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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Featured Story:

Anderson Creek Fire Now 95% Contained- Meeting for Farmers-Ranchers Impacted Planned for Thursday by FSA

 

Firefighters continue to monitor control lines on the Anderson Creek Fire, reinforcing areas that may be of concern given the fire weather forecast for today. Due to improved mapping, flight acreage of the fire was able to be more accurately calculated. Oklahoma Forestry Services officials report the 367,620 acre fire is now 95% contained. (that's down by about 30,000 acres from the earlier estimates)

Containment is now estimated at 98% for the portion of the fire in Woods County, OK. Kansas officials are reporting the fire to be 81% contained in Barber County and 90% contained in Comanche County.

"Yesterday's strong winds and low relative humidity was a good test of fire containment lines. There was minimal internal smoke, with very little fire activity along the fire perimeter," stated George Geissler, Director of Oklahoma Forestry Services.

Meanwhile, there will be a meeting in Alva on Thursday afternoon for farmers and ranchers affected by the Anderson Creek Wildfire hosted by the USDA Farm Service Agency, Thursday, March 31, 1 p.m. at the Northwest Technology Center Alva, OK (1801 South 11th Street).

More on the fire and the Thursday meeting can be read by clicking here.

It's Ag Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol! 

 
The 2016 edition of Ag Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol will be happening today- starting at 10:00 AM as Ag Groups hand out samples of Oklahoma produced goodies on the 4th floor rotunda. 

A couple of floors down, the Ag in the Classroom awards will be handed out to elementary aged kids from across the state- with a chance to have their picture taken with their friendly neighborhood lawmaker from back home.

And then at 2 PM- the Governor's Awards for Agricultural Excellence will be handed out.  Dr. Clint Roush of Custer County will be inducted as the 19th Member of the Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame as he is awarded the Governor's Outstanding Achievement Award in Agriculture.

Others that will honored at the same time include:

Dr. Brett Carver- the Governor's Outstanding Public Service in Agriculture Award.


Randy Davis- the Governor's Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Award

Quintus Herron of Idabel- The Governor's Outstanding Legacy in Agriculture Award

Click here to read more about the four award winners that will be honored this afternoon by the state of Oklahoma for their service to agriculture.

The Antibiotics of Tomorrow- Dr Margaret Riley Says They Will Be Designed to Target Specific Pathogens

 
In part two of a three part Beef Buzz series with Dr. Margaret Riley of the University of Massachusetts- we continue to look at antibiotic resistance and what the future may hold in reducing resistance to the antibiotics of tomorrow.


According to Dr. Riley, broad spectrum antibiotics are the problem. She tells us "if you take a broad spectrum antibiotic, the target is not just the pathogen that you are worried about- the bacteria that is causing the infection- it's all the other microbes in our bodies. And so, if you have a trillion bugs in your body, which we do, all of those have the ability to acquire antibiotic resistance."


The answer that Dr. Riley believes is the one that will offer a breakthrough for animal agriculture as well as in human health is to recognize that "it's not us versus the microbes- it's us versus the particular pathogens that are bothering us." So, she believes we have to look at the specific pathogens making humans or animals sick, and develop a antimicrobial that will target that specific pathogen.

Click here to read more and to listen to Dr. Riley explain what she sees in looking ahead in this ongoing battle in antibiotic resistance.

China to End Corn Stockpiling- US Grains Council Hopeful About Trade Ahead

 

The Chinese have over half of the world's corn in storage- so any change has the potential to impact feed grains globally. After the Chinese announcement, the US Grains Council sounded hopeful in a statement from President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Sleight:

"Our offices in Washington and Beijing have been monitoring signals that reforms were coming. While we are surprised they have been accelerated, we are hopeful they will be a step in the right direction toward more market-oriented decisions related to the supply and demand for corn."

Click here to read his full statement as he explains what the US Grains Council believes may happen in the days ahead in the Chinese corn market and the ripples that will come globally.

 

 

WestBred Rolls out the Wheat Insight System to Help Wheat Producers Effectively Manage Seed Populations

 
At the recent Commodity Classic, WestBred launched their brand new management tool for the US Wheat Producer called Wheat Insight System. The Wheat Insight System aims to help growers improve production and profit potential. At the heart of the Wheat Insight System is what WestBred calls "Optimal Seed rate recommendations." These will help farmers plant the ideal number of seeds per acre.

"WestBred wheat wants to enhance the way wheat seed is planted and sold," said John Fietsam, Wheat Technical Product Lead for Monsanto. "Today, many wheat growers plant seed by the pound. But that doesn't mean it's accurate or what's best when it comes to maximizing yields in today's challenging economic environment."


The Wheat Insight System, available to wheat seed suppliers this spring, calculates how many seeds are in a pound - a number that can vary because of differences in size and density. That information, available for growers for planting this fall, is used to create an Optimal Seeding Rate recommendation that takes into account seed size and density, geography, planting date and production practices.

We talked with John about the Wheat Insight System- and you can hear our conversation with him about the System and how WestBred is positioning themselves with wheat farmers by clicking here.

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Soy Checkoff Study Shows the Value of Animal Ag to the US Economy (Hint- It's a Lot!)

 
The animals that feed us are also feeding our economy, according to a new soy-checkoff-funded study. The analysis shows animal ag, U.S. soy's top end user, increased gross national product by $123 billion in economic output, improved household earnings by over $21 billion and added 645,629 jobs from 2004-2014.


According to the Economic Analysis of Animal Agriculture, during 2014 alone, U.S. animal agriculture's support of the national economy included:


$440.7 billion in economic output
2,363,477 jobs
$76.7 billion in earnings
$19.6 billion in income taxes
Those figures all increased from 2013.

Read more about this study by clicking here- and why soy checkoff money was used to produce this report.

Hesston Celebrates 100,000th Windrower Made in Hesston, Kansas

 
I started my farm broadcast career in the mid 1970s in Wichita, Kansas- and one of my early sponsors was Hesston- which was then a stand alone company.  They were known for their high quality hay products then- and I still own several National Rodeo Finals beltbuckles from those days when they were a big sponsor of the NFR in Oklahoma City.

Fast forward to 2016- and Hesston, now a part of the AGCO product line, is still making high quality hay equipment.  That includes their windrower and yesterday was a major milestone for Hesston.

They unveiled their historic 100,000th windrower at the plant in central Kansas. Hesston introduced the self-propelled windrower to the agricultural harvesting world more than 60 years ago - an achievement which was celebrated at the Hesston manufacturing plant by company executives, employees and special guests.

Click here to read more- and the Hesston folks have produced a video about the making of their 100,000th windrower- you can see it on our webstory as well.

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment,  American Farmers & Ranchers, Stillwater Milling Company, Oklahoma AgCredit,  the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, Pioneer Cellular, Farm Assure and  KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis- at NO Charge!

 

 

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