Cattle Inventory Report Suggests Cattle Industry Restructuring 

Writing in the Daily Livestock report, Steve Meyer and Len Steiner take a look at the latest USDA data and conclude beef production will continue to slide. 

Live cattle futures were modestly higher on Monday as the latest USDA survey data pointed to dramatic reductions in both the number of cattle expected to come to market in the next few months (feeder supply) as well as the number of beef cows that form the base for future production. Feeder cattle futures, on the other hand, continued to drift lower as an inflationary feed outlook remains a negative for the complex. The supply of feeder cattle outside of feedlots (a measure of "pipeline supplies') was 37.5 million head as of July 1. This represents a 1.3 million head or 3.4% decline from the same period a year ago. The chart to the right outlines the change in feeder cattle supply numbers for the July inventory count since 1996 and the data is downright depressing. It shows an industry mired in a significant contraction, with feeder supply numbers increasing modestly in only three of the last 18 years. Feeder supplies have been declining steadily since 2007, with supplies down by a little over 1 million head last July and then down another 1.3 million head this year. 

The latest cattle inventory data appeared to confirm that the feedlot sector is undergoing significant structural changes. A number of analysts, particularly those at the Livestock Marketing Information Center, have pointed out that the monthly feedlot inventory data likely overstates the number of cattle on feed. As some operations close while others expand to become profitable, this has skewed the sample size and it has given the appearance that there are more cattle on feed this year compared to last. The semi-annual survey gets around this issue since it polls all feedlot operations and not just those with a capacity of +1000 head. The cattle inventory data pegged that total cattle on feed inventory as of July 1 at 12.3 million head, only 0.8% higher than a year ago. This is almost 2% points lower than what the regular monthly feedlot survey indicated for July, a big difference which should put US feedlot supplies in better context. 

Click here to read more from Steve Meyer and Len Steiner.

Canola TV--Getting Ready for the 2013 Canola Crop 

Looking past the blistering heat and bone dry conditions now, it won't be long until planting time for winter crops. Heath Sanders of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill recently spoke with us about lessons learned from the 2012 crop and can be carried over to the new growing season.

"Well, one of the things that's really sticking out in my mind right now is that we dusted in a lot of canola last year," Sanders said. "We got rains toward the end to bring that crop up. And the way it's looking, we may be facing that situation again this year.

"We had a lot of success last year. We dusted in the crop. We had good rains. We don't know if that's going to happen again this year, but I'm much more comfortable with recommending to a farmer to dust it in, granted we get some good rains when we need them."

Canola was very profitable for Oklahoma producers last season and Sanders said he expects more will jump on the bandwagon this year, straining the available infrastructure in the process.

Click here for the latest edition of Canola TV and to access our archive of past shows.
 

House Passes Family Farms Preservation Act Supported by Farm Groups

The full House approved a measure barring the Department of Labor from enacting proposed rules which would have made it difficult for farm children to work on their families' farms. H.R. 4157, the Preserving America's Family Farms Act, passed on a pro forma voice vote Tuesday afternoon.

The American Farm Bureau Federation and a number of other farm groups had urged the House to vote in favor of the bill.

In a letter to House members, the organizations said that while the safety of all workers remains their number one priority, but regulations introduced last year by the Labor Department "took caution beyond recognition."

According to the letter, "The proposed regulations were overly burdensome to agriculture producers and would have limited, if not eliminated, training opportunities for youth in rural America. Fortunately, the administration listened to the concerns of farmers and ranchers by withdrawing the regulation in April. However, the threat to family farms still exists.

"While we all respect the obligations and responsibilities of DOL to ensure the safety of youth working on farms, we believe that the approaches taken need to be well reasoned and not detrimental to the family farm or the youth participating in farm work," continued the letter."  

You'll find more of this story on our website by clicking here.

Nebraska Cattlemen Struggling with 2012 Drought Conditions

 After the southern plains was ravaged by drought in 2011, similar stories that were unfolding last year in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and southern Kansas are happening to the north and east of the 2011 drought epicenter. One big cattle state that is struggling is Nebraska. The Executive Director of the Nebraska Cattlemen's Association is Michael Kelsey, a native Oklahoman who served for a short time as the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Beef Council before taking the position in Nebraska about six years ago. 

The stories are familiar that Kelsey related to us as we talked with him in Denver at the Summer Cattle Industry Conference this week- grass resources about gone in much of the state, feeding hay much earlier than normal and ponds drying up. It has resulted in many calves that would have stayed on pasture for another couple of months to head to market early- and is starting to force cattlemen to liquidate at least some of their mama cows. Kelsey says anecodatal evidence suggests beef cow culling is happening, but exact numbers are still being tabulated as in some cases, ranchers have simply moved parts of their herd to other locations where some grass is still available while others have been forced to liquidate at least some of their least productive animals.

Click here to read more about our visit with Kelseyas well as a chance to hear our full conversation about current drought conditions in his adopted state.

R-CALF CEO Charges Meatpackers with Working 'to Destroy Fed Cattle Cash Market'

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued its weekly National Feeder & Stocker Cattle Summary report on July 13, 2012 and warned that negotiated or cash sales in the U.S fed cattle market are "now routinely making up less than 20 percent of the weekly slaughter."

R-CALF USA has called on the USDA and the U.S. Department of Justice to take immediate steps to stop what it says are attempts by multinational meatpackers to capture the U.S. cattle market away from independent cattle producers through their destruction of the cattle industry's price discovery market, which is the cash market.

The group charges that hundreds of thousands of independent poultry producers, independent hog producers and independent sheep producers were forced out of business when the meatpackers destroyed their respective cash markets by shrinking them below levels where true price discovery can occur.

"The meatpackers are now working aggressively to destroy the nation's fed cattle cash market, which shrank nearly 20 percent just during the past few years - from over 52 percent in 2005 to less than 33 percent in 2011," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard.

For more of Bill Bullard's perspective on this issue as well as to find links to the USDA reports he references, please click here.

American Farmers and Ranchers Women's Conference Set for August

The 2012 AFR Annual Women's Conference will be held Aug. 9-11. The Oklahoma City event includes activities at Moore-Norman Technology Center and Fairfield Inn & Suites - Oklahoma City Airport, as well as shopping and tourist venues, such as the newly renovated Myriad Botanical Gardens & Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory and Oklahoma History Center.

Attendees to the AFR conference will also take part in Oklahoma's Statewide Women in Agriculture and Small Business Conference the first two days of the event with AFR activities during and after the meeting.

Sessions will focus on a variety of high-profile topics about agriculture, alternative enterprises, and business and finance. Participants will be able to attend sessions of most interest and value to them."Sessions will be led by practitioners and experts in their fields, among them OSU Cooperative Extension and Career Tech educators, local and state agricultural producers, business entrepreneurs, insurance agents, and lawyers," said Damona Doye, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension farm management specialist.

Please click here for more information.

This N That- House Leadership Dodging Floor Time Request and Wind Lease Workshop Coming Up   

The newspaper/website Politico continues to offer some good insights into the mess that continues to unfold as the House Leadership show no interest in providing floor time for the 2012 Farm Bill. Speaker John Boehner told a reporter yesterday that while the Farm Bill was not moving for now- he was interested in pulling together some drought assistance for livestock producers- programs that are reauthorized in the House Ag Committee's bill.  Apparently, Boehner and especially Majority Floor Leader Eric Cantor are having heartburn over level of cuts in the SNAP program- figured at $16 billion in the House version and only $4 billion in the Senate passed measure. Tea Partiers want at least the $32 billion savings that were offered as an amendment but defeated in the House Ag Committee. 

Click here for the Politico aricle that offers the latest play by playon this push for bigger savings or no bill in 2012. The writer mentions that a couple of staffers for Boehner mentioned perhaps a one year extension would be acceptable- but that makes little sense in how the Committee passed bill kicks to the curb most of the old safety net policy and goes a different direction in 2012. One time is certain- time is running very short to get floor time in advance of the August Congressional recess- they have a four day work week next week and that's it.

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Slated July 28 at the Autry Technology Center in Enid, the workshop is geared toward landowners who may be approached for wind energy development, said Shannon Ferrell, assistant professor of agricultural law at Oklahoma State University.

Click here for more from our calendar pageabout this opporunity to learn more how to get the best long term deal for the wind energy rights flowing over your land.