From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 05:49
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 Tuesday June 3, 2008!
A service of National Livestock Credit, American Farmers & Ranchers and Midwest Farm Shows!
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-- ROAD GEAR!!! Harvest Rolls Forward.
-- Corn Emergence Lags Nationally- and especially in some of the key corn belt states.
-- South Korea Demands NO beef from Cattle Over 30 Months of Age- and US Packers Scramble to Offer Dating Beef Shipments
-- WTO Cotton Ruling- Not Unexpected- But Still a Disappointment for the US Cotton Industry.
-- Bunches of Stuff on our Calendar Webpage!
-- Consumers Are Split Over Priorities Surrounding Animal Welfare.
-- Kris Black's Cream of Crop Sale Up NEXT Saturday!
-- Wheat Market Jumps Higher- while Oklahoma City Cattle Market Has BIG Run.

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 National Livestock Credit Corporation as a regular sponsor of our daily email update. National Livestock Credit Corporation works diligently to provide unsurpassed service to their customers in the area of livestock financing. Check out the National Livestock Family of Services website by clicking here.

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 AFR web site to learn more about their efforts to serve rural America!
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.


ROAD GEAR!!! Harvest Rolls Forward.
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With the hotter temperatures, abundant sunshine and southerly winds- the 2008 winter wheat crop in Oklahoma is wasting no time drying down and becoming fully ripe- ready for a combine. Mark Hodges of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission reports that Monday saw the 2008 wheat harvest rapidly expand northward.

Hodges indicates that he had reports of test cutting as far north as Fairview on Monday- and that area Agronomist Rick Kochenower- who is based in the Oklahoma Panhandle- believes that we could see some test cutting in the Panhandle in just a couple more days. We have Mark's audio update for this Tuesday morning on our Wheat Harvest webpage which is linked at the bottom of this story.

In talking with producers this past Friday night in Major County- they has much the same story as wheat farmers further south- the crop filled under almost perfect weather conditions in 2008- maximizing the potential of the crop to that point. A couple of the producers spoke of grain fill out to the "fourth berry" which often is associated with a yield surprise to the upside.

As harvest motors along- please take just a moment and drop us an email about how things are going in your operation. Let us hear how test weights and yields are coming- and what varieties you are cutting thus far. Pictures are great, too- we will share those on our Wheat Harvest webpage- which we have linked below. Email us at ron@oklahomafarmreport.com

Click here for our Wheat Harvest Webpage at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com


Corn Emergence Lags Nationally- and especially in some of the key corn belt states.
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For some reason- the weekly crop weather updates were not available on a state by state basis on Monday afternoon as they normally are- at least not for Texas, Oklahoma or Kansas. However, we still have progress reports aggregated by state as a national report- we have linked below.

It does show things like corn emergence on a state by state basis for the major corn producing states- most of the corn belt was lagging versus the five year average on corn emergence- Ohio is about as bad as it gets at 57% emerged versus 89% for the five year average.

In the case of wheat harvest- the report does not show percentages state by state yet- and it's likely that Texas would have shown around 10% complete- and Oklahoma perhaps one or two percent complete as of this past weekend.
The report we have linked does have a variety of crops listed that include Oklahoma- including cotton, sorghum and peanuts- besides winter wheat. It also has the state by state breakdown of pasture and range conditions- Oklahoma looks like a lot of the states in our region- New Mexico does have 69% rated poor to very poor while California pastures are toast- rated 95% poor to very poor.

Click here for the crop progress national numbers from USDA's NASS.


South Korea Demands NO beef from Cattle Over 30 Months of Age- and US Packers Scramble to Offer Dating Beef Shipments
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South Korea has requested the United States stop beef exports to the Asian nation from cattle above 30 months old and would suspend imports until it receives a response, its farm ministry said on Tuesday. A day earlier, Seoul's farm ministry said it had decided to delay publishing rules making it easier to import U.S. beef, the final step ahead of a full resumption of American beef imports for the first time in more than four years due to mounting public safety concerns over the product.
Under the deal agreed to by the US and South Korea there would have been no US beef over 30 months initially- but later once the US had updated some of our current rules- over 30 month beef could have been shipped to South Korea if the SRMs were properly disposed of.

"In response to public safety concerns over the U.S. beef, the government had asked the United States to stop exports of beef from cattle older than 30 months old," farm minister Chung Woon-chun told reporters. "Until we receive a U.S. response, beef imports will be suspended."

Meanwhile here in the United States- the major packers involved with trying to jumpstart the South Korean market have offered some age of cattle verification for South Korean shipments. The companies indicated that they would begin labeling shipments to South Korea with stickers noting how old slaughtered cattle were at the time of their death, responding to weekend street protests over past imports of beef tainted by mad cow disease.
Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods Inc., as well as Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., JBS Swift & Co., National Beef Packing Co. and Smithfield Beef Group Inc., said the labels would show whether the cattle were younger or older than 30 months when slaughtered. The companies said in a joint news release that it would be up to South Korean customers to decide whether to purchase the meat or not.

"We're making this offer in response to the concerns of some South Korean consumers by voluntarily implementing this temporary labeling program as a way of ensuring the reopening of the market and attempting to rebuild the confidence of the South Korean consumer," Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said. For Tyson, the world's largest meat producer, the loss of the South Korean market four years ago tore away its third-largest export location, behind Japan and Canada. In 2003, South Korea represented 15% of its $2.2 billion international sales, Mickelson said. Last year, the company reported international sales of $1.9 billion.

Click here to see the news release issued by the major meat packers as of Monday afternoon.


WTO Cotton Ruling- Not Unexpected- But Still a Disappointment for the US Cotton Industry.
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The National Cotton Council issued a statement on Monday morning after word came that the WTO has reaffirmed its decision against the US Cotton subsidy program in a case that was brought by Brazil. The release says "The U.S. cotton industry is disappointed that the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body failed to overturn the previous report of the Compliance Panel concerning U.S. compliance with the WTO's rulings in the original cotton dispute brought by Brazil. As the National Cotton Council stated at the time the Compliance Panel report was made public, the Compliance Panel failed to consider appropriately the changes that were made to the U.S. cotton program since the original decision in 2004. The United States has already taken significant steps to comply with that original decision, including the elimination of the Step 2 program for cotton.

"The decision today is far removed from the current cotton market and the current operation of the U.S. cotton program. Today's decision was made with respect to the operation of the U.S. cotton program from 2003 to 2006. The market has changed and the U.S. cotton program has changed. Expenditures under the cotton program components examined by the Compliance Panel have fallen dramatically since that decision was made. In fact, there will be virtually no expenditures under those programs for the foreseeable future. World prices of cotton have strengthened significantly since the original panel ruling against U.S. cotton. It is simply not the case that world cotton prices are currently suppressed or were ever suppressed by payments made under the U.S. cotton program.

"Cotton production in Brazil and in other countries like India has risen over the past four years, while cotton production in the United States has fallen significantly.
Finally, the Brazil case is based on the cotton program under the 2002 farm bill. Under the newly enacted 2008 law, cotton was the only commodity that received a decrease in its target price. Mandatory adjustments in the operation of the cotton loan program will result in a decrease in the average marketing assistance loan available to eligible U.S. cotton producers. The new farm law also includes a dramatically modified income test which will result in some producers being ineligible for program benefits.
The WTO findings regarding the U.S. cotton program are out of date and out of touch with existing market conditions."


Bunches of Stuff on our Calendar Webpage!
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We spent a good bit of Monday morning adding things to our website's calendar page- we had events from a variety of places to include- including the annual Convention of the Oklahoma Pecan Growers at the end of this month- several events being sponsored by the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association- including their Summer Preview Show that begins this weekend in Stillwater- and also a big Agritourism Event planned for this weekend in Kay COunty!

We have them all up there- most of them have links for more information- so click over to our calendar on the link provided below- and check out what's happening in the next few weeks of interest to us here in Oklahoma farming and ranching.

Of course- we have missed events- I know that and that's where you come in. If you know your organization has an event coming up anytime this summer- drop me an email and let me know. If you have a staff person that handles your public relations- let them know to drop me information on that event and we will get it on. In the case of cattle auctions- we have special advertising packages that give you mentions on this daily email- a slot complete with a link for more information on our calendar- as well as radio spots on the Radio Oklahoma Network. Drop me an email and we will help you with that as well.

Click here to jump to our Calendar Page found at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com!


Consumers Are Split Over Priorities Surrounding Animal Welfare.
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In a study that was discussed this past week at the International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare- OSU's Jayson Link talked about attitudes the study uncovered from consumers about decisions made relating to animal well being.

Link says that consumers are split over whether decisions should be made based on "sound science" or moral and ethical concerns. They also believe that while beef cattle producers are interested in the welfare of their animals- they do express the opinion that profit motives can get in the way of that interest from time to time.

We have comments with Link for the second day on our daily Beef Buzz Radio Feature from the Radio Oklahoma Network- heard on great radio stations across the state. We also have it linked on our website on our Beef Buzz page at WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com- AND we have today's show linked directly from the website below- click and jump right into the Beef Buzz!

Click here to listen to Ron and Jayson Link on Consumer Attitudes About Animal Well Being Issues on today's Beef Buzz from RON!


Kris Black's Cream of Crop Sale Up NEXT Saturday!
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The Seventh Annual Kris Black's Cream of the Crop Annual Female and Bull Sale is set for Saturday June 14 at twelve noon at the ranch in Crawford, Oklahoma. Kris writes in their sale catalog that you can see online at the link provided below that this is the "stoutest and deepest set of club calf producing females and bulls that we have offered to date."

This annual Cream of the Crop sale is the largest annual club calf producing female sale in the country. Kris and his family will be featuring nearly 500 club calf producing and commercial females. All are fall bred and A.I. Serviced. Also 35 herd bull prospects will sell. A Free Bar B Q lunch will be served.

For more information, you can contact Collins Cattle Services at 1-800-975-6313- or go to the link we have provided below.

Click here for more details on the Kris Black Cream of the Crop Female Sale on Saturday June 14.


Our thanks to Midwest Farm Shows, American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance and National Livestock Creditfor 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


Wheat Market Jumps Higher- while Oklahoma City Cattle Market Has BIG Run.
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Cash wheat prices felt the updraft of the higher Kansas City wheat futures on Monday- and we saw cash grain elevator bids in the state jump 16 to 23 cents per bushel. That makes the range now from $7.23 to $7.65 per bushel even as harvest cranks up.
Yearling cattle were mostly $1 to $3 dollars per hundred higher than two weeks ago at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in OKC on Monday- with a huge run estimated at 14,800 head of cattle! Seven to eight weight cattle brought $109 to $113.75 while the eight to nine hundred pound steers came in at $104 to $110.50. Here's the link to Oklahoma National Stockyards cattle market report.

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. Previous Day's Energy Market Recap- also from Country Hedging
The National Daily Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.
The National Daily Slaughter Cattle Summary- as prepared by USDA.



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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