From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 8:01 AM
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 Thursday February 12, 2009
A service of Johnston Enterprises, KIS Futures and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
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-- HSUS Opposes- But House Ag Committee Votes 11 to 0 for HB 2151
-- Oklahoma Wheat Growers in DC
-- Biotech Acreage Jumps to 309 Million Acres in 2008
-- DAIRY in Dire Straits
-- Is Beef Losing the Convenience Battle?
-- Wichita Today- Kansas City Tomorrow- OALP on the Road
-- Let's Check the Markets!

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 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.

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.


HSUS Opposes- But House Ag Committee Votes 11 to 0 for HB 2151
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Just as the Senate Ag Committee voted for SB452 earlier this week- the House Ag and Rural Development Committee wasted little time in voting to send HB2151 to the floor of the state House. The unanamous vote came despite negative comments by Cynthia Armstrong, State Director for HSUS as she warned this was taking away the rights of local municipalities to protect food safety and human health.

House Bill 2151, by state Rep. Don Armes, would simplify regulation of livestock producers by making the state the single-source regulator in Oklahoma (other than the federal government).
The bill would eliminate the compliance problems created by patchwork-quilt regulation while also preventing fringe groups from imposing excessive regulations through local ordinances, Armes said.
"Unfortunately, there's been a trend of over-reach by fringe groups who don't know much about animals, agriculture production, or the free market, yet still feel the need to impose their version of 'animal Nirvana' on local farmers and ranchers through arbitrary regulations," said Armes, R-Faxon. "This bill will simply ensure that livestock regulations are developed by experts at the state level who know what they're doing."

We have audio with Armes as well as Lori Peterson of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, one of several groups delighted with the movement of both HB2151 and SB452 to address this issue.

Click here for our top story of the day with more on the Committee passage of HB2151.


Oklahoma Wheat Growers in DC
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The Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association have been in Washington, attending the annual National Association of Wheat Growers board meeting. OWGA President Jimmie Musick of Sentinel and OWGA Vice President J.T. Winters of Moreland , along with OWGA Board members Jeff Krehbiel of Hydro, Kent McAninch of Tonkawa, Curtis Vap of Newkrik, Hope Pjesky of Goltry and OWGA Executive Director Tim Bartram have also been meeting with the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation on Farm bill implementation, Rail and Truck transportation, Wheat research funding, and Trade issues.

They met with Senator Inhofe yesterday and Tim Bartram tells us via email that "We had interesting visit with Senator Inhofe about the stimulus bill. We had a good discussion on farm truck regulations and we also had those discussions about trucks with Congresswoman Fallin's office. We will hit the rest of the delegation today. Another thing we did yesterday was join with the National Wheat Improvement Committee including OSU's Dr Dave Porter and Dr Brett Carver talking about wheat research needs. A key point is the risk to wheat production caused by ug99 stem rust . As part of these visits we learned some of the benefits of Congressman Frank Lucas moving to the ranking member- one is having a bigger staff including a research specialist."


Biotech Acreage Jumps to 309 Million Acres in 2008
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Farmers around the world continue to enthusiastically embrace genetically engineered (GE) crops according to a report released today by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA).

The ISAAA report, The Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2008, says a record 13.3 million farmers in 25 countries are using agricultural biotechnology today. Ninety percent (12.3 million) of these are resource-poor farmers in 15 developing countries.

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, Executive Vice President, Food and Agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), issued the following statement in response to the report's findings:
"The ISAAA report further illustrates what we have known all along, that biotechnology is a key component contributing to sustainable agriculture. Ag biotech provides solutions for today's farmers in the form of plants that yield more per acre, resist diseases and insect pests and reduce farmers' production costs, and 'inputs'.
"When you look at the rising number of acres of biotech crops planted each year (309 million in 2008 compared with 282 million in 2007) and the increasing number of farmers who have chosen this technology (13.3 million in 2008 compared with 12 million in 2007), it's obvious that biotech crops are delivering value to more and more growers around the world.

Click here for more on this growth in use of Biotech in farming


DAIRY in Dire Straits
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America's dairy farmers are facing incredibly difficult circumstances due to the global economic recession driving down demand here and overseas. Dairy supplies are growing which is pulling down farm gate prices, according to Allison Specht, a dairy and regulatory economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation. "This steep drop in dairy prices will be felt by dairy farmers for several months to come," Specht said. "The cost-price squeeze is being felt across the country, leaving little room for error in individual producers' management and hedging decisions."

Dairy prices on the futures market traded at $14.13 per hundredweight on Dec. 1, $10.28 per hundredweight on Dec. 31, and $9.30 per hundredweight on February 9. Milk prices are down more than 50 percent from last summer after hitting all-time highs in 2007 and climbing to the second highest level on record in early 2008. Specht said the main culprit for low prices paid to dairy farmers is the general economic situation. "The financial condition of consumers has changed domestic food consumption patterns, and dairy is feeling the negative effects of this trend," Specht said. "Exports had insulated the dairy industry from feeling losses in away-from-home demand, but this is no longer the case. While grocery dairy-buying may be expanding slightly, losing any food service demand, which accounts for 40 percent of dairy consumption, is bad news."

"Many analysts believe the dairy market is close to the bottom and should not fall much further," Specht said. Butter and milk powder prices are at government support levels, and the federal government purchased nearly 162.3 million pounds of nonfat dry milk and almost 2.67 million pounds of butter between Oct. 1, 2008 and Feb. 6, 2009.
We have more comments from Allison on this fall off in dairy prices- and a link to her full report.

Click here for more on the Dairy price situation here in the US


Is Beef Losing the Convenience Battle?
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We have measured Beef Demand the same way for several decades- but Dr. Jim Mintert says there are some new non traditional factors that need to be included in demand calculations- if we can find the best way to incorporate those factors. Two of those factors are health and nutrition AND convenience.

We zero on in on the non traditional factor of convenience. Dr. Mintert tells us that while the beef industry is working to bring on new products to help make the life of the consumer easier as they choose and use beef- other protein sources are doing more than beef. Mintert says their look at the meat case shows that for every beef product that carries a convenience attribute- poultry has rolled out 1.6 such products.

We get into all of this on today's Beef Buzz- click on the link below to go to our site and take a listen.

Click here for more on Beef Demand and Convenience on our Thursday Beef Buzz


Wichita Today- Kansas City Tomorrow- OALP on the Road
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Class 14 of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program has hit good traveling weather for their trek to Enid and Ponca City yesterday- with stops in Wichita today and Kansas City on Friday.

Members of this class are meeting with officials of US AgBank this morning, ICM Ethanol midday and Cargill Meat Solutions this afternoon. After an evening bus ride to Kansas City, they'll be watching the opening of the Kansas City Board of Trade wheat market tomorrow morning, meet with officials from the Kansas City Federal Reserve and tour the Harley Davidson factory before heading for home.

OALP is designed to help develop young ag and rural leaders- and give them experiences that will get them ready for additional leadership roles in years to come in Oklahoma. I have linked the OALP website below- go and check it out- applicants for the next class that starts in the fall of 2010 are needed, as well as donors to help keep this program alive and well. Drop me an email if you have questions and we will work on getting answers for you.

Click here for more on the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program.


Our thanks to KIS Futures, Johnston Enterprises and AFR for 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


Let's Check the Markets!
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After the rain- the OKC West market in El Reno had over 5,045 cattle to sell with the calf trade jumping $3 to $6 higher with demand much improved because of the moisture. Five to six weight steer calves brought $104.50 to $115, while seven to eight hundred pound steer yearlings came in $94 to $97.50. Click here for the full report from market reporter Tina Colby from the OKC West Market.

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.



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