Lake Levels Dropping; Drought Worsens In Southwest Oklahoma 

The hottest temperatures of summer may be behind us, but the drought in western and southwestern Oklahoma is far from over. Lake levels continued to drop throughout September in much of the state.

Tom Buchanan, District Manager of the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District, and Oklahoma Farm Bureau Board Member, says conditions for farmers in his district are dire. No irrigation water was released from Altus-Lugert this year- that's the first time that has happened since the district was set up in 1946.

"We're in our second, maybe our third year of an extended drought.   We are in the grips of it. And it's tightening its noose. It's very tough. Of the 46,000 acres in the irrigation district, the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District, there might be about 500 that could possibly be harvested. 

"The local economies are starting to feel the effects of that. The producers of the area are starting to wonder 'When are we going to get enough inflow? When are we going to get those significant rains again?'"

Buchanan reports that cotton harvest will be minimal in southwest Oklahoma in the irrigated areas. He said there is some pivot-irrigated acreage in Tillman and Harmon counties that will yield some cotton. 
 

Click here to read more or to catch our full interview with Tom Buchanan. 

OSU Report Outlines New Federal Pasture and Forage Insurance Program 

A report published by the Oklahoma State University Department of Agriculture Economics examines the new federal Pasture, Rangeland, Forage (PRF) insurance program. Authored by Extension economists Jody Campiche and J.J. Jones, the report describes the program and walks producers through an online decision tool to determine the financial ramifications of insuring their forage crops under this program.

PRF is a pilot federal crop insurance program that provides insurance protection for forage produced for grazing or harvested for hay. The program is administered by the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) and sold through private crop insurance companies. Private crop insurance companies directly insure producers and their crops, and then RMA reinsures the companies against a portion of the losses they may suffer. 

Due to difficulties quantifying price and yield for forage crops, particularly for grazing, standard crop insurance products are generally not an option. This product is similar to group risk insurance and provides area-wide coverage. For Oklahoma and the majority of the United States, the program is based on a rainfall index. PRF insures producers based on the average rainfall in their geographic area instead of the producers' individual farm. Producers receive an indemnity payment when rainfall in their area falls below the normal historical level.  

You'll find more about the PRF program by clicking here.

DuPont Pioneer Advances 34 New Soybean Varieties for 2013 Planting

New soybean varieties from DuPont Pioneer face the toughest challenge in the final year of research testing. During this research stage, soybean varieties are placed in IMPACT™ (Intensively Managed Product Advancement Characterization and Training) trials on growers' farms to ensure product performance is up to the high standards set by Pioneer. Recently, 34 Pioneer® brand soybean varieties passed final scrutiny from the Pioneer research and development, field sales and agronomy technology service teams and will be commercially available to producers for planting in 2013.

"Our goal is to provide a full complement of soybeans that yield consistently for farmers year after year," says Don Schafer, DuPont Pioneer senior soybean marketing manager. "The Pioneer research, sales and agronomy teams dig hard to analyze the local disease and agronomic challenges throughout soybean-growing areas and develop products and traits to address those challenges within each region."

The final year of soybean variety testing provides one more opportunity to gather a significant amount of data from many locations before releasing products to producers.

"This final evaluation on growers' farms helps us develop a profile of where the product fits on each acre for our customers," Schafer says. 

Click here to read more.

Claims Filing Period Opens for Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers Who Claim Past USDA Discrimination

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that Hispanic and women farmers and ranchers who allege discrimination by the USDA in past decades can file claims between September 24, 2012 and March 25, 2013.

"Hispanic and women farmers who believe they have faced discriminatory practices from the USDA must file a claim by March 25, 2013 in order to have a chance to receive a cash payment or loan forgiveness," said Secretary Vilsack. "The opening of this claims process is part of USDA's ongoing efforts to correct the wrongs of the past and ensure fair treatment to all current and future customers."

The process offers a voluntary alternative to litigation for each Hispanic or female farmer and rancher who can prove that USDA denied their applications for loan or loan servicing assistance for discriminatory reasons for certain time periods between 1981 and 2000.

You can read more by clicking here.

Selk Says Following BQA Guidelines Critical When Culling Cows

In the latest Cow-Calf newsletter from the OSU Extenstion Service, animal scientist Glenn Selk says that it is vital that cattle producers use Beef Quality Assurance guidelines when culling cows.

Many cow herds have already been culled deeply due to the drought of the last two summers. However, spring calving herds may still need to be examined for a few non-productive cows that should be removed before winter. October and November are typical months for calf weaning, pregnancy checking of cows, and cow culling.    

On very rare occasions violative residues of pharmaceutical products have been found in carcass tissues of cull beef cows. Violations of drug residue regulations can result in expensive fines (or even worse, jail time) for the rancher and a "black-eye" for the entire beef industry. It is vital that cow calf producers have a close working relationship with a large animal veterinarian in their area. If a cow has an infection or disease that must be treated, her owner should closely follow the veterinarian's directions, and also read the label of the product used. Most of these medications will require that the producer keep the treated animal for the label-directed withdrawal time. 

You can read more of Glenn Selk's recommendations by clicking here.

Oklahoma Among States to Receive USDA Rural Health and Safety Grants

Oklahoma is one of 25 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to receive USDA grants to improve the quality of life in rural communities, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

"The Obama administration is committed to helping eligible rural communities obtain reliable emergency equipment and provided vital services," said Vilsack. These projects will help rural communities, protect the safety of residents and create a framework for job creation and economic growth."

The more than $5 million in funding announced will support 127 projects through USDA Rural Development's Community Facilities Program. The town of Antlers (Okla.) Hospital Authority will receive $48,812 to purchase a food service delivery vehicle to extend the hospital's nutritional services beyond the present facility.

You will find more of this story and a link to the full list of recipients on our webpage.  Click here to go there.

Rainfall Piles Up in Some Locales- More Coming as We Head Into the Weekend

Many Oklahoma farmers and ranchers have received some good rainfall totals- and more seems to be on the way. Alan Crone with the News on 6 in Tulsa writes in his Thursday morning blog "Some flood issues may occur across south central OK where significant rainfall occurred yesterday afternoon and where some hefty thunderstorms are located this morning.

We have a pair of maps this morning that we have posted on our website- one is the rainfall totals from the last three days for the state- some of the heaviest rains have tracked along Interstate 40- from 2.15 inches in Weatherford to 3.4 inches of rainfall in Okemah (the highest total in this statewide snapshot).  

The other map we have is a looking forward projection of rainfall across the country- and it shows for Oklahoma up to two inches of rainfall a possibility across portions of the state between now and Sunday.

Click here to check out those maps and some commentary from weather guy deluxe Alan Crone of the News on 6 in Tulsa.