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.

On page seven of this thirteen page document- you will find the following question and then answer:
"Q. Can a packer or intermediary supplier that processes whole muscle meat products derived from both mixed origin animals (e.g., Product of U.S., Canada and Mexico) and U.S. origin animals commingle and label these products with a mixed origin label?
A. If meat covered commodities derived from U.S. and mixed origin animals are commingled during a production day, the resulting product may carry the mixed origin claim (e.g., Product of U.S., Canada, and Mexico). Thus, it is not permissible to label meat derived from livestock of U.S. origin with a mixed origin label if solely U.S. origin meat was produced during the production day.

More clarification from USDA is expected in the next couple of days- but it appears that this is language that will go a long way to satisfying calls for a strong application of the USA only label for beef that comes from cattle born, raised and processed in the USA.

We have the link to this FAQ page on our website- click below to take a look.

Click here for more on the COOL Rules that have been adjusted by USDA.

Currently, Sierra is serving as the Oklahoma DECA State Vice-President as well as holding several school organizations offices. She has been a Junior Beef Ambassador for the Oklahoma Beef Council the past eight years. Exhibiting her first show heifer at the age of four, Sierra has been active in several junior breed associations as well as the Oklahoma Junior Cattlemen's Association. Being recognized for her showmanship ability, Sierra received the Oklahoma Club Calf Association Top Showmanship Award in 2002. Sierra has exhibited steers that have been selected for the premium sales at Tulsa State Fair, Oklahoma Youth Expo, and Enid District Show.

She has also been busy as a National FFA Risk Management Essay Winner, National FFA Proficiency Award Finalist, National FFA Costa Rica Trip Winner, 4-H State Agriculture Record Book Winner, 4-H Senior Hall of Fame, and National FCCLA Gold STAR Event Winner. During the recent Career Tech State Officer's Conference, she was selected Miss Career Tech University.
She was our guest Saturday morning on KWTV News9 during our In the Field Segment- and we have that video linked on our website- and that story is linked below for you to jump over to- She's not just a pretty young lady- but a most impressive achiever as well.

Click here for more on Sierra Simpson- set to represent Oklahoma in the National Beef Ambassador Contest October 9-11.

"The fallout from the general financial malaise is being felt worldwide, especially in countries that may be already facing slowing economies due to the high price of energy," according to AFBF Economist Terry Francl, one of the authors of the analysis. "This will most likely moderate the demand for agriculture products and ingredients, reduce the demand for U.S. agricultural exports and ultimately affect U.S. farm prices. Likewise, a slower domestic economy would also weigh on the demand for farm commodities and prices." Francl indicated that the Agriculture Department is projecting record high farm income in 2008. Another measure of economic health in farm country, debt-to-asset ratio, is at a modern low of 10 percent.

The analysis states, however, that within the United States, the credit supply is being impaired, which affects the cost of credit. This crunch is already affecting some agri-business companies, as reflected by recent developments in the fertilizer sector, according to Francl. "Fertilizer prices have basically doubled in the past two years and continue to rise," Francl said. "Farmers are currently being asked to make commitments for their 2009 fertilizer needs and to pay a substantial portion of that commitment, sometimes 100 percent up front. The credit function of these transactions is being shifted from the fertilizer producers and retail dealers to the farmers. The net result is that it increases the farmer's cost."

To see the full report compiled by Terry Francl and the other economists at Farm Bureau- click here

New Board members will include Richard Gephardt of Claremore and R.D. Farr of Bartlesville. Heather Buckmaster, Executive Director of the Beef Council, says that a major focus for the coming twelve months will be moving the ball forward on the Beef Quality Assurance program. She believes that Oklahoma has a model in place that could allow us to certify more of our beef producers than any other state in the country.

We have our conversation with Heather on our website about the new fiscal year and what it may bring for the Oklahoma Beef Council as these men and ladies work to improve the well being of the Oklahoma beef industry. Click on the link below to jump to that story and where we stand in the promotion, education and research arenas through the beef checkoff dollars generated from cattle producers.

Click here for the a look at the new fiscal year happenings of the Oklahoma Beef Council

Back in the summer and into the early fall, the Beef Board officers traveled across the country to meet with various industry organizations in an effort to develop and recommend changes to the Beef Promotion and Research Act and Order. The ideas gleaned from the various groups have been pulled together and are being reviewed by the Subcommittee. As the ideas have been sorted and placed into categories for the review process- the names of the groups suggesting the changes have been removed from the ideas to make sure that each idea will be considered on its own merit.

We have comments on this with Tom Ramey of the CBB on our Monday Beef Buzz- click below to go to our website story and to listen to this update on where we are with checkoff enhancements.

Click here for our Monday Beef Buzz from the Radio Oklahoma Network

The Commodity markets here in the US reflect that concern- with overnight electronic trade showing Kansas City and Chicago wheat down 13 to 15 cents, corn off 15 cents and soybeans down 29 cents from the lower settlement prices of last Friday.

Crude Oil and Natural Gas both are cheaper this morning than they were at the settlements of Friday afternoon- with crude oil down $1.13 on Friday at 106.89- and another $3.36 lower as we write this Monday morning at $103.53. Natural gas was off 30 cents on Friday- and off yet another 18 cents this morning- now at $7.44 per million BTU.

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.