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Harvest Grinds On- Kansas Reports Harvest Now Beginning in Northern Counties of That State 

We have received several reports of harvest continuing or getting restarted across Oklahoma as of yesterday afternoon- this primarily in areas that got lighter amounts of rainfall in recent days. 

Yields are holding up- lots of forty bushel yields have been reported- and generally test weights are hanging in around 60 pounds per bushel. 

Our next report from the Oklahoma Wheat Commission comes later today- and it will be interesting to see the percentage of harvest OWC will indicate in the report here at midweek.  On Monday- they called the Oklahoma harvest 60% complete.

In Kansas- their Day Six harvest report was released yesterday afternoon= and it reflected the scattered rains that is making wheat harvest hit or miss- "Cutting has progressed throughout the state at odd intervals, with some northern counties like Dickinson seeing some action while some southern counties, like Kiowa, have seen combines rolling more sparsely."

U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance CEO Calls Organic Food Industry Video Offensive and Disgusting in Its Attack Against GMOs

The Clif Bar Family Foundation recently released a video titled "Seed Matters" which uses a foul-mouthed lead character and inappropriate imagery to not only attack conventional farming practices but also insult science, agronomic research and all farmers who choose to implement modern farming practices. 


U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance CEO Randy Krotz issued a rebuttal to the video. Here is his opinion piece on the video:


"It saddens me to say that the organic food industry has reached a new low. U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance has always been an organization that promotes and encourages diversity in food production practices, but we find ourselves speechless, mouths hanging open. The atrocity of the Seed Matters video created for the Clif Bar Family Foundation, and the messages within, have crossed the line.


"In an attempt to scare the public about GMO crops, the video uses unrealistic imagery (think skeletal fish, seeds on steroids) to promote an organic agenda. The website of the film's creators (http://thebutlerbros.com/work/mr-seed/), states the main character, Mr. Seed "educates people about seed issues and the benefits of organic seed." But Seed Matters actually perpetuates some of the greatest myths of agriculture using a foul-mouthed character and inappropriate imagery. The main purpose of the video is supposedly taking a stance on biotech and its ability to feed the world. The mark really couldn't have been further missed.


"There are millions of people who work in the agricultural industry around the world. At a time when we should be united for the common good of feeding the world, we are fighting instead, using unethical and non-factual propaganda as the weapon. Food companies are using junk science driving people away from sustainable practices like GMOs to manipulate consumers for the sole purpose of market gain. The bottom line is: no matter your approach to farming, or how you view various farming practices, the outright demonization of conventional agriculture and family farms is despicable.

Click here to read Krotz's complete statement and find a link to the video.

Glenn Tonsor Says Growing Choice-Select Spread Is a Strong Demand Signal

The demand for beef is growing, as evidenced by the widest spread in Choice and Select beef since 2003, says Kansas State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Glynn Tonsor. 


The Choice-Select spread was at $24 earlier last week and continues to rise this week. Tonsor says that because boxed beef numbers have been declining, the decade-high prices are an even bigger deal.


"We could put this on percentage terms and get a quality spread signal that's even stronger than just the $24," he says. 


Tonsor says he especially wants to highlight the spread because it's "abnormally large" for two reasons - decreasing fed cattle weights and positive demand signals for Choice beef.


"This signals are growing demand is strong, coupled with a little bit lower sales weights coming out of feed yards is running up, if you like, the Choice value compared to Select," he says. "And that's always a positive quality signal."


Tonsor says the current condition is a result of both supply and demand aspects.


"I think the demand that comes from grilling - me, you and others that love to throw beef on the grill - we're right in the middle of that," he says. "The supply side is I think there is a little bit lower weights out there and we're tightening down the availability of choice beef as well."


Listen to Tonsor talk more about the growing Choice-Select spread during the latest Beef Buzz. 

Oklahoma and Other State Councils Join Forces with National Beef Checkoff to Increase Online Advertising

Seven state and regional beef promoting organizations have joined forces with the national Beef Checkoff Program in a summer campaign targeting millennial consumers in five high population states. State beef councils in Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Oklahoma, along with the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, are funding extended promotion of the online checkoff-funded flagship website BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com, along with the brand's online videos, into California, Florida, New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania.


The Top 5 State Media Campaign started in mid-May and will run through Aug. 31, 2016. Collectively, the five states targeted account for more than 100 million consumers, or about one-third of the total U.S. population.


The campaign utilizes internet search advertising on Google and YouTube video advertising to hit the consumer at the point of inspiration, encouraging beef interest and purchases. While the national campaign focuses on millennials throughout the United States, this campaign enhances checkoff-funded efforts in top U.S. consumer markets.


"This effort leverages our current national checkoff media buy and extends it more fully into the high population geographies that arguably need it the most," according to Martin Roth, executive director, creative and digital media for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff Program. "Our goal is to provide consumers with inspiring beef meal ideas and the tools, tips and recipes they need to act upon their passion for beef."


This goal is accomplished through a two-pronged media approach. First, Google search advertising helps drive thousands of consumers to the BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com website for checkoff-funded recipes, beef cooking techniques and beef cut information. The campaign also leverages advertising on the popular YouTube consumer video site to promote checkoff-funded beef videos, including six "no recipe recipe" videos that deliver beef ideas and information to consumers. Two new videos are in production, while additional informational videos are being produced by independent video providers.

State beef councils are getting together in other ways to extend the campaigns as well. For example, in 2015 councils in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas got together to promote six beef checkoff videos online, generating more than 350,000 views and nearly 1,500 clicks from consumers in their states, at a cost of only 13 cents per video view.


It's especially important to states that have more cattle than consumers, says Heather Buckmaster, executive director of the Oklahoma Beef Council. "We only have 1.2 percent of the U.S. population in Oklahoma, and the directors on our council realize it," she says. "They believe it's very important that we drive Oklahoma checkoff dollars to where they will make the most difference. Focusing on these kinds of promotional efforts to consumer-heavy states makes sense, and fits with the strategy our directors have established for Oklahoma checkoff funds."

Click here to read more about the Top 5 State Media Campaign to boost beef consumption.

U.S. Pork Needs Exports; TPP Would Boost Them

The U.S. pork industry must continue to grow its exports and do so through free trade agreements such as the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, which would eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. products, the National Pork Producers Council reiterated Tuesday in congressional testimony.


NPPC President John Weber, a pork producer from Dysart, Iowa, told the House Committee on Ways & Means Trade Subcommittee that the 12-nation TPP would open and expand to exports of U.S. pork markets that include nearly half a billion consumers and help create more than 10,000 U.S. jobs tied to those pork exports.


"TPP is the biggest commercial opportunity ever for the U.S. pork industry," said Weber, "and NPPC strongly supports its passage and implementation."


The TPP, negotiations on which were initiated in late 2008 and concluded last October, is a regional trade deal that includes the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam, which account for nearly 40 percent of global GDP.


Weber pointed out to panel members that the TPP has become the de facto global trade vehicle, with other countries in the region already asking to join it, and would set the new international trade rules and the bar for future trade agreements, including the deal now being negotiated between the United States and the European Union - the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Read more about of Weber's comments on growing pork exports.

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Ongoing Soil Health Initiatives, Sustainability Work Highlighted by New Paper

Farmers, environmentalists and consumers alike have expressed a growing interest in sustainability and soil health recently. Yet, many wonder what precisely is being done to actively advance this important cause?


To answer that question, Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture released the paper Exploring Opportunities to Advance Soil Health: The Role of Commodity Crop Supply Chains in Maintaining and Improving the Health of Our Nation's Soil, which discusses the importance of soil health in the sustainability conversation and explores the current knowledge and status of testing and tools. Additionally, this paper provides information and guidance as to how Field to Market's Metrics and the Fieldprint Calculator can be used to advance conversations about soil health in supply chain projects.


The publication is available on the Field to Market website. This paper came forth from the Alliance's work to help inform how U.S. agriculture can improve soil health. Designed by a subgroup of the Field to Market Metrics and Goals Working Groups, the paper continues an ongoing conversation in agriculture about soil health that includes discussion of the state of science and considers options for aligning tools with soil health objectives.

Click here for more information about soil health and find a link to the paper released by Field to Market.

NACD Welcomes Bill to Keep Red Tape at Bay

The National Association of Conservation Districts is pleased to support H.R. 5451, legislation introduced by Reps. Ann Kuster, D-N.H., and Rick Crawford, R-Ark., that would exempt landowners who participate in voluntary conservation programs from costly and unnecessary reporting requirements.


"Federal reporting requirements were never intended to burden farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners," NACD CEO Jeremy Peters said. "They were meant to enhance transparency around the government's granting and contracting processes. Producers committed to enhancing water and air quality, wildlife habitat, and soil health were never supposed to get tangled up in this."


Current law requires any business entity - including farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners - to register with the federal government's System for Award Management (SAM) and obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number in order to receive financial assistance from federal agencies like the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Mandating that farmers and ranchers comply with these time-consuming requirements complicates conservation delivery and can discourage landowners from participating in NRCS cost-share programs.


"Financial assistance is crucial to the adoption and implementation of conservation," Peters continued. "The 'Improving Access to Farm Conservation Act' would ensure that the producers of America's food, fuel, and fiber aren't obligated to jump through hoops to receive the NRCS cost-share assistance they need to put effective conservation on the ground."

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