For Oklahoma cotton producers, it was a remarkable year. With an ideal fall growing season, the 2016 crop got bigger with each crop production update, culminating with the January Crop Production 2016 Annual Summary report. USDA reports that the Oklahoma cotton crop is a record crop- both in yield and in overall production. Cotton farmers in the state have produced 620,000 bales, ten percent more than was predicted in December and a whopping sixty six percent more than was grown in 2015.


The pounds of lint per acre also increased from month to month this past fall as well- topping out at a record 1,026 pounds in the January summary. That's 17% more than the 876 pounds produced in 2015. The huge production total was achieved from a combination of the record yield and substantial increase in the number of acres harvested- 290,000 in 2016 versus 205,000 acres in 2015. Adequate water for irrigation from Lake Altus Lugert was one factor- along with timely rains in the southwestern counties of the state where the majority of the cotton is grown.


Click or tap here to read more about the spring planted crops grown across Oklahoma this past year- and we have links to the Oklahoma-Texas summary with more detail and the complete 123 page US Crop Production Summary for 2016.

 

The USDA released several reports yesterday. One of which, the Winter Wheat Seedings report, revealed that farmers planted the least total acres of wheat across Oklahoma and the Great Plains this year since 1962, which took many by surprise, including Dr. Kim Anderson, OSU extension grains market economist.

"You look at Oklahoma down 10 percent from last year down to 4.5 million acres," Anderson said. "You look at all hard red winter wheat - they were looking at 25 million acres, it came in at 23.3. I think this is a big surprise."

Markets rallied after the release of this report which Anderson says is a good sign and a step closer to reaching breakeven prices by harvest time. However, he says it will take more than this to make that happen.

"I think the single most important factor to get us close to breakeven is going to be test weight and protein. If we produce a quality product," Anderson said, "the markets are going to want to keep it out of storage, they will want to keep it out of the loan and I think they will bid that price up."

For a chance to listen to my conversation with Dr. Anderson about the significance of these reports or too view the data for yourself, click here.

What started out as a promising growing season for wheat producers in Oklahoma has turned out to be quite the opposite as drought conditions have spread across almost 80 percent of the state. Mark Hodges of Plains Grains paid me a visit yesterday and he tells me that we farmers could really be in a bad way if we don't see some moisture come through soon.

"It's extremely important," Hodges insisted. "We need it, not only for that moisture to be in the profile when the plant takes off again, but whatever root development we can get between now and when it starts to warm up when the plant really takes off is going to be extremely important."

He says from what he has heard from farmers out in the country, there is a good possibility that the root systems for this year's crop in many areas, may be a bit stunted with the lack of moisture coupled with the cold temperatures. For many farmers, this situation may be all too familiar.

"It's almost an instant replay if you go back the last two or three years," Hodges remarked. "We got a really good stand in most cases in the fall and then once we got that stand, we really didn't get any moisture up until either at harvest or right before harvest, which last year really benefited us a lot."

And while it may be a bit of an inconvenience for a lot folks, with the extreme winter weather many of you are probably waking up to this morning, we can at least be thankful for the precipitation, in whatever form it comes to us.

Hodges will join me this Saturday morning on our In the Field segment on KWTV News 9 at 6:40 a.m. Be sure to catch us there. In the meantime, you can listen to us talk more on Oklahoma's wheat crop status, by clicking here.

During the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in Phoenix this past week, I ran into Craig Uden, NCBA's president-elect. We took a moment to visit about his thoughts regarding the new presidential administration and all the change coming with it to DC. He says he's excited about the opportunities this ushers in for the cattle industry.

"There is a lot of people out there that have really looked for this day," Uden remarked. "Rural America came out and supported this election and we'll see where we go, but we're encouraged by a lot of things we've heard but there's still a lot of questions that need to be answered."

Uden cautions, though, that until we actually see how things begin to flow as the future unfolds, nothing can be considered a sure thing. Nonetheless, this hasn't stopped NCBA from making early preparations on building cases for several agricultural policy issues they intend to pitch to the new administration. He says topping their list of priorities - trade.

"Trade is our No. 1 issue," Uden insists. "We're going to continue to push for that at NCBA because we have to have trade. There's only 330 million people living in the US. We're going to have to show the value of trade. If we have to consume those products over here - it's going to be a huge disadvantage."

To hear more of what Uden had to say, listen to our full conversation by clicking here.

In a letter addressed to members of the US Senate, AFR President Terry Detrick urged that support be shown for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's confirmation as Trump's EPA administrator.

Detrick describes in the letter, his experience working with Pruitt over the last 18 years in which he says the former state senator demonstrated fairness, was knowledgeable and hard-working.

"We know the farmers, ranchers, business owners and rural residents in your state would be well served by Mr. Pruitt," writes Detrick.

Click here to read Detrick's letter to members of the US Senate.

In a USDA report yesterday, corn ethanol was found to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent compared to conventional gasoline, would further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2022, and has the potential to reduce emissions by as much as 76 percent. 

Growth Energy CEO, Emily Skor, issued a statement regarding the report.

"This USDA report clearly demonstrates what we have known for years - that biofuels like ethanol are the most effective alternative to fossil fuel and a critical tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. Ethanol is an earth-friendly biofuel produced in America that not only significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but also improves engine performance and saves consumers money at the pump.

To continue reading Skor's statement, click here.

Recent and forecast winter storms are a poignant reminder that good information is needed to help allocate emergency resources in times of crisis. There is still time to respond to the USDA-NASS Cattle Inventory and the Sheep and Goat Inventory surveys but time is running out. Data collection will end on January 19th. These data are critical in helping assess and allocate emergency resources.

NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only state and national-level data in aggregate, ensuring that no individual producer or operation can be identified. 

Full reports containing the results of these important survey will be released on January 31, 2017. For this report and more information, click here.