From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 5:46 AM
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 Monday October 13, 2008!
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma and Midwest Farm Shows!
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-- Bumper Cotton Crop Now Bring Ginned in Southwestern Oklahoma
-- A Global Perspective on Wheat in Today's Economic Crisis- Courtesy of Alan Tracy.
-- Agri-Tourism Part of the Mix at the Governor's Conference on Ag This Week in Downtown OKC
-- Fear Factors Continue to Make Reopening of Korean Market for US Beef Challenging.
-- John Deere Casts Wide Net with Utility Tractor Lineup for 2009
-- Proposition 2 to be Discussed on Oprah's Tuesday Show
-- World Series Angus Bull Sale Coming October 25 at Spur Ranch in Vinita
-- Let's Check the Markets!

Howdy Neighbors!

Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the annual Tulsa Farm Show scheduled for December 11-13 here in 2008, as well as the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows 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!
And we are excited to have as one of our 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.

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.


Bumper Cotton Crop Now Bring Ginned in Southwestern Oklahoma
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The first bales of the 2008 cotton harvest are leaving southwest Oklahoma's gins at the end of this past week. David Lingle, gin manager at the Tillman Producers Cooperative gin southwest of Frederick, Ok., explained his facility had ginned more than 350 bales in the past few days. He is waiting on more cotton to arrive soon, he said.

Although it is very early in the 2008 season, Lingle says he is seeing very good quality cotton and top yields. "We know of some dryland cotton that is yielding a bale to the acre of lint cotton."
Meanwhile, Mike Berry, manager of the Cotton Growers Cooperative gin at Altus, says his facility has ginned 2,200 bales to date; all of it from the local irrigation district. "We are getting irrigated cotton yields of 2.8 bale per acre of lint cotton," Berry said.

We have more on this story on our website- click on the link below to read more. Our thanks to Vic at NTOK cotton for assistance with this update.

Click here for more on the 2009 Bumper Cotton Crop Now Coming in to Oklahoma's Cotton Gins.


A Global Perspective on Wheat in Today's Economic Crisis- Courtesy of Alan Tracy.
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This past week at the Association of Equipment Manufacturers Ag Summit in St. Louis, the long time Chief Executive of US Wheat Associates, Alan Tracy, discussed the economic state of the US Wheat Industry over the last year. Tracy says that last marketing year was a ride mostly higher for prices, as well as for input costs. Now, this fall, we see only a limited crop in costs, but wheat prices are less than half of the highs of last spring.

Tracy believes that for the major grains, it appears the new lows in recent days may hold around the old highs. he adds that the current futures reflect prices that are below the cost of production for wheat- and won't encourage any shift to wheat acres in the days to come.

We have Alan's comments in St. Louis on our website as one of our Ag Perspectives Podcasts- and we have the link below that will allow you to click and listen to his report on where we stand with wheat in this uncertain time.

Click here to listen to Alan Tracy of US Wheat with an Industry Update.


Agri-Tourism Part of the Mix at the Governor's Conference on Ag This Week in Downtown OKC
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Travel and tourism has grown into the state's third largest industry, just behind energy and agriculture, and is still growing. The 2008 Governor's Conference on Tourism celebrates this growing part of the Oklahoma economy. The 2008 conference theme is "Welcome to the Big Leagues" which examines the issues and trends that will impact the tourism industry's growth as the state continues on into its second century.

Agritourism is one of the headliners at this year's event, with Jane Eckert, of Eckert AgriMarketing, scheduled to speak on three different topics over the two day event. On day one- this morning- Jane will address Top Ten Ways to Grow Your Business as she looks at successful strategies used by Agritourism ventures around the country. That seminar is set for 10 AM this morning.

This afternoon at 3 PM, she will head up another workshop, this time on Sowing Seeds for Profits- Right On the Ranch. The on Tuesday, Eckert will address Cultivating Agritourism: Making Your Region Ripe for Revenue. We have the full agenda for the two day conference linked below- it gives you more details of Jane Eckert's seminars as well as the other sessions that could be of real interest to agritourism efforts here in the state.

Click here for the agenda on the Governor's Conference on Tourism.


Fear Factors Continue to Make Reopening of Korean Market for US Beef Challenging.
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USMEF President and CEO Phil Seng is in South Korea meeting with key South Korean distributors, wholesalers, retailers and industry consultants to assess current market conditions and fine-tune the organization's approach for U.S. beef and pork in this key export market.

While US Beef sales to South Korea have grown since the market reopened earlier in 2008, two recent developments have thrown major roadblocks into the path of rapid expansion. Those external issues include a series of continuing food safety-related issues - ranging from melamine in Chinese dairy products to dioxin in Chilean pork - that collectively are diminishing South Korea's confidence in imported foods, and a dramatic decline in the value of the South Korean currency, the won, which is causing a sharp drop in the international purchasing power of South Koreans.

By far the biggest evidence of continued market reticence is the absence of U.S. beef from the shelves of large discount retail chains. Despite the availability from importers and distributors of a range of both chilled and frozen U.S. beef cuts, key large discounters have not yet announced plans to restart U.S. beef sales.
"The challenges ahead for the U.S. beef and pork industries here are not small ones," said Seng. "The recent series of food safety issues involving foreign food imports has compounded fears in South Korea that were raised during this summer's public protests against U.S. beef. And the global economic turmoil has dramatically reduced the value of both the won and the Australian dollar, crimping U.S. competitiveness. We will be addressing these and other issues with our members at the USMEF board meeting in November."

Read more on the current situation in South Korea for both US Beef and Pork


John Deere Casts Wide Net with Utility Tractor Lineup for 2009
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This past week, we had the chance to see, touch and even ride and drive several new models of tractors being offered by John Deere this fall. The lineup shown to the ag trade media in Sarasota, Florida included their Compact Utility Tractors, Utility Tractors, Utility vehicles- the John Deere Gator- and their lineup of lawn and garden products. In this report- we spotlight the Five Series Tractors that John Deere is now offering.

They are called "utility" tractors- but the revamped line of John Deere Five Series tractors could find a place on about any farm or ranch operation in the country. This lineup of tractors range from 45 to 105 horsepower, and Deere has elected to offer both ends of the spectrum with their new lineup. On the budget end, they are offering several models that are very basic but offer the John Deere pedigree to a tractor buyer at what the company officials told us this last week would be a very attractive price point. At the other end of the price line- you have their "5M" tractors, which offer lots of bells and whistles and the price to match.

While at this media examination of these new John Deere Products, we visited with Rex Edmunds who is the Division Marketing Manager for the Five Series Tractors- we have that audio and more on our time in Florida on a story today found on our website- and linked below.

Clcik here for more on the Five Series Tractors Now Being Offered by John Deere


Proposition 2 to be Discussed on Oprah's Tuesday Show
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The nation's agriculture industry is watching California to find out if that state's voters will vote for or against Proposition 2. If Proposition 2 passes it will ban the use of sow stalls and small cages for layers in the poultry industry, as well as any other stalls designed to limit livestock movement. Proposition 2 is being championed by the Humane Society of the United States.

Proposition 2 is being watched closely by many sectors of agriculture, including the dairy, poultry and pork industries. If, Proposition 2 passes this November in California it could have strong implications across the nation. It could mean the end to several present day procedures in the way certain livestock are grown.

On Tuesday, Illinois pork producer Matt Kellogg and his father John will discuss California's Proposition 2 on the Oprah Winfrey program. On the same show, discussing the same issue will be the president of the Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Pacelle. This program could go a long way in developing perceptions of the issue across the nation.
Check your local listings to get exact air times where you live.


World Series Angus Bull Sale Coming October 25 at Spur Ranch in Vinita
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The Spur Ranch World Series 2008 Angus Sale is set for Saturday October 25, 2008 at the Ranch in Vinita, Oklahoma. The start time is 11 AM. The sale will include 130 Registered Angus Bulls and 250 Bred Commercial Angus Females.

Jot Hartley of the Spur Ranch writes in the Sale Catalog "The sale this year is being held on a SATURDAY to enable those with other jobs to have a chance to attend. A special feature to this sale is the progeny of SPUR SUCCESS 2801. This is the best and deepest set of SUCCESS sons that we have ever offered for sale! Over 30 sons of SUCCESS will sell."

We have more information linked below, and will have the sale catalog up and available later today or tomorrow for this upcoming event. When the catalog becomes available on line- our calendar item at the link below will have the correct link to then jump straight to that catalog. Check with us later today to check the status of the catalog. You can also call Jot Hartley at 918-244-0934 with any questions about the offering available on the 25th.

Click here for more on the World Series Sale at Spur Ranch in Vinita.


Our thanks to Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill and Midwest Farm Shows 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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Let's Check the Markets!
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Overnight Electronic Trade has bounced back from the sharply lower prices of Friday. Wheat prices have recovered about half of the losses from Friday early this morning, with Kansas City December up 15 cents this morning to $6.20 after falling 33 cents on Friday; corn dropped 30 cents on Friday and is up six cents this morning while cotton fell 300 points Friday and is recovering to the tune of 150 points this morning.

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:
Our Daily Market Wrapup from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed Richards and Tom Leffler- analyzing the Futures Markets from the previous Day-
Ron on RON Markets as heard on K101 mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
Previous Day's Wheat Market Recap- One Pager From Country Hedging- looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges and the why of that day's market.
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- As Reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture. <
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
Finally, Here is the Daily Volume and Price Summary from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.



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