From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 07:15
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 Wednesday August 27, 2008!
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma and Midwest Farm Shows!
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-- Could the State Senate Remain Tied 24 to 24 NEXT Year?
-- HSUS- Determined to Drastically Change Animal Agriculture in this Country.
-- The 2008 Farm Law Side by Side with the 2002 Law- Courtesy of USDA
-- Dupont Claims They Can Jump Corn and Soybean Yields in the Coming Decade by 40%- Using Lasers.
-- Produce More- Conserve More- The Word from the Farm Progress Show
-- The R-Calf "Discussion" Continues
-- 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 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!
And our email this morning is also a service of Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the annual Tulsa Farm Show held each December, 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.

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.


Could the State Senate Remain Tied 24 to 24 NEXT Year?
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The Executive Director of the Oklahoma Pork Council, Roy Lee Lindsey, says you can't predict the actual agenda for this coming legislative session in Oklahoma until we get come clarity in the struggle over control of the State Senate. Over the past two years, we have had what has been called a historic power sharing agreement with the Senate evenly split 24 to 24 between Republicans and Democrats. There have been co-chairmen, and the more aggressive issues for either side have had little traction in the Senate, unless the lawmakers handling a measure is able to craft bipartisan support.

Lindsey says that he has heard that some election analysts believe it could well stay a tie after the November elections, which would continue the status quo and leave both parties less than happy privately, if not publicly. He says that in the case of his organization, the Pork Council, it is almost impossible to craft their state agenda without knowing which party will control the Senate, which would allows them to put that in context with the Republican run House and a Democratic Governor.

This is our Top Story of the Morning on our website- and we have the link to it below- which includes audio with Roy Lee on his take on the problems of formulating a legislative agenda with the State Senate waiting on the November elections for the answers.

Click here for a look at the Senate Stalemate story found on WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


HSUS- Determined to Drastically Change Animal Agriculture in this Country.
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Today's Beef Buzz zeroes in on the Humane Society of the US, a group that has lots of cash, and is actively expanding their surveillance of the livestock industry in the United States, looking for ways to embarrass and harass ranchers, auction barn owners, feedlots, meat packers and processors. We hear from David Martosko of the Center for Consumer Freedom on the HSUS, who says that while their website does not offer a banner that proclaims that they want to see the end of the animal agriculture in this country- that privately they have stated that desire multiple times.

HSUS is well known for their hidden cameras and the gathering of video that showed the Hallmark/Westland downer cow that put that company out of business- HSUS sat on that video for months and did not inform USDA of any violations until they picked the time they felt gave them maximum advantage in releasing the video to the world.

The Beef Buzz is heard daily on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- and can also be heard from our Beef Buzz page on our website- WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com. Not only do we have today's Beef Buzz, we have a great set of archives that cover the gamut of beef industry issues that we have covered over the past two years while at the Radio Oklahoma Network. We have today's report linked below- check it out.

Click here for the Beef Buzz story for today from RON


The 2008 Farm Law Side by Side with the 2002 Law- Courtesy of USDA
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If you are the type of person who likes to get into the "nuts and bolts" of a program, USDA's Economic Research Service has released an Internet-based, side-by-side comparison of key components of the 2008 farm bill with previous farm legislation. The new web site includes new features such as an A-to-Z list of major provisions, a user's guide, and a search function.

One of the groups that have had a chance to look at the new website is the National Corn Growers Association. Their President says they welcome this informational resource on the new law. NCGA president Ron Litterer points out that - federal legislation is often complex and cumbersome. Litterer says - having a look at how the new farm bill measures up compared to the prior law is a useful resource for growers and others.

We have the link on the USDA site set for you below- jump over and start comparing to your heart's content.

Click here for the USDA Side by Side Review of Farm Law- Current and Past.


Dupont Claims They Can Jump Corn and Soybean Yields in the Coming Decade by 40%- Using Lasers.
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At the 2008 Farm Progress Show underway in Boone, Iowa, DuPont has unveiled an advanced technology that will transform seed research and considerably speed up the development of higher yielding corn and soybean varieties. DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred introduced Laser- Assisted Seed Selection to farmers attending the Farm Progress Show here as the newest tool in its Accelerated Yield Technology (AYT) toolbox. The technology promises to increase the size and scope of the Pioneer breeding program five fold in the next three years.

Laser-Assisted Seed Selection uses a 120-watt carbon dioxide laser to score a small slice from a seed to capture its genetic information while maintaining the seed's viability for planting. Molecular breeding techniques are used to identify desirable genetic combinations within each individual scored seed slice. Seeds identified to have superior genetics are selected for planting and advancement through the Pioneer research program. "Laser-Assisted Seed Selection transforms our research program because it intensifies the impact of other AYT technologies such as molecular breeding by enabling the rapid selection of the best genetics for advancement before they ever leave the lab," said William S. Niebur, vice resident - DuPont Crop Genetics Research and Development. "Our engineers and scientists have come up with a truly unique technology that will have a significant impact on the rate we bring higher yielding products to Pioneer customers."

We have the full story on our website- click below to check it out.

Click here for the full story on DuPont's Laser Technology that will Help them Dramatically Improve Crop Output.


Produce More- Conserve More- The Word from the Farm Progress Show
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Monsanto held an exclusive press-only meeting at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa, Tuesday, but the roundtable discussion had little to do with its famous genetic seed research. Mike Wilson wrote of the session for our National Farm Broadcast News Service. In fact the topic was sustainability - how to define it and how to make sure it can be reached, as the world seeks answers to a growing population and higher food demands.
More agricultural companies, as well as major retailers, are taking sustainability seriously and writing it into their business plans, say panelists. Michael Doane, Monsanto Director of the Sustainable Yield Initiative, defined sustainability in simple terms: Produce more, conserve more.

Doane says for the past 18 months Monsanto has been talking with a wide variety of stakeholders - employees, customers, investors, non-governmental organizations, policy makers and others - about how the company might best contribute to global sustainability. "What we heard overwhelmingly was to do what we do best - and that's help farmers improve yield. But there was a second element to that answer, and that was to help farmers improve yield and simultaneously conserve more. Produce more, and conserve more. It's not only about the "what" of agriculture - but also about the "how." That means better water management and a careful eye on greenhouse gas emissions, for starters.

Another of the panelists was Fred Lucky, Executive Vice President at Bunge North America. He says his company subscribes to the United Nations definition of sustainability: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. Bunge has a single one page policy on sustainability that is distributed to employees from headquarters. "We're engaged on both sides of the supply chain, so we have a unique ear - we can hear what's going on," says Lucky. "What we hear is, consumers are very interested in this subject. Over 50% of consumers have interest in health, wellness, and are able to pay a premium for it. It's a loud signal we have to pay attention to.
Lucky says sustainability policies are being implemented by major companies right now. The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has said it intends to create a scorecard to measure suppliers' sustainability levels. "That's a wakeup call to anyone working with Wal-Mart," he says.


The R-Calf "Discussion" Continues
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Last week, we received a news release from the R-Calf USA folks about the fight that broke out in their organization back in 2007 over the OTM trade rules being proposed by the USDA. It seemed odd that a farm organization would issue a news release on an internal issue that included lawsuits that were still pending.

CEO Bill Bullard did offer an "olive branch" to the disaffected former members regarding the legal matters, saying that R-Calf was ready to settle the issue.
Well, one good news release deserves another- and now the former President of R-Calf and three of the former members who quit over the removal of Chuck Kiker of Texas as President, have responded in a public statement.

It's way too complicated to describe in twenty five words of less- but we do have the stories, the news releases and a link to the former members website they have set up as a clearinghouse of information they say that cattlemen need to know before they support R-Calf. We have that story on our website- and it is linked below.

Click here for the story on the R-Calf War of Words Between Current Leadership and Former Leadership.


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.

Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Let's Check the Markets!
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One note- for those that are looking for overnight electronic grain futures updates- the market update that we produce for K101 and is linked below includes that information on a daily basis- it is normally recorded shortly before the electronic trade ends at 6:00 AM central.

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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