Rains Slow a Still Historically Early Wheat Harvest, Canola Harvest Passes Halfway Mark 

Weekend rains slowed the earlier-than-average wheat harvest significantly, but it was estimated to be 14 percent complete by Sunday. Canola harvesters have progressed well, with 56 percent of the crop having been combined by week's end.

Seventy five  percent of the winter wheat crop was in good to excellent condition while 19 percent was listed in fair condition and six percent was listed as poor or very poor. 

Seventy three percent of canola was in good to excellent condition with 23 percent in fair condition and only four percent was in poor or very poor shape.

In Kansas, 43 percent of the winter wheat crop was in good to excellent condition, 35 percent was in fair shape and 22 percent was in poor or very poor condition..

Texas wheat showed 34 percent in fair shape, 32 percent in poor or very poor condition, 26 percent in good condition, and eight percent was in excellent condition.

The latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update from Monday afternoon is available by clicking here. 

For the national Crop Progress numbers- as released on Monday afternoon, May 21st- click here. 

Wheatwatch 2012: Rain and Hail Bring Damage, Halt to Harvest Across Oklahoma 

The hail storms in SW Oklahoma Saturday night have left their mark. Reports coming into the Oklahoma Wheat Commission say the wheat crop in some areas has sustained minor to substantial damage.

Washita and Custer County are both reporting 10 - 15% losses, county wide. A few fields will be in the 50 - 75% loss area and some could be zeroed out.

The Canute and Foss area was hit very hard with the hail. Hail damage was also reported in the Mountain View area (Kiowa County). The storms were very wide spread and very sporadic as the hail fell. Rain gauges measured anywhere from .70 to over 3 inches in these areas.

Harvest will most likely begin again in full force by Thursday with the hot, windy conditions predicted and some may start as early as Wednesday evening in these areas. 

Be sure and check out the full report by clicking here.

Canadian County Canola Harvest Comes to Profitable Conclusion

Canola harvest is starting to wind down across the state and Canadian County Ag Extension Educator Brad Tipton reports to us via email:

"This year Bornemann Farms recorded the best production agriculture winter canola yield we have ever had in Canadian County.   Ray had a 120-acre canola field produce over 46 bushels per acre (2,314 lbs/ac).

"Also, I have attached pictures of Jerry Lingo cutting over 40 bushels of canola per acre (2,010 lbs/ac). In the field where these images were taken, Jerry indicated, 'When one considers the price of canola vs. wheat, the gross and net income we made from this year's canola crop is basically the equivalent of producing 75 bushels of wheat.'

"Canadian County canola harvest has come to a successful and very profitable conclusion.   The only regret canola growers have is wishing they would have planted more acres of winter canola last fall!"

Tipton also reports that wheat harvest is progressing well in Canadian County.

Click here to see Tipton's pictures and read more about harvest in Canadian County. 

It was Chicken Versus Beef at the Opening Session of the Alltech Symposium  

What is the future of agriculture? Where do you see the food industry going in the future? Each year Alltech tries to answer these questions at its annual symposium. We traveled to this year's event and, on Monday, heard a presentation with Tim Gannon, the founder of Outback Steak House and former Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Both companies are worldwide and feed hundreds of millions of meals to customers each year. If that weren't a massive enough undertaking, add on top of that producing a consistent product year in and year out that meets the highest safety standards.

"Our real threat is supply and how we can get a safe product to our customers," Gannon says.

With far flung networks of restaurants all over the world, that is no easy task. Gannon says his company buys over $400 million worth of beef every year. The remaining 45% of his menu items are non-red meat.

Both Gannon and Brown say that an overarching concern for safety and quality is very difficult to maintain in a corporate environment.

You can hear the full conversation between Gannon and Brown by clickinig here.

Cattle Feeders Running Out of Magic Tricks, Peel Says

In the latest Cow/Calf Newsletter, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel looks at what the trends in cattle markets are doing to feeder cattle supplies:


The latest USDA Cattle on Feed report indicated that April feedlot placements were down 15 percent from last year. Month to month swings in feedlot placements and marketings are common and any one month does necessarily indicate a trend. However, it is likely that smaller feeder supplies have finally caught up with feedlots and placements are expected to be reduced in the coming months with feedlot inventories declining as we move through the remainder of the year.

Feedlots have seemingly defied the odds by maintaining feedlot placements for several months despite ever tighter feeder supplies. A variety of factors have contributed to the timing of feedlot placements in recent months. What is happening now would likely have happened in 2011 were it not for the drought forced sales of cattle last summer and fall.

Derrell has a lot more to say on this topic and you can find it by clicking here.

Wheat Varieties Begin to Show Their True Colors as Harvest Progresses

As test weights, yields and protein levels start to tell the tale on this year's wheat crop, OSU Extension Small Grains Specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards says he is surprised.

"I'm surprised at how good it looks given the year that we've had. We've had drought stress and every kind of stress you can think of and it still looks pretty good."

Edwards says he's looking especially closely at OSU-bred Duster since it is the most popular variety in the state this year. He said he is also paying close attention to its descendants which are exceeding expectations.

"Duster looks good. I don't think Duster is going to have the same year it did a couple of years ago, but I still think Duster will perform fairly well. We've got a couple of varieties out here I call sons of Duster; we've got Gallagher and Iba and both of those look really good.

Click here to read more from Jeff Edwards.

Choice Beef Trade Ends Last Week on a High Note, Trimmings Down, Czerwien Says

In this week's beef report, according to Ed Czerwien, USDA Market News Office in Amarillo, Texas, we saw the choice cut market end the week May 19, 2012 at $192.51 cwt, about $3.40 higher than the previous Friday. However, the trimmings category has lost $36.00 in the last three weeks. The total reported load volume was 7,279 loads, 490 loads higher than week ago levels.

The general trend in the finished cattle trade was mostly $3.00 higher with live sales in Texas and Kansas selling mostly at the $120.00 cwt mark. Northern live sales were $123.50 to 125.00 cwt. and dressed sales at $195.00 cwt in the meat.

The average live weight from the Texas Panhandle was 1,229, two pounds higher from the previous week.

Ed Czerwien's full audio analysis on last week's beef trade is available by clicking here.