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It's not in the bin yet, but Oklahoma's hard red winter wheat crop is shaping up well after the last couple of dismal years. Attendees at this year's Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association meeting were cautiously optimistic that the 2012 crop will be more than double the totals from 2011. They're predicting 156 million bushels will be harvested off of a little more than 4 million acres. Last year, producers harvested just 70.4 million bushels on three million acres as drought devastated yield and output.

OSU Extension Agronomist Mark Gregory says the crop in the south and south-central part of the state is "scary good" at this point with a yield per acre that could easily reach 38 bushels. He says he wouldn't be surprised to see combines in the field this weekend in a few scattered fields in the southwest close to the Red River.   

In the Panhandle, OSU's Rick Kochenower says there WILL be a harvest this year despite the fact that a big portion of Texas County is still experiencing a drought. He says irrigated acres are the best they've been in six to eight years and may yield 100 bushels to the acre. To hear more of what Rick has to say on how the crop is faring in the Panhandle, click here. Rick also updates us on grain sorghum and corn trials he has planted across the state and we discuss the likely prospect of many acres going double crop this season.  

Wheat Specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards thinks the crop will be a little smaller  than what others are predicting, but not by much. He says a late April blast of heat has exacted a small toll, but it is enough to be noticeable.  He thinks 150 million bushels is closer to the correct figure.  He says new varieties are showing a lot of promise and he thinks the OSU bred variety Gallagher will shine this year. You can hear more from Jeff by clicking here.

Barring weather difficulties which could always crop up, producers expect the major part of the 2012 harvest in Oklahoma to be in the bin by the middle of June.

Yields Come Down on Day Two of Kansas Wheat Crop Tour as Drought and Disease Stress is Seen 

The 55th Annual Hard Winter Wheat Evaluation Tour sponsored by the Wheat Quality Council departed on Wednesday, May 2 for the second day of observations of wheat production estimates in the state of Kansas and into the northern parts of Oklahoma.


The final estimate for day 2 of the Kansas Wheat Crop tour was 43.7 bushels per acre, based off of 286 stops throughout the day. This compares to last year's day two estimate of 33.4 bushels per acre, based off of 264 stops. After two days of observations by tour participants, the average now stands at 48.5 bushels per acre, based on 566 total stops. This number is up 11.8 from last year's 2-day estimate of 36.7.


Overall the Kansas wheat crop appears to be in good shape, with some participants on the tour expecting a higher-than-average wheat crop. Wheat in the western third of the state looks good from Colby, KS down to Garden City, KS, but starts looking dry and suffering from drought stress eastward from that area. After crossing through Hoisington, KS, Great Bend, KS, and Medicine Lodge, KS in the south, it appears the crop starts looking better east of those geographical markers after yesterday and today's observations, according to participants. It was also noted in yesterday and today's reports that farmers are using fungicide more this year in attempts to ward off disease such as stripe rust. Crop dusters were evident on day one and two of the tour.

Click here for our in depth report of day two- courtesy of Deb Bollman of the Kansas City Board of Trade- we also have some audio observations from Debbie Wedel of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission that is traveling on the Kansas Tour.  The wrapup of the tour comes today- and a final estimate of the Kansas Wheat Crop will be made by the scouts at the Kansas City Board of Trade this afternoon.

Brandon Baumgarten Elected Oklahoma State FFA President- And the List of the State Officer Team

Brandon Baumgarten of the Oilton FFA Chapter will lead the 2012-2013 Oklahoma FFA State Officer Team, as he was elected by the delegates to serve as State FFA President for the coming year.  Baumgarten has served over the last twelve months as the State Secretary of the Oklahoma FFA, while attending Oklahoma State University as a Freshman.

The rest of the State Officer team that will serve the 23,000 plus members of the Oklahoma FFA in the coming year include:


State Secretary- Alex Cash, Owasso FFA


State Reporter- Kaylen Baker, Yukon FFA


Northeast District VP- Kyle Hilbert, Depew FFA


Northwest District VP- Barrett Powell, Ringwood FFA


Central District VP- Annie Jo Gilbert, Choctaw FFA


Southeast District VP- Steven Vekony, Byng


Southwest District VP- Kelsie Williams, Hollis

Click here to read more of Brandon's resume as well as the resumes of each of the successful candidates for the 2012-2013 State Officer team.


  

Stars Over Oklahoma at State FFA Convention- Dylan Runyan Is Star Farmer, Steele Rasmusson Star Agribusinessman and Garrett Sharp Star in Ag Placement  

Dyson Runyan's entrepreneurial spirit and devotion to show pigs and agriculture has led to his selection for one of Oklahoma FFA's highest honors: the 2012 State Star in Agricultural Production. His supervised agricultural experience project was rated the best agricultural production program among the 727 FFA members who received the State FFA Degree during the 86th State FFA Convention on May 2. Dyson is from Madill and you can read more about his supervised occupational Program and see the video that was shown on stage- produced by yours truly- right after his name was called as the Star Farmer of Oklahoma-just click here for our Dyson Runyan story. 

Haworth FFA member Steele Rasmusson knows the hard work and dedication of running a successful hay bailing operation and getting crops to prosper in a variety of soil types. Through his first-hand experience on his family farm, Rasmusson's passion and dedication to the hay bailing industry led to his selection as the 2012 State Star in Agribusiness recipient. Read more about Steele's program as well as the chance to see our video of his program shown on Wednesday afternoon at the 86th annual convention of the Oklahoma FFA- just click here for our Steele Rasmusson story. 

Finally, our third Star over Oklahoma FFA is from Pioneer High School- but he travels a few miles daily to Waukomis to participate in Ag Ed and FFA- your 2012 Oklahoma FFA Star in Ag Placement- Garrett Sharp!  When Sharp's grandfather passed away, the 18-year- old stepped up to fulfill the role of active member and leader for his Oklahoma Centennial Farm, JK Farms. Click here to read more of his inspiring story and a chance to see our video highlighting his efforts from the Stars Over Oklahoma pageant as Garrett was named the Star in Ag Placement in the Oklahoma FFA Association.  

Upstream Flood Control Program Elimination Puts Thousands of Lives at Risk

Citizens throughout Oklahoma and other states will be put at risk if a proposal to eliminate all funding for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) upstream flood control program is allowed to stand as part of the agriculture appropriations bill currently being considered in the United States Senate according to Joe Parker, President of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD).

"It's hard to believe that the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee would put thousands of Americans at risk by eliminating all funding for the upstream flood control program but that's just what they did," Parker said. "It's amazing that some Senators would be so irresponsible as to take this kind of action."

According to Parker, when the Senate Appropriations Committee reported the 2013 Agriculture Appropriations bill to the full Senate in late April, it contained language that would eliminate all funding for repair and rehabilitation of America's over 11,000 upstream flood control dams. With over 2,100 dams in Oklahoma, 1,000 of which will be past their design life in the next five years, Parker said this move is especially troubling for the Sooner State.

Read more about how eliminating this program will threaten Oklahoma by clicking here. 

Educational Forum on Sardis Lake Water Rights Lawsuit Set For Atoka

Southeastern Oklahoma residents will have an opportunity to learn about the pending Sardis Lake lawsuit at an educational town hall forum, May 17, in Atoka.

Hosted by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation, the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and American Farmers & Ranchers, the meeting is intended to provide general background information on the lawsuit. The event is not a political forum but instead an education forum organized to explain the lawsuit's legal process and how the filing will impact citizens' water rights. Also, representatives from the Attorney General's office and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board will be available to answer questions.

The May 17, meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Atoka County Farm Bureau Office, 309 W. Liberty Rd., Atoka. For more information on the Sardis Lake forum, please contact Oklahoma Farm Bureau Director of Public Policy Kinsey Money at (405) 523-2539. 

On the Beef Buzz:  Death Tax Concerns Mount as 2013 Draws Closer

With each passing day, the concern about a higher estate tax come the first of January of next year increases. In December 2010, Congress passed temporary estate tax relief effective through December 31, 2012. For now, estates worth more than $5 million per individual, $10 million per couple are taxed at a rate of 35 percent. The temporary estate tax relief package also contains a spousal transfer, reinstated stepped-up basis and indexes the estate tax exemption for inflation.

Unless Congress acts to provide permanent relief, the estate tax will revert back to staggering pre-2001 levels where estates worth more than $1 million will be taxed at a rate of 55 percent. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and other farm and ranch groups have expressed their worries to members of Congress, but with most lawmakers worried about reelection, there seems to be little chance of getting an estate tax fix until the eleventh hour- likely after the November general elections during the so called "lame duck session."

We talk about the problem and the strategy to address this with lobbyist Colin Woodall of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Woodall is our guest on today's Beef Buzz.  Click here to listen.