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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Friday October 26,
2007! A
service of Cusack Meats, Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma &
Midwest Farm Shows
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-- Chance Simpson is the American Star in Agri-Placement!!!!!!
-- Senate Ag Committee Passes Their Version of Farm Policy
-- What about $9.00 Corn?????
-- As Litigation Hangs Over the Issue- Poultry Litter Problems being
mitigated by those on the ground
-- The Care and Feeding of Brand New Baby Alfalfa.
-- No US Beef to South Korea until we turn the calendar say hello to
2008.
-- Getting Close to a Sell Out- the Bud Williams Marketing Workshop
in two weeks in Tulsa
Howdy Neighbors! Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are proud to welcome Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma has ten branch offices to serve your farm financing needs and is dedicated to being your first choice for farm credit. Check out their website for more information by clicking here! The newest sponsor on our daily email service is Cusack Meats, and Al Cusack wants everyone to know that he APPRECIATES Oklahoma's Farmers and Ranchers! You can go to the Cusack website and select some great gift packs of meat for giving- or for yourself! And, our email this morning is also a service of Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the Tulsa Farm Show coming up December 6-8, 2007, as well as the Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City next spring. 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. | |
Chance Simpson is the American Star in Agri-Placement!!!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a great
night for Oklahoma as we claimed one of the four American Stars here in
Indianapolis- Chance Simpson of Kremlin in north central Oklahoma is the
2007 American Star in Agri- Placement. Chance is a service tech at P&K
Equipment in Enid and has just received an Associates Degree at the Juco
in Garden City where he received the latest in training for John Deere
equipment.
Simpson was presented with the award during an onstage convention
ceremony and received a plaque and an award of $4,000. Oklahoma also got GREAT news on the Creed Competition as McKenzie Walta
of the Kingfisher FFA Chapter advanced into the Finals of the Creed
Contest- and is one of FOUR finalists in that competition that goes on
Friday morning. We will know the results from both the Creed Contest and
the Prepared Public Speaking Contest- the contest that Mason Jones was a
Final Four Contestant in- on Friday evening. Click here to go to our National FFA Convention page on our website- WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.com | |
Senate Ag Committee Passes Their Version of Farm Policy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On Thursday,
the Senate Ag Committee passed their version of farm policy as the 2007
Farm Bill Debate passed another important mile marker. In the Committee's
News release- Senator Harkin claimed that "The measure continues and
improves farm income protection and makes historic investments for the
future in energy, conservation, nutrition and rural development
initiatives - all while staying within strict budget limits."
Reaction is already pouring in like flood waters- including comments from Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner- he blasts it and says there is limited reform in this measure- in some cases even less than that found in the House version of the bill. Last night, we had the chance to sit down with an Oklahoma farmer who was in the Committee room for the two days of debate and work- and we have our conversation with Terry Detrick, Vice President of the American Farmers and Ranchers linked on our special Farm Bill 2007 web page. We also have the Committee's News Release- we will have links to comments from Senator Harkin and Acting Secretary Conner and links to a whole host of groups on the passage of the bill out of Committee as the day wears on- so we suggest that you follow the link below to our web page to hear Terry and to review lots of opinions on how the Committee performed as Congress continues to craft new farm policy. | |
What about $9.00 Corn????? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Executive
Director of the Oklahoma Pork Council continues to travel through Europe
with a trade team from the US Pork Industry and he has been updating on
some of the highlights- and he was told of high priced feed grains as a
BIG concern in the southern European Union. "We traveled to Spain on
Tuesday and met with Spanish pork industry and Ministry of Agriculture
officials regarding the challenges they are facing. One of the things that
stood out in my mind was the cost of a bushel of "maize" - that's corn to
those of us from Oklahoma. Spanish pork producers are paying more than
$9.00 per bushel for corn. I thought $3.40 was high. I can't even
comprehend $9."
Roy Lee adds "We also spoke to them about animal welfare and they stressed the need for more scientific research on the subject. According to our counterparts in Spain, the EU does not make any decision without a scientific paper telling them what they should do. Today the "science" on animal welfare is all coming from the northern EU countries. If the EU is to make any changes to its plans to continue increasing animal welfare standards, Spanish producers tell us it will only be through increased funding for research and more scientific study. Today we drove out to the Extremadura region of Western Spain to visit
a farm that produces only Iberian pigs. The Iberian breed is black and
does not look like any of the domestic pigs we have in the states. While
that is different, what truly sets the pigs in this region apart from
everywhere else is the feeding method and the processing methods for the
ham. The "fattening" of the hogs takes place from October through February
when the pigs are given a diet consisting of acorns from a tree called a
"home oak." The pig eats the acorns off the ground as he roams through a
light forest of the oak trees. The exercise the pig gets and the oils from
the acorns help deposit fat in the muscles. The pigs are sent to market at
160 kg (approximately 350 pounds). It can take up to two years from the
time the pig is born until he goes to market. The meat from the Iberian
pigs is then cured and aged for two more years. That means it could be
four years from the time a pig is born until his meat ends up in the
supermarket. However, the wait might be worth it when the producers told
us they could get as much as $500 per ham off these pigs. Think about a 20
pound ham selling for $500." | |
As Litigation Hangs Over the Issue- Poultry Litter Problems being mitigated by those on the ground ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 24 months
after the poultry industry publicly committed to the Oklahoma Scenic
Rivers Commission to help fund programs to move poultry litter out of the
Illinois River watershed, data suggests the goal of removing excess
poultry litter from the river area either has been achieved or is
virtually at that point In a letter soon to be provided to the Oklahoma
Scenic Rivers Commission, BMPS, Inc. - the non-profit entity created to
handle the day-to-day operations of hauling poultry litter out of the
watershed - will report that 33,742 tons of litter was hauled out of the
Arkansas side of the Illinois River basin between September 2006 and
August of 2007, while 40,514 tons of litter was hauled out of the
watershed on the Oklahoma side.
In a fact sheet distributed to the Scenic Rivers Commission in 2006, the Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment's office concluded 124,878 tons of poultry litter could be land applied in the watershed before exceeding estimated crop needs, citing a 2006 study from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture. Here in 2007- the number of poultry houses int he watershed is down by almost 300 compared to just a few years ago- we now have about 1650 poultry houses, which according to the Eucha-Spavinaw Watershed Management Team- and according to their figures, each of those houses produce about 120 tons of litter annually. Do the math and you get right at 199,000 tons of poultry litter annually. Subtract the 74,000 tons of litter hauled out of the watershed over the past twelve months- and you come up with exactly 66 tons of more litter in the wateshed than what the Secretary of the Environment says could be land applied. In addition, I know that there has been some litter hauled out by entities other than BMPS and those numbers may or may not be in the BMPS totals. It is interesting to note that the Oklahoma Conservation Commission is taking over the administration of the poultry litter hauling on the Oklahoma side of the Illinois River watershed. Rick Stubblefield, one of the Commissioners of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers COmmission, commented he is not concerned with what entity is managing the poultry litter hauling program. But he did offer a caveat. "BMPS has clearly established a minimum standard - 40,514 tons of poultry litter hauled out of the Oklahoma side of the Illinois River watershed. I have a lot of respect for the Conservation Commission, but they have got to move at least the 40,514 tons that BMPS was moving." Click here to read the letter from the BMPS to the Oklahoma Scenic River Commission. | |
The Care and Feeding of Brand New Baby Alfalfa. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Getting a new
stand of alfalfa up and running is what the October OSU Forages Newsletter
is all about. OSU's John Caddel tells us that when it comes to a new stand
of alfalfa, early management will pay big dividends later.
Caddel adds that weed management is especially important- especially if you intend to sell a premium product into a dairy operation, for example. Scouting not just for weeds- but for insects as well is essential in order to have a chance of producing high quality alfalfa. John has helped assemble the latest Forages Newsletter- that emphasizes the need to really keep your eyeballs on those just seeded fields of alfalfa- we have the link to that newsletter below if you are looking at establishing a new stand of this high quality forage- it will be worth your time to check it out. Click here for the October issue of the OSU Forages Newsletter. | |
No US Beef to South Korea until we turn the calendar say hello to 2008. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Phil Seng,
President of the US Meat Export Federation, says flatly we are done with
any sales of US beef into South Korea the balance of this calendar year.
Since the South Koreans suspended their inspections of US Beef until new
protocols are put in place- and that there is no way that we will get new
protocols until after the elections planned in that country December 19.
Seng believes that the US government probably missed their chance to get it done in late summer by talking only about completely lining up with the OIE standards- while South Korea was talking about a step by step process and had offered to consider thirty month of age beef- bone in and boneless- but with a long list of things they wanted to call SRMs- specified risk materials. Our negotiators have balked at that- and then the South Korean inspectors found box after box with various pieces of bones- wiping up the anti US beef crowd- and boxing their government into a corner of having to show they are being tough with the US on this issue before they could ever step up and offer a partial loaf of reopening. Phil goes into detail as to why he doesn't blame the packers for this situation- and who he seems to point the finger of blame at- although in a very low key manner. Seng is our guest once again on the Beef Buzz for this Friday- heard on radio stations across the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network, linked on our web site and linked below on this daily e-mail. Click below and take a listen. Click here for the Friday Beef Buzz on RON, featuring special guest Phil Seng of the USMEF | |
Getting Close to a Sell Out- the Bud Williams Marketing Workshop in two weeks in Tulsa ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are
losing sleep over the ups and downs of the cattle market, you may want to
think about the Bud Williams Cattle Marketing School that will be taught
by our friend Ann Barnhardt. Ann says that if "you are tired of breaking
even on cattle - and feeling fortunate to have done so- and if you are you
ready to control your own destiny in the cattle markets and be
CONSISTENTLY PROFITABLE- then you are ready for the Bud Williams Livestock
Marketing School at the Tulsa Airport Holiday Inn on November 9th and
10th.
Ann tells us that the real key is what you pay for the cattle you buy-
that if you buy cattle for too much money- it's like hoping a lottery
ticket will pay for your retirement. And she adds there are quite a number
of things she will be teaching those in attendance on the 9th and 10th of
November- some of the concepts covered at Bud Williams Marketing Schools
include: Ann says space is limited to 50 and a sell-out is expected, so call 1-8777994577 toll free or go their website for the Bud Williams Marketing School, which is linked below. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Cusack Meats and Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked at the top of the email- check them out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis! 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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