A Quartet of Reports from USDA This Morning

There will be a tremendous amount of information for traders and everyone watching the grain and oilseed markets to digest on Thursday morning after the US Department of Agriculture releases multiple reports at 7:30 AM central time.

The reports that will be coming out include U.S. Department of Agriculture's January winter wheat seedings, crop production, grain stocks and supply and demand report.


Perhaps the report that will be of greatest interest in the southern great plains is the winter wheat seedings, as it will likely confirm as much as a million acres more planted this past fall in the Hard Red Winter Wheat belt compared to the fall of 2010. the pre report average guess is 29.6 million acres of HRW this year in the ground versus 28.5 million acres last January.


In advance of the report- Tom Leffler with Leffler Commodities talked with Ed Richards about some of the ideas floating around in advance of the USDA numbers being released.

Click here to jump over to our web story and a chance to hear ed and Tom talk about the numbers that are soon to be released. 

Oklahoma Remains Quiet on the Wheat Disease Front   

Wheat Disease issues continue to be a non factor in the development of the 2012 Hard Red Winter wheat crop. The following report comes from Oklahoma State University's Dr. Bob Hunger, Extension Wheat Pathologist- along with Jen Olson, Assistant Extension Specialist - Plant Disease Diagnostician.

Fall 2011 was relatively "quiet" in terms of wheat diseases. In November we received several samples that were diagnosed with root rot on the young plants. Examples included samples from Roger Gribble (Northwest Area Extension Agronomy Specialist) and Cori Woelk (Extension Educator; Kay County). Fusarium was isolated from the sample submitted by Gribble from Kingfisher County, and Bipolaris (common root rot/spot blotch) was isolated from the sample submitted by Woelk. In both cases, symptoms were consistent with diseases caused by these pathogens.

        
Another submitted sample was diagnosed positive for wheat streak mosaic. This sample came in mid-Dec from Rick Nelson (Extension Educator; Beaver County in the OK panhandle). In addition to exhibiting symptoms indicative of WSM, wheat curl mites were found and it tested positive for WSMV (negative for BYDV and High plains virus).

Click here for more from across the Oklahoma wheat belt, as well as reports from Texas and Oklahoma as we begin the new year.

Canola TV- Talking About 2012 OSU Winter Canola Variety Plots 

In our newest edition of Canola TV, Heath Sanders with PCOM joins us as we talk with him about the 2012 Canola Plots that are in the ground and growing across western Oklahoma. Sanders tells us that a total of 11 plots have been planted by OSU extension with the help of a grant by the Oklahoma Oilseed Commission.


Sanders tells us on Canola TV that "for the most part, the stands are there" and that the plots will be a great resource this spring for farmers to see various varieties and cropping practices for winter canola here in the southern plains. Int he 2012 plots, there are a total of 8 RoundUp Ready varieties- and a boron/sulfur study as a part of the replications of those varieties.

Click here to jump to our story that includes this latest Canola TV videowith Heath Sanders- and we also have a link over to our complete library of Canola TV segments from over the last year- which offer some tremendous insight into how to grow canola here in the southern great plains. 

Internet Based Tool Helps Show U.S. Soy's Sustainability

U.S. soybean farmers now have an updated tool that can meet the needs of some customers who want proof U.S. soy has been sustainably produced.

That's why the soybean checkoff continues to support the Field to Market alliance and its updated Fieldprint Calculator, a tool U.S. soybean farmers can use to help measure, improve and demonstrate their sustainability performance.

The updated calculator includes several upgrades from earlier versions. It allows U.S. farmers to analyze individual fields and includes more advanced measurements for soil conservation and soil carbon. Additionally, the tool automatically provides a financial ledger that computes the economic impact of sustainable practices on that farm. It also allows U.S. farmers to set up a secure account to save their information for future use.

Click here to read more about the Fieldprint Calculator- and we have a link in our story to the actual online site- where you can crunch the numbers for your operation.

Talking Higher Cattle Prices in 2012 with OSU Economist Dr. Derrell Peel

Beef and cattle prices increased to new record levels in 2011 and are expected to push even higher in 2012- so says Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel. He believes that several years of declining cattle inventories culminated in late 2011 with a projected 3.0 percent decrease in slaughter that combined with lighter carcass weights to result in a 3.8 percent less beef in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to a year earlier.

On today's beef Buzz- we talk with Dr. Peel about early 2012 outlook- and how high could beef prices go before bumping into a ceiling of resistance from consumers.

Click here to read more- and for a chance to hear our Beef Buzz- as heard on great radio stations in Oklahoma and surrounding states- all on the Radio Oklahoma Network.   

Timed AI Adds Value to a Beef Cattle Herd

The University of Missouri Thompson Farms herd manager Jon Schreffler agrees with reproductive physiologist Dave Patterson that timed AI and stacked genetics have built a dependable set of cows that hit the high-quality beef target. Jon says, "It's made a believer out of me."

We have a video release from the American Angus Association which explains the concept of timed AI- and how it can help cattle producers become more efficient in management of their mama cow herd.

Click here for our webstory-to learn about this concept that can pay dividends.

Check the Calendar!

Several deadlines and events are out there that you may want to check into- and we have details on our calendar page- get there by clicking here.

This afternoon- the monthly board meeting of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission will be happening- starts at 2 PM in Enid.

Tomorrow- it's the deadline for early registration of the Winter Conference for No Till on the Plains in Salina, Kansas.

Next Tuesday evening- our friends at the Noble Foundation will be hosting a Vegetable Gardening Seminar- there is no charge but advance registration is needed and can be had by checking this calendar item at the link above.