Howdy Neighbors!

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!

It is also great to have as an annual sponsor on our daily email Johnston Enterprises- proud to be serving agriculture across Oklahoma and around the world since 1893. For more on Johnston Enterprises- click here for their website!

And we are proud to have P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy as our newest regular sponsor of our daily email update. P & K is the premiere John Deere dealer in Oklahoma, with nine locations to serve you, and the P & K team are excited about their new Wind Power program, as they offer Endurance Wind Power wind turbines. Click here for more from the P&K website.

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The proclamation notes that the holiday season is a good time to remember that America's agricultural sector works to provide consumers with safe, wholesome and affordable foods that nourish bodies and create the centerpieces for our traditional family gatherings and celebrations. In fact, the average U.S. farmer now feeds 144 people a day, in the United States and abroad, compared to 46 people in 1960.

Scott Dvorak, Chairman of the Oklahoma Beef Council representing 55,000 beef producers added that many consumers aren't aware of where their food comes from, since the average American is now three generations removed from farming as a livelihood. Dvorak adds that the U.S. beef industry is comprised of 1 million beef and dairy producers, 75 percent of whom work on operations that have been in the family for at least two generations.

This bill was actually dropped into the hopper back in the summer- but just this week, one of the principle authors of the bill, Congressman John Salazar of Colorado, claims that House Democratic leadership has expressed interest in allowing this measure to be folded into a ten year extension of current exemptions of the Estate Tax which is $3.5 million per person.

Click on the link below for an audio report on these latest developments of this fluid situation with the Death Tax, as Democrats scramble to address this issue before January first, when for one year, the Estate Tax totally goes away. Politically, it becomes more of a hot potato for them in an election year if they wait to address it after the first of the year, instead of now.

Click here for the latest on possible movement in the Estate Tax Debate.

"For years, Eastern Red Cedar trees have been a menace to Oklahoma property, agricultural land, crops, and wildlife but then I was told that oil that makes the trees a fire hazard also has considerable value as an insecticide, a pharmaceutical used to fight certain forms of cancer and that 100 percent of the Eastern Red Cedar tree can be used to create products that could provide jobs for Oklahomans and revenue for Oklahoma," said Morrissette.

You can read more on this interim study meeting on the Eastern Red Cedar by clicking on the link below.

Click here for more on the possibilities of turning Eastern Red Cedars into a useful resource.

"Legislation previously approved by the House, and a similar bill approved on a party-line vote by a Senate committee, would impose higher energy and food costs on consumers. The bills also would create an energy deficit due to limited alternatives. Farmers and ranchers would see higher fuel, fertilizer and energy costs. And the cap-and-trade provisions would do little more than downsize American agriculture and our ability to produce food in this nation. None of those are acceptable results to us, and we will continue to tell our members of Congress, 'Don't cap our future.'

"The timing for this announcement by Senate leaders could not be better. We now know there will be no international agreement resulting from the upcoming meeting in Copenhagen. Furthermore, we have heard testimony from the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency that the House-passed bill would have no significant impact on the global climate. These bills represent all pain and no gain for our nation and American agriculture and now the Senate has a chance to correct that error."

Information encoded in the corn genome can help scientists improve water and nitrogen use efficiencies, help plants cope with disease, pests and adverse weather, and allow breeders to develop innovative products for specific end users. By decreasing the inputs needed and increasing yields, these traits will also allow corn to become and even more sustainable crop.

Larry Hasheider, NCGA Research and Business Development Chair and Illinois corn farmer, says that this is a milestone for all of our nation's corn farmers that will open the door for higher yields, and improved grain quality traits for livestock and industry needs. Hasheider proclaims - corn will continue to be the leading feed grain for the world.

National Cotton Council President Mark Lange says, - although commonly referred to as the cotton case, the U.S. export credit guarantee program accounts for a large amount of the total damage award claimed by Brazil. Still, NCC Chairman Jay Hardwick believes, - it is astonishing to think to that anyone would conclude today that U.S. cotton production is damaging Brazilian cotton interests.

In September, the Council joined 34 other agricultural organizations in a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative urging the United States to seek a new WTO compliance panel to update the ruling on the GSM-102 export credit guarantee program. The Council believes the WTO's decision does not reflect changes made to the program since 2005. Also, the ruling does not appreciate the market and policy changes for U.S. cotton since 2005.

Click here for a fact sheet prepared by the US National Cotton Council on the Ruling.

The US was able to block the formation of a Dispute Panel Resolution Panel last month under WTO rules, but the rules say you can't block the request by offended countries twice.

"Our assessments are showing us that COOL is having a negative impact on Canadian farmers and livestock producers," said International Trade Minister Stockwell Day. "We continue to stand up for the rights of Canadian producers during the dispute settlement process and make the case that the U.S. should lift these onerous requirements."

To read the news release from Canada on the WTO move to consider Claims Against the US over COOL, Click Here

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.