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Mark Hodges Talks Perfect Grain Fill Weather for Parts of Oklahoma in May- Bountiful Wheat Harvest Has Followed  

Despite concerns about a lack of rain throughout the first part of the year and then nearly too much rain in late spring, Plains Grains Executive Director Mark Hodges says producers are seeing drastic improvements in their wheat as the Oklahoma harvest continues.


In early May crop scouts were specifically worried about yields in north central Oklahoma, but that area seems to be harvesting some of the state's best wheat. Hodges says that says a lot about the importance of timely moisture as the grain begins to fill. 


"What it'll show you is how much influence that weather makes from the point at when the crop scouts were out there, which was April or early May, until maturity," he says. "The weather in that timeframe makes a world of difference.


"Really cool moisture, plenty of moisture in the profile and we were protected in most cases from diseases, and so it really allowed that crop to reach maximum yield potential."

Mark was our guest this past Saturday morning on our In the Field video feature that is seen on KWTV News9 in Oklahoma City- we have that video as well as the off camera audio conversation that we had with Mark for you to check out- click here to watch, read and listen.

 

Wheat Genome Details Now Available to Wheat Breeders to Speed Improvements in Wheat Varieties Globally  

 

It is amazing how large the wheat genome is compared to other crops- and now the wheat genome sequencing work has reached the point where the folks working on this project are starting to make available details of the genome to wheat breeders and scientists around the world. The group involved is called the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium.

This data release represents the IWGSC continued effort to produce a "gold standard reference sequence" - the complete map of the entire genome that precisely positions all genes and other genomic structures along the 21 wheat chromosomes. The wheat genome is large - five times that of the human genome - and complex, with three sets of seven chromosomes. And, as you can tell from the graphic below, it is huge compared to many other cultivated crops in modern agriculture.


Following the January 2016 announcement of the production of a whole genome assembly for bread wheat, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC), having completed quality control, is now making this breakthrough resource available for researchers via the IWGSC wheat sequence repository at URGI-INRA-Versailles, France .


Wheat breeders and scientists around the world will be able to download and use this invaluable new resource to accelerate crop improvement programs and wheat genomics research. The dataset will facilitate the identification of genes associated with important agricultural traits such as yield increase, stress response, and disease resistance and, ultimately, will make possible the production of improved wheat varieties for farmers.

Click here to read more.

Part Two on Succession Planning with OSU's Shannon Ferrell - Don't Forget to Make Updates

Putting a solid plan in place to pass a farming operation on to the next generation can be a major undertaking for a family, but it's not enough. Shannon Ferrell, associate professor of ag economics at OSU, says it's important to also keep the plan updated over the years.


"Anytime you've added someone to the family tree or someone has left - whether that's birth, death, divorce, marriage - that's an important time to say hey the stakeholders have changed, let's go back and take a look at the plan," he says. 


Ferrell says changes in the operation could also warrant updates to the succession plan.


"If we've added a new enterprise or a big, new piece of land or something significant has changed for the business, let's see how that fits in there," he says.


Even if nothing has changed within the family or business, Ferrell says it's still a good idea to look back at the plan every few years to make sure none of the tax issues or laws have changed that might have an impact on the plan.


Listen to Ferrell talk more about the considerations in succession planning during the latest Beef Buzz.

Angus Updating Selection Indexes July First 

Angus breeders and their customers will see some slight changes in dollar value indexes ($Values) beginning July 1 as Angus Genetics Inc. (AGI) updates the economic assumptions used to calculate the selection tools included in the American Angus Association weekly genetic evaluation.


"Every July, we update the economic assumptions that go into Angus $Values, like $B and $W," says Dan Moser, AGI president who oversees the Association's performance programs. "This allows for the most up-to-date market prices and costs to predict profit differences among animals."


These economic assumptions are assigned to expected progeny difference (EPD) components included in the $Values, which are expressed in dollars per head and allow for multi-directional change. While the update is a regular occurrence for the breed, Moser reminds members that any declines in $Value numbers are largely a reflection of market conditions.


"As market conditions change, so must the economic assumptions used to calculate the indexes. With market prices trending as they are, there's no doubt that will have some influence on dollar values across the board," he says. "On average, we anticipate bulls may go down about $6 for $B and about $2 for $W, due to lower calf prices relative to last year."


The Association has offered $Values for more than a decade, and producers have seen such changes before.


"We've seen market conditions influence these indexes before, and any producer operating in the cattle market today is well aware of the economic averages experienced during the past few years," Moser says, assuring producers that rankings should stay relatively unchanged.
 

Click here for a link to more information about $Values and search capabilities. 

NACD Responds to Senate Panels Approving Forest Service, EPA Spending Bills 

The National Association of Conservation Districts is pleased with the Fiscal Year 2017 funding levels the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have approved for the Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency. However, the association is disappointed that the committees failed to propose a long-term budget solution for wildfire suppression costs.


"The House and Senate's proposed budget allocations for the Forest Service's state and private programs are signs that Congress is headed in the right direction when it comes to properly funding forest management on private lands," NACD CEO Jeremy Peters said. "Sadly, it is also clear that both chambers have failed to put forth solutions that would effectively end the scourge that is 'fire borrowing.'"


The House bill - passed on Wednesday - would allocate $244 million for the Forest Service's State and Private Forestry programs, which is $7 million more than what NACD requested and what was enacted in FY 2016.


Unfortunately, the House bill does not include a provision to reform the way wildfire suppression is funded, which means the Forest Service and Interior Department agencies would be forced to continue funding fire-fighting operations out of accounts meant for general forest management and restoration.


"The wildfire season increases in severity and duration every year," NACD President Lee McDaniel said. Today, fire seasons are on average 78 days longer than they were in 1970, and the average number of annual acres burned has doubled since 1980.
 

The House and Senate committee bills also included provisions that would prohibit the EPA from implementing its Waters of the U.S. rule - commonly referred to as WOTUS or the Clean Water Rule - should the court's stay on the rule be lifted.


"This is a positive development on a priority issue for NACD," Peters said. "WOTUS has been a point of contention for our members and we will continue to support fixing the rule with legislation."


Click here for more of the NACD analysis of the Appropriations passed for the Forest Service and EPA.

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Nature Conservancy, Fertilizer Institute Announce Partnership

 
The Nature Conservancy and The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) have announced a new partnership in support of farm practices that result in clean water. The two organizations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at ensuring American agriculture has access to tools to use fertilizer with maximum environmental and economic efficiency.

Click here for more on the MOU that is bringing the Fertilizer Institute and the Nature Conservancy together on nutrient management.

This N That- GMO Labeling Bill Efforts, Cowboys in Winners Bracket at CWS and Welcome to Summer!

The Senate has just four working days on the calendar between now and July first, the date the Vermont GMO labeling law goes into effect, to reach a compromise on a national GMO labeling law. Politico reports that makes Friday, June 24th, the last day to get legislation to President Barack Obama's desk to beat Vermont. The House will go on recess on the 24th and not be available to consider any bills passed by the Senate.

Meanwhile, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts continually insist that negotiations are ongoing. The committee's ranking member, Senator Debbie Stabenow, is demanding a mandatory labeling agreement. The biggest sticking point appears now how the label will be presented to the consumer. The Coalition for Safe Affordable Food, which previously opposed a mandatory label, now says a smart label directing consumers to more information would be acceptable, but on-package GMO labeling would not be acceptable.

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In the opening world of the College World Series, the OSU Cowboys won a pitchers duel 1-0 over UC Santa Barbara. That keeps the Pokes in the winners bracket- and their next game is tonight at 6:00 PM against the Arizona Wildcats.

 Oklahoma Genetics, Inc. is a proud sponsor of OSU Baseball in their bid for a National Championship, both having "Proven Performance" and a winning team.

Among the stations that will be carrying the broadcast are KTJS- AM at 1420 in Hobart, KWEY- AM at 1590 in Weatherford, KMZE-FM at 92.1 in Woodward and KMMY-FM at 96.5 in Hugo- these are stations that are a part of the Radio Oklahoma Network family- if you are looking for other stations that are carrying the games-  click here for the complete list from the OSU Athletics website.

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Today is the longest day of the year- at least as far as the amount of daylight is concerned.  As we celebrate the summer solstice, daylight today will be from 6:15 AM til 8:49 PM- 14.5 hours.  In a month, the amount of daylight will be down to 14.1 hours, by August 20th- 13.1 hours and at the start of fall- September 22- 12.1 hours.

As my daddy always said, we're burning daylight- let's get moving!

Welcome to Summer!

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