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January 2nd brings us a start to the 2014 markets, as Agricultural futures begin their new year trades at 8:30 AM for most of the grains and oilseed futures and at 9:05 AM for the Livestock Futures.

Most of our feeder cattle auction barns remain on holiday until Monday, when January sixth will bring us a full week of cash livestock activity starting with the Oklahoma National Stockyards, the Tulsa Stockyards and the Joplin Regional Stockyards on Monday morning.  Joplin actually gets a jumpstart on other markets in the region, as they announced that they are having a special feeder cattle sale today.

Meanwhile, it is a chilly start to the new year- with wind chills rather mean across the state this morning- click here to check out a wind chill map provided by Lacey Swope over at News9- and Alan Crone  at News on 6 says in his daily weather blog that "The arctic front moved across the area late yesterday evening bringing more cold air back to the state along with some light snow along the OK-Kansas state line area.  This fast moving short wave that produced the light snow is well east of the state this morning, but the frigid air will remain during the short term.  We'll be riding the roller coaster of temps once again but the ride up will not be as robust as last week."  

Alan tells us that temps will struggle to reach 32 degrees today- but should be above that mark by several degrees in most of Oklahoma on Friday and Saturday before more polar air arrives with the next front.  The light dusting of snow that some folks saw in the northern counties of Oklahoma was the tail end of the system that has provided(or will provide) blizzard conditions up into the midwest and New England.  

It appears the early days of 2014 will be at or below normal for Oklahoma- much like we saw many days in December. 

Beef Demand Index Shows Solid Beef Demand by US Consumers

Retail beef prices are at record-high levels as 2013 comes to a close, which, normally, might be a signal that demand for beef is headed (or will soon be) south. However, there's great encouragement in the latest beef demand index put together the Ag Econmics Department at Kansas State University. Each quarter, Kansas State's Glynn Tonsor re-calculates beef demand trends in the U.S. Tonsor points out that this index represents how much consumers are spending on beef, and not necessarily the volume of beef they are consuming. And the Demand Index is indicating that consumers are willing to spend more dollars to enjoy beef.

Dr. Tonsor says the index calculates beef demand for "choice" products and "all fresh" beef products. The "choice" calculation shows that beef demand was up 4.3% in the third quarter of this year versus one year ago- and this index has a solid uptrend of higher demand for ten of the last twelve quarters. The "all fresh" calculations includes lower priced cuts and is also in a solid uptrend- 2.3% higher in the latest quarter and higher for the last 13 consecutive quarters- painting a very positive picture about consumers and their love for beef.

Dr. Glynn Tonsor is my guest on Beef Buzz- and he explains these numbers and projects out into 2014 what he sees for beef demand ahead.  Click here to listen in.
 

Colostrum Supplement or Replacer - What's the Difference? 

Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter:

Although February and March are still several months away, looking ahead to the spring calving season requires that producers be prepared for those situations where mother-nature needs a little boost. Beef cow calf producers occasionally will need to provide commercial colostrum to baby calves that are born to two-year old heifers with very little milk, or to calves after a difficult birth. Some of these calves are very sluggish and slow to get up and find the teat. Therefore, they may not get the colostrum that they need to achieve successful passive transfer unless colostrum is provided by the cattle manager. Knowing which products to use in different situations can be very helpful. Colostrum supplements are less expensive to purchase than colostrum replacers, but they may not be the best choice for the situation at hand. 

Click here to read Glenn's review of research on the best choices for different situations. 

USDA Announces No Actions in Early 2014 Under the Feedstock Flexibility Program

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA does not expect to take any actions under the Feedstock Flexibility Program (FFP) in the first calendar quarter of 2014. This announcement is required quarterly by the 2008 Farm Bill and determined based on crop and consumption forecasts.

The December 2013 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report projects a level of U.S. FY 2014 ending sugar stocks that is unlikely to lead to forfeitures under the CCC sugar loan program. USDA may activate the FFP if sugar loan program forfeitures are expected. USDA closely monitors U.S. sugar stocks, consumption, imports and other sugar market variables. The department will reconsider action under the FFP prior to April 1, 2014.

 

R-CALF USA Claims USDA Sheep Market Report Misses the Mark

On December 20, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) issued the report on its investigation of the U.S. sheep market to determine if concentrated meatpackers had manipulated the U.S. lamb market.

The scant 14-page investigative report concludes that meatpackers did not manipulate the lamb market. Instead, it concluded that other factors led both to the increase in lamb prices that occurred throughout 2010 and up until mid-2011 and the long-term decrease in lamb prices from mid-2011 throughout all of 2012.

The reports states that "many market factors interacted to cause the sharp increase and subsequent decrease in lamb prices . . . (and) (t)he cost of imported lamb was likely the most important factor."

The report also states: "Roughly half of the lamb consumed in the United States has been imported in recent years. Australia is the largest supplier of imported lamb and New Zealand supplies most of the rest."

R-CALF USA Sheep Committee Chair Bill Kluck said his group has long believed that unlimited imports were causing severe damage to the United States' commercial sheep industry, but is deeply disappointed that USDA failed to acknowledge ongoing problems in the sheep market caused by meatpacker market power. 

Click here to read more of this story.
 

Horticulture Industries Meeting Leads Off 2014 Calendar Events

Oklahoma State University, together with the University of Arkansas, will sponsor the 33rd Annual Oklahoma and Arkansas Horticulture Industries Show (HIS).  This two-day event gets underway Friday January 10th at the Tulsa Community College, Northeast Campus, 3727 E. Apache, Tulsa. The theme of the meeting is "Improving Your Production Toolbox."


The HIS has consistently provided growers and the public with the latest information on vegetables, fruit, Christmas trees, farmers market crops and public gardening issues. The public and growers from Arkansas, Oklahoma and surrounding states are welcome to attend. 

Bill Lamont, professor of vegetable crops at Penn State University, will serve as keynote speaker for the meeting. He has done extensive research in areas including cultivar evaluations, feasibility of growing new crops in high tunnels and plasticulture systems, sustainable and organic production of various vegetable crops and tomato breeding. Most recently he has been involved in helping to establish high tunnels in Philadelphia to promote the production of nutritious vegetables and winter production of greens and other crops for the city's population. 

Click here for more information on the HIS- and Click here to see the entire calendar of ag related events for the early days of 2014