Mark Hodges Says About 75% of Oklahoma Wheat Crop Harvested  

With the on-going drought, Oklahoma wheat farmers won't have the yields they like to see, but on the bright side this crop has been above average in terms of quality- at least before the continuing rains have lowered test weights. Coming up this weekend on the Saturday morning News9 KWTV newscst,  Mark Hodges of Plains Grain will join us during our In the Field segment to talk about the latest on the 2014 wheat harvest status. 


"Really this year is going to be the bakers crop," Hodges said. "Obviously the yield wasn't there for the producer or the yield is not going to be there for the flour millers, so it's going to be challenging for them, but it does bake a good loaf of bread."


Hodges says the test weights have been good, even after the rains the test weights have remained in the upper 50's. Protein is averaging well over 14 percent, which is great, but this crop has small kernal crop which will be a challenge for millers making flour.

"The miller is going to have a challenge with those smaller kernals," Hodges said. "If they try to blend it with previous crops or lower protein from some other state with it you're talking about larger kernals, so now you are talking about trying to blend two significantly different sizes of kernals and trying to extract the maximize amount of flour yield out of that."

Click Here to read or to listen to the full interview with Mark Hodges about harvest in the HRW wheat belt.  

AND- Thursday night- Hodges released the latest Plains Grains Harvest report- we have details of it  on our website- click here for more details of harvest to date. 

House Subcommittee Examines Impact of EPA Water Rule  

During a House Agriculture Subcommittee hearing Thursday on the applicability of the Clean Water Act on ag practices - Ag Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment Robert Bonnie maintained conservation practices under the interpretative rule are still voluntary(Click here to see his full testimony). However - Subcommittee Chair Glenn Thompson said the standards have gone from voluntary to compulsory. Thompson says if farmers and ranchers don't want to face the consequences - fees and interruptions - of the Clean Water Act - it is compulsory.  

House Ag Ranking Member Collin Peterson says his experience with his constituents is that the Army Corps of Engineers has gone off the reservation. Bonnie says it's clear the Waters of the U.S. issue has been a deep concern for agriculture - but he says the number of exemptions has been increased through a voluntary basis - so the hope is it will be accepted as the opportunity it is. Click here for the House Ag Subcommittee's release on the hearing.  

Ag groups testifying Thursday are not buying what USDA and EPA are selling. American Farm Bureau Federation Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs Don Parrish told lawmakers the EPA isn't content with regulating just water - they want to control land use - too. Parrish says the agency's overreach ignores the will of Congress and courts - and compounds farmers' problems by calling into question dozens of exemptions for basic farming techniques.  

Pennsylvania cattle producer Andy Fabin told the subcommittee as a farmer - his willingness to implement voluntary conservation practices has been greatly diminished - despite his desire to improve and protect the waters on his farm. If the interpretive rule remains in place - Fabin says farmers and ranchers across the U.S. will slow their adoption of conservation practices. While EPA, the Corps and NRCS would have him believe the activities that take place on his farm are exempted, the cattle producer says that is simply not true.  Click here for more of his comments as he represented the National Cattlemen's Beef Association at the hearing.

Click here for the archived webcast of the entire hearing.

Oklahoma Rancher Zach Pogue talks about EPA's Clean Water  Act 

Zach Pogue provided his perspective in this week's National Cattlemen's Beef Association Beltway Beef Newsletter on EPA's Clean Water Act Proposal.
  
Pogue told the readers of the Newsleter that  "I am a 5th generation rancher from Velma, OK. We operate a cow-calf and stocker operation, with the majority of the stockers being run on wheat pasture. Our cowherd is Hereford x Angus cross, and we have recently begun using Red Angus bulls on some black baldy cows. We have two 60 day calving seasons, Feb-March and Sep-Oct. Prescribed burning, rotational grazing, and brush control are staples of our operation.


"How will EPA's proposed definition of "waters of the United States" affect you?  EPA's proposed rule will give them the ability to regulate my entire operation. There is not anything that we do or any part of our property that would not fall under the expanded scope of the Clean Water Act. It would exponentially increase our operating expenses. Additionally, it would open our family up to liabilities & fines that would have been unthinkable in the past. The Obama administration has allowed and in some cases pushed an expansion of government oversight that is unconstitutional and threatens to ruin our personal freedom as citizens of the United States of America.


"Moving forward, will you be more like or less likely to implement conservation practices?  We have always been very active in using conservation practices in our operation. I feel like God has placed us here to be good stewards of the land and the best caretakers of His creation that we can be. That will not change, no matter what new regulations are put in place. "

Dairy Industry Aims Toward Sustainable Food System

 The Innovation Center for U.S Dairy®, established under the leadership of dairy farmers, today announced the publication of the 2013 U.S. Dairy Sustainability Report. In the report, the Innovation Center outlines its progress to measure, communicate and improve the social, environmental and economic performance of the dairy industry. This progress has helped strengthen dairy's role in a sustainable food system.


"Together, we can meet the challenge to provide nourishing dairy foods and beverages to a growing population while facing a changing climate and finite natural resources," said Tom Gallagher, CEO of the Innovation Center and Dairy Management Inc.™, the nonprofit organization that manages the dairy checkoff. "We are building partnerships, sharing knowledge and taking collective action to develop innovative, sustainable solutions that will help us meet this challenge efficiently and responsibly."

For more information on the 2013 U.S. Dairy Sustainability Report Click Here.

Tonsor Weighs Producer Options For Marketing Calves

With a strong cattle market, what should producers do with their weanling? Hang on to them, market them quickly, K-State Livestock Market Economist Glynn Tonsor says producers will have several decisions to make. In the current situation, he believes there is more than one good alternative available.


"These historically high feeder cattle prices are setting up the typical cow-calf producer around the country and especially those that have decent pasture conditions, so their cost situation is improving to have a historically high year in 2014," Tonsor said. "And a lot of producers who typically just sell at weaning, a fall weaning crop, will be tempted to do so since they have historically high calf prices and they will have a better than they have in the past."


Before making that decision, Tonsor encourages producers to also consider their other options by comparing that option to background that steer and keeping it all the way through the feedyard. There are some resources available through OSU, to determine what backgrounding is worth by going to the agmanager.info and beefbasis.com. He says this resource will allow producers to project what the market is expecting the value of gain to be for putting additional pounds on.

Tonsor provide producer with another option with feeding calves after weaning.  Read or listen to the Beef Buzz by Clicking Here.  

New Vaccine Technology Helps Build BRD Immunity in Young Calves

Bovine Respiratory Disease - known as BRD - is the leading cause of death in beef calves 3 weeks of age or older.  A recent multi-university survey of 61 veterinarians in six states provides insights into practitioners' experiences with BRD in nursing calves. Dr. Terry Engelken - an associate professor at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine - was involved with the survey and says a key risk factor identified was inadequate colostrum.

   
"Anything that interferes with a calf standing up rapidly and nursing aggressively can have a negative impact on the amount of colostrum it receives and how well that colostrum is absorbed," Engelken. "We know from extensive research and practical experience as well calves that don't receive enough colostrum run a higher risk of developing calf scours early in life and that can be followed by BRD when they are out on pasture."


More than 85-percent of the veterinarians who responded to the survey recommend vaccination of nursing calves to prevent BRD or to shorten the duration of outbreaks. Merck Animal Health beef cattle technical services manager Brent Meyer says new technology is available to meet this need.


"Merck Animal Health recently introduced "Once PMH IN", it is the only internasal vaccine to deliver dual bacterial pneumonia protection in healthy beef and dairy cattle," Meyer said. "Internasal administration is easy to use and easy on calves as it can be given to calves as young as one week of age."   

Click Here to read more about the latest BRD vaccine from Merck Animal Health.  

This N That- Superior Tallgrass Yearling Auction, Celebrate the Life of Dr. Tot and the Latest Drought Monitor Released 

This morning, the Superior Livestock folks have a special Tallgrass yearling sale originating out of Emporia, Kansas- and can be seen there in person or you can participate online at SuperiorClicktoBid.Com beginning at 9:00 AM.

About 12,000 yearlings from the region will be offered- and you can learn more by clicking here or calling Superior at 1-800-422-2117.

**********

We remind you that this coming Monday afternoon, friends of Dr. Robert Totusek have planned a Celebration of his life- starting at 2:30 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.  

Dr. Tot was the head of the Animal Science Department at Oklahoma State for many years- and was a powerful figure in the Animal Agriculture community for decades here in Oklahoma and across the US.  

**********

Drought in Oklahoma retreated slightly in the latest US Drought Monitor report- According to Gary McManus with the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, "We didn't get a ton of rain before the Tuesday morning cutoff, but what we did get helped make improvements in several areas of the state. Still looking good over in far eastern Oklahoma, but we still have problems building across far southern Oklahoma.  

"The percentage of the state covered by D3-D4 drought dropped from 53.24% to 48.47%, so good news there, and losing that strip of D4 in Ellis County and down in Roger Mills and Beckham counties dropped the D4 amount alone to 14.48%."

Click here to see the latest Drought Monitor map- released yesterday morning.