~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Thursday January 21,
2010 A
service of Johnston Enterprises, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind
Energy and American Farmers & Ranchers Mutual Insurance
Company!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- Oklahoma State FSA Committee Announced by Obama
Administration
-- Climate Change, Weed Resistance and More with Bill Buckner of
Bayer Crop Science North America
-- Congressman Lucas Delighted With Senator Brown Winning the Old Ted
Kennedy Senate Seat- Says Stick a Fork in Climate Change- It's Done for
the Year
-- National Corn Growers Finally Take a Stand on Climate Change
Legislation
-- American Farm Bureau Supports Efforts by Senator Lisa Murkowaki to
Stop EPA's Desire to Regulate Carbon Dioxide
-- Do NOT Drastically Cut the Federal Crop Insurance Program.
-- The Noble Challenge Has Been Met Again in 2009 by Alums of the
Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program
-- 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! 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. | |
Oklahoma State FSA Committee Announced by Obama Administration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Obama
Administration today announced those individuals who will serve on the
Oklahoma Farm Service Agency State Committee. State committee members
oversee the activities of the agency, including carrying out the state
agricultural conservation programs, resolving appeals from the agriculture
community and keeping producers informed about FSA programs.Here are the five named to make up the Oklahoma State Committee: Cletus Carter (Chairperson) Steve Butler In an email announcing the USDA appointments- Oklahoma FSA Director Francie Tolle told us that "This is an incredible group that will do an outstanding job representing Oklahoma agriculture." | |
Climate Change, Weed Resistance and More with Bill Buckner of Bayer Crop Science North America ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are winding
down our coverage today and tomorrow from the first ever Pan America Weed
Resistance Conference that has been underway the last couple of days. This
morning- I have a conversation that I want to share with you from the CEO
for Bayer Crop Science here in North America- Bill Buckner, who's official
title is Head of Business Operations in North America for Bayer Crop
Science.
Bill Buckner and I had the chance to talk about several issues- including his thoughts on the Climate Change debate and why it is vital that agriculture take an "in your face" kind of attitude and make sure they stay engaged when and if further negotiations happen- Buckner says that bad things can occur if you neglect to be part of the process. We also talked about glyphosate and how Bayer wants to be part of the solution in discovering new chemistry that will follow this highly effective chemical that is gradually finding itself vulnerable to resistant weeds around the world. Click on the link below- and you can hear our special Ag Perspectives Podcast with Bill Buckner from this Weed Resistance Conference in Miami Beach. Click here for our conversation with Bill Buckner of Bayer Crop Science North America. | |
Congressman Lucas Delighted With Senator Brown Winning the Old Ted Kennedy Senate Seat- Says Stick a Fork in Climate Change- It's Done for the Year ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After the
political winds turned a full 180 degrees in Massachusetts earlier this
week with the election of Republican Scott Brown to the US Senate, the top
Republican on the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma lawmaker Frank Lucas, is
feeling a little more confident in predicting the demise of the so called
Cap and Trade legislation that passed the US House last July- and has been
bogged down in the US Senate since that time. Lucas says that he believes
both the Climate Change legislation as well as healthcare legislation that
the Liberal arm of the Democratic Party has been pushing will stall out
this election year.
Congressman Lucas adds that he is agreeable to cooperate with House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson to start the process of hearings for the 2012 Farm Bill, but doesn't think radical changes to the farm safety net are warranted. Lucas says he knows that Peterson is a champion of the revenue based farm program concept- but he thinks there are still too many bugs in the equations to fully move the farm safety net that direction. Click on the link below to hear comments from the Oklahoma lawmaker who is the top GOP member on the House Ag Committee. Click here for our story with an audio overview from OKlahoma Congressman Frank Lucas | |
National Corn Growers Finally Take a Stand on Climate Change Legislation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the
special election this week in Massachusetts that saw the Senate seat held
for decades by Teddy Kennedy go to a conservative Republican, Scott Brown-
we now have more and more people on the bandwagon that Climate Change
legislation is more and more unlikely to move forward. WIth that as the
backdrop- it was just yesterday that the National Corn Growers Association
finally decided to take a stand on the House passed version of the bill.
This is the version that passed just before the Fourth of July last
summer.
National Corn Growers Association President Darrin Ihnen has released
the following statement related to the decision announced today to oppose
H.R. 2454, The American Clean Energy and Security Act. "Now, based on the recently completed economic analysis, NCGA has no
choice but to oppose H.R. 2454. The results of the Informa study indicates
that every corn grower in the country will experience increased costs of
production resulting from H.R. 2454. In the early years of this
legislation, these higher production costs will be relatively minor.
However, over time these prices will significantly increase, placing an
unnecessary burden on growers." | |
American Farm Bureau Supports Efforts by Senator Lisa Murkowaki to Stop EPA's Desire to Regulate Carbon Dioxide ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The American
Farm Bureau Federation supports legislative efforts by Sen. Lisa Murkowski
(R-Alaska) to stop an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to regulate
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. In a
letter to Murkowski that was sent to all senators, AFBF President Bob
Stallman said the EPA proposal is ill-timed because climate discussions
held in Copenhagen last month did not produce a "meaningful international
agreement that puts all nations on a level playing field with respect to
carbon emissions."
"In the absence of such an international agreement, it would be foolish for our country-from both an economic and an environmental standpoint-to undertake such regulatory action as contemplated by EPA. Administrator Lisa Jackson testified before the Senate last summer that the U.S. acting on its own cannot affect the global climate," Stallman wrote. "Yet, it is clear that a regulatory scheme such as that contemplated under the endangerment finding would have significant negative effects on the economy." In the letter, Stallman noted a resolution passed unanimously by
delegates to AFBF's 91st annual meeting last week that not only expressed
opposition to cap-and-trade legislation but that "strongly supports any
legislative action that would suspend EPA's authority to regulate
greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act." | |
Do NOT Drastically Cut the Federal Crop Insurance Program. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Twenty six
U.S. Senators, on both sides of the aisle, have signed a letter urging the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency to refrain from
making deep cuts to the federal crop insurance program. In a letter to RMA
Administrator William Murphy, the Senators said a competitive, thriving
crop insurance industry is vital to the agricultural economy.
The Senators said - we are concerned the proposed cuts to the crop insurance industry, in addition to cuts made as part of the 2008 Farm Bill, could force some companies out of business. They added, - our rural economies can't stand to lose the jobs and necessary incomes that would occur as a result of these cuts. They also voiced a concern for a reduction in the quality of the service provided to farmers, and in some parts of the country could mean farmers might be required to drive for hours to sit down with their agents to discuss coverage decisions. They concluded, - this program is highly valued by our farmers and their bankers, especially in such a volatile economic environment. | |
The Noble Challenge Has Been Met Again in 2009 by Alums of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is always a
tribute to the worth of a school or other educational platform when the
Alums from that entity step up and are willing to give money to keep that
program up and running years after they had received a benefit.
That was the case again in 2009 for those who have completed the two year program known as the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program. Alums from all thirteen classes that have graduated participated in the annual challenge laid down by the Noble Foundation of Ardmore. In 2009, the Noble Challenge Grant was for $25,000. For every dollar that was given to OALP by an alum- the Noble folks would match it one for one, up to a maximum of $25,000. The Grant was met and exceeded once again in 2009, even as many Alums
were struggling in these challenging economic times. The Alums not only
met the goal, but blew right past it, with contributions to the running of
the statewide Ag Leadership Program offered by more than a hundred of the
grads of the program. When all was said and done, the Alums of the OALP
had contributed just over $32,000 in 2009, easily earning the all
important match from the Noble Foundation. Click here for more on the OALP program, as seen on their website. | |
Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, PCOM, P & K Equipment/ P & K Wind Energy, Johnston Enterprises, AFR and KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites 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. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The OKC West
Livestock Auction in El Reno had a good sized Wednesday run of 7,393
cattle on January 20- with yearling prices called steady to a $1 higher,
while steer calves were $1 to $4 stronger than a week earlier. Demand was
called good for all classes. Five to six hundred pound steer calves sold
for $103.50 to $114.50, while seven to eight hundred pound steer yearlings
cleared from $95 to $100. Click
here for the complete OKC West report from yesterday- it should be
updated with the January 20 data by around 8 AM on this Thursday morning.
Current cash price for Canola is $7.10 per bushel, while the 2010 New Crop
contracts for Canola are now available are $7.35 per bushel- delivered to
local participating elevators that are working with PCOM.
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: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|