Category: Top Ag News

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 03:26:58 CDT

Much of Oklahoma has shared in the rainfall that has ranged from one to three inches since Sunday night. Northwestern Oklahoma and the Panhandle have been left out this time around.

As of 3 AM this morning- with rain showers still falling in parts of western and eastern Oklahoma- a couple of locations have topped three inches- Cookson and Idabel claim top honors with 3.73 and 3.29 inches respectively. There are two dozen locations that have hit the two inch rainfall mark spread across the state.

As for those left out- nothing in Kenton and Boise City- less than a tenth in Texas County and 19 hundredths in Woodward.

These rains are expected to be taken into account in our next Drought Monitor that will be released on Thursday morning. It;s not a drought buster- but it’s a multi million dollar rain for the 2023 Oklahoma wheat crop and should help improve forage conditions- and in some of the areas where we got the best rainfall- put some water back into ponds.

The map above is a snapshot as of 3 AM central- but you can click here and see the real time image of the two day rainfall totals across Oklahoma from the Oklahoma Mesonet.

AND GOOD NEWS- there is another chance for rain Thursday PM into Friday.

Keep on Praying!

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 17:02:38 CDT

Chilly but primarily dry weather allowed corn and soybean farmers to pull further ahead of the average pace in harvesting their crops last week, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monda…

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 11:47:15 CDT

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KC Sheperd, Farm Director, is catching up with Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Cotton Agronomist Dr. Seth Byrd as he gives a cotton overview and crop update…

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 09:04:12 CDT

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FFA members and supporters from across the country will celebrate agriculture and agricultural education next week during the 95h National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.

This time-honored tradition, hosted by the city of Indianapolis, will be held Oct. 26-29.

More than 60,000 FFA members from the U.S., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands are expected to participate in the event. That includes over approximately 2,000 FFA members from the state of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma FFA has a reputation of being right at the top when it comes to many of the events that will have FFA members from across the US competing for top honors. For example, Oklahoma is tied with Georgia in having the most Three Star Chapters that will be honored on the convention stage in Lucas Oil Stadium. Oklahoma and Georgia each will have 36 Chapters honored tghis week, followed by Missouri with 35. The three star rating is given only to the best of the Gold Emblem Chapters and up to ten percent of a state’s chapters can earn this award if they qualify. Click here for the Oklahoma list of high achievers that will be honored and/or are competing at this year’s convention- it includes the full list of our 36 top chapters.

In addition, Oklahoma has the third most 3 Star Permier Chapters this year- tied with Kansas in that catefory. Georgia has a total of 9 3 Star Premier Chapters while Ohio, Illinois and Flordia each have 7. The three OKlahoma Chapters in contention for a national champtionship include Meeker FFA, Miami FFA and Okmulgee FFA.

Oklahoma is in the top five in both the National Agriscience Fair and in the number of finalists in the Profiency Awards here in 2022. OKlahoma has the fifth most Agriscience Finalists- a total of 22. Georgia has the most finalists, followed by Texas, Ohio, California and Oklahoma.

Stars Over America   

Oklahoma has one of the 16 national finalists in the Stars Over America competition in 2022- Emma Victery of Chickasha FFA is a Finalist in the Star in Ag Placement award.

Victery, a member of Chickasha FFA in Oklahoma, raises Black Angus cattle with her family. She started small in her youth, but now Emma is an irreplaceable part of the management and marketing on her family farm.

“The thing that makes me the most proud is my dad trusts me with my family’s operation, and he told me the only person that he would trust to take care of things while he’s gone,” Victery said. “He also values my opinion a lot when it comes to selecting bulls and making breeding decisions.”

Breeding cattle is something in which Victery has a particular interest. She took classes on artificial insemination in high school, and she’s currently enrolled at Eastern Oklahoma State College to major in animal science, pre-vet and ag communications.

Click here to see the four star finalists in Ag Placement- this link includes a video of Oklahoman Emma Victery.

National FFA Officer Candidate   

One Oklahoma FFA member is in her second year of competing for a very special honor- Karstlyn Cantrell of Skiatook FFA is representing Oklahoma as a National FFA Officer candidate. Karstlyn will know Monday evening if she has advanced to the final selection process- the slate of 6 National Officers for 2022-2023 will be announced Saturday afternoon, October 29th. You can hear Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays’ conversation with Cantrell by clicking here.

National Speech Contests

Three Oklahoma FFA members are competing in the National Speech Contest this week- Hays has talked with all three and you can hear his conversations with them by clicking on their names-

Prepared Public Speech- Caleb Horne, Morrison FFA

Extemporaneous Speech- Kayla Poling, Silo FFA

Creed Presentation- Addyson Schneberger, Carnegie FFA (the story with Addyson wlll be posted Monday)

Many other FFA members will be involved in Career Development contests and 190 high achieving FFA members wll receive their American FFA degree on Saturday morning- here’s where you can get the complete rundown.

Learn more about the National FFA Convention by clicking here.

Learn More about the Oklahoma FFA by clicking here.

Sun, 23 Oct 2022 12:05:17 CDT

A Red Flag Warning is in effect today from late morning through the early evening hours in the Panhandle and northwestern counties. Temperatures will again push above normal today across Oklahoma with strong…

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 13:30:42 CDT

While we did see some rain across the state last week, State Climatologist Gary McManus says Oklahoma is in for a while ride over the next 5 days, “Thanks to a powerful storm system that’s about to hit the Pacific Northwest and come rolling down to our area in a classic late fall/early winter pattern, bringing lots of wind, moisture, and lift with it.
So we have pretty darned bad fire danger over the next 3 days”

McManus says a cold front is also headed this way that could bring possible rounds of showers and storms, and even the possibility of snow in the Panhandle. McManus says its always hard to tell how much impact we will actually see as the forecast is forever-changing, but he’s hopeful the state could see 1-3 inches move through Monday through Tuesday.

In the meanwhile the state is under a red fire warning throughout portions of the state lasting through Sunday with the possibility of higher winds.

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:13:55 CDT

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This Week on SUNUP is Oklahoma State University Extension grain market economist Kim Anderson. During this week’s edition, Anderson talks about the latest on commodity prices and factors impacting the markets.

“It looks quiet, but there is quite a bit happening,” Anderson said. “You look at wheat prices over the last two weeks; we have lost about 40 cents in the wheat prices from around $9.80- $9.85 cents down to 9 dollars.”

Anderson said the market has taken 20 cents off of corn in the last week, sending it down to around $7.50. Soybeans are down about 35 cents this week to $13.25.

“Cotton- that is the one commodity that has taken a beating,” Anderson said. “It is down about 7 cents from around 85 to about 78 cents- that is on the futures market. Take about 3 cents off; that gets it about 75 cents in southwestern Oklahoma.”

The drought, Anderson said, is having a relatively large impact on the prices in the crop markets and production.

“On prices, there is a lot of risk for production,” Anderson said. “Stocks are relatively tight, both in the United States- not quite as tight around the world, but there is tight stocks. When we can’t get our wheat planted and if we can’t get it raised it is impacting prices.”

Anderson said the drought is also impacting planting decisions for farmers.

“Do farmers want to dust it in, or do they want to wait on rain,” Anderson said. “I think it is extremely important that they check with their crop insurance agent and look at that final planting date and what the consequences are of not planting versus planting.”

Anderson said the Russia and Ukraine war is still the biggest factor impacting the commodity markets.

“Ukraine basically feels if they don’t take all of that land that they have lost to Russia, even what they lost in 2014, it is going to create problems in the future.”

Politically, Anderson said Putin cannot allow Russia to allow Ukraine to take the land back.

“There is a lot going on there and it is impacting our markets and our prices,” Anderson said.

This week on SUNUP:

• Dave Lalman, OSU Extension beef cattle specialist, offers guidance for producers who are feeding or grazing cotton.
• Wes Lee, OSU Extension Mesonet agricultural coordinator, breaks down the recent cold front. State climatologist Gary McManus says the recent rainfall made a slight dent in the drought monitor.
• Cortney Cowley, Federal Reserve economist, discusses supply chain issues at the recent Rural Economic Outlook Conference.
• Mark Johnson, OSU Extension beef cattle breeding specialist, explains how to prepare for financial opportunities when turning calves into yearlings.
• Kim Anderson, OSU Extension grain marketing specialist, believes there are profit opportunities for wheat producers if they can get the crop established.
• Darren Scott, OSU food scientist, explains what makes peppers spicy.
• Finally, a look back at a SUNUP favorite featuring the fury protector of the plains: the guard dog.

Join us for SUNUP:
Saturday at 7:30 a.m. & Sunday at 6 a.m. on OETA (PBS)
YouTube.com/SUNUPtv
SUNUP.okstate.edu

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:45:17 CDT

Agricultural producers can now change election and enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage programs for the 2023 crop year, two key safety net programs offered by the U.S. Depar…

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 11:51:37 CDT

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KC Sheperd, Farm Director, is visiting with Amy Hagerman, OSU Agricultural Economics professor about important needs for producers in the writing of the 2023 farm bill.

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Tue, 18 Oct 2022 12:15:11 CDT

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KC Sheperd, Farm Director, caught up with Trey Lam with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission at the third Emergency Drought Commission meeting and talked about his thoughts…