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Dr. Ron Sholar was the longtime oilseed specialist for OSU Extension- and after retirement from that position, has answered the call to serve the canola industry in the state of Oklahoma as the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Oilseed Commission.


We talk about the early days of trying to grow canola in the southern plains versus now- and Sholar talks with us on this edition of Canola TV about the challenges of growing canola as OSU brought it south and began the process of getting it to work in the southern great plains. Sholar says the biggest problem with canola as it first arrived in Oklahoma, as the early varieties were simply not winter hardy. He also pointed to the challenge of handling crop properly at harvest time.


We also talked with Sholar about his relatively new role as the executive director of the Oklahoma Oilseed Commission. Sholar says one key objective for the Commission is to help facilitate the expansion of canola planting in Oklahoma. Click here for this latest edition of Canola TV to see our visit with Ron Sholar- Canola TV is a service of PCOM, helping Oklahoma Wheat Producers diversify by adding canola to their annual crop rotations.   

Beyond Canola TV, we also have some recent pictures of both winter canola and winter wheat on Flickr that you can check out- we have pictures of canola from the Woodward area- looking good- plus wheat pictures from around Kingfisher as well as southwestern Oklahoma- click here for links to both sets of photos to be found on Flickr- our wheat photos a part of our 2012 WheatWatch, a service of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission.  

Dr. Bob Hunger of OSU reported over the weekend about wheat disease problems in the state- the problems are really few and far between when it comes to foliar diseases in 2012 in Oklahoma wheat.  Bob offers some excellent insights about the crop in general- click here to see his full report plus updates from Arkansas and Kansas on wheat disease issues.  

Finally- the rains of the weekend have gotten to be a very serious situation in North Central Oklahoma- click here to see a snapshot of rainfall as of 6 AM this morning over the last 48 hours- keeping in mind most of this rain haven fallen in the last 12 to 16 hours. Blackwell in Kay County is ground zero- with over 8 inches of rain on the ground- and with the hail that rolled through that area- we are very worried about the wheat and canola that was looking fabulous in that county.  

Lucas, Ag Groups Relieved Obama Administration Withdrew Proposed DOL Rule 

"I am pleased that common sense finally prevailed and the Department of Labor withdrew its burdensome, misguided proposed rule that would have prevented young people from working on farms," Representative Frank Lucas said.  "This proposed rule created great angst in the countryside about the impact it would have had on the future of the family farm. It was a concern that agricultural producers kept raising during our Farm Bill field hearings."

Lucas said he hopes the administration has learned a lesson.

Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Mike Spradling said members of his organizaion are glad the battle is over--at least for now.

"We are pleased the DOL heard our concerns and now they understand this proposal was unnecessary," Spradling said. "After months of fighting the proposal, this is definitely a victory for farm families."

You can read more about the withdrawal of the DOL rule by clicking here, and you can read the responses of various groups and individuals be clicking on these links:

Congressman Frank Lucas

OFBF President Mike Spradling  

TSCRA

Senator Debbie Stabenow 

FFA State President Courtney Maye Previews Upcoming Convention

The State FFA Convention is coming up May 1st and 2nd in Oklahoma City. It will be two days packed with leadership training, workshops, public speaking championships, a career show, officer elections and much more.

Oklahoma State FFA President Courtney Maye spoke to us about the upcoming convention and what it means.

"I think it's a really good time to reward our members for all their accomplishments throughout the year. And not only that, our members get to see the sponsors, the alumni, the people who are receiving their honorary state FFA degree, all the state FFA degree recipients. And it's a good time to motivate those young FFA members-not only reward them for their accomplishments-but motivate the next generation to keep dreaming big and working hard."

You can catch our audio interview with Courtney Mayes by clicking here.

Bill Seeks to Halt EPA and Corps of Engineers Water Rights Grab

Legislation was introduced in the House to halt the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers' attempts to illegally expand federal power under the Clean Water Act and extend the government's regulatory reach to every ditch, puddle and pond in the country.

"The Obama Administration is doing everything in its power to increase costs and regulatory burdens for American businesses, farmers, and individual property owners," said HR 4965's sponsor, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John L. Mica (R-FL). "This federal jurisdiction grab has been opposed by Congress for years, and now the Administration and its agencies are ignoring law and rulemaking procedures in order to tighten their regulatory grip over every water body in the country. But this Administration needs to realize it is not above the law."  Click here to read more about HR 4965.  
  

"The problem with EPA is accountability," said National Cattlemen's Beef Association President J.D. Alexander. "This administration has made clear its preference to use guidance documents as opposed to going through the rulemaking process. This allows the activists turned government officials to avoid public scrutiny and bypass the consideration of legal, economic and unintended consequences." 

More of J.D. Alexander's comments are available by clicking here. 

Angus Bull Demand High, Prices Up 24 Percent Over Last Year

Cattle herd numbers may be low, but there is still strong demand for high-quality genetics. According to recent American Angus Association® data, reported Angus bull prices are at a record high, reflecting that buyers are willing to pay more for cattle that offer increased profit potential.

"This past bull-sale season was a successful one for the Angus breed," says Bryce Schumann, chief executive officer of the Association. "The registered Angus bull market is trending up in both volume of bulls sold and the price received at public auction."

The latest fiscal data shows that 31,278 registered Angus bulls grossed more than $144 million during the time period of Oct. 1, 2011, to March 31, 2012. That's an average of $4,627 per bull reported to the Association. Compared to last year's numbers, prices jumped 24% or $896 per head.

Click here to read more.

What a Difference a Year Makes- Drought Abates- But Weather Direction From Here is Uncertain

Gary McManus, associate state climatologist, says warm temperatures and recent rains have gone a long way to relieving the drought in most areas. Record-setting spring temperatures, however, may not necessarily mean a hot summer.

Springtime rains from our wet March continued into April. The rain was not as widespread during April, however, but totals tended towards the heavy side. A swath of 3-6 inches of rain fell along the I-44 corridor from Hollis to Miami. The northwestern corner saw 2-4 inches with similar totals in south central Oklahoma. The Panhandle got into the act as well with over 3 inches falling at Hooker and Kenton. Unfortunately, other parts of the Panhandle received less than an inch. Some of the most intense rainfall was accompanied by severe weather. As many as 25 tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma during the month. The most violent was an EF-3 twister that struck Woodward, killing six and injuring many more. Hail to the size of softballs accompanied the rain as well to go along with a multitude of severe wind reports. The statewide average rainfall total was 2.61 inches through April 26, which is actually below normal by about a quarter of an inch.

The heat of March, which ended as the warmest on record for the state, continued into April. The average high temperature across the state through the 26th was 73.9 degrees, more than 2 degrees above normal. The average low temperature was more than 5 degrees above normal at 50.7 degrees. The heat peaked on the 25th when several Oklahoma Mesonet stations in southwestern Oklahoma reached triple-digit territory. Altus and Erick peaked at 105 degrees, tied for the second-highest temperature ever recorded in Oklahoma during April. The top spot is still 106 degrees at Mangum on April 12, 1072. Only two of the Mesonet's 120 stations reached the freezing mark during April, and both for less than one hour. Beaver dropped to 32 degrees for a short time on the eighth and Boise City did the same on the 16th.

To read more of Gary McManus's analysis of climate trends, click here. 

May first is the published deadline for applications to be in for Class XVI of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program- if you have thought at all about applying, there is still time to do so.  As long as you signal your intentions of getting an application in to the OALP office in Stillwater, you can take the next few days of getting all of the documentation in.  Call Edmund Bonjour at 405-744-5132 or 405-744-8134 for details- click here for their website.  

The Wheat Quality Council based in Kansas will be running their annual Wheat Crop Tour this week across Kansas and parts of Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and Oklahoma. The Kansas crop is expected to be seen about three weeks ahead of normal- a potentially very good crop with more than normal disease pressure. The Oklahoma Crop Assessment will be held once again during the Wednesday morning session of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association's Annual meeting going on this week in Oklahoma City. We will be there to tweet and report the results. Click here for the Word Document version of the program for the 2012 OGFA meeting- the report session for the 2012 wheat crop is at 10:30 AM Wednesday.  

Annual Convention of the FFA starts on Tuesday- check out our interview with Courtney Maye earlier in today's email- plus here's the calendar item link to the 2012 Blue and Gold event!

It may well be a little muddy this year- but the 2012 Lahoma Canola Field Day is coming later this week- this Thursday to be exact- click here for more details- the Canola will be much further along than at any time that we have been growing it here in the southern plains- and this week we have a couple of more Canola TV segments which will be previews of some of the information that will be available at this year's gathering.  

Click here for our calendar for everything else going on, which is really quite a bit for cattle and wheat producers and others as well.