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Rainfall has arrived in about the southeastern two thirds of the state of Oklahoma, with the heaviest amounts falling in several southeastern counties- amounts over three inches reported in Atoka and Durant. In Central Oklahoma, amounts topping an inch were reported by the Oklahoma Mesonet were found in the Oklahoma City metro, as well as Blaine, Caddo, Grady and Logan Counties.

The three Oklahoma panhandle counties received no liquid precipitation in this latest round- and Harper County's Mesonet station shows no moisture either- but all other counties have received at least a few hundreths of an inch of rainfall.

Click here for our webstory that shows a graphic of rainfallfor the state as of early this morning- more rain will be falling in some of the most eastern counties of Oklahoma- and that rain could continue for the rest of today. 

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ARS Scientist Questions Need to Keep Planting Bt Corn

Dr. Jonathan Lundgren is the lead entomologist at the USDA-ARS lab in Brookings, South Dakota. Dr. Lundgren is one of the spekaers at the 2012 Winter Conference of No Till on the Plains- and he told farmers who gathered in Salina, Kansas on Tuesday that several of the insecticides that are being used by the vast majority of soybean and corn producers in the US may be unneeded on many farms, costing farmers millions of dollars annually.


Lundgren pointed to the success of Bt Corn that was made available in the mid 1990s- telling us after his presentation that "Bt crops have worked extremely well" and adding "they have been adopted extremely well" by US farmers. As a result, the suppression of the European corn borer has the insect problem reduced to almost nothing. Lundgren says that raises the question, why should producers continue to pay high technology fees for each bag of corn they plant, if the pest that would be controlled by the technology is no longer a problem. Lundgren suggests that farmers may want to try some non Bt corn and see how it responds on your farm.

Read more about Lundgren's comments on the opening day of the 2012 No Till on the Plains conference- click here for that as well as the chance to hear our full conversation with him about the Bt Corn situation and his take on the money that could be saved by not treating soybean seed with insecticides.

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Dr. Dwayne Beck Keynotes No TIll on the Plains 2012

The opening Keynote Address at the 2012 No Till on the Plains Winter Conference was made by long time No Till Advocate Dr. Dwayne Beck of Dakota Lakes Research Farm in South Dakota. Beck spoke to over 1,200 in the kickoff of the 16th Winter Conference of No Till on the Plains- and he told producers gathered in Salina that they need to take the "T" out of Can't because there is a lot of opportunity to work with nature even as we use some of our modern farm practices.


Dr. Beck believes that adopting continous no-till for the long haul gives producers the ability to start moving away from so much dependence on producing food with oil. Reducing tillage means less diesel being used- and improving the health of the soil over a multiple year period means less nitrogen fertilizer is needed. Beck points out that nitrogen fertilizer is a oil intensive product- that for every five pounds of nitrogen fertilizer you use on a field takes a gallon of diesel to produce and transport that diesel to the field to be applied. 

We have the audio of Dwayne Beck's speech from Tuesday here in Salina- click here to listen to the full presentation from one of the leaders in the continuous no-till movement in the United States.

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Oklahoma Tells US Fish and Wildlife- We Can Increase Lesser Prairie Chickens IF You Leave Us Alone

Oklahoma officials have been in Washington this week, presenting a Task Force report to the US Fish and Wildlife Service that explains what Oklahoma is doing to grow the population of the Lesser Prairie Chicken in northwest Oklahoma- including the Oklahoma Panhandle. Those who traveled to Washington included Secretary of the Environment Gary Sherrer, Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese and state lawmakers Rep. Gus Blackwell and Senator Mike Schulz.

The report offers nine specific actions that can be done(and in many cases are now already being done) to help grow the Lesser Prairie Chicken populations. Two of the key findings include:

"Conduct an informational campaign with local constituencies
regarding the possible LPC listing and the need for collaboration by
stakeholders. Current lack of information decreases trust between
constituencies that must work cooperatively to address the LPC
challenges.


"Mark or reduce high-density fencing where possible. Coordinate
with public agencies and landowners to determine optimal fence
heights that reduce risk to the LPC while still helping to control
ranging livestock."

Click here for more on this task force report and comments from Ag Secretary Jim Reeseon trying to get the Feds to buy what Oklahoma is selling on this issue- we also have a link to the full Task Force report that has been provided to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
 

American Angus Association Releases Updated EPDs

The American Angus Association's spring 2012 Sire Evaluation Report and updated National Cattle Evaluation (NCE) expected progeny differences (EPDs) are now available online at the American Angus website. While NCE EPDs are now generated on a weekly basis, a biannual report is still printed.

Accessing the Sire Evaluation Report online is the fastest and easiest way to get the latest performance information on sires in the Angus breed. It allows you to specify ranges of EPDs and to sort bulls that qualify within those ranges. The evaluation also includes dollar value indexes ($Values), expressed in dollars per head, to assist commercial beef producers in selection decisions. Economic assumptions used to develop $Values are based on a three-year rolling average, which was also updated in the spring 2012 report.

The Spring 2012 Sire Evaluation Report lists data on 2,146 sires from a total of 216,873 sires in the Association database. The Young Sire Supplement also included in the report lists 2,654 bulls.

Click here to read moreand to get to our link to the full report now online at the Angus website.

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Plasticulture Workshop Set for Feb. 11 in Oklahoma City

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry (ODAFF) will host its sixth annual workshop for plasticulture farmers on Feb. 11 at the Moore Norman Technology Center, 13301 S Pennsylvania Ave. in Oklahoma City. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m., followed by workshops from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The modest $10 fee includes lunch.

Farmers who use the plasticulture method of raised-bed gardening may not farm many acres, but this year's theme shows that they are "World Class Innovators." Program coordinator Micah Anderson will give a brief overview of how the plasticulture program works and show slides of vegetable gardens across the state using this technology to produce bountiful crops.

Presenters will share their own innovations and demonstrate equipment and methods they use to maintain productive gardens. Innovations include a new strain of okra, a waterwheel transplanter and surrounding plants with organic clay to protect them from extreme temperatures. 

Click here to read moreand the links for registration as well.

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President Obama Talks Economic Fairness in State of the Union- Reaffirms Renewable Fuels as Priority of his Administration

President Barack Obama made his case for four more years as the resident of the White House- and renewed his pledge for a "millionaire's tax" of at least thirty percent on any American who makes a million dollars a year or more- apparently signaling a desire to force Capital Gains taxes higher- at least on select tax returns.

The President also expressed his desire to continue an emphasis on renewable fuels- Bart Schott of the National Corn Growers issued a statement after the speech commending the President on that spotlight for renewables:

"The National Corn Growers Association is pleased to hear President Obama's continued commitment to the nation's energy independence during his State of the Union address.  The American ethanol industry answered the call nearly 30 years ago to provide feedstock for a domestically produced renewable energy source.  Today, that same feedstock constitutes more than 10% of the nation's fuel and continues to provide a bountiful supply of corn to our long term customers."

The National Farmers Union's Roger Johnson also liked the energy comments made by President Obama- click here to see the NFU statement of support. 

We expect more reaction from various farm groups this morning in regards to what the President did say- and perhaps what he did not say. We will be posting those comments on our website- OklahomaFarmReport.Com and we will summarize them in our Thursday email.

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