From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 07:18
To: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
Subject: Oklahoma's Farm News Update
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Friday June 15, 2007!
A service of Midwest Farm Shows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Wheat Harvest bogs down with heavy downpours.
-- Lessons Being Learned by Oklahoma's Lead Wheat Breeder Brett Carver
-- Drought Conditions are getting WORSE!
-- Manure is not a Hazardous Waste- Senators work to get this inserted into the Energy Bill.
-- A Week Away- the OCA Summer Ranch Tour as they head down the Chisolm Trail.
-- Grain Sorghum Leader Feels the Winds of Change in Washington
-- Peterson's Chairman Mark for the Commodity Title now on House Ag Committee Web Site

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 recently concluded Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City, 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.


Wheat Harvest bogs down with heavy downpours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Virtually no one was able to harvest wheat yesterday in the state as rains caused the red flag to come out and the combines to remain standing still. State executive Director Mark Hodges of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission reports there were probably a very few producers cutting wheat in Tillman County on Thursday- and some scattered efforts in the Panhandle(the wheat there is still not quite dead ripe)- but that was probably it. The rains were heavy enough in many locations and the prospect for more rain great enough that we would anticipate little if any harvest progress today.

We had at least one interesting story that was relayed to me via email from Goltry. A young farm couple there had reported earlier that they had harvested Jagger wheat that had produced 16 to 17 bushels per acre- with test weights in the low 50s. Well, that same couple writes yesterday morning that they were able to harvest 80 acres of Endurance before the rains arrived this week- it yielded 39.8 bushels and weighed in at 55 to 56 pounds for a test weight. The difference between varieties has really been one of the key stories this harvest season.

Another story that has been relayed to me comes from Garfield County where a producer farms a quarter section for two members of a family. The 160 acres was divided by a decision made by the family members- the one that owned 60 of the 160 acres wanted to spray for leaf rust- the owner of the 100 acres thought the cost was not worth it. The 100 untreated acres of Jagalene wheat yielded 13.8 bushels per acre with a test weight of 50.5 pounds. The 60 acres of Stratego treated wheat yielded 28.8 bushels per acre with a test weight of 57.4 pounds per bushel.

We would love to hear from you and your harvest results. Drop us a note at our email address listed on the bottom of this email. And, we have linked below the front page of our website, www.oklahomafarmreport.com, and we will continue to have wheat harvest updates as we get them later today and through the weekend- if Mother Nature will cooperate and give way to some drier weather.

Click here for our web site- look at the Top Agricultural News and you will see our running updates on Wheat Harvest!


Lessons Being Learned by Oklahoma's Lead Wheat Breeder Brett Carver
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Carver told us it was the first time since April that he had actually been in the office all day- but we were able to catch up with him in his office on the campus of Oklahoma State University yesterday afternoon- and we talked about the lessons of the 2007 wheat growing and harvest season.

If we picked up one theme from our conversation with Brett it is really pretty simple for wheat growers as you think about planting wheat this coming fall-
DIVERSIFY!!!
DIVERSIFY!!!
DIVERSIFY!!!

Carver says that the conditions of this year might not be repeated anytime soon- but that they present a compelling case for not putting all of your wheat variety eggs in the Jagger family basket. Carver adds that the wheat production universe is dynamic and always changing- and that pathogens like the ones that cause leaf rust will be looking to further evolve and cause more problems for whatever varieties that we plant here in the southern Great Plains. You can hear our conversation with Dr. Carver by clicking on the link below.

Click here to listen to Ron visit with Brett Carver about wheat variety work here in 2007.


Drought Conditions are getting WORSE!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That sounds like a stupid statement here in Oklahoma- even though we all know we are only one rain away from the state of the next drought. That statement of extreme drought is very much the case in the southeastern United States- and according to the weekly news update from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association- a lot of cattle producers are crying "uncle" and selling out.

NCBA reports "This is having a tragic impact on livestock producers in these areas. Producers increasingly are unable to feed their herds, and core herds with high-quality breeding stock are moving through auction markets. State cattlemen's associations in the Southeast indicate that within the past week, they've seen instances of entire herd liquidation increase. Southeast producers and cattlemen's associations are asking for help. "

"If you have information on available pasture land, hay availability or buyers interested in high-quality genetics, please contact one of the following Southeast state cattlemen's association executives: Dr. Billy Powell (Alabama), (334) 265-1867 or bpowell@bamabeef.org; Jim Collins (Georgia), (478) 474-1815 or jim@gabeef.org; Luke West (Tennessee), (615) 896-2333 or luke@tncattle.org; Sammy Blossom (Mississippi), (601) 354-8951 or missca1@bellsouth.net; Jim Handley (Florida), (407) 846-4557 or FBCFCAJimHandley@aol.com; Bob Felknor (Louisiana), (225) 343-3491 or bfelknor@labeef.org; Peter Wilkins (South Carolina), (803) 734-9806 or scca@sccattle.org; Bundy Plyler (North Carolina), (919) 552-9111 or bundy@nccattle.com."


Manure is not a Hazardous Waste- Senators work to get this inserted into the Energy Bill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's an amendment to Senate Bill 6- a measure that has been worked on this week on the floor of the U.S. Senate- and that has mixed support within agriculture. For example, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is one of the livestock groups that has said they do not support this measure in its current form.

However, an amendment has been proposed by Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Pete Dominici of New Mexico that would carry the language forward that Manure should not be regulated under CERCLA and that in that context, manure is not a hazardous material.

There is no indication about the interest of the Democratic Leadership and their willingness to add this amendment to the Energy Bill- at least at this point in time. We do have the language of the measure for you to review (Cortesy of our friend Ericka McPherson of Oklahoma Farm Bureau) and have it linked below.

Click here for the Manure Exemption from CERCLA Amendment as proposed by Blance Lincoln of Arkansas.


A Week Away- the OCA Summer Ranch Tour as they head down the Chisolm Trail.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 24 through the 26, lots of history as well as the cutting edge of the cattle industry will be on display as the 17th annual Summer Ranch Tour of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association is planned in southwest Oklahoma- following near the original Chisolm Trail that shaped the cattle industry all along its route in the late 1800s.

Stops will include a look at history as participants will stop on Monday at the Stuart Ranch near Waurika- this ranch has been under the same family ownership since 1868! Tuesday morning- the first stop of the day illustrates where the industry continues to go in the use of technology as tour participants will see what is going on at Ultimate Genetics in Sterling. Ultimate Genetics headquarters in Normangee, Texas and is a full service beef genetics company offering semen collection and marketing, donor flushing and embryo transfer for customers across the United States and a contract for commercial cattleman to raise calves for their customers. Pete White and his brother Buck operate a Cooperative Satellite Embryo Center for Ultimate Genetics. The Oklahoma Center maintains around 1,800 recipient cows that are maintained on a corn silage ration and it takes 6,000 tons annually for the operation. Around 400 donors are flushed during the year for a number of leading breeders in Oklahoma and across the United States.

For more information, contact the OCA Office in Oklahoma City at 405-235-4391- their deadline for signing up is June 20th.


Grain Sorghum Leader Feels the Winds of Change in Washington
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NSP Director Bill Kubecka of Palacios, Texas has been on the Hill this week meeting with House, Senate and Agriculture Committee Members and staff working on the farm bill. Kubecka said that Chairman Peterson is feeling pressure to propose reform to the commodity title because other groups will be asking the Subcommittee, the full Committee and the full House floor to move money from the safety net to other programs. "I was in a meeting yesterday with other commodity groups and agriculture committee staff to talk about some of the challenges facing producers. "

Kubecka adds "Representative Ron Kind's 'FARM 21' bill is a dramatic change from our priorities. It transitions counter-cyclical, loan deficiency, income loss and direct payments to risk management accounts and revenue assurance tools. What is unclear is how much of a safety net that his proposal really ensures. We do know that Kind has said that his bill could weaken commodity programs by $20 billion over the life of the farm bill." Kubecka said that it is a challenge analyzing the different proposals and running the numbers from real sorghum producer operations to see what the implications down the road might be. "Sorghum growers need to know that this farm bill debate is different from those in the past. There's a lot of activity, more players, and distinct differences in direction. That's why we're here and engaged in these discussions on behalf of sorghum growers."


Peterson's Chairman Mark for the Commodity Title now on House Ag Committee Web Site
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It went up late yesterday on the House Ag Committee web site and we have been reading the 69 pages of the proposed commodity title- and not finding any major changes at this point. It appears that Payment Limits would be left as they now are in the 2002 farm law under the Peterson proposal.

Direct Payments proposed by the Chairman would include Wheat- 52 cents per bushel
Corn- 28 cents per bushel
Grain Sorghum- 35 cents per bushel
Upland Cotton- .0667 cents per pound
and Soybeans- 44 cents per bushel.

We have linked the House Ag Committee website and specifically their farm bill page. This 69 page document is right at the top of that farm bill page- the Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Commodity Title will be marking up this key part of the Farm Bill next Tuesday.

Click here for the House Ag Committee's Farmbill page


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 and make plans to be an exhibitor at either the Tulsa Farm Show this December or the Southern Plains Farm Show next spring!

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:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone: 405-473-6144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forward email

This email was sent to ronphays@cox.net, by ron@oklahomafarmreport.com

Oklahoma Farm Report | 10700 Whitehall Blvd | Oklahoma City | OK | 73162