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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Tuesday April 29, 2008!
A
service of Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma, KIS Futures & Midwest
Farm Shows!
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-- Will We Get a Farm Bill This Week?
-- 82nd Annual Convention of Oklahoma FFA Kicks Off This
Morning!
-- Rain Slows Field Work in Oklahoma for yet another week.
-- Crop Conditions Around the Country- Corn Planting Well Behind
Normal Pace in Virtually All Parts of the Country.
-- Dick Bond of Tyson Goes Off on Ethanol-
-- Rust Spores Rolling In- Time to Spray???
-- Ag Lobby Praises Governor for Signing into Law Trespass
Measures.
-- Checking the Markets...Lots of Cattle in Oklahoma City on
Monday...
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 website or call them at 1-800-256-2555. We also welcome Farm Credit of East Central Oklahoma as a
regular sponsor of our daily email update. Farm Credit of East Central
Oklahoma has ten branch offices to serve your farm financing needs and is
dedicated to being your first choice for farm credit. Check
out their website for more information 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. | |
Will We Get a Farm Bill This Week? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are waiting
and watching as lawmakers try to come up with a final farm bill package
that includes all the details important to the farm community, not just
the billions in additional nutrition spending demanded by House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi. Apparently, among the more fluid issues remaining include
payment caps, the so called "AGI Test" and the beneficial interest issue
as it relates to LDP payments. In addition, there still is no final
language out there that has been seen on the livestock competition title-
including the fate of the Packer ban on the ownership of livestock-
something Conference Chairman Tom Harkin would like to push through, while
House Ag Committee Chairman Colin Peterson has considered it totally
unacceptable.
Complicating these final decisions- pushing back against the farm state lawmakers is the White House determined to make major changes to farm policy in the three areas listed above. The web site Politico quotes White House spokesman Scott Stanzel, who threatened that President Bush would veto the Farm Bill if it comes to him in its current iteration. "I understand members will be meeting about this tomorrow, so things still may be a bit fluid. But, as it stands now, it is not something the president would support," Stanzel said in an e-mail when asked if the president would veto it. "More than a year ago, the administration put forward a reform-minded farm bill that met our priorities and made wise use of the people's money. The farm bill proposal currently being discussed by conferees lacks important reforms the president has repeatedly called for." There will be a Conference Committee Meeting this afternoon at 1:30 PM Central time. AND- we have an audio preview and review of where we are on the farm bill debate with Mary Kay Thatcher of the American Farm Bureau on our Farm Bill page linked below. Thatcher says we are getting close- but admits that there is little of these most contentious policy issues actually "on paper" as of yet- and that will have to be worked out by the Conferees. She believes there is only a thirty percent chance that the Administration will now veto the Farm Bill over policy issues- with the funding matters largely now off the table. I would really suggest you jump over to our farm bill page and take a listen to Mary Kay's thoughts- she summarizes where we are VERY WELL indeed. | |
82nd Annual Convention of Oklahoma FFA Kicks Off This Morning! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some 10,000
members, ag ed teachers, parents and other supporters of the Blue and Gold
will be gathering today and tomorrow in downtown Oklahoma City to
celebrate the 82nd annual convention of the Oklahoma FFA. The theme of the
2008 convention is Blue Jackets- Bright Futures!
One of the decisions that the delegates from all of the chapters from across the state of Oklahoma will be making over the next couple of days is who will serve as the State Officers in 2008-2009. Twenty three young men and ladies will be vying for the eight officer slots on the 2008-2009 team. The three State President candidates are all serving on the 2007- 2008 state officer team- State Secretary Chelsea Clifton of Kingfisher, Northwest District Vice President Cody Ott of Fairview and State Reporter John- Kyle Truitt of Jenks. Tonight, the State organization will be honoring three of its top
members as Star Farmer, Star Agribusinessman and Star in Ag Placement- we
will have links tomorrow morning to the three winners and the video
presentation that we have produced that will be seen at the state
convention session this evening. Click here for the State Officer Candidate's Resumes from this year's State FFA Convention. | |
Rain Slows Field Work in Oklahoma for yet another week. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was slow
going for our spring planted crops as farmers worked around rainfall to
get ground ready and the seed into the ground- and they remain right about
or slightly ahead of the five year average for the work to be done,
according to the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update. The report says
"Peanut, cotton, and soybean planting is expected to increase this
upcoming week. Corn seedbed prepared increased six percentage points from
the previous week to 91 percent, eight points behind last year, and four
points behind normal. Corn planted was at 62 percent, up 26 points from
the previous week, and six points ahead of the five-year average. Nearly
one-third of the corn had emerged by week's end, four points behind
normal. Sorghum seedbed prepared was up nine points to 51 percent.
Soybeans seedbed prepared was at 48 percent, 13 points behind the
five-year average. Seedbed preparation for peanuts was at 79 percent,
three points ahead of normal. Peanuts planted were at 11 percent, slightly
ahead of the five-year average. Cotton seedbed prepared was up nine points
from the previous week to 88 percent, eight points ahead of normal."
For our wheat crop- it continues to progress- but is well behind normal in the heading stage of development. It jumped from 11% headed to 37% headed in the latest week, which is 34 percentage points behind normal. The crop continues to have a good to excellent rating, based on the surveys among the County Extension agents across the wheat belt. If you want to review the full report for this week- click on the link below and take a look. | |
Crop Conditions Around the Country- Corn Planting Well Behind Normal Pace in Virtually All Parts of the Country. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most of this
year's corn planting progress is well behind that of normal- for example,
Illinois now has 6% planted versus a five year average of 56% by this
date; Iowa has just 3% planted versus the five year average of 33% and 8%
of the Missouri corn is in the ground versus the five year average of 66%.
Looking at winter wheat beyond our borders, Kansas wheat crop conditions improved three percentage points this week to 45% good to excellent. Meanwhile, the Texas wheat crop still has almost half of the crop rated in poor to very poor condition at 48%. 38% of the crop has headed versus the five year average of 48%. Pasture and range conditions in Texas are mostly fair to good- 64% total in those two categories, while the Kansas pasture conditions are also in the fair to good range at 74% in those categories. Here in Oklahoma, the pasture ratings are 81% in the fair to good condition rankings. | |
Dick Bond of Tyson Goes Off on Ethanol- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saying that
the feed costs to Tyson has doubled since 2006- the CEO of Tyson Foods,
Dick Bond, has taken dead aim at ethanol as a primary culprit of rising
feed costs- and he says what is still to follow- explosively higher food
costs.
Bond claims that ethanol does not make economic sense. He says that for every dollar generated by the production of ethanol made from grain- it costs society two dollars- not a sustainable trade. He says that ethanol has set back the battle on hunger in this country and globally. He says that hunger is a focus of the charitable giving of Tyson down through the years- and that it is discouraging seeing the battle against hunger be set back in such a significant way- and he calls on Congress to end what he calls our "misguided" policy on ethanol. We have his comments that he made to Wall Street analysts on Monday- click here to take a listen. | |
Rust Spores Rolling In- Time to Spray??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. Bob
Hunger- OSU Plant Pathologist, says the answer is likely "yes." "Rust
inoculum is being spread northward and producers across northern Oklahoma
need to consider applying a fungicide to protect their yields," Hunger
said. Fungicides will provide protection for a three-week period, with
full protection the first two weeks and partial protection during the
third week. "It's critical to try to apply fungicide so that protection is
afforded while the wheat is going through the stages of heading-out,
flowering and milk," Hunger said. "Applying the fungicide too early can
mean a lack of protection as the wheat is flowering, but applying the
fungicide too late can mean protection after the leaf rust is not much of
a factor."
Many years of fungicide training trials have indicated that the best time for application ranges from the flag leaf fully emerged to heads being slightly emerged from the boot. Leaf rust has the potential to decrease yield and is most damaging when leaf rust is severe early. "Leaf rust severity on flag leaves of around 65 percent in the flowering stage can reduce grain yield by as much as 30 percent to 35 percent," said Art Klatt, OSU professor of plant breeding and genetics. "The same level of infection when wheat is in the dough stage, however, generally will reduce yield by 10 percent or less. Hence, if you're growing a variety susceptible to leaf rust with excellent yield potential, consider using a fungicide to protect that potential." We have the link below for an Oklahoma State University bulletin that tells more about staying ahead of foliar diseases in your wheat- the time to spray is pretty well on top on us right now- so check it out. Click here for the OSU Extension Bulletin on Foliar Disease and Spraying to control those diseases. | |
Ag Lobby Praises Governor for Signing into Law Trespass Measures. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's
trespassing law became a notch stronger when Governor Brad Henry signed
into law two bills in late April increasing the penalty for trespassing.
The trespassing bills were among several receiving the governor's
signature recently that are supported by the state's farmers and ranchers.
The first bill signed April 22, SB 1735, increases the fine for a second
trespassing conviction from its current $250 to $1,000 plus makes the
trespasser responsible for any property damage. This bill will be enforced
under the wildlife code section of the law. A companion bill, SB 2111,
signed April 25, expanded the coverage to the criminal code section of the
law.
Two separate trespassing bills were required to address penalties under the criminal code and wildlife code. The President of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Mike Spradling is delighted these measures will soon be taking effect as law as he tells us "Not all trespassers are hunting and fishing. Some trespassers are just out on private property with their four-wheeler, damaging a crop or a fence." The farm leader said improving the trespass law received bi-partisan support. "We had lawmakers on both sides of the aisle voting for these bills," Spradling said. The law becomes effective Nov. 1. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, KIS Futures and Farm Credit of East Central Oklahomafor 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. | |
Checking the Markets...Lots of Cattle in Oklahoma City on Monday... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A total of
some 10,000 cattle moved across the scales at the Oklahoma National
Stockyards on Monday, with prices for both calves and yearling stronger-
up one to three dollars per hundred. The demand for the yearling cattle
was called very good with seven weight steers bringing from $104 to $111.
We have the full report linked for you- click
here to review it.
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: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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