From: Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.ccsend.com] on behalf of Ron Hays [ron@oklahomafarmreport.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 7:31 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 Wednesday February 18, 2009
A service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, KIS Futures and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company!
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-- Ray Wulf Steps Down as CEO and President of AFR
-- Kouplen Chalks Up First House Passed Measure
-- Congresswoman Mary Fallin Working on Truck Weight Legislation in the New Congress
-- Vilsack Jawboning Meat Packers- Demanding No Mixed Labels for COOL
-- The Storms of Last Week Remind Us- Be Prepared!
-- Oklahoma House Ag Committee Meets Today at 4:30 PM
-- Pollard Farms "Performance Genetics" Angus Bull & Commercial Female Sale is set for March 7th
-- 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 proud 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!

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 are crushing, 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 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.


Ray Wulf Steps Down as CEO and President of AFR
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Ray L. Wulf has resigned his position as President and Chief Executive Officer of American Farmers and Ranchers Mutual Insurance Company and the Oklahoma State Union of the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America, Inc., (Oklahoma Farmers Union) a position he has held since 2000. Wulf has served the companies since 1994.

The Board of Directors of the companies appointed its Vice President, Terry Detrick, Ames, Okla., as interim President and Chief Executive Officer. The board also appointed its Secretary and Treasurer, Royce Meek, Broken Bow, Okla., as General Manager of the mutual insurance company and its subsidiaries.

Detrick will fulfill the remaining portion of Wulf's term of office. In addition to being a second generation insurance agent with over 30 years' experience and a third generation family farmer, he has served the companies as Vice President since 1998. Detrick is also a past president of the National Association of Wheat Growers, a member of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and served as one of 35 members on the advisory board to develop a national program for animal identification. Meek has been an insurance agency manager for 25 years, has served as Secretary and Treasurer of the companies since 2000 and as General Manager of AFR Life Insurance Company.

Click on the link below for more on this sudden change at the top of one of two general farm groups that call Oklahoma home- as well as the insurance company that has expanded dramatically into 24 states under Wulf's time as CEO and President.

Click here for more on this Announcement by American Farmers & Ranchers.


Kouplen Chalks Up First House Passed Measure
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A bill by state Rep. Steve Kouplen was approved by the House Monday, marking the first success of the freshman legislator's first session. The bill was approved by a 98 to nothing vote- and now will be considered by the Senate.
House Bill 1919 would make new veterinarians eligible for the Oklahoma Agricultural Linked Deposit Program if they devote 30 percent of their practice to large animals. The program was originally established to help out young ranchers and farmers.

Kouplen, D-Beggs, said that veterinarians in Oklahoma are more and more often specializing in the care of small animals and pets rather than large farm animals and that he is concerned that it will adversely affect Oklahoma's agricultural sector.
"Fewer veterinarians specializing in large animal care creates greater difficulties and sometimes additional expenses for farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma," Kouplen said. "The intent of my bill is to encourage veterinarians to specialize in large animals or devote at least 30 percent of their practice to large animals by making them eligible to the Oklahoma Agricultural Linked Deposit Program."

"This legislation will directly benefit farmers and ranchers in our state and I am pleased that my fellow legislators passed it," Kouplen said.
This measure is being co-sponsored by Earl Garrison of Muskogee in the State Senate.

Click here for our webstory on this measure- with the current language of HB1919


Congresswoman Mary Fallin Working on Truck Weight Legislation in the New Congress
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In 2007, Mary Fallin and Dan Boren joined forces on truck weight legislation that has been pushed by several ag groups here in the state- and was adopted a year ago by the American Farm Bureau as a priority issue. Fallin told members of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau that were in town Monday night for their Legislative Conference that she intends to reintroduce a similar measure here in 2009- adding that will be done fairly soon.

She expressed hope to the Farm Bureau members that the proposal could gain some traction in 2009- and might even be included by the Transportation Committee in the Highway Reauthorization Bill that will likely be worked on this year.

We talked with Congresswoman Fallin about this issue Monday evening- and have her comments in a webstory on our website- www.OklahomaFarmReport.Com. Click on the link below for that story.

Click here for more on the Truck Weight Issue that is being raised again by Mary Fallin


Vilsack Jawboning Meat Packers- Demanding No Mixed Labels for COOL
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Our colleagues at Agri-Pulse have learned that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will announce later this morning that the mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) final rule will go into effect as scheduled on March 16, 2009.

However, Vilsack does not like the rule as published and wants changes in three major areas. And he has apparently decided to pursue a strategy of threatening the meat packers, processors and retailers to do it "his way" which he says is Congressional intent- or face a new rule making process.
After he met with meat packers, Vilsack had a conference call with six groups- three ag and three consumer groups. One of the groups that were on the call was R-Calf and their spokeswoman, Shea Dodson says that the Secretary will be sending a letter to the industry saying the rule will say one thing- but here's what you are really going to do or I change the rules. Vilsack, according to Dodson, will formally ask the food industry Wednesday to voluntarily scrap the so-called "NAFTA" label on meat; reduce to 10 days from 60 the amount of time a country's name can remain on a labeled package of ground beef after the processor stops sourcing meat from that country; and label more processed foods.

On this particular conference call- it's interesting to note that R-Calf was in along with Farm Bureau and the National Farmers Union- the NCBA was apparently deliberately left out as was the National Pork Producers Council.
It is also interesting to note that the Secretary is hoping to have it both ways- leave the mixed origin label in the rules to point to if a WTO challenge comes from Mexico and Canada- but browbeat the meat industry into not using it- saying to them if you follow the final rule- you will pay by seeing it changed.

Click here for a special edition of the Beef Buzz featuring comments from Shea Dodson of R-Calf on Tom Vilsack's COOL Intentions


The Storms of Last Week Remind Us- Be Prepared!
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Being prepared if you are a cattle producer means record keeping and animal ID- so says OSU Beef Cattle Specialist Dr. Glen Selk. In his latest Cow-Calf Corner- he offers some important advice that we wanted to remind you of.

"Cleaning up after a severe storm is difficult enough. Losing valuable cattle brings additional financial hardship to the situation. Cattle loss can occur in several scenarios. Livestock may be killed, lost, or stolen during a stormy situation. An accurate accounting of livestock and property is essential to a cattle operation's storm preparedness. Keep a CURRENT inventory of all animals and the pastures where they are located. Individual animal ID tags on all animals have several other purposes, but can become extremely valuable if cattle become scattered or even stolen. If the cattle inventory records are computer based, consider having a "back-up" copy stored at a neighbor's or a relative's house. Even handwritten records stored in more than one location may become valuable, if the unthinkable (loss of home or outbuildings) occurs. These records will be very important when insurance claims need to be made, or if proof of ownership is required to reclaim livestock that has been misplaced by the storm."

Selk points us to a resource from Texas A&M that David W. Smith (Extension Safety Program Specialist) has written on farmstead preparedness and care after a storm. We have it linked for you below.

Click here for this tutoral on what to do in getting ready for a storm and dealing with a storm's aftermath.


Oklahoma House Ag Committee Meets Today at 4:30 PM
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It is their regular meeting time- and a total of seven bills are currently on the agenda for the committee that is chaired by Don Armes of Faxon.

Measures that are to be considered include HB1872 that has to do with swine waste management plans, HB1450- the Livestock Auction market Act that specifies certain information needs to included in the records of an auction market and HB1378, entitled the Limitation of Liability for farming and ranching land Act. These and four other measures will be heard for possible passage on to the floor of the House.


Pollard Farms "Performance Genetics" Angus Bull & Commercial Female Sale is set for March 7th
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The tenth annual Pollard Farms Bull and Commercial Female Sale will be held at the ranch near Waukomis, Oklahoma on March 7th at 12:30 pm.

This year's offering includes 100 service age bulls by some of the industry's leading herd sires. These bulls will range in age from yearlings to 4-year-old bulls. Additionally, 100 black hided, 2yr old commercial pairs will sell. These females will have calves at their side by two of Pollard Farm's leading herd sires, TC Freedom and SAV 4597.

For details contact the Pollard Farms crew at (580) 758-1464 or follow the link below to the Pollard Farms Website, where the catalog for the March 7 sale is now available.

Click here for the Pollard Farms website and catalog online for the 2009 Spring Sale


Our thanks to KIS Futures, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill 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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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.



God Bless! You can reach us at the following:
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phone: 405-473-6144
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