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It was a damp afternoon as Class XV of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program began its ten days in Scotland and Ireland on Thursday- the afternoon stop at the Hartwood Home Farm as operated by the James Hutton Institute was especially interesting to the group.

The group found George Corsar, Farm Manager for the operation, engaging and very open to discussing a variety of questions during the ninety minute visit to this research operation. Corsar was proud of their beef cow herd of mostly Luing Cattle. Corsar says they are currently running about 200 beef cows on their 500 acre farm, which is used for a variety of research projects.

Besides the cattle, Hartwood also has a substantial sheep operation, with 500 ewes giving them a sizable number of lambs to sell mostly as finished fat lambs.

Corsar told the group about the Luing cattle breed. The Luing breed was evolved by the Cadzow brothers on the Island of Luing in Argyll off the west coast of Scotland. Admiring the outstanding complementary qualities of two beef breeds from this part of the world - the Beef Shorthorn with its fleshing qualities and the Highlander with its ruggedness and hardiness, in 1947 they selected some of the best first cross Shorthorn/Highland heifers that could be procured. Corsaw told us that while the gene pool is fairly small- the carcass characterists of the animals is good- and their maternal traits are excellent. 

To read more about Class XV and their international travels and to listen to Ron's conversation with George Corsar- click here.

For our latest pictures from the trip- click here for our FLICKR set of pics for the OALP to Scotland and Ireland.  

European Union and United States Agree to Partnership on Organic Trade

The European Union and the United States announced today that beginning June 1, 2012, organic products certified in Europe or in the United States may be sold as organic in either region. This partnership between the two largest organic-producers in the world will establish a strong foundation from which to promote organic agriculture, benefiting the growing organic industry and supporting jobs and businesses on a global scale.

The organics sector in the United States and European Union is valued at more than $50 billion combined, and rising every year.

Formal letters creating this partnership were signed on February 15th in Nuremberg, Germany, by Dacian Ciolos, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. Agriculture Deputy Secretary; and Ambassador Isi Siddiqui, U.S. Trade Representative Chief Agricultural Negotiator. The signing took place at the BioFach World Organic Fair, the largest trade show for organic products in the world.

"This partnership connects organic farmers and companies on both sides of the Atlantic with a wide range of new market opportunities," said U.S Deputy Agriculture Secretary Merrigan. "This partnership will open new markets for American farmers and ranchers, create more opportunities for small businesses, and result in good jobs for Americans who package, ship, and market organic products."

Farmers Bid Land Values To Record Highs In Fourth Quarter

Robust bidding by farmers spurred record high Tenth District land values in the fourth quarter, which enticed more landowners to place farmland up for auction, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's quarterly Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions.

Nonirrigated cropland values in the District jumped almost 9 percent during the last three months of 2011 and were 25 percent higher than year-ago levels. District bankers noted an increasing number of absentee landowners were putting their farms up for sale and attributed much of the auction activity to landowners seeking top-dollar prices.

Farmers were the main buyers, and the share of land purchases by farmers has grown during the past few years. Still, outside investor interest in farmland for rental income or capital gains remained high, with farmland sales for recreational or development use dwindling. About a third of survey respondents expected both the price and the amount of farmland offered for sale to rise further in 2012. 

To read more about record land values and projections from the KC Fed, click here.

First Hollow Stem Stage Important For Grazers In Maximizing Grain Production

It's mid-February and OSU Small Grains Extension Specialist Jeff Edwards says it's time for farmers with cattle on wheat pasture to start checking for first hollow stem. Dr. Edwards believes that the effective date to pull cattle off wheat pasture this year will be slightly earlier than normal- closer to the first of March instead of mid March.

First hollow stem is the stage just prior to jointing when the wheat is transitioning from vegetative growth to reproductive growth.   It is important in determining the optimal time to remove cattle from wheat pasture.

Wheat leaves are like solar panels that fuel the plant factory. Grazing removes leaves and reduces the size of the solar collector. Wheat leaves are also a reservoir of nitrogen and other nutrients. Time is needed to replace leaf area lost to grazing. That's why it is important to remove cattle at this stage so that the plant can regenerate leaves to collect maximum energy for reproductive growth.

You can read more about checking for first hollow stem as well as see Edwards' video presentation on the topic by clicking here.

Oklahoma House Committee Approves Stronger Poaching Penalties

Legislation approved unanimously by a House committee would deter poaching by increasing the fine and mandating that repeat poachers lose their hunting and fishing licenses.

That's the hope of the bill's author, State Representative Pat Ownbey. House Bill 2573 would make the penalty for a first offense a fine of $500 to $1,500. The legislation makes the penalty for a second offense a fine of $1,500 to 2,500, six months in county jail or both and mandates the loss of the poacher's hunting and fishing licenses for 1 to 10 years.            

"The current minimum fine of $50 will not deter poachers and there is no special penalty for repeat offenders," said Ownbey (R-Ardmore). "A traffic ticket costs more money and we all know how many people speed. I decided to set the fine to match current trespassing penalties. We simply need a penalty that matches the crime and deters people from this illegal activity."            

House Bill 2573 was approved by the House Agriculture, Wildlife and Environment Committee and now proceeds to the House floor for consideration. 

Kim Anderson: Wheat Price Declines Don't Mean We're In a Declining Market--Yet

Wheat price breaks of about 60 cents in the last week have some concerned the market is establishing a downward trend, but OSU's Kim Anderson doesn't think that is the case. He says we have another 20 or 30 cents to go before that trend would be established. He thinks March futures contracts would have to break the $6.35 mark and July contracts would have to break $6.50 before he would call a downward trend.

A lot of factors are making the markets nervous this week, Anderson says. There's a lot going on in Greece and with the Euro. Dr. Anderson's comments were made with Lyndall Stout of SUNUP.

"One day you can make payments, the next day you can't. One day a bailout package is ready, the next day it's not."

That impacts the value of the dollar which, when it goes up, makes American wheat more expensive on the export market.

He says planted acres are up 5.6 percent this year and ending stocks are expected to be up about 100 million bushels next year as well.

"You're looking at relatively higher production and increasing stocks in the world. There's just a lot of negatives out there for wheat prices," he says.

You can read more of Kim Anderson's analysis, or listen to his complete interview by clicking here.

SUNUP, News9 Goes to Chickasha and Thots from Scotland

One other note from our Kim Anderson story above- as we normally do- we have the SUNUP lineup for this weekend listed along with the conversation that Lyndall had with Kim- click here to jump over and check out what Lyndall Stout and her team have cooking this Saturday on OETA during the SUNUP half hour.

In the case of In the Field for this Saturday morning, we are pleased to have as our guest Tyler Norvell of the Oklahoma Youth Expo.  It's hard to believe- but the OYE will be starting in about three weeks.  One thing that always happens in advance of the state show are the many District Shows around the state- and our colleague Darren Brown was at the Southwest District Livestock Show in Chickasha- and did a nice video piece on the show- click here to take a look.  BACK to Tyler, be watching this Saturday morning at around 6:40 AM on KWTV News9 for our conversation with him about the preparations for the 2012 Oklahoma Youth Expo.

Finally- a couple of notes from the road here in Scotland. One thing that our group learned quickly- the folks here in the United Kingdom drive- as our tour guide described it- on the "correct" side of the road. I was behind one of the class members as we walked up to our tour bus- and she pushed the button for the door on the right hand side of the bus- and found herslf staring at the driver's seat!  We laughed and went around to the other side of the bus to climb in.  Once on the bus, our tour guide Margot provided us with bottled water- one of the "brands" offered to us of100% crisp British spring water was "Drench!"  In this land of sheep, that took me back to my youth and one of our periodic jobs of rounding up the sheep- and "drenching" them with a dewormer. I think I enjoyed the water more than the sheep enjoyed the treat I had for them all those years ago.

Day two in Scotland is underway as you read this- we will be spending time with the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland- they put on one of the legendary cattle shows in the world- the Royal Highland Show- should be interesting.