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Fleischaker told those at the Tuesday luncheon that he sees biofuels as an important element to uphold national security, revitalize rural economies and to enhance the environment.

He is also very high on the use of sorghum in biofuels, saying that sorghum "hits it out of the park" when it comes to being a water conserving crop, as well as a crop that can produce large quantities of biomass per acre. He thinks those two attributes will make sorghum a huge player in the years to come in the biofuel developments around the world.
We have our story from Houston and this international conference on sorghum linked below- including our exclusive conversation with the Secretary before his speech.

Click here for our Top Story from Houston at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

The agreement establishes the intent to cooperate in establishing processes and infrastructure for conversion of sweet sorghum and other feedstocks to ethanol. This agreement represents an important step forward in the collaboration of some of the world's top scientists to contribute to alternative energy research through the development of alternative feedstocks.
Dr. Shi-Zhong Li of the Institute of New Energy Technology at Tsinghua University affirmed the focus of this collaboration. "We will work on sweet sorghum conversion to ethanol and the use of cellulosic sorghum for ethanol."

Tim Lust, CEO of the National Sorghum Producers noted the importance of such an agreement. "This is a milestone for the sorghum industry and for our members as the world turns its attention to sorghum. Sorghum's water sipping qualities, short growing season and ability to grow on 80 percent of the world's land, including some marginal agricultural areas, really lends it to biofuels production as the U.S. and the world face pressing issues with energy independence and economic difficulties."

As Texas goes- so goes the US cotton crop numbers. Our neighbor to the south and west of us is easily the largest cotton producing state- and that is especially true with so many cotton acres put into soybeans this past spring in the mid south. Texas cotton crop production was predicted by USDA to drop by perhaps three million bales this year versus last- but Haldenby says it could be worse than that.

We have an audio overview with comments from Roger Haldenby from his Lubbock office on this bone of contention they have with NASS. Click below to jump to that story and the available audio.

Click here for more on Plains Cotton's view on the size of the 2008 Cotton Crop.

"In some cases, the money you have to give up to buy a product (as a consumer) or an input (as a producer) represents most or all of the opportunity cost of that product. You have to give up whatever else you could have bought with that money. In other cases the explicit monetary cost may only be part of the full opportunity cost of a product. In other words, the tradeoffs are the real cost of things. Sometimes the tradeoffs are obvious and other times much more indirect. We can think of tradeoffs in three broad categories. The first is "output to output". In other words, choices between alternatives for production. For example, there is no doubt that we can grow enough corn to meet increased demand for ethanol along with other uses. However, since there is not vast supply of unused agricultural resources, increased corn production costs land, fertilizer and other inputs that could have been used to produce soybeans and other crops.

"The second type of tradeoff is "input to input". When the price of an input increases we look for cheaper alternatives. Thus, high fertilizer price makes other nutrient sources, like animal manure, more attractive. In the case of cattle, high feed-grain prices makes forage more attractive. The third type of tradeoff is "input to output". High input prices (relative to output price) leads to reduced input usage (and less output produced). High fertilizer price suggests that producers should use less fertilizer. High feed-grain price means that feedlots should use less grain to feed cattle. It should be obvious in all of these examples that it is relative prices that drive decision-making. It does not matter what the absolute price of corn is; it matters what corn price is relative to soybean and other crop prices that will determine how we allocate land and other resources to corn and soybean or other crop production. It is the relative price of corn to by- products or forage that determines how much corn will be used for animal feed. It is the price of fertilizer relative to the value of crop production that determines how much fertilizer will be used. In this period of transition, we will continue to see much volatility and uncertainty about these relative prices. Eventually values will adjust relative to what consumers want and are willing to pay for and producer margins will stabilize. In the meantime, not only is the lunch not free, it is very difficult to figure just how much it does cost."

Drake says that we are now cutting into the "muscle" of many good programs, because the monies are simply not available. He personally would like to see the checkoff raised to $2.00 per head, but he says to get there will require getting all the stakeholders- or what he calls the "base" together on a plan that can be taken to USDA and the Congress sometime next year once Congress and the new Administration are in place. He reminds all those that come together in this effort that a yes vote will need to be sold to grassroots cattlemen as needed and good for the entire industry, as well as their well being in the cattle business.

We have the link to the Beef Buzz page below where you will find today's story with Bob Drake- and you can also take a listen to yesterday's Beef Buzz- also with Drake on the enhancement of the checkoff and how Beef Board leadership has been soliciting ideas from groups representing cattlemen all across the country.

Click here for the Beef Buzz page found on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

Cotton Producer Mark Nichols of Altus was elected president of the Cotton Foundation at its' annual meeting in Savannah, Ga. Charles Parker, a Missouri cotton producer, was elected Foundation chairman. Foundation trustees for the 2008-09 year are: producers; Nichols, Chuck Coley, Georgia; Cannon Michael, California; and Sledge Taylor, Mississippi. Allied industry trustees are: Mark Lindsey, DuPont Crop Protection; Douglas Rushing, Monsanto; Ted McKinney, Dow Agro Sciences; Allen Scarbrough, Bayer CropScience; Neil Strong, Syngenta; Jim Arnold, Helena Chemical; and William Norton, John Deere Des Moines Works.

A hoop house works like a greenhouse, but without powered heat or ventilation. The Hanleys' design keeps their crops happy, weathers the elements, and keeps costs down. That lets the Hanleys extend their growing season, harvesting warm-weather crops earlier and later than other growers, and keeping cold-hardy ones going all winter long. At the field day, they will go through the process of building one of their hoop houses. "We're going to bend some pipes, put in rebar. It'll be very how-to," Tod says. "I'm not an expert on hoop houses," he says. "I just tried a bunch and looked at a lot that fell down." Their hoop houses have withstood 50 mile-per-hour winds that demolished commercial versions, and come cheaper.

To cut expenses, the pair used a homemade pipe bender to form their own hoops from straight tubing that cost three times less than pre-formed hoops. Three years ago, the Hanleys built their three 17' by 100' hoop houses for $600 each, while commercial versions were selling for over $1000. Growing produce on less than a third of an acre, the couple makes weekly deliveries to individual customers. They also sell to local health and natural food stores.
We have more details on our website on our calendar page- scroll down to September 14 and click on the How To Hoop Field Day event.

Click here for the Calendar Page found at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com

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

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.