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A southwest Oklahoma elevator has received the first load of wheat harvested from the 2012 crop. Farmer Britton Newhouse delivered the load to the load to the Cassidy Grain elevator in Frederick Friday morning.

It was cut Thursday from a field five and a half miles west of Frederick on the Gottschall Farm. This is the earliest harvest date anyone in the local area can remember. Harvest in Frederick usually starts the week before or just after Memorial Day.

The moisture content was ten percent. The test weight was 58.7 pounds per bushel. The variety was Jagger and the berries were reported to not be plump.

The yield was estimated to be in the low thirties.

With harvest imminent, Dr. Bob Hunger took a tour of fields in central Oklahoma and found a couple of issues that could adversely affect yields.  Foliage everywhere was gone and premature whitening is widespread  Hunger says there is still grain in the heads to be harvested, however.  Also the diagnostic lab has received samples from northwest Oklahoma that tested positive for wheatfield mosaic, High Plains virus and /or barley yellow dwarf virus.

Click here for more details from Bob Hunger's late season tour and for reports from his colleagues in Arkansas, Kansas and Nebraska.  

AND- if you have harvest pics to share- wheat or canola- we would love to see them and share with our OklahomaFarmReport family- email them to me by clicking here or use the email at the very bottom of this email update.  Thanks in advance of thinking of us! 

Farm Bureau Survey Says Oklahoma Ag Producers Remain Optimistic 

Oklahoma agriculturalists are generally optimistic but concerned about the economy and burdensome government regulations. That's the summary of an Oklahoma Farm Bureau survey answered at the recent Oklahoma FFA Convention and Southern Plains Farm Show.

An overwhelming 80 percent of those surveyed at the FFA convention said they were optimistic about the future of agriculture. That number jumped to 100 percent at the farm show.

"You have to be optimistic if you're a farmer," said Jimmy Kinder, a Walters, Okla., producer who completed the survey at the farm show. "You can't farm from behind, you have to farm from the front!"

When asked to list the challenges facing agriculture today, the more popular answers included concerns about burdensome government regulations, increased production costs, uncertain weather conditions and the declining availability of land for agricultural production.

FFA students who took the survey said they would like to see more agriculture-related classes and more promotion of the "agriculture story."

The results of the OFB survey are consistent with similar questionnaires taken in previous years at the same venues. 

Dealing With the Consumer Post "Pink Slime"- A Conversation We Had with Trent Loos

Trent Loos, a Nebraska rancher, radio commentator, writer and speaker on farm issues recently attended the Oklahoma FFA State Convention in Oklahoma City.

In his articles, speeches and programs, Loos urges his audiences to examine the facts and make sound decisions based on facts, not misinformation.

We talked with Trent at the convention and addressed a number issues including the controversy around Lean Finely Textured Beef where the market for the product dried up almost overnight after stories appeared in the media questioning it.

He says the only way he knows to resolve the problem is by fighting disinformation with facts. He has come up with an image that helps him explain to people why getting so upset over LFTB that contains trace amounts of ammonium hydroxide is nonsensical.

"If you're worried about the ammonium hydroxide that we use in Lean Finely Textured Beef, make sure you understand the whole picture. Because if you were to take a bacon double cheeseburger and the burger using Lean Finely Textured Beef, there is three times as much ammonia in the cheese as there is in the burger. There's twice as much ammonia in the bun as there is in the burger. There is more ammonia in the individual packets of ketchup and mustard and mayonnaise than there is in the burger and everybody's worried about what's going on with the burger."

Nation's Largest 100 Agricultural Co-ops Post Near Record Sales, Margins

The nation's 100 largest agriculture cooperatives reported near-record revenue of $118 billion in 2010, USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager announced. This was an increase of 4 percent over 2009 figures. Net income for the 100 top agriculture co-ops was also up more than 10 percent in 2010, reaching $2.39 billion, up from $2.16 billion in 2009.

"Farmer and rancher-owned cooperatives are a mainstay in the American economy, not only helping members market and process their crops, milk and livestock and creating jobs, but also helping producers keep more of the earnings derived from their products at home, in rural counties and communities," Tonsager said. "The end result is a huge net benefit for producers, their communities and the overall rural economy. Farmer co-ops also account for significant numbers of jobs and economic activity in many cities."

USDA's top 100 ag co-op list shows that 23 co-ops had 2010 revenue of more than $1 billion. Another 47 co-ops had revenue between $506 million and $1 billion. The 100th ranked co-op had sales of $276 million.

You can read more about how cooperatives fared financially over the last few years by clicking here.

Growth Energy President Pleased With Vilsack's Support of E15

Following Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's public support of an increased ethanol blend of E15 into conventional gasoline, Jim Nussle, president and COO of Growth Energy released the following statement:

"Growth Energy is pleased to see Secretary Vilsack continue his full support for E15. His support of the E15 blend, along with the Renewable Fuel Standard, is critical to America's goal of reducing our dependence on foreign oil, while simultaneously creating jobs and providing energy security through a domestic, abundant and proven low carbon fuel source.

"I continue to be disappointed by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and their constant rhetoric that is baseless and false. E15 is the most tested fuel, and has repeatedly proven its value and on NASCAR tracks all across this country, as well as in many other high performance engines. API continues to embrace the status quo of foreign oil dependence, and therefore higher gas prices and the exclusion of low carbon renewable fuels. Not only is this disappointing, they are taking a stand against the American economy and the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

"Ethanol represents an immediate, sustainable and safe solution to our country's energy needs. Further development of the E15 blend and the continuation of the Renewable Fuel Standard are vital components to America's energy future and economic prosperity. Growth Energy looks forward to continuing to work with Secretary Vilsack in achieving these important goals."

Certified Angus Beef Opens New Culinary Center- We Talk with CAB Board Member and Oklahoma Producer John Pfeiffer

Certified Angus Beef has taken another step to solidify its position as the gold standard in branded beef programs with the formal opening this month of an Education and Culinary Center adjacent to its headquarters in Wooster, Ohio. CAB invited members of the ag trade media, including yours truly, as well as Food Writers from several major consumer markets to take part in the opening weekend.


Media were taken in the cooler room which can serve as a teaching point about beef carcasses, how they are broken down to primals, subprimals and eventually retail cuts. CAB professional staff actually took the media present through taking apart the Loin of a beef carcass, ending up with key cuts like the Tri-Tip, the Porterhouse and more on the cutting room tables.


Joining the staff and media were several members of the Certified Angus Beef Board of Directors, which includes John Pfeiffer of Mulhall, Oklahoma. This Oklahoma Angus breeder has been on the CAB for about a year and a half of a three year term, and was very excited about what the impact this Education and Culinary Center can mean to the Angus breed.

Click here for our special digital version of Beef Buzz which features our conversation with John Pfeiffer as well as a link to our Flickr set of photos from the weekend- we got pics of working on the Loin with a meat cutting knife, the new cooking area of the Education and Culinary Center of the CAB as well as good looking Angus mama cows and calves as seen on the Chipewa Valley Angus Farm near Wooster.

 

Glenn Selk Explores the Costs and Benefits of Early Summer Calf De-Worming

Does the cost of worming spring born calves outweigh its benefits? What about de-worming both cow and calf? Oklahoma State University Extension Animal Scientist Emeritus Glenn Selk puts a pencil to the problem in this week's Cow/Calf Corner Newsletter and comes up with some answers.


For many years, the average value of a pound of added gain on feeder calves was considered to be 55 to 60 cents. In today's marketplace that figure is no longer accurate. Last week at the Oklahoma City National Stockyards, the value (for steer calves) of each pound added between 450 pounds and 575 pounds was worth approximately $1.18. This is lower than the average sell price because of the price slide between lighter and heavier calves. Nonetheless, this much higher value of added gain means that management practices that may have been marginal in profitability in the past now have tremendous advantages. One such practice is the de-worming of spring born calves. 

Click here to read more about the potential to add value with spring de-worming.