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.

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He reports that the open weather in recent days has allowed farmers to move quickly in getting the remaining crop out of the field and into the bin. In the area from Enid north and east to Blackwell, Hodges says that we are now 60 to 65% complete. In the Panhandle, Texas County wheat harvest is 75% to 80% percent done, while Cimarron County producers have cut about 50 to 60% of their acreage.

Test weights from Enid to Blackwell have held up fairly well- despite the heavy rains the crop was subjected to once fully ripe. Test weights are generally at 58 pounds or slightly better. Protein levels are running eleven and a half percent or slightly more in that region. Meanwhile, the Panhandle is having high protein percentages reported, consistent with the idea of the stress the crop has been under in that northwesternmost part of the state.

Be sure and let us hear from you on you harvest experiences as you wrap things up here in 2008- drop me an email- I appreciate your feedback!

Click here to jump to the Wheat Harvest Webpage- which includes the Mark Hodges Audio Report for this Thursday morning.

Congressman Lucas said that he understands the frustration of some in the western two thirds of the Oklahoma Panhandle that face extreme drought conditions this summer- and will get little help from CRP ground when it comes to emergency supplies of forage. Lucas says that it appears to him that the State FSA folks had their hands tied on how to administer the rules- and that they were doing what the rules dictated that they should do. He adds that the apparent reason for the Critical Use declaration by Secretary Ed Schafer to allow folks to harvest forage for any reason off of their CRP ground this summer- for only a $75 administrative fee- is an attempt to get at least a little forage into the supply mix in the face of tight feed supplies for all of this year.

Lucas expressed personal frustration over the consequences of the elections that swept the Democrats into power in the US House- and vaulted Nancy Pelosi into the role of Speaker of the House. Lucas points to her demands for billions of dollars more for nutrition programs at the expense of anything else as the reason so many of the commodity and conservation titles got less money than they probably needed for the coming five years. He believes it will be 2011 at the earliest before any change may occur in the political landscape that might help improve the chances of making the 2008 Farm Law a little better for agricultural interests.
You can take a listen to the full conversation with Congressman Lucas with Ed Richards of RON by clicking on the link below- give it a listen.

Click here to listen to Ed and Congressman Lucas talking ag issues.

South Korea will publish the quarantine and inspection guidelines based on a beef import deal which was struck with the United States in April and revised last week to ease health concern, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a statement on Wednesday. Once the legal notice is published Thursday, South Korean beef importers can ask the government to inspect U.S. beef and the government must release the meat that passes the inspections. Some 5,300 tons of U.S. beef, shipped earlier to South Korea but held in customs and quarantine facilities, can be inspected starting this week, ministry officials said. The legal notice also gives the green light to South Korean importers to place orders in the United States.

However, Reuters is reporting that South Korean government officials have said they do not expect importers to immediately request quarantine checks.
Add to that fact that no major restaurant chain or supermarket chains have immediate interest in US beef- based on the ongoing protests that are likely to continue for some time, the market may stand wide open with no one wanting to be among the first to jump and test the acidity of the water.
The US Meat Export Federation has pledged that once the gates are open- they will begin a campaign to assure consumers of the safety of US beef. In a letter sent to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer and Trade Ambassador Susan Schwab by three major meat trade groups last week- "Following publication by the Republic of Korea of the "Import Health Requirements for U.S. Beef and Beef Products," the U.S. Meat Export Federation will undertake a communication program to respond to questions that have been raised about the safety of U.S. beef and address the concerns that have been expressed in Korea, and we request the support and cooperation of the U.S. Government and the Government of Korea in this effort."
It will be a long and lonely road- at least initially.

The Farm Credit monies are going to establish the "Oklahoma Farm Credit Professorship of Agricultural Finance." The quarter of a million dollars that the Farm Credits in the state is bringing to the table will be matched dollar for dollar by the T Boone Pickens pot of money ($100 million pot) which brings it to $500,000- and that half million will be matched by the State of Oklahoma- again dollar for dollar- bringing this Endowment to the million dollar mark.

This is fourth million dollar endowment that we have heard about for the Division of Agriculture since the Pickens money was announced- making this unique four for one match a reality. Others are being worked on- including one for the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program- give us a call or drop us an email if you want to know more about that.

AFBF senior economist Terry Francl, says - difficult growing conditions greatly reduce the yield of the crop that is harvested. He adds that because of flooding, expected Iowa corn yields are reduced 16 percent for this year, and 1.5 million to 2 million acres of corn and soybeans in Iowa that farmers intended to plant this spring will likely remain fallow. This results in a four billion dollar shot to Iowa's crops.

Other states taking a hit from excessive wetness and flooding are: Illinois, 1.3 billion; Missouri, 900 million; Indiana, 500 million; Nebraska 500 million; and an additional 1 billion in the remaining wet states. As for drought, California suffered 500 million dollars in estimated damage. This equals the estimated drought-related damage in all other states combined.

Producers can fill out their 2008 DCP contract at any USDA Service Center. Producers can also sign-up online. They can choose payment options, assign crop shares and sign and submit their contracts from any computer with Internet access. They can also view and print submitted contract options.

Eligible producers may request to receive an advance payment of 22 percent of the direct payment for each commodity associated with the farm. Payments will be made as soon as practical after enrollment. Final direct payments will be issued after October 1, 2008. Counter-cyclical payments vary depending on market prices, and are issued only when the effective price for a commodity is below its target price.

Click here for more details about signing up for Direct and Countercyclical Payments under the 2008 Farm Law.

The latest investigation occurred at the Portales Livestock Auction in Portales, New Mexico. Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the HSUS, says - no longer can anyone in government or industry reasonably claim that the abuses we documented at Hallmark were an aberration or an isolated case. Pacelle says - this gross mistreatment of spent dairy cows should turn your stomach.

After seeing the video, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said - although this is an unfortunate situation and we deplore this type of behavior, it is evident that these cattle were too weak to rise and walk on their own, and would not have been accepted upon delivery to a slaughterhouse. The Secretary continued - they would not have passed ante-mortem inspection - and would not have - even entered the first phase of a multi-phased process of approving cattle for slaughter.

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. 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.