Canola TV--Producers and Prospective Producers Follow Successful 2012 With Plans for 2013 

With the 2012 canola harvest almost complete, producers are assessing how well it has done for them this year and prospective producers are looking over their shoulders.

Crop consultant Bryan Vincent has worked with farmers from Alva to Ponca City and he spoke with us on Canola TV.

Vincent says his customers have gained a lot of experience with their new crop this year.

"This year's been an exceptional year for canola production as well as wheat production. And canola is a bumper crop, it seems to be. The guys that took care of it and followed their N-Rich strips they're really seeing the rewards of it here. We're seeing better than ever production, so, where the hail stayed off of it, it looks really, really good."

He says the producers he is working with are planning to increase their plantings next year.

"A lot of guys are going to go to 50 percent of their acres and move more toward that wheat-canola rotation further west. I have guys that are going to use milo on either side of the canola, either following it in a double crop situation or coming behind milo and planting it into canola. The same way with corn and beans.

"So I think canola has become a really good, solid rotational crop, a cash crop that we can put in there and get a lot of benefits. Along with the benefits come some challenges, but as we keep learning more and more about canola and how to grow it and the little quirks that it needs, we're going to make this a cash crop to stay."

You can see the full interview with Bryan by clicking here and you'll also find links to the full Canola TV series. 

SURE Disaster Program Deadline Approaches for 2010 Crops 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Bruce Nelson reminded producers today that they have until Friday, June 1, to apply for assistance for 2010 crop losses under the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Program. FSA will not act on applications submitted after the deadline. The program provides crop disaster assistance payments to eligible producers on farms that have incurred crop production or quality losses.

Sign-up for the SURE program for 2011 crops will be announced at a later date.

For more information about USDA Farm Service Agency disaster assistance programs, visit a local FSA county office or click here.
 

USFRA to Meet in LA and Online to Discuss Food Production, Pop Culture and Science

Farmers and ranchers are headed to Los Angeles - the entertainment capital of the world - for the second Food Dialogues event, June 20-21, 2012. Four separate discussions - held over two days - will bring together entertainment movers and shakers, chefs, academics, large restaurant operators, journalists, local leaders, farmers and ranchers for an in-depth conversation about food. All panel discussions taking place at the event entitled, "Lights, Camera, Food: Perceptions and Realities of Farming and Ranching in America," will be available online.

"We are pleased to bring this type of conversation to the forefront in a pivotal location like Los Angeles," said Bob Stallman, chairman of USFRA and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. "We chose Los Angeles because of the influence the region and its opinion leaders have on popular culture and trends that affect the entire nation - including how we view our food. These in-depth discussions will not only move the conversation forward about how food is grown and raised, but it will also give those in the agricultural industry the opportunity to learn more from consumers and their needs and expectations for the food-growing industries."

Click here for more information on the conference, a rundown on the discussions and links to the livestreaming content. 

USDA's MyPlate Celebrates Its First Anniversary Reminding Consumers to Make Healthy Choices

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan joined local officials, educators, and students to highlight the first anniversary of the MyPlate food icon and announced a month of nutrition events and promotions to mark the occasion. In June 2011, First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled MyPlate, the federal government's primary food group symbol, to serve as a reminder to help consumers make healthy food choices consistent with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

"A year ago First Lady Michelle Obama and I joined together to launch MyPlate and to encourage people to think about their food choices in order to lead healthier lifestyles," said Merrigan. "Today we celebrate the great strides we are making from our local schools to the dinner table as Americans embrace MyPlate and find practical ways to apply it to their daily lives."

During the month of June, CNPP will be celebrating the first anniversary of MyPlate with special blog postings on its website, daily Tweets on healthy eating, recipes, partner images, a resource for having healthy celebrations, and MyPlate Happy Birthday coloring pages for kids, among other user-friendly resources.

You can read more about the MyPlate Anniversary by clicking here. 

Author of Pet Breeder Oversight Law Praises Governor Fallin

State Rep. Phil Richardson praised Governor Mary Fallin for signing into law a measure that alters the oversight of commercial pet breeders in Oklahoma. House Bill 2921 abolishes the Commercial Pet Breeders Board and transfers the board's responsibilities to the state Department of Agriculture. The legislation would apply to breeders who have 11 or more female cats or dogs capable of reproducing.            

"This was a bipartisan bill meant to insert some balance into how these small businesses are regulated," said Richardson, R-Minco.  "The Department of Agriculture knows about proper animal husbandry and how to regulate it. There were a number of lawmakers who did not agree with some of the decisions of the Commercial Pet Breeders Board. I believe the industry needs to have some scrutiny, but that they did not strike the proper balance between oversight and support for the industry."            

The legislation was approved by a vote of 89-1 in the House, Richardson said.            

"This was not a divisive issue," said Richardson. "Almost everyone was on board with the idea of giving the Department of Agriculture the authority to regulate this industry rather than an independent commission. I'm pleased by the consensus." 

Cocina De Mino Celebrates 30 Years, Joins Legendary Restaurants of Oklahoma

In the Oklahoma City restaurant business, longevity is one of the keys to finding a truly legendary restaurant. Joining the stable of Legendary Restaurants of Oklahoma is Cocina De Mino. Tim Warner and his staff operate two locations on Oklahoma City's south side, and they have for 30 years.

The main location is at 59th and South Western and the second location is at 618 South Air Depot.

Warner says there are a number of factors which have made them popular throughout the years, but the reason customers keep coming back time after time is the quality of the food. Warner says everything is made fresh from scratch every day using recipes honed to perfection.

If there's any one dish that Warner can point to as being as nearly perfect as it can get, it would be the fajitas. He said it's his top seller year in and year out. As with everything else, he says quality is the key. While most restaurants use skirt steak to make fajitas, Warner says he starts with a better cut of meat that is more flavorful and tender and comes from near the top sirloin. He then marinades it for 48 hours before cooking. Where you need a knife and fork to cut fajitas at other restaurants, Warner says his fajitas are always fork-tender and tasty.  

Click here to hear owner Tim Warner talk about what makes Cocina De Mino the flagship of Oklahoma City Mexican restaurants. 

This N That- Rainfall Totals for This Week- Wheat Harvest and Grain Sorghum Blessed by EPA 

North Central Oklahoma got hit with significant rain- as well as high winds and hail last night and early this morning- damage reports about our wheat , canola and rapidly growing corn crops still to come- but we have the graphic that shows where rain ended up falling this week- click here for that graphic- and notice that west central, southwest and the Panhandle were largely not invited to the precipitation party. The next Drought Monitor update will be out in just a little bit this morning- and we will post the graphic for that on our website on this Thursday morning- probably by 8 AM central time or so- so head over to OklahomaFarmReport.Com to check out how much drier those areas of the state now are- based on a drought rating. 

We will major more on the latest on wheat harvest tomorrow morning in our daily email- but we do have updates on the Oklahoma wheat harvest as Mike Schulte and staff offered a short and sweet update on Wednesday afternoon in and around the rain storms- and we also talked to Mike about how it feels to be half way done and June has yet to show its face- click here to get that Oklahoma wheat harvest update.  You can also click here for the latest Kansas wheat harvest report- after five days of reports, the say that Kansas farmers are finding a real mixed bag of quality and yields out in their fields- the rains of yesterday will likely shut them down for the next couple of days.   

Finally, the EPA has proclaimed that grain sorghum is blessed when it comes to biofuel production- calling it an advanced biofuel feedstock.  

EPA's analysis shows grain sorghum, when used to make ethanol at facilities that use natural gas, has a greenhouse gas emissions reduction (GHG) of 32 percent. According to EPA, when grain sorghum is used to make ethanol at facilities that use biogas digesters in combination with combined heat and power technology, it achieves a lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 53 percent, qualifying it as an advanced biofuel under the Renewables Fuels Standard.  You can read more about this word from the Feds by clicking here.