|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday September 9,
2008! A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Farm Credit Associations of
Oklahoma and Midwest Farm Shows!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Gustav Was a Part of Last Week's Ag Weather Picture
-- Nationally- Corn and Soybeans Continue to Try to Play
Catchup
-- Farm Groups Push For the "Right" Years to Figure the New ACRE Farm
Safety Net.
-- September Crop Production Numbers Set for Release This
Friday
-- From the Calendar- It's State Fair Time!
-- Roundup Ready Alfalfa Remains Held Up By the Courts
-- Next Week- a Dose of Ike???
-- Checking the Markets- A Good Day in Oklahoma City.
Howdy Neighbors! Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are excited to have as one of our new sponsors for the daily email Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, with 64 years of progress through producer ownership. Call Brandon Winters at 405-232-7555 for more information about rotating some of your winter wheat acres into winter canola this year- and check out the full story on PCOM on their website by clicking here. It's also great to have the Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma
with us regularly as an Email Sponsor- Financing Oklahoma is their
business! Check out their website which shows their locations statewide 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. | |
Gustav Was a Part of Last Week's Ag Weather Picture ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
Oklahoma Crop Weather update reminds us that Gustav dumped a good bit of
rain in some of our easternmost counties in the state- with LeFlore and
McCurtain Counties both getting substantial amounts. Over in the wheat
belt part of the state- farmers continued to work on getting ready for
significant wheat planting. Despite last week's rains and lack of
sunshine, small grain seedbed preparation still made good progress. Winter
wheat seedbed preparation increased 18 percentage points from the previous
week to reach 70 percent complete.
For our row crops- Steady rains and damp conditions have slowed down harvest, but according to recent reports, has improved crop conditions of double-cropped corn and soybeans. Slightly over two-thirds of the State's crops were reported having light to moderate insect activity. Ninety-four percent of the State's corn had reached the dough stage, up one point from the previous week but six points behind normal. Twenty-six percent of the State's corn had been harvested by week's end, up 11 points from the previous week but 12 points behind normal. Sorghum headed increased 12 points from the previous week to reach 80 percent complete but was 10 points behind normal. Twenty percent of the State's sorghum had reached maturity, five points behind the five-year average. A small percentage of the State's sorghum had been harvested. Soybeans blooming increased five points from the previous week to reach 95 percent, two points ahead of normal. Thirteen percent of the State's soybeans were mature. Peanuts mature reached 27 percent, 19 points behind normal. Cotton bolls were opening on 29 percent of the State's cotton by week's end, up 18 points from the previous week but equal to the five-year average. While the state report does not tell us what the percentage of sorghum has been harvested- the national crop progress report indicates that 8% of the milo has been harvested here in Oklahoma as of the weekend. Nationally, 28% of the grain sorghum harvested is now complete. We have the link below to the full Oklahoma Crop Weather Update- click on the link to read about pasture and hay conditions and more in this week's update. Click here for the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update from NASS | |
Nationally- Corn and Soybeans Continue to Try to Play Catchup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While the 2008
corn crop is starting to mature- the figures across the country show the
pace of development of this year's corn is well behind the five year
average. Nationally, we have 11% of the corn crop now rated mature- much
of that in the southern states- and a number that is well under the five
year average of 28 percent.
The heart of the corn belt is where it really gets scary, with corn fields in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana between 3 and 8 percent mature- versus a normal figure for those states of 24 to 37 percent by this point in September. Could we be in trouble with an early freeze? The soybean crop is also well behind normal development- and much of the crop in the major soybean producing states is now filling pods- which makes those fields susceptible to an early cold snap. In both of these significant crops- the conditions remain about the same as a week ago- largely in good to excellent shape. Those ratings don't really weigh in with the risk that remains because of the lateness of vast acreage of our corn and soybean production. Click here for the latest National Crop Progress Report From USDA | |
Farm Groups Push For the "Right" Years to Figure the New ACRE Farm Safety Net. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2008 Farm
Law has a new way for Uncle Sam to provide a safety net for crop producers
in this country- it's called the ACRE program- which stands for Average
Crop Revenue Election. It's an optional program- and the law says it is to
be implemented for the 2009 crop year.
The American Farm Bureau, National Farmers Union and groups
representing corn, sorghum, soybean and wheat growers have written to Ag
Secretary Ed Schafer about USDA's implementation of the ACRE program.
We have an audio overview of where we stand on getting ACRE turned into reality, as well as a link to that letter sent by the groups in a story that is our headliner on this Tuesday morning- the link to our Top Ag News Story of the day is below- and we also have a story we did back in mid August with Francie Tolle of American Farmers & Ranchers about some of the analysis she has done on the ACRE program as well- click here to jump to that story with additional details on ACRE as it relates to the Southern Plains. | |
September Crop Production Numbers Set for Release This Friday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ USDA releases
its September Crop Production report Friday. According to some of the
pre-report estimates - the trade isn't in full agreement on what to expect
from USDA. Based on a survey of farmers in late August - Allendale expects
to see lower corn and soybean production numbers. But Informa expects USDA
to up its numbers for both crops - and FC Stone expects a smaller corn
crop and bigger soybean crop.
Allendale puts the average corn yield at just under 152.5-bushels per acre and production at a little over 12-billion bushels. In the August report - USDA pegged corn production at 12.3-billion bushels with yields averaging 155-bushels per acre. With an average yield of 156.5-bushels per acre - Informa pegs the corn crop at 12.4-billion bushels. FC Stone expects a 12.159-billion bushel corn crop and average yields of 153.4-bushels per acre. As for soybeans - USDA last forecast a 2.97-billion bushel crop with average yields of 40.5-bushels per acre. Allendale's yield estimate is about 1.5-bushels per acre below that - projecting a 2.8-billion bushel crop. Informa and FC Stone both anticipate production will top three-billion bushels - forecasting yields of 42 and 41-bushels per acre respectively. | |
From the Calendar- It's State Fair Time! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This week is
the start of the State Fair of Oklahoma at State Fair Park in Oklahoma,
with the Tulsa State Fair to follow starting September 25.
In Oklahoma City, one of the opening weekend highlights in the agricultural arena is the annual Junior Livestock Judging Contest, sponsored and manned by the Young Farmers and Ranchers of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau. Also this weekend, the Junior Division Livestock competition will be going on both Saturday as well as Sunday. The Tulsa State Fair sees the open division during the first half of their annual run, with the junior livestock competition starting mid week as October rolls in- with the annual Junior Livestock Show Premium Auction planned for Friday morning, October 3. We have entered a detailed list of Livestock related events for both the State Fair of Oklahoma and the Tulsa State Fair on our calendar pages- we have the link to our calendar for you to browse below. Click here for the Calendar of Ag and Rural Events Found on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com | |
Roundup Ready Alfalfa Remains Held Up By the Courts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In May of 2007
- a federal judge barred the planting of genetically engineered alfalfa
nationwide - stating USDA violated the National Environmental Policy Act
when it deregulated Roundup Ready alfalfa. The judge said the department
must conduct a detailed scientific study of the effect of Roundup Ready
alfalfa on the environment and other alfalfa varieties before approving
it. That ruling has been upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit. According to the court - USDA did not address the possibility
Roundup Ready alfalfa would contaminate conventional and organic alfalfa.
As a result of the two-to-one decision - the biotech crop can not be grown until a full environmental impact study is completed. When the initial injunction was granted - 200-thousand acres of Roundup Ready alfalfa were planted in the U.S. The group that initiated the lawsuit - the Center for Food Safety - is also involved in a legal battle against Roundup Ready sugarbeets. | |
Next Week- a Dose of Ike??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It appears
that Ike will emerge into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday after blasting
Cuba- and there is a lot of uncertainty about where this Hurricane could
wind up. The latest track that we have seen shows it hitting around Corpus
Christi by this coming weekend- and then continuing westward across south
Texas and into Mexico.
The question right now- will what is left of Ike swing northward at some point and come up through west Texas and end up affecting our weather sometime next week? We have seen that pattern unfold back earlier this summer when Dolly followed a track from Brownsville, Texas westward and then northward and finally into Oklahoma- at that point- she provided a nice break in the string of days when we saw temperatures above 100 degrees. This go- round, we have had quite a bit of rain in recent weeks- but for those in our westernmost counties of the state- Ike could be a real blessing to provide some much needed rainfall for fall planting in locations that have been light on moisture here in 2008. Check in with Gary England and Travis Meyer on our weather webpage at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com and they will keep "track" of Ike in the days ahead. Click here for the RON Weather Wizards (and links) found at www.OklahomaFarmReport.com | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma and Producers Cooperative Oil Mill 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. | |
Checking the Markets- A Good Day in Oklahoma City. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a good
Monday after taking Labor Day off last week at the National Stockyards in
Oklahoma City. The estimate was 10,000 cattle were to be sold- with steer
yearlings called steady to a dollar higher, while steer calves were $2 to
$4 up. Calves weighing from five to six hundred pounds were sold from $112
to $121, while yearlings in the seven to eight hundred pound range found
buyers from $1190 to $115. We have the full Oklahoma
City Cattle Market report linked here.
Here are some links we will leave in place on an ongoing basis- Click
on the name of the report to go to that link: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
