After weeks of hot, dry weather, August finally brought with it some much needed rain. Just in time for farmers who are beginning to think about getting fall planting started and looking for optimal soil moisture.

Thankfully, as of this week, the recent rains completely washed away drought conditions across the state. Even as late as last week, there were some areas still with severe drought conditions, though, most of the 18 percent of Oklahoma's land that was suffering drought, was only rated at the "moderate" level. This week only abnormally dry conditions are left behind, mostly centered around the central Northwestern part of the state.

Oklahoma's State Climatologist Gary McManus, released this week's Mesonet Drought Monitor which illustrates the drastic recession of dry conditions after turbulent storms that blew through Wednesday night.

The statewide average rainfall total now stands at 5.47 inches according to the Oklahoma Mesonet, making this the seventh wettest August on record since 1895. And the chances for rain aren't over, McManus says. The threat of severe weather is expected to return soon and bringing with it, another 1 to 2 inches of rainfall for the state.

Read the original story for more details and check out the accompanying Drought Monitor graphic for this week, on our website, click here.

This week, SUNUP returns after a two-week hiatus, and once again Oklahoma State University Grain Market Economist Dr. Kim Anderson joins host Dave Deeken, to talk wheat prices in the wake of the August 10 World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates report released by the US Department of Agriculture.


Deeken recounts from last week that the numbers in that WASDE report were not as expected and since the market has seen the price for wheat steadily drop.


Currently, the Kansas City contract is at $4.45, down almost $1.50 from July 5th. According to Anderson, none of the market analysts he follows is predicting a bottom to this free-fall.


Anderson blames the enormous amount of wheat backlogged in the system as the source behind the market negativity that continues to weigh on prices. Anderson says, until a major weather event takes out a foreign crop - or if the entire US were to take a year out of wheat production. Something he says is highly unlikely to happen. Although, he does believe we could see less acres planted in 2018.

You can watch Kim's visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear his comments right now, and find out what else is on the line up for this week's episode, by clicking or tapping here.

The National Corn Growers Association issued a statement yesterday, urging producers to participate in the upcoming crop survey, being conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The survey should be showing up in the mailbox of Southern farmers very soon.

To the detriment of farmers - less and less farmers actually fill out the survey. NASS insists this isn't good for the accuracy of the survey, as what is reported is considered the facts of farmers' production by the government agency. This information is key in determining the implementation of farm payments and programs, including the Agriculture Risk Coverage Program, Price Loss Coverage Program and even farm appraisals.

"For example, county-specific yield data is the basis for the ARC program yield guarantee calculations," the statement reads. "If there are not enough completed surveys, farmers in your county may receive payments less than the amount that should be delivered."

NCGA suggests in the release that farm programs and payments are too important to rely on third-party sources and best guesses. For this reason, it's very important that farmers provide their information, as it truly impacts their bottom lines.

Click here to read the statement issued by NCGA, and learn more about how this NASS survey helps farmers improve their bottom lines.

During what's been dubbed CRISPRcon, a first-of-its-kind conference on the role of a gene editing technique, one Illinois pig farmer offered his perspective on how the controversial biotech, known as CRISPR (short for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) which is still in development, could one day make significant impacts on animal agriculture.

Pig farmer Thomas Titus, shared his point of view with attendees at the conference to explain the benefits CRISPR technology could bring to the table - not just for animal agriculture but also in surgery, human health and conservation.

"Gene editing will have great impact on the future of farming, and especially on livestock production," Titus said. "Although in its very early stages of development and acceptance, gene editing could ultimately be used to make pigs resistant to diseases, thereby improving food safety, animal welfare and the environmental impact of agriculture."

With the technology still in its infancy, it has already began to draw criticism from certain groups, as an unethical practice, or one that may unintentionally harm the public's health if used widely in the food chain. But Titus says it's all a matter of engaging and educating the public on all the good CRISPR has to offer.

"Today's consumer is educated, and asking questions about where their food comes from and how it is raised," Titus said. "That's why I welcome every chance I get to talk about today's pork production."

Learn more about CRISPR technology and read why Titus is such an advocate for the new science, by clicking over to our website.

In the latest Food Demand Survey (FooDS) report published by the OSU Ag-Econ Dept., we find that consumer's willingness to pay for chicken breasts, pork chops, and chicken wings increased. Meanwhile, WTP decreased for steak, hamburger, and deli ham. Consumer, though, indicate they intend to buy more pork this month.

Aside from the regular data collected, this month's survey posed some very interesting questions, that really tested the honesty and true knowledge of the general public. Inspired by a recent survey conducted by the Innovation Center of US Dairy, that suggested 7% of Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows - the FooDS team set out to recreate this survey.

Roughly 90% of the respondents surveyed, chose the best answer, that the chocolate comes from cocoa seeds and is mixed (along with sugar) with white milk. Only 1.6% of respondents selected 'brown cows' as the source of chocolate milk. Those that conducted the survey offered the following note.


"We wondered if many of the individuals who said chocolate milk comes from brown cows were actually goofing around--selecting that response just because it sounded funny. One way to check this is to ask at the end of the survey if they were 'goofing around' on at least one question. Only two respondents said they did, but those two got the question about chocolate milk correct."


Continue reading to find out how surveyors measured the truthfulness of responders in this latest survey to answer the question: where does chocolate milk come from? And, check out more highlights from this edition of the FooDS report, by clicking or tapping here.

The web-based calculator tool called, BeefBasis.com, is free to use and helps producers run the numbers on cattle marketing opportunities in their specific locations. Dr. Glynn Tonsor at Kansas State University, uses this tool and others on the internet, to develop marketing strategies for his cattle and to also manage his associated risk. I spoke with him about how producers can do the same. Based off his most recent calculations using the tool, Tonsor says cattle feeders, especially stockers, may have a prime opportunity coming up to sell some cattle.


"For somebody that's entertaining retaining that animal, so instead of selling that steer in the middle of October, maybe holding until January...," he explained. "Using the BeefBasis.com resource, I'm currently projecting a value of gain of about $92 per cwt."


Of course, Tonsor cautions that these projections are not a risk-free guarantee, acknowledging the volatility in today's markets. But, he says, if you can stomach a little risk and have access to cheap feed stuffs to pack the pounds on your cattle - the margins begin to look quite attractive. However, for those a bit more conservative, more interested in selling during that October period - Tonsor says there is another tool available to help you develop a cash strategy called, the K-State Feeder Cattle Risk Management Tool.


"The point of this tool is to basically outline the expected net selling price of doing nothing," he said explaining how the tool factors in futures hedging, buying put options, purchasing LRP contracts through the USDA and other complicated strategies as well. "The punchline of that tool is to identify what the net selling price would be as of today if you implemented each of those strategies."


Listen to Dr. Tonsor and I discuss some of the web-based tools designed to help producers develop their market strategies and what opportunities might arise in the near future, on yesterday's Beef Buzz - click here.

 

Tomorrow morning, Dallas Henderson with the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, will be joining me on News9 in Oklahoma City for my In the Field TV segment- we will be talking about next weekend's OCA Range Rooundup.

Check it out at 6:40 AM during the local morning news block- or you can watch it later on the News9 website or app- and we will pull it over to our website later in the weekend as well.

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This is the tour that has a eastern and western leg- starting in Ohio and the Dakotas and meeting in the middle in Iowa.

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The comment period, as now extended, will close on September 27, 2017. The proposed rule was signed by the Administrator and posted to EPA's website on June 27th and published in the Federal Register on July 27th. With this extension, the public will have more than 90 days to review the proposal. When finalized, the proposed rule would replace the 2015 Clean Water Rule with the regulations that were in effect immediately preceding the 2015 rule.

The plan is to then offer a new and improved WOTUS- Scott Pruitt had signaled when he was in Oklahoma earlier this month that he wanted new language out by as early as next month.

For more details on the extension and how you can comment- click or tap here.