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Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We are pleased 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!

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CEO Neil Dierks told reporters that they understand that these requests sound similar- at least some of them- to what was requested a week or so ago by a group of Governors (including Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry) that was quickly rejected by USDA Secretary Vilsack- saying he had no money to allocate in this fashion. Dierks says they understand that- but he adds that USDA needs to, in effect, turn over every rock and find some bucks to help- and soon.

NPPC president Don Butler said - the request NPPC has made not only will help pork producers and Americans who benefit from government feeding programs but tens of thousands of mostly rural jobs supported by the U.S. pork industry.

We have more on this story- including an audio overview from yesterday's news briefing that NPPC had with reporters- click on the link below for more on what are being called desperate times in the pork business.

Click here for more on the Pork Industry looking for help for hog producers

By the close of business on Friday the 14th, there were about 8,000 contracts completed for ACRE, according to Francie Tolle, Oklahoma state Director of the FSA. And, she says that with folks who started the process before the deadline who will be finsihing their paperwork in the next few weeks- that number could grow by another thousand or more.

In an email that we received from OSU Ag Policy Professor Dr. Michael Dicks, he tells us "This is certainly the steepest adoption curve I have witnessed in a government program." and he adds that "I simply can't tell you how amazed I am at what has occurred. This is truly an "outlier" and I hope everyone that played a role understands just how remarkable it is to get 9500 people into a new program. Compare this to the roughly 9400 people that enrolled in the first CRP sign-up nation-wide."

Nationally, the number reported by USDA on Monday that had signed up for ACRE was right at 66,000. That's a huge jump from 946 that had signed up as of late June. Obviously, Oklahoma has a large number of those that signed up- and I can only echo what one farm leader told me privately last week as the deadline wound down- that while it's great that we were able to get so many farmers to at least think about the program- it's a shame that others could have signed up- gotten some significant cash for their farm operation but have now allowed that opportunity to pass them by. ACRE appears to be a program that will pay Oklahoma farmers money for 2009- enough money that those wheat producers that signed up will be ahead of the game for the balance of the 2008 Farm Law. In many states, that was not the case- ACRE will not trigger for their 2009 crops. And it won't trigger for everybody in Oklahoma this year- but it will for a lot of folks.

For our spring planted crops- "Row crop conditions continue to be rated mostly in the good to fair range. Recent rains have had a positive impact. Eighty-nine percent of the State's corn crop had reached the dough stage by week's end, one point behind normal. Forty percent of the corn had reached the dent stage, an eight point jump from the prior week and 23 points ahead of the fiveyear average. Fourteen percent of the corn crop had reached maturity by Sunday, 20 points behind normal. Corn silage harvest continues around the State. By week's end, half of the State's sorghum crop had headed, while 14 percent of the crop was coloring, both well behind normal. Eighty-four percent of the State's soybeans were blooming while 51 percent were setting pods, an 11 point jump from last week but two points behind the five-year average. Peanuts pegging is nearing completion at 96 percent, while peanuts setting pods increased seven points to reach 56 percent complete, both behind the five-year average. Nearly all of the State's cotton crop was squaring by week's end at 96 percent while 64 percent of the crop was setting bolls, up 23 points from last week but 13 points behind the five-year average."

Our state NASS office did note that watermelon harvest continues- a little slower than normal- "Watermelons harvested jumped 15 points to reach 68 percent complete by week's end, 16 points behind last year and 17 points behind the five-year average."

You can read the full report by clicking on the link below.

For our neighboring states- click on the state name and we have the link to that weekly report:
Arkansas

Kansas

Texas

Click here for this week's Oklahoma Crop Weather Update

The tour stops will include a look at double crop soybeans, sunflowers and sorghum, as well as a study that Brian Arnall will detail on soil acidity and how grain sorghum and sunflower handles that acidity. There will also be some education on Herbicide ID and weed control programs.

For details about the field day- you can contact the Lahoma station or contact Jeff Bedwell in Garfield County's Extension office- Jeff tells us that this will be a worthwhile use of your time as he notes "This is the first time that producers, crop consultants, and industry representatives will have a chance to observe some long term double crop / rotational studies as a Field Day with OSU State Specialists serving as Tour Guides and session leaders."

"One of the persistent, shallow global food myths is that the world could feed more people if we gave up eating meat. Ezra Klein wrote another misguided column about this-"The Meat of the Problem"-in the Washington Post of July 29. Klein cites as his authority a naive "study" by the kids at Carnegie-Mellon University.
"Klein asserts, "It is more energy efficient to grow grain and feed it to people than it is to grow grain and turn it into feed that we give to calves until they become adults that we then slaughter to feed to people." No, Mr. Klein, it isn't. Either your kids haven't done their homework, or they deliberately set out to promote vegetarian diets."

Dennis lists a total of six points to counter the claims of Klein- and adds for good measure "If you also want to save room on the planet for wildlife, invest in more yield-enhancing agricultural research. It's called high-yield conservation." Click on our link below to read his full argument- and then forward the article to one and to all- most people you know need to know and understand these facts.

Click here for the Dennis Avery Article on Saving the Planet with Meat Protein

Today, we move on to think about fly control resistance. The Beef Cattle Industry faces resistance problems from flies that are pushing back against the effectiveness of fly control ear tags. So says Kansas State Beef Vet Dr. Larry Hollis. In today's Beef Buzz, we talk about how resistance has popped up- and how best to respond to it.

Dr. Hollis says that resistance has increased because we have tried to cut corners by not using tags as recommended by the label. For example, many producers will tag their cows, but not the calves. That is foolish, because you have more to lose from production loss with that calf, and the calf ends up with diminished protection against the flies that are swarming.
To hear his full comments on this subject- click on our link below for our Tuesday Beef Buzz and this conversation about fly control and resistance to one or both of the active ingredients most often used in cattle operations.

Click here for our Tuesday Beef Buzz with Dr. Larry Hollis

Researchers say better bluegrass hybrids ideal for pasture and lawns could be developed faster using genetic markers. Agriculture Research Service geneticist Jason Goldman, working in, Woodward, Oklahoma, has identified nine DNA primers that produce markers that can verify successful bluegrass hybrids from DNA samples. This discovery could save time because breeders currently have to wait for the plant to mature before they can verify a hybrid by physical characteristics. The markers can be used on seedlings.

Goldman's goal is to develop Texas bluegrass that can provide a Kentucky bluegrass-like lawn or pasture grass that is highly tolerant to drought. Texas bluegrass is native to southern Kansas, Oklahoma, western Arkansas and most of Texas. It tolerates heat and drought, but produces seed that is difficult to harvest and re-plant. It also lacks the turf quality of Kentucky bluegrass. Kentucky bluegrass is not tolerant to heat and drought, but has excellent turf characteristics and produces seed that is easy to harvest and clean.

Goldman is looking for a bluegrass with a broader geographic range than Kentucky bluegrass, while retaining Kentucky bluegrass' good qualities. The hybrid must also retain Kentucky bluegrass' ability to produce seed that breeds true, ensuring identical progeny. Eventually, Goldman will work with other bluegrass species to see if the markers can be used for other purposes.
Growing up in Kentucky, it was always so confusing to six or seven year old to hear my Dad talk about the Bluegrass- which is the name of the part of the state that I grew up in. I would ask, where is this Blue Grass- and he would laugh and point to one of the horse pastures that we were driving by- and say, don't you see it? I never could see anything but a glorious green carpet- especially in the spring and early summer- and who knows, maybe one day, when this research becomes reality- some little boy out here will be able to say in even dry areas of western Oklahoma- where is this Blue Grass? And his Dad will be able to point to their yard or their pasture and say much the same thing my Dad said to me. That's the magic of research in the world of agriculture.

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.