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 email update. KIS Futures provides Oklahoma Farmers & Ranchers with futures & options hedging services in the livestock and grain markets- Click here for the free market quote page they provide us for our website or call them at 1-800-256-2555.

We are also excited to have as one of our 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 on the oilseed crops they handle, including sunflowers and canola- and remember they post closing market prices for canola and sunflowers on the PCOM website- go there by clicking here.

And we salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show, as well as the December 2009 Tulsa Farm Show. Click here for more information on the Tulsa Show, coming up December 10,11 and 12, 2009.

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.

USDA computes DCP Program payments using base acres and payment yields established for each farm. Eligible producers receive direct payments at rates established by statute regardless of market prices. For 2010, eligible producers may request to receive advance direct payments based on 22 percent of the direct payment. USDA will issue advance direct payments beginning Dec. 1, 2009. Counter-cyclical payment rates vary depending on market prices. Counter-cyclical payments are issued only when the effective price for a commodity is below its target price. The effective price is the higher of the national average market price received during the 12-month marketing year for each covered commodity and the national average loan rate for a marketing assistance loan for the covered commodity.

The optional ACRE Program provides a safety net based on state revenue losses and acts in place of the price-based safety net of counter-cyclical payments under DCP. A farm's payment is based on a revenue guarantee calculated using a 5-year average state yield and the most recent 2-year national price for each eligible commodity. For the 2010 crop, the 2- year price average will be based on the 2008 and 2009 crop years.

The June 1, 2010, deadline is mandatory for all participants. USDA will not accept any late-filed applications.
Click on the link below for more on the signup process- and links to more info that USDA has up in cyberspace.

Click here for more on the Signup Window for the 2010 Farm Programs Now Open for Business

You get two viewpoints from the cattle industry groups from the US and Canada when it comes to the Canadian government move to formally challenge the US COOL law in the World Trade Organization. As you might expect, the Canadian Cattlemen's Association gives the call for a Settlement Dispute Panel two thumbs up, while the National Cattlemen's Beef Association says it is "unfortunate" from the US Cattle Industry's viewpoint that the Canadians have had to take this action within the WTO. At the same time, as we talked with NCBA Chief Economist Gregg Doud on Wednesday afternoon, he did not seem to be surprised by the action from the Canadians- and adds that he thinks the Mexican government will likely join in the action against the US over the impact of COOL.

We have extensive coverage on our website of this story- and that includes our conversation with Gregg Doud of NCBA on this decision by the Canadians to move forward- Doud reminds us that once you start a WTO Dispute Panel- you don't stop- it will work its way slowly through the process over a two or three year period. We also have the Canadian news release detailing their complaints- links to a backgrounder from the Canadians as well as a brief statement from the Obama Administration on this move by Canada. Click on the link below and it will take you to our top story of the morning on the website with all of this stuff in there or linked from there.

Click here for the Gregg Doud interview and more on the Canadian decision to push for a COOL Ruling Against the US.

"Oklahoma, like many states, has conducted exercises to test its plans to respond to a highly contagious foreign animal disease within its borders, but this exercise provides the new perspective of coordinating our activities with a neighboring state to stop animal movement across a shared border," said Terry Peach, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture. "We have been planning our response to possible disease outbreaks for years and this exercise will be a good test for us."

This will be a very comprehensive exercise- with real time work going on in both state capitols- as well as at two border locations where livestock being moved will be screened. You can read more about this fascinating test being planned for later this month- including those border locations- just click on the link below.

Click here for more on the SAMS- KO Exercise Coming October 22.

Today will be devoted to touring Tyson's processing facility in Idabel and McCurtain County agriculture focusing on the forest industry. Friday, the class will visit pecan and sod farms in the Durant area as they wrap up their time in southeastern Oklahoma.

The OALP is a leadership development program that is a two year program that is administered by Oklahoma State University- and is designed to take farmers, ranchers and those involved in agribusiness and even in government positions relating to rural Oklahoma and help them see how Oklahoma Agriculture fits into the context of today's society and economy. By polishing leadership skills and exposing these young leaders to a variety of experiences, the intent is to challenge those that go through the program to then give back to their local community and farm or rural organization that they choose to be involved with. Click on the link below to jump to the OALP website- and learn more about the program and about class 14.

Click here for more on the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program

Producers holding about 758,000 contracts on 424,000 farms will receive an average of $51.52 per acre. The number of contracts is higher than the number of farms because producers may have multiple contracts on a single farm. The payments allow producers to earn an average of $4,104 per farm enrolled in the program.

Currently, enrollment stands at approximately 31 million acres, making CRP the largest public-private partnership for conservation and wildlife habitat in the United States. This voluntary program helps agricultural producers safeguard environmentally sensitive land. Producers enroll in CRP and plant long-term, resource-conserving covers to improve water quality, control soil erosion and enhance habitats for waterfowl and wildlife. In return, USDA provides producers with annual rental payments. CRP contract duration is from 10 to 15 years.

We have more on the new fiscal year payments- and a link in our webstory to a chart that shows each state's place within the CRP. Click on our link below to jump to that story.

Click here for more on the CRP Rental Payment Rollout for Fiscal Year 2010.

The fear of R-Calf is that the JBS purchase might decrease US Poultry prices- and that would also drive US beef cattle prices lower. R-CALF USA calculated a loss to cattle producers ranging from $7.50 per head to $89.38 per head. "A loss of anywhere from $7.50 per head to $89.38 per head to the U.S. live cattle industry would have severe ramifications, particularly given the long-run lack of profitability faced by U.S. cattle feeders who have experienced 22 consecutive months of horrendous financial losses," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard.

"The JBS/Pilgrim's Pride merger likely would result in lower cattle prices, and it's even more likely that the cost savings realized by JBS would not be passed on to consumers," Bullard said. "R-CALF USA is absolutely convinced that the proposed JBS/Pilgrim's Pride merger would severely reduce competition among and between the competing food proteins and would also significantly increase JBS' ability to exercise market power in the marketplace to exploit both cattle producers and consumers," he emphasized.
Click on the link below and you can read more about the R-Calf claims- and we have a link to the full letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder by the cattle group.

Click here for more on the R-Calf arguments that JBS wants to trash the Cattle Market by Buying Pilgrim's Pride Chicken.

Montie Soules and his team have several ways to be a part of the sale- including attending the sale via two different websites, as well as in person. They pride themselves on having some of the finest Hereford genetics not just in Oklahoma- but all across the United States. They plan on having video of the cattle to be offered after this Saturday on their website.

We have more details and the links you need for these two sales in one day at the Star Lake Cattle Ranch- just click on the link below and we will get you to that information on this exciting sale that you will want to check out.

Click here for more on the Star Lake Cattle Ranch Production Sale Coming Sunday October 18.

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- Two Pager From The Kansas City Board of Trade looks at all three US Wheat Futures Exchanges with extra info on Hard Red Winter Wheat 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.