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The USDA winter wheat seedings report shows almost a million acres more of winter wheat has been seeded for 2012 harvest compared to what pre report trade estimates were anticipating.

The report indicates a rebound in the heart of the wheat belt- "Hard Red Winter (HRW) wheat seeded area is about 30.1 million acres, up 6 percent from 2011. Acreage is above last year's level in all States in the HRW growing area except California, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The dry fall limited planting in South Dakota, while winter wheat seeded area in Nebraska is a record low."

For our three key southern plains hard red winter wheat states- Oklahoma seeded 8% more acres this year versus the fall of 2010- USDA says that 5.5 million acres are in the ground versus 5.1 million acres a year ago. Kansas also increased by 8% versus a year ago- now standing at 9.5 million acres. Texas jumped total wheat acres by 11%- planting 5.9 million acres this past fall versus 5.3 million acres for the 2011 harvest season.

Click here for our story on the wheat seedings report- it includes an interview with OSU Wheat Marketing Specialist Dr. Kim Anderson.  We talk about not just the winter wheat seedings- but also the other three USDA reports of the day as well.  Anderson tells us when it comes to marketing advice- that this report basically means that the "horse is out of the barn" and he expected sharply lower wheat prices yesterday- which is what we got.  As a result- he said don't be in a hurry to price the 2012 crop at this time- there is still a lot of price risk ahead because of the worry over drought conditions not being  totally behind us yet.

As for the Other Three USDA Reports of Thursday...  

Three other reports were released Thursday morning by USDA besides the wheat seedings report we spotlighted above.   

We have details on each of them- first the wrapup of  2011 crop production- showing smaller spring planted crops in almost every case in 2011 versus 2010- grain sorghum took the biggest percentage hit as reported by USDA- off 38% from a year earlier in total production while the US cotton crop dropped 13% year to year.  Click here for our story on this report- complete with links to the actual numbers and charts as released by USDA.

The NASS also released a year end grain stocks report. USDA's numbers show that we have drawn down US corn stocks by four percent compared to December of 2010 and wheat stocks are off by 14 percent compared to December 1, 2010. Soybean stocks have increased, up four percent in the same time frame. Click here to jump over to a summary of this report- including links to the full stocks report as released Thursday morning.

Finally, the World Outlook Board released their monthly supply demand stats- showing smaller corn and soybean crops in Argentina, as well as a slightly smaller soybean crop in Brazil. However, US grain stocks are generally higher than what traders were expecting- and the WASDE report generally added to the bearish tone of the morning.  Click here for our summary and the link to the complete World Agricultural Supply and Demand Forecasts for January 2012.    

The Final Oklahoma Crop Production Numbers from 2011- Including Details of Lowest Production Number Ever for Cotton in the State

The NASS field office that is located at the OKlahoma Department of Agriculture in Oklahoma City issued these final row crop numbers for Oklahoma yesterday morning- and I thought you might like to review them as well- they are just plain awful.  

Production of corn for grain is set at 17.1 million bushels, down 61 percent from 2010.  Yield averaged 90 bushels per acre from 190,000 harvested acres, the lowest yield since 1981.  Production of corn for silage is set at 358,000 tons, up 12 percent from last year. Silage was cut on 55,000 acres, the second highest
acreage after 1952.

Production of grain sorghum is set at 1.7 million bushels, down 87 percent from a year earlier.  Yield averaged 21 bushels per acre from 80,000 harvested acres. Sorghum production, at 1.7 million bushels, is the lowest production on record.

Cotton production is forecast at 63,000 bales, down 85 percent from last year. Yield averaged 432 pounds per acre from 70,000 harvested acres.  This is the lowest production and harvested acreage since records began in 1894.

Soybean production is set at 3.4 million bushels, down 71 percent from 2010. Yield averaged 13 bushels per acre from 265,000 harvested acres, the lowest yield since 1980.

Peanut production is set at 59.4 million pounds, down 16 percent from last year. Yield averaged 2,700 pounds from 22,000 harvested acres.

Canola production for 2011 is set at 85.0 million pounds, down 5 percent from the previous year.  Yield averaged 1,000 pounds per acre from 85,000 harvested acres.

All sunflower production is set at 5.3 million pounds, down 69 percent from 2010. Yield averaged 1,227 pounds per acre from 4,300 harvested acres.

Production of all hay is set at 2.3 million tons, down 61 percent from 2010. Yield averaged 0.93 tons per acre from 2.50 million harvested acres, the lowest yield since 1956.  The yield for alfalfa hay is set at 1.30 tons per acre, tied as the second lowest yield on record.  This resulted in the lowest production on record, at 260,000 tons.  Production of all other hay is set at 2.1 million tons.

Click here for the online version of this report from the USDA's NASS office in Oklahoma.  

Video Update on Terrorist Attack on Harris Ranch in California 

We have a new video that KMPH TV in central California has posted that includes a Skype conversation with a gentleman from the North American Animal Liberation Press Office- saying they are just the messenger for some individual activists who he thinks have not really committed any crime.  

Click here for that video update from our website.

Meanwhile, Bill Donald, President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association sums it up well by saying that this action is a situation where "Bad People were doing Bad Things." Donald released a statement condemns the action of the activists involved- you can head his full statement by clicking here.   

Time to Play the Acronym Game- GRP- CSP- EQIP

Three key conservation programs have deadlines for getting your application in to be ranked this fiscal year- and we wanted to remind you of all three.

First, there is the GRP- the Grassland Reserve Program. Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Francie Tolle and Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist Ron Hilliard, encourages producers to apply for the 2012 Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP). All GRP applications received at the local Farm Service Agency (FSA) or Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office by February 3, 2012, will be considered for the $1.25 million allocation received for the 2012 GRP. Applications received by this date will be evaluated based on a ranking criterion for a 10, 15, or 20 year contract. Click here for more details on the GRP.   

We mentioned yesterday that there is an extension on the deadline to get your application in to be ranked for the CSP this fiscal year.  CSP in this case stands for the Conservation Stewardship Program- the original deadline was today- the 13th- but that has been extended out to January 27th. Click here for our story of this week of that extension and how to get more details on this green payment program.

And the first ranking period cutoff date for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program is February 3, 2012. Producers interested in the program should submit applications to their local county NRCS offices in order for applications to be considered during the first ranking period of 2012. EQIP is one of the largest programs in the farm bill and is a voluntary conservation program that promotes environmental quality and assists producers to meet local, state and federal regulations. Click here for the NRCS webpage on EQIP.  

DuPont Joins Drought Tolerant Research Consortium

DuPont announced on Thursday that it has joined the DROught-Tolerant Plants (DROPS) Research Consortium, contributing expertise and a state-of-the-art modeling platform for maize research for use by the consortium.

DROPS, a European Commission-sponsored consortium, is developing novel tools and breeding strategies that advance drought-tolerance research in maize and other crop plants. As a member, DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred will share expertise in drought research to help bring solutions for drought tolerance faster through science.

"Drought is a universal challenge that must be addressed to feed a hungry planet. It will take many of us working together in collaborations, like DROPS, to bring farmers solutions for combating drought globally," said John Soper, vice president, Pioneer Crop Genetics Research and Development. "Innovations developed through this collaboration will complement our own research program, which has been providing solutions for farmers for more than 80 years."

to join forces with others in battling drought on behalf of food and fiber production.

Bye Bye Miss America Teresa Scanlan

The reigning Miss America, Teresa Scanlan, is from Nebraska and she has promoted family farmers and their ability to feed the world as her platform over the last year.

As she ends her time as Miss America Saturday night, Oklahoma hopes that another agricultural advocate, Davernport, Oklahoma's Betty Thompson, will have a chance to take her platform on a national tour the next twelve months. Thompson, as Miss Oklahoma, has promoted the dairy industry and the concept that "milk does a body good." She was Miss OSU before becoming Miss Oklahoma- and she grew up on a small dairy farm just outside of town.

Back to the current Miss America- she has shared a positive message about farmers and ranchers with the masses over the past year- and you can click here for a great example of that- a video of this beautiful lady with a salute to those who grow the food for Americans and the world.