USDA Predicts 2015 Oklahoma Wheat Crop at 118.9 Million Bushels- Best Since 2012

The US Department of Agriculture's May 2015 Crop Production Report for Winter Wheat is predicting that Oklahoma wheat farmers will harvest their best crop since 2012, with an estimated 118.9 million bushels to be harvested this month and next. The National Ag Statistics Service believes that four million, one hundred thousand acres will be harvested in Oklahoma this year- and NASS is estimating a yield of 29 bushels per acre. The 118.9 million bushels is sharply higher than the 47.6 million bushels that Oklahoma wheat farmers combined in 2014.


The Oklahoma estimate is higher than the prediction made by scouts that reported last week at the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association annual meeting in Oklahoma City. The scouts predicted that the state would see a harvest of 108.8 million bushels in 2015 on 3.9 million bushels, with an average yield of 27.7 bushels per acre.


Texas is also expecting twice as much wheat to be produced by their farmers in 2015 compared to the drought damaged 2014 crop- last year- Texas brought in 67.5 million bushels- the 2015 May first prediction is for a 131.25 million bushel crop.


The Kansas HRW crop will also be larger than in 2014, with the Sunflower State looking at a ten percent larger wheat crop than grown last season- NASS predicts 272 million bushels are in Kansas fields- with 8.5 million acres to be harvested and a estimated yield of 32 bushels per acre.   

Click here to read more about USDA's production estimate for the hard red winter wheat belt as well as the national wheat production estimates.  

WASDE Report Lacks Positive News for Commodity Prices

One commodity trader called the latest global grain stocks report to be a mixed affair. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) report Tuesday morning. Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities said both reports lacked any bullish surprises.  


All U.S. wheat production was estimated at 2.087 billion bushels. That 61 million bushels more than a year ago. Winter wheat production was forecasted at 1.47 billion bushels, up 7 percent from 2014. Leffler said that's 92 million bushels more than a year ago. Hard Red Winter wheat production was estimated at 853 million bushels, up 16 percent from a year ago. Soft Red Winter wheat production was estimated at 416 million bushels, down nine percent from 2014. Leffler said Kansas wheat production was estimated at 272 million bushels. That was lower than the Kansas wheat tour estimate of 288.5 million bushels.


"So, we're looking at no big surprises really in the wheat numbers, not anything more bearish than we had expected," Leffler said. "Maybe one thing that was a little more bullish was the Kansas wheat crop being a little smaller than had been projected."


U.S. old crop wheat ending stocks was estimated at 709 million bushels. Leffler said that was more than trade expectations and 25 million bushels more than last month. Old crop ending stocks for corn in the U.S. was estimated at 1.851 billion bushels. Leffler said that was lower than trade expectations, but 24 million bushels more than last month. Old crop soybean ending stocks was estimated at 350 million bushels. Leffler said that was lower than trade predictions and 20 million bushels lower than last month.  

Click here to read more about U.S. new crop ending stocks and global ending stocks.  

K-State Finds No Positive Impact of Country of Origin Labeling

The 2014 Farm Law mandated a study be conducted on the economic value and impact of mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) of meat products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's office of the chief economist commissioned three livestock economists. This included the work of two economists from Kansas State University that worked to discover the economic effects of the original version from COOL, from 2008 that was implemented in 2009 and the World Trade Organization modification COOL which took place in 2013. One of those involved in this study was Kansas State University Agricultural Economist Glynn Tonsor. He said COOL has had a dramatically negative impact on beef and pork production sectors.    

Tonsor said they estimate the 2009 rule's impact on the beef industry caused a loss of economic welfare of $8.07 billion and $1.3 billion to the pork industry over ten years. In evaluating the 2013 rule, Tonsor said they estimated a loss of $500 million to the beef industry and $400 million to the pork industry.


"The main reason for that is, we have lower quantities being produced because those two industries are operating at a higher cost without an observed benefit in the form of higher retail demand for covered products," Tonsor said. "That leads to higher prices on the end, retail and wholesale side, lower quantities throughout. You do the math in the economic model and that leads to those billion dollar impacts, I'm sharing."


Producers and processors aren't the only economic loser under COOL. According to the study, consumers come out on the economic short end as well.  Click here to read or have the opportunity to listen to this Beef Buzz feature.

Spring Moisture a Blessing for the  Oklahoma Canola Crop

Late season rains have been a blessing for the Oklahoma canola crop. Oklahoma State University Canola Specialist Josh Bushong said overall the crop is highly variable, but the farmers that have received good moisture this spring have a good pod set.


"For the most part, pod density has been good and we've had good seed set within those pods so far," Bushong said. "Really good pollination this year. Not having those April freezes definitely was a help, but for the most part we have a decent crop out there."


Swathing looks to begin in the southern part of the state in the next week or so. In the Lahoma and Enid area, there will be more challenges where the canola crop started to rebloom. Bushong said he is hoping for a situation where both crops can be harvested simultaneously. With a big difference in maturity, he said they will be monitoring the crop closely to see how it progresses over the next few weeks.


If the rain continues, Bushong said farmers likely won't be able to swath the crop on time, so farmers may resort to using a desiccate to shut down the crop. He said farmers have access to Sharpen and Diquat with both labeled for use in canola.  Click here to read or to listen to my interview with Bushong.   

Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains-  Click here to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.

Oklahoma Joins USDA StrikeForce Initiative in Addressing Persistent Rural Poverty

Oklahoma has been added to the list of 21 states to be participating in the recently expanded USDA StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative. USDA's StrikeForce Initiative was established in 2010 to address specific challenges with persistent rural poverty. The initiative will provide additional Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds for 32 counties in Oklahoma, as well as provide economic benefit to these areas. NRCS, collaborators and partners will be focusing additional outreach efforts and assistance in accelerating the delivery of NRCS' available technical and financial assistance to farmers, ranchers and communities in these counties. StrikeForce funds will be allocated to counties with Pre-approved applications to address existing National, State, and Local resource concerns for FY2015. Implementation of the Oklahoma StrikeForce multiagency team will conduct outreach efforts in the coming months to address more specific resource concerns in the affected counties for future funding cycles.


"Producers in the 32 counties who are interested in this opportunity should visit their local NRCS office as soon as possible," said Gary O' Neill, NRCS State Conservationist in Oklahoma. "EQIP StrikeForce funding will help farmers and ranchers implement conservation practices that will benefit their land."


All practices available under regular EQIP are available in the StrikeForce initiative. Applications for EQIP funding are accepted on a continuous basis throughout the year. However, to be considered for the targeted 2015 StrikeForce funding, applications must be received by the close of business on June 19, 2015.


Click here to read a list of counties that this initiative covers in Oklahoma: 

 American Farmers & Ranchers Women's Committee is gearing up for the second round of their statewide food drive. Set May 1 - June 30 the committee has partnered up with the Invest an Acre and Plant A Row Campaigns through the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma City and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.

The AFR Women's Committee has committed to a goal for AFR members to donate 50,000 meals throughout 2015, with more than 16,000 meals provided during the first drive held in January. The Invest an Acre program allows farmers to donate an acre, or any portion of crop proceeds, to help feed families in their community and across the state. For every dollar donated through Invest an Acre, Monsanto will match it dollar-for-dollar. The proceeds will assist in providing thousands of healthy meals to the more than 650,000 Oklahomans who are at risk of hunger daily.

More details are available here. 

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It's Wednesday- and that means the Big Iron folks will be busy closing out this week's auction items - all 386 items consigned.  Bidding will start at 10 AM central time.                

Click Here for the complete rundown of what is being sold on this no reserve online sale this week.

If you'd like more information on buying and selling with Big Iron, call District Manager Mike Wolfe at 580-320-2718 and he can give you the full scoop.  You can also reach Mike via email by clicking or tapping here. 

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Oklahoma State University equine students will soon be able to attend classes, conduct lab work and build experience all in one convenient location thanks to the addition of the Charles and Linda Cline Equine Teaching Center.


OSU held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new multimillion-dollar facility, which will be open for classes next spring. The facility will continue to build on the rich history of OSU's world-class equine program.


"Facilities don't transform things - they create a place for people to transform things," OSU President Burns Hargis said. "Students need proper facilities to succeed. The Clines are a wonderful example of donors with a passion for students realizing that need and stepping forward to make a difference. I want to thank them for their vision and
investment." 

More details about the facility and how it will enhance the learning experience at OSU can be