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The winter months are upon us and the winter weather will be soon enough, which means that the 2012 wheat crop is approaching the dormancy stage as well. We talked with Dr. Jeff Edwards, OSU Extension Wheat Specialist, about the progress of the 2012 wheat crop and what farmers need to watch out for in the next few months.

Edwards says he is surprised at the status of the 2012 wheat crop so far. With a very favorable November across the state, Edwards says the wheat growth was successful and with timely rainfalls, which have fallen very slowly and really soaked into the soil, we are headed into dormancy in good shape.

However, producers still need to check their fields throughout the winter months. Edwards says that they should watch for soil-borne diseases, especially if they are in areas that are prone to diseases like wheat spindle streak or mosaic virus. Edwards says that this fall they have also seen some activity with seedling diseases.

Other advice that Edwards suggests for wheat producers in 2012 is to really put some money into the crop and be thinking about top-dress. Edwards says he knows it is going to be tough for producers to spend the money on top-dress nitrogen after such a tough year but it really has to be done. Edwards predicts that Oklahoma will begin with some earlier top-dress applications to make sure that the top-dress nitrogen has time to catch some rainfall. 

Click here to listen to our 2012 WheatWatch conversation with Dr. Edwards and for a link to our Flickr WheatWatch album. 

States Not On The Same Page For Poultry Waste Reports 

Arkansas and Oklahoma poultry farms in the Illinois River watershed produced more than 417,000 tons of waste in 2010, an amount equal to 23,000 large trucks of phosphorus-rich manure and poultry house bedding material that is used as fertilizer. The exact amount of chicken waste transferred out of the nutrient impaired watershed is unclear due to differences in reporting by the states. The figures are contained in reports requested by Save the Illinois River, Inc., (STIR) from the Arkansas Natural Resource Commission (ANRC) and the Oklahoma Conservation Commission (OCC).

Poultry waste is at the center of a federal court lawsuit filed by Oklahoma in 2005 naming the Arkansas poultry industry of polluting the Illinois River and Tenkiller Lake with bacteria and the nutrient phosphorus. Testimony in the suit indicated that, at most, about 19-percent of chicken waste is transported out of the watershed. Phosphorus degrades water quality and aesthetic values of streams and lakes. Some algae produced by excess phosphorus are toxic posing a danger to humans and livestock. A ruling in the suit is pending.

Approximately two-percent of the 344,000 tons of poultry litter produced in the Illinois River watershed in Arkansas, approximately 8,000 tons, was listed as being removed from a nutrient surplus area (NSA) which would include the Illinois River watershed. All of the litter was reported to have come from Benton County with Washington Country showing no transfer of litter into or out of a NSA. However, the ANRC shows more than 103,000 tons of waste as transferred from Washington County. Nearly 277,000 tons of poultry waste was reported by ANRC as "transferred" from both counties.

Click here for more on poultry litter and these poultry waste reports.  

Premium Ground Beef Providing Better Burgers

The well known standard of ground beef is changing and adding value to the growing beef consumption industry. With premium grinds of ground beef being added into the mix, the whole approach to ground beef is being reevaluated. David O'Diam, with Certified Angus Beef, and Tom Ryan, with Smashburger restaurants, discuss the benefits of these premium grinds.

O'Diam says that many food service entities are starting to provide a little bit more focus on these premium grinds. These allow them to look at the whole cuts of beef, whether it is the whole two piece chuck or maybe even some brisket. It also allows the ground beef to be ground to a specific percentage says O'Diam.

Ryan says they are using the CAB premium ground beef because in their research, they found that their customer wants a quality burger with a significant taste of beef. Their goal is to provide a great, robust burger taste with every bite says Ryan. Smashburger has four total locations in Oklahoma- two in Oklahoma City and two in Tulsa. 

Click here to watch the Angus VNR video over premium ground beef.

Record Level U.S. Beef and Pork Exports Help Provide Stability

Exports have been a significant factor in the meat industry over the past year with right at $5 billion worth of value anticipated for 2011 with both beef and pork exports. We talked with Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Livestock Market Economist, about the role of exports and how recent rainfalls have helped prices.

Peel says that over the past two years the international trade and exports specifically of beef have been very important in providing stability in the market and getting the U.S. through the recession in 2009, into 2010 and even more recently in 2011. Peel adds that it is also important to point out that it is a very robust demand with the exports.

Many times in the past, we have been exporting beef to only one or two markets and have been heavily dependant on them. That is not the case now says Peel. With four major markets that are all fairly strong, we get a nice mix of product and a nice strong demand says Peel. 
 

Click for more from Dr. Peel and to listen to our Beef Buzz over beef and pork exports.

National Pork Producers Council Urges Congress to Bolster Confidence in Futures Market

Pointing out that pork producers depend on risk-management tools, including futures contracts, to deal with the volatility in feed grain and hog prices, the National Pork Producers Council urged Congress to bolster confidence in the futures market in the wake of the MF Global bankruptcy.

In written testimony submitted for the record to the Senate and House agriculture committees and to the House Financial Services Committee, NPPC said most producers were unaware of their connection to MF Global and were stunned to learn in early November, when the clearing broker filed for bankruptcy, that their futures accounts were frozen and funds were "missing." (As much as $1.2 billion of customer funds may have been comingled with MF Global money and used to buy risky European debt.)

Pork producers who produce at least 20 percent of U.S. hogs had funds with MF Global. Most, if not all, of them, however, did not deposit their funds directly with the clearing broker. They opened futures trading accounts with an "introducing" broker, which put the funds into MF Global. 

Click here for more from NPCC on the missing funds and the futures market.

Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association Commends Proposal by Ag Chairman Frank Lucas

Per resolution adopted by the membership of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association at the annual meeting, OWGA would like to release the following statement.

"The Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association would like to commend and thank Congressman Frank Lucas for his leadership and effort in developing a proposal which would have provided both a workable farm safety net and cut the federal budget. That there were both bicameral and bipartisan agreements on the proposal was something that no other committee in the United States Congress was able to accomplish.

"OWGA looks forward to continue working with Chairman Lucas as we move forward in the process developing a new Food Security Act in the coming year. We also thank and commend the members of Congressman Lucas's staff at both the Committee and Personal levels for their hard work."

Night Time versus Day Time Feeding Influences Time of Calving 

It is generally accepted that adequate supervision at calving has a significant impact on reducing calf mortality. According to Dr. Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, adequate supervision has been of increasing importance with the use of larger beef breeds and cattle with larger birth weights. On most ranching operations, supervision of the first calf heifers will be best accomplished in daylight hours and the poorest observation takes place in the middle of the night.   

The easiest and most practical method of inhibiting nighttime calving at present is by feeding cows at night; the physiological mechanism is unknown, but some hormonal effect may be involved. Rumen motility studies indicate the frequency of rumen contractions falls a few hours before parturition. Intraruminal pressure begins to fall in the last 2 weeks of gestation, with a more rapid decline during calving. It has been suggested that night feeding causes intraruminal pressures to rise at night and decline in the daytime.

In a Canadian study of 104 Hereford cows 38.4% of a group fed at 8:00 am and again at 3:00 pm delivered calves during the day, 79.6% of a group fed at 11:00 am and 9:00 pm. A British study utilizing 162 cattle on 4 farms compared the percentages of calves born from 5:00 am to 10:00 pm to cows fed at different times.  

Click here for more on feeding time influences from Dr. Selk.