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The 2012 winter canola harvest is underway, with fields in southwest and central Oklahoma being swathed and getting the canola into windrows which will be picked up in a matter of days. The earliest report we have of swathing the crop came on Sunday, April 29 in the Walters area of Cotton County. Josh Bushong, OSU Extension Canola Specialist, told us on Thursday morning that he had reports of fields in several locations either already swathed or were ready to be swathed. Our conversation with Josh can be found by clicking here.


Traveling back to the Oklahoma City area from the Lahoma Canola Field Day, where we talked about harvest starting up with Bushong, we found one of the locations he mentioned to us as being ready for harvest. Three machines had swath heads from MacDon on them and were running across the field on the west side of Kilpatrick Turnpike just north and west of State Highway 3.

There is a  roller being pulled behind the header to help knock the canola down so the pods will be lower to the ground and less susceptible to shatter.  We have over 30 pictures of the process that we encountered in Canadian County- and you can see them by clicking here for our 2012 Canola set of photos on Flickr- scroll down to the bottom of the set of pictures to see those of May 3rd and the swathing   

You may also want to go back to our Canola TV feature from just a couple of days ago with Heath Sanders as he discusses the harvest options for producers at an April Canola Field Tour Stop- Click here for that Canola TV episode.

Kansas Wheat Crop Predicted to Top 400 Million Bushels in 2012 by Crop Scouts 

The final estimate for the 2012 Hard Red Winter wheat tour sponsored by the Wheat Quality Council was announced today at the Kansas City Board of Trade. The final participant estimate for the three-day tour average was a yield of 49.1 bushels per acre, 11.7 bushels higher than the 2011 estimate of 37.4 bushels per acre.


Participants in the tour made individual estimates on the total size of the crop, with the weighted average at 403.9 million bushels. Last year's final estimate for the tour was 256.7 million bushels. Crop scouts on the tour spent Tuesday, Wednesday and today surveying Kansas, usually the top U.S. wheat producing state, trying to assess the production potential of hard red winter wheat for this year.


On the first day of the tour, groups left Manhattan, Kan. and traveled different routes to Colby, Kan. The crop after the first day was estimated to be ahead in maturity and well ahead of average production stages. While the wheat crop looked good, there was still a significant amount of disease present in the eastern third of the state. Stripe rust, barley yellow dwarf, wheat streak mosaic and smut were evident in a crop that was tall, adequate in moisture and mostly in the headed stage. The estimate for day one of the tour was 53.6 bushels, compared to 40.0 bushels last year.

Click here to read more about the Kansas wheat tour and the predictions for the Kansas crop.

Oklahomans Among Winners Taking Top Honors in National Land and Range Judging Contest

Oklahomans from two different FFA teams brought home national championships in range judging in the 61st annual National Land and Range Judging Contest held near Oklahoma City.

Dillon Langley from Fox, Oklahoma, earned the championship in individual range judging and the FFA team from Union, Oklahoma, took team range judging honors.   The Union team was comprised of Brandon Handke, Garrett Rogers, Andrew Houck, and Trey Vaughan.

Handke was the reserve champion in the individual range judging and teammate Garrett Rogers took tenth place.

The only other Oklahoman placing was Jena Kellum from Ft. Towson who took ninth place in the FFA division of the homesite evaluation contest. 

Click here to read more about the 61st annual National Land and Range Judging Contest. You will also find a link to pictures on our Flickr page. 

Carver Says Wheat Breeding Has Drawn the Attention of Lots of Ag Chemical Companies, and Some of Their Moves Are Very Impressive

Dr. Brett Carver with the wheat breeding program at OSU told grain elevator operators and others at the recent Grain and Feed Association meeting in Oklahoma City that there are a number of developments in wheat breeding that could lead to big changes in the varieties of wheat that will be available to farmers in the coming years.  Edwards says that a number of companies see profit potential in wheat breeding and have made moves to jump into the game.

"There is tremendous investment in wheat improvement in the public and in the private sector, especially, that is making this a very attractive industry in the United States compared to other places in the world. I'm excited about what's going on, but I'm also keeping my eyes wide open."

Bayer has recently made a run at getting into the industry in a big way and Carver says the company "is a very impressive force in the landscape for wheat improvement." He says the company has varieties that will be cropping up in numerous trials next year.

One of the things that Bayer has done which has him a little concerned is the company's purchase of wheat breeding programs in the Ukraine.

"In terms of numbers, it's probably not that significant, but where the acquisition took place does raise my eyebrows a little bit. Because eastern Europe is an area that we depend on heavily-and not just us, but other breeding programs across the great plains-depend on heavily to bring in new germ plasm whether it's for disease resistance or other agronomic traits... but as we see more and more of those kinds of acquisitions, I do get a little bit nervous. Germ plasm access is so important to what we do. I think we have the talent to use it, but if we can't get to it and use it, or access it, then we're going our hands will be tied behind our backs."

You can read more or hear our full interview with Brett Carver by clicking here. 

Animal Agriculture Alliance Summit Attendees Learn to Bridge the Urban-Rural Divide

Nearly 200 leaders representing animal agriculture came together in Arlington, Virginia, to kick off the Animal Agriculture Alliance's eleventh annual Stakeholders Summit. Twelve speakers discussed the event's theme, "Real Farmers Real Food: Celebrating Tradition and Technology".

One of the key topics addressed was the need to bridge the urban-rural divide to help the average consumer understand today's agricultural practices. Chris Herr of PennAg Industries Association and Mike Platt of Indiana Pork each shared innovative new ways that their organizations are working to share the importance of agriculture with the public.

PennAg Industries Association's groundbreaking 10,000 square foot exhibit, "Today's Agriculture," put real-life agricultural practices on display at the 2012 Pennsylvania Farm Show. Visitors came face-to-face with modern farm practices, often for the first time, and had the opportunity to get their questions answered straight from the farmer.

Click here for more information on bridging the rural-urban information divide.

Crop Tours in Kansas and Oklahoma Give Grain Markets Some Food For Thought, Anderson Says

Crop tours in Kansas and Oklahoma have roiled grain markets and Dr. Kim Anderson tells Lyndall Stout in these weekend's SUNUP that the numbers coming from the tours could be fueling a decline in prices.

"Potential record yields in Oklahoma, near record yields in Kansas. I think the numbers came out higher than the market expected and then if you look at production estimates that are being bandied about by different analysts, they are relatively high. Corn is the price setter right now, looking at maybe 14,600,000,000 bushels. Wheat: 2,270,000,000 bushels, somewhere in that vicinity. Large crops. Increasing ending stocks."

"After the first day of the tour, prices fell relatively hard. We've been talking about the Kansas City July contract at $6.37 price level. That's an extremely important price support. If busted through, if it stays below that $6.37 as we go into next week, then we've got a potential 50 cents down price as go from now into harvest." 

You can hear more from Kim Anderson and see this weekend's lineup for SUNUP by clicking here.

This N That- 22 Hours A Day- Female Sales and In The Field with Jeff Edwards 

The Kansas City Board of Trade announces the expansion of electronic trading hours for the KCBT's flagship hard red winter wheat futures and options contracts. They  are joining the Chicago Board of Trade in expanding their electronic trading day for grain and oilseed futures from 17 hours a day to 22 hours a day.  Open outcry will remain in its current time frame which is from 9:30 AM to 1:15 PM central time.  The only two hours when the electronic market will be closed will be from 4 to 6 pm central time daily. Click here for more details of the Thursday announcement from the KCBT. 

We have a pair of cattle sales to call your attention to this morning- the first is the Hall Coyote Hills Ranch Drought Reduction Female Sale that will be at the ranch west and south of Chattanooga, Oklahoma on Saturday- tomorrow- May 5th. Limousin, Lim-Flex and Angus females will be offered- you can call for last minute information at 580-597-3006 or click here to read more about their offering and get access to the on line catalog.

Also happening on Saturday is the B and E Cattle Company's Replacement Female Sale- to be held at the Chisholm Trail Agri Service Center, three and half miles east of Duncan, Oklahoma.  They have over 400 cows to sell- many of them with calves by their side. Click here for more information and again- a link over to their on line catalog listing.  They will have their sale up in cyberspace on DV Auctions.  

Finally- a quick reminder to tune in and check out our Saturday morning visit with Dr. Jeff Edwards, OSU Extension Wheat Specialist as we discuss the rapidly approaching 2012 wheat harvest.  Our In the Field segment is seen Saturday mornings at 6:40 AM on KWTV News9 in Oklahoma City.