence of Hugo Chavez - President of oil-rich Venezuela. | |
Speaking of Ethanol- Terry Detrick responds to Livestock Industry concerns about Ethanol and Feed Costs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The President
of Oklahoma Sustainable Energy LLC as well as the V.P. of the Oklahoma
Farmers Union, Terry Detrick of Ames, offered a counterpoint to the report
we had on Friday about testimony last week in Washington by leaders in the
livestock industry raising concerns at least short term over rising corn
prices from the demand from brewing ethanol.
Detrick says that he has spoken to several groups about this issue- including the Oklahoma Association of Feed Manufacturers- and they came away with a different perspective after Terry had dialogued with them. Detrick says that "we also need to ask ourselves how much of todays increased prices would have been there anyway due to the shortage of hay causing increased demands for grain and the harsh winter with snow requiring more grain and/or processed feed." Detrick provided us with a one page summary of points that he has prepared that he says lists a number of reasons that grain prices will be tempered in the fairly near future- and how ethanol projects in the southern great plains can really be a benefit to livestock operations that will consider using DDGs. We have linked that one pager for you as a Word Document- take a look at the arguments offered by Detrick. Click here for what's ahead when it comes to Grain and Ethanol. | |
MiloPro 4Lä is Back for Sorghum Producers- National Sorghum Producers help orchestrate the deal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sorghum
producers will soon be able to once again use MiloPro 4Lä in their
herbicide management systems to control preemergent weeds. The herbicide,
with the active ingredient propazine, will make its way to producers'
fields in the next few weeks. The product is manufactured by Albaugh, Inc.
and received a section 3 conditional label on Wednesday. The section 3
label is still a conditional label for 3 years as Albaugh and the National
Sorghum Producers (NSP) work with the Environmental Protection Agency to
document water safety in certain areas of the Sorghum Belt.
NSP began work in 1990 to bring the product back to the market after it was voluntarily withdrawn. "This is a testimony to what sorghum producers can do in the legislative and regulatory arenas," said NSP President Dale Murden of Monte Alto, Texas. "We would like to thank all the people that have been involved over the last 17 years on this issue. It is extremely rare to ever bring a product back to the market after it has been lost. While we had many setbacks along the way, the product will once again be on the market soon." NSP CEO Tim Lust said that sorghum growers are ready to use MiloPro 4Lä again. "Producers have continued to ask us over the years to bring this product back to the market. We are excited to communicate that this product is available again for producers who are looking to add sorghum back into their crop rotations." Producers can contact their local crop protection providers for MiloPro 4Lä availability. | |
R-Calf loses their organization in Texas. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A group that
has mostly cow-calf producers from the southern half of the state of Texas
has decided to cut their ties with the beleaguered R-Calf USA group. In a
news release issued on Friday, the Independent Cattlemen of Texas says
they are no longer affiliated with R-Calf in any form or fashion. ICA's
state board of directors voted unanimously to support this action.
According to ICA State President Bruce Dopslauf, the board believes that a national organization must be mindful of and represent the interests of cattle producers from all regions of the United States. Recent changes in the R-CALF board of directors and subsequent policy shifts emphasize a more regional approach to cattle producer problems. President Dopslauf also stated that the board felt R-CALF's move towards increased use of aggressive litigation to solve issues is costly and not productive for ICA members. "The recent resignations of numerous board members, committee chairs and the entire Washington, D.C., staff have left R-CALF without valid representation to express producer views in the U.S. Congress and U.S. Department of Agriculture," said Dopslauf. He went on to say that it is difficult to forge working relationships in the courtroom. | |
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. | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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