|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Wednesday April 2,
2008! A
service of Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma, KIS Futures and American
Farmers & Ranchers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Congressman Frank Lucas- Frustration Rules in 2007-2008 Farm Bill
Debate.
-- Today is Ag Day in Oklahoma City at State Capitol.
-- American Farm Bureau Signals Expectation that Farm Bill May Well
be Vetoed If We Ever Get a Bill Into and Out of Conference.
-- Beef Buzzing with Andy Grosetta here in Washington!
-- Cotton Production Meeting Set for Next Thursday in Altus...
-- US Claims Victory- Gregg Doud Explains it All.
-- We Hear Ya- Working on Market Links...
Howdy Neighbors! Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are proud to have KIS Futures as a regular sponsor of our daily E-Mail. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for their "new look" website or call them at 1-800-256-2555. We are also proud to have American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual
Insurance Company as a regular sponsor of our daily update- click
here to go to their NEW AFR web site to learn more about their efforts
to serve rural America! 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. | |
Congressman Frank Lucas- Frustration Rules in 2007-2008 Farm Bill Debate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Months ago-
the tall Third District Congressman from Roger Mills County told us that
he was very concerned about how Speaker Nancy Pelosi has handling the
Energy Bill- and that if the Farm Bill went the same way, we could be in
for a real struggle. Lucas has proven to be a prophet in his read on the
"preconference" concept of keeping power away from a Conference Committee
and in the hands of the Chairman of the Committee involved under the
watchful eye of the Speaker's office.
While everyone agrees that Colin Peterson has done yeoman's work in trying to bring a Farm Bill together, it has gotten lost in the shuffle that a conference committee is the vehicle that could bring a consensus that result in a bill that most could live with- and could withstand a Presidential veto. That's the contention of Lucas, who is the third most senior Republican on the House Ag Committee. Lucas says he talks to Peterson and Goodlatte daily when Congress is in session- and that his Ag Staffer- meets with the other Ag Staff to work on the details that would make up the fabric of a bill if the big decisions can ever be finalized. But, those big decisions are closely held by the four players- Peterson, Goodlatte, Harkin and Chambliss- and it seems that has been dictated by the refusal of Nancy Pelosi to name House Ag Conferees and keep everything in the "preconference" mode. We have our conversation in the Congressman's office linked below- he met earlier in the day with Oklahoma Farm Bureau members but would not promise them that he would vote to override a Presidential veto until he knew what was in a final farm bill that would be sent to the President's desk. He said his ultimate standard would be how good that measure would be for the Third District and for farmers across the country. Click here to listen to Ron and Congressman Lucas talk Farm Policy 2008 Style. | |
Today is Ag Day in Oklahoma City at State Capitol. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's later
than normal- but still should be a good day for Oklahoma's agricultural
groups to come together and celebrate the bounty of the efforts of
Oklahoma's farmers and ranchers.
Three major presentations are planned. The first will feature the Ag in the Classroom presentations of awards to their Contest winners- prizes handed out to youngsters who have placed at the top of the poster and essay contests. There's a link on the Oklahoma Department of Ag website with those winners listed. Second will be the Beef Backer award, sponsored by the Oklahoma Beef
Council, that will go the Iron Starr Urban Bar-B-Que Restaurant in
Oklahoma City. Iron Starr will be presented with a $5000 media package,
Beef Backer trophy award and entry into the National Beef Backer contest.
There will also be additional opportunities to appear in cooperative
advertising with the OBC throughout the year as the Oklahoma Beef Backer.
The final big event of the day will be the announcement of the next inductee into the Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame- and based on what we are hearing from multiple sources, this will be a selection that has been anticipated for a while. Lt. Governor Jari Askins will sub for the Governor in making that presentation this afternoon at 1:30 pm. | |
American Farm Bureau Signals Expectation that Farm Bill May Well be Vetoed If We Ever Get a Bill Into and Out of Conference. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara Smith of
the American Farm Bureau told members of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau here in
Washington that AFBF is really expecting the President will use his veto
on the 2007-2008 Farm Bill that may emerge from Congress in the next few
weeks.
She told the members that because of the amount of spending that Congress seems to be heading for= the level of "reform" demanded by the Administration will not be met- and that will trigger the veto. As a result, she says the AFBF board is planning now for how they will approach a campaign to get a veto override into gear. As a part of that exercise, OFB President Mike Spradling asked both
Congressmen Dan Boren and Frank Lucas how they would respond to a veto
override vote- and the Democratic lawmaker was quick to say that he would
vote to override the President, while Lucas said he could not answer the
question until he knew what was in the bill. Click here to listen to Ron and Tara talk 2008 Farm Bill Hopes and Dreams. | |
Beef Buzzing with Andy Grosetta here in Washington! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our Beef Buzz
update originates from the NCBA Spring Legislative Conference, as we had
the chance to talk several issues with Andy Grosetta, President of the
National Cattlemen's Beef Association. The Arizona rancher stepped in as
Oklahoma feedlot operator Paul Hitch resigned last fall from his slot in
the officer chain for NCBA due to his battle with cancer, that ended this
past month.
Grosetta talked with us about the NCBA's "to do" list on the 2007-2008 farm bill- and at the top of the list is the desire to make sure the Packer Ban on owning livestock never sees the light of day in a final bill. It was included in the Senate Farm Bill, as Senator Harkin included it as part of his Manager's amendment without debate or comment this past fall. You can hear the Beef Buzz on radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Network- and we have many of our shows archived on our website on the "Beef Buzz" page. We also have today's show with Andy linked below- for you to be able to jump and check out- go give it a listen! Click here for Ron and Andy Grosetta Beef Buzzing from Washington! | |
Cotton Production Meeting Set for Next Thursday in Altus... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma and
North Texas cotton producers are invited to attend a meeting on cotton
pest control, plant mapping and growth regulators at 9:30 a.m., Thursday,
April 10, 2008, at the OSU Southwest Research and Extension Center south
of Altus. Dr. J.C. Banks, center director and OSU Extension state cotton
specialist, asks all interested persons to RSVP their attendance by April
7.
The meeting will feature a presentation on cotton plant mapping- to be given by Shane Osborne. Cotton seedling diseases and early/midseason insect problems will be subjects covered by Terry Pitts. Pitts' subject matter will include diseases and fungicide seed treatments, cotton planting dates and cold chilling injury and insects, seed treatment and plant bug management. Control and cutout of mid and late season worms will be explained by Jerry Goodson. Beet armyworms, fall armyworms and budworms are all pests Goodson will cover. Growth regulator use and application will be presented by JC Banks. You can RSVP to get in on the free lunch by calling 580-482-8880. We have details of the event linked on our calendar page at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com- and we have the jump link for you listed below- Scroll down to April 10 for the link there for further details on this upcoming cotton production meeting- as well as details on several other events happening that are important to Oklahoma agriculture! | |
US Claims Victory- Gregg Doud Explains it All. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. Trade
Representative Susan C. Schwab said the World Trade Organization's ruling,
announced Monday, that a ban by the European Union on imports of U.S. beef
from certain hormone-treated cattle remains scientifically unjustified
would be a boon to U.S. beef producers - as well as EU consumers.
."The panel's findings on the EU ban are an important victory for all U.S. farmers and ranchers," Schwab said in a statement. "EU consumers should have access to U.S. beef - it is of high quality, safe and competitive. Considering the EU's position as the world's second largest beef importer, resolution of this dispute will benefit not only U.S. cattle producers and beef exporters, but also EU importers and consumers." The ruling allows the United States and Canada to maintain sanctions on specified European products, though the EU has the right to appeal. This dispute dates back to the late 1980s, when the European Union
first blocked US beef from entering Europe because we were producing beef
with naturally occurring hormones through implants. The US got a ruling in
our favor in the mid 1990s that allowed the United States to slap duties
of more than a hundred million dollars annually. Click to listen to Gregg Doud of NCBA explain the EU Beef Dispute Issue with the US and Canada... | |
We Hear Ya- Working on Market Links... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Several
readers of this daily email have suggested that we put together some basic
market coverage that can go out daily in this email. We are working on how
to best accomplish this- it will likely be in the form of links that we
will provide at the bottom of the email each day- perhaps a few lines
about the highlights of the market- and then links to take you where you
need to go. We have several of those links already congregated on our
"Markets" page on our website- and we will likely use it as the central
point to carry you to the information that you may find of use in your
operation.
One audio report that can quickly sum up the daily market picture as it relates to the futures market is heard in the afternoons on the Radio Oklahoma Network- a recap of that day's trade and come commentary on the trade with Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities out of Kansas. Ed Richards hosts that report and we have it linked on our "Markets" page as well as linked directly below for you- take a listen, it may help provide some quick indications of how the market fared in that just concluded trading session. We will have more market links in the days to come- and a format that will be standardized to make it quick and easy for you to jump from this email to that information that you are wanting. Click here for the Market Wrap from the Radio Oklahoma Network with Ed and Tom! | |
Our thanks to American Farmers & Ranchers, KIS Futures and Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma 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. | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
