The planting window for the 2019 industrial hemp crop is rapidly approaching. Producers seriously interested in growing a crop this year will soon be able to start planting within a few weeks, starting May 20th when Oklahoma enters into its long-day season. As we near this critical time period, we caught up with Jesse Tischauser of Herb's Herbs, Oklahoma's oldest and largest family-owned greenhouse operation and pioneer in the state's industrial hemp industry. We were there for Herb's Herbs' first industrial hemp harvest last year, the same crop that has launched the hemp business here in Oklahoma. Today, they are positioned and ready to help source growers' needs, providing clones to licensed farmers that are ready to go in the ground.

"It's definitely time to fish or cut the bait," Tischauser said. "We're about four weeks away from that key timeframe. May 20th will be the first day we can start planting outdoors."

If you are serious about trying your hand at growing an industrial hemp crop this year but are a little late in the game, Tischauser says not to worry. There is still time to make it happen and they plenty of room on their delivery schedule to fill orders. He says once a grower has obtained the necessary documentation stipulated under the current industrial hemp pilot program, they can contact him and his staff at Herb's Herbs to place their order of startup clones. Regardless your level of enthusiasm, Tischauser recommends starting out small, planting anywhere from half an acre to at most maybe five or ten.

"This season is going to be all about getting started with that learning process," he said. "Because, in the big scheme of things, we've all got experience but we're all still beginners and learning."

Grain prices continue to decline as offers for forward contracting wheat at harvest delivery fell below $4.00 this week. The most producers can hope to forward contract their wheat for at the present time is somewhere between $3.95 and $3.97. This week on SUNUP, Oklahoma State University Extension Grain Market Economist Dr. Kim Anderson joins host Lyndall Stout to compare the current market to how it looked back in February of this year.

According to Anderson, the forward contract price in February was about $4.90. Since then, prices have dropped roughly a dollar. Anderson says previous expectations for what the Russians had coming into the year in terms of exportable wheat were overly optimistic. Near the end of last year, the trade anticipated that Russia would exhaust its supplies by January or February of this year and give the US and opportunity to command more of the market. Fast-forward to today and Russia is still marketing wheat with what looks to be yet another massive crop coming down the pipeline.

Anderson says the combined impact of the Black Sea Region's growing influence and increased production by Third World importers, has essentially caused a fundamental change in the dynamics of the global wheat market and has given way to the rise of competition against the US. As producers look ahead, Anderson says quality will be the determining factor that dictates any future price improvement.

Since taking over as President of the American Angus Association this past fall, Oklahoma angus producer John Pfeiffer has had the opportunity to travel quite a bit, tending to business on behalf of the association. In a recent conversation, he highlighted one of his most recent trips to South America where in the capital city of Uruguay, Montevideo, he attended the World Angus Secretariat, a biennial event established in 1969 to facilitate the sharing of information between the various Angus Societies/Associations of the world. According to Pfeiffer, he had the chance to visit with angus breeders from 17 different countries around the world and was immersed in the South American approach to agriculture.

"It was a great experience. It was my first time in South America to see how they do agriculture different than we do and the way in which they raise beef," Pfeiffer said. "I guess the neat thing about it for me was to see a country whose whole economy is based upon agriculture and how well they appreciate agriculture and how thoughtful they are about having ag in their community and country."

During his time spent south of the border, Pfeiffer says he learned a lot about the shared challenges and goals between him and his fellow US angus producers and those stakeholders in the breed who reside outside of the US. Pfeiffer says he discovered that genetically, the herd on an international scale is really very similar - with many of the same bulls we use here in the US being used all over the world. Production, however, is where he says many foreign producers can learn something from the US.

The National Biodiesel Board and several of its member companies highlighted the people behind their industry who are currently being impacted by the uncertainty over the future of the biodiesel tax incentive, releasing yesterday several photos of industry workers. Leaders of the companies that participated in the campaign also remarked on the ways in which their employees and stakeholders are being impacted and what effect the fate of the tax incentive could have on them.

 

Kurt Kovarik, Vice President of Federal Affairs with the National Biodiesel Board, stated, "Because the biodiesel tax incentive has been expired for sixteen months, many companies are facing a very uncertain future. It is urgent that Congress act immediately to provide the biodiesel industry certainty for 2018 and 2019."

 

Kovarik adds that many companies have essentially priced their products at a loss for more than a year. The economic pressure of these losses while waiting on Congress to act, he says, is now threatening the future of the industry and putting jobs at stake.

 

Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that can be used in existing diesel engines without modification. The biodiesel sector is responsible for more than 60,000 jobs across the United States and pays $3.8 billion in workers' wages and benefits. Click here to read the complete story for more details.

 

ODAFF will be hosting its next disposal program coming up next month. The program is a service designed to remove unusable pesticides from storage and reduce the potential threat to public health and the environment.

Those eligible to participate free of charge include applicators, homeowners, farmers, and ranchers. No pre-registration required with exception of dealers. There is no cost for the first 2,000 pounds of pesticides brought in by a participant.

This event will be hosted at the Pittsburgh County Fairgrounds on May 21 from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

For more information on how to participate or to pre-register click over to our website for the full story.

 

Hall-Coyote Hills Ranch - Annual Lim-Flex & Limousin Production Sale will happen next weekend. The Sale starts on Saturday morning, May 4th at 1:00 p.m. at the ranch in Chattanooga. Featured at this years sale is 120 head as 75 lots including 5 Fancy Show Heifer Prospects by Aviator, Air Force One and TASF Crown Royal, 30 Fall-Calving Cow/Calf Pairs, many with show heifer prospects at side. All are eligible for 2020 Texas Limousin Shoot-Out, 15 Spring-Calving Cow/Calf Pairs, 15 Fall-Bred Lim-Flex Heifers, 10 Breeding-Age Lim-Flex Bulls.

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Check them out online to see some of the top performing Hereford cattle up for auction next Saturday. LeForce Herefords has been serving up quality Hereford genetics since 1893. For more information click over to the calendar page on our website.