Cattle call at the Reed Center
I sat in on a Cattle Producers Committee business meeting at the annual Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association convention Thursday and found out some interesting things.
First, the cattle producers don’t want to hear anyone talking about the price that “fat cattle” are bringing any more.
The politically correct term is “fed cattle.” That takes away any concerns that consumers may have about not getting “lean beef,” although fat cattle only refers to cattle that have been fed at a feed lot and are ready for slaughter. Oh, sorry, I mean “harvest.”
Anyway, heard some discussion on ethanol and other items of concern, along with a report from State Conservationist Ron Hilliard on how certain aspects of the new farm bill will affect cattle producers.
Then I wandered through the trade show and exhibition and took some snapshops. Here are a few.
At the top is Monty Baker of Agri-Services in Taft. He’s showing off a hand-made, leather saddlebag that was produced by female inmates at the Eddie Warrior Correctional Insitute in Taft. The exhibit booth had all sorts of cool leather items, including some beautiful saddles.
Above left is Dallas Moore of the OCA staff as she prepared silent auction items that cattle producers will bid on throughout the convention.
Below is a photo of Hilliard in the exhibit area, along with Terry Fry of Agri-Services and a view of some portable cattle chutes on display outside the Reed Center.
Business Reporter
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Cattlemen come in from the range
Today is the opening of the annual Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association convention at the Reed Center in Midwest City.
The convention annually draws cattlemen — and cattlewomen — from all corners of the state and features one of my favorite events, the Cattlemen’s College. That’s a series of concurrent seminars that cover everything from the economics of cattle production to creating better pasture and forage.
This year, the cattlemen’s group is bringing in David Anderson, an economist from Texas A&M University, to close out the Cattlemen’s College and the convention as a whole with a briefing on the cattle market outlook in session that begins at 10 a.m. Saturday.
I’ll report more from the event, along with some photos of the trade show.
Jim Stafford
Business Reporter
Acreage report: Oklahoma soybean plantings expand
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated this week that Oklahoma acres planted to soybeans grew by 68 percent this year over last year’s acreage. They didn’t tell us what’s driving the increase.
However, after talking to a producer and an economist today I think it comes down to what drives most any market: supply, demand and price. Here’s what I got from producer Jim Curl of Braman and economist Kim Anderson at Oklahoma State University:
- * Supply: Soybean stocks, or the carryover from last year’s crop is very low. Plus, flooding in the Midwest has delayed planting or ruined fields already planted.
* Demand: There are myriad uses for soybeans in everything from food to ink, and strong demand for beans from China and other foreign markets.
* Price: September soybean contracts closed Thursday at $16.32 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, about $7 per bushel above the price they commanded at the same time a year ago.
Other Oklahoma crops and their estimated acres this year:
Wheat, 5.7 million, down 3 percent; corn, 350,000, up 9 percent; soybeans, 310,000, up 68 percent; sorghum, 280,000, up 17 percent; rye, 250,000, down 17 percent; cotton, 190,000, up 9 percent; oats, 50,000, down 37 percent; peanuts, 20,000, up 11 percent.
That’s Curl in the above photo, which I took in a soybean field in 2006. Look for more about the crop planting report in Friday’s Oklahoman.
Jim Stafford
Business Writer
