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 The US Department of Agriculture released the latest Quarterly Hog and Pigs inventory on this past Friday afternoon- and the numbers reflected the struggles pork producers have had in dealing with the swine disease that has killed an estimated eight million baby pigs over the last year, PEDv.


United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2014 was 62.1 million head. This was down 5 percent from June 1, 2013, and down 1 percent from March 1, 2014. That inventory number is the smallest since 2007.

In Oklahoma- the slippage is even more dramatic as the impact of PEDv has reduced market hog numbers in the state by 19% from a year ago- and pushed overall hog numbers in the state to 1.96 million head- the smallest pig count since 1998- when Oklahoma was in the process of ramping up hog numbers.

Click here for more from the latest USDA Pig Count- which includes a special audio report we have with Dr. Chris Hurt of Purdue on the report and current profitability of the hog business- hint- it's really good according to Dr. Hurt.

Meanwhile- we have several reports due out at 11 AM Central time this morning- including the Quarterly Grain Stocks report and the Spring Crops Acreage numbers from NASS.  The trade will be looking closely at both reports- but this morning- ahead of the reports- let's focus on what may be coming from the ACREAGE report-  

According to Allendale, "In each of the past five late planted years corn acres increased on the June Acreage report. Other factors, more than planting pace, determine June acreage. From March 1 to May 15 the potential corn revenue per acre increased by $15. During the time the potential soybean revenue increased by $22 per acre.
 
"Corn planted acres are expected to increase 385,000 from USDA's March Prospective Plantings survey. This is the fourth largest acreage in modern times.
 
"Soybean acres are expected to increase by 1.711 million acres. This is a record soybean planting.


"Wheat acres are seen 194,000 lower than the March survey. A reduction in spring wheat, of 151,000 acres, was responsible for most of the change. This is the second lowest acreage in 40 years."

We will be diving into the reports at 11 ourselves- and will look at the national numbers as well as the Oklahoma stats and be offering reports on our website as well as via Twitter  by midday.  Click here for our front page where it will all be happening.

Recent Rains Get Oklahoma Cotton Crop Off a Good Start  

The 2014 Oklahoma cotton crop is off to a fair to good start in many places. With respect to precipitation, we are in good shape in many areas. We picked up another 0.9 inch at Altus this week. Over the past 3-4 weeks, we have had good to great rainfall over many areas (4-6+ inches). Unfortunately in eastern Tillman, southern Comanche, and Cotton counties, they have been on the very low side of that rainfall. We pretty much have everything planted, with stands in most fields.


Seedling disease issues have not been noted. Based on reports from producers it appears that overall thrips pressure has been relatively low. Thanks to good to excellent rainfall, we do have some weeds to beat back. We have been encouraging producers to use residual products with their glyphosate applications. Because of the recent rainfall, we expect a lot of weed/alternate host plant growth in which fleahopper populations can build. We have had some grasshopper populations show up, and growers are watching those. Hopefully the rainfall will trigger the fungus that works over the grasshopper populations. At Altus from May 1 through June 23, cotton DD60 heat unit accumulation totaled 845, about 15% above normal for that time period. We have some early planted (around April 30th) cotton in Harmon County that was at 1/3 grown square last week. The bad news is that we still have not had any substantial runoff for Lake Lugert, so we are still looking at no irrigation water for the District around Altus.


Lugert-Altus Reservoir is about 12% of capacity. Even though we have had some rainfall in the watershed, there has not been enough inflow to significantly improve the situation. At this time 2014 appears to be another year without irrigation water for the Lugert-Altus Irrigation District. Tom Steed Lake is now at just under 30%, which is an important improvement above the 21% level just a few weeks ago. June is an important runoff month and we have thus far not observed much inflow.



To learn more about cotton production from OSU researchers at the Southwest Oklahoma Research and Extension Center in Altus, Okla. check out the latest edition of Cotton Comments newsletter by clicking here.    

This information was provided in the OSU Cotton Comments Newsletter. 

 

 Advertising and promotion of beef is changing the way it reaches the nation's consumers. Recently the beef-checkoff has shifted resources toward digital marketing in a means to reach the millennial generation. We got an update on Friday from Heather Buckmaster, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Beef Council about how the digital campaign is going- you can hear our audio conversation with Heather by clicking on the link at the bottom of this story.


She says in the first three weeks of program the effort has generated 65 million positive impressions for beef. Another nine million positive impression created through food partnership websites like foodnetwork.com and recipes.com and it's also pushed traffic onto our Facebook page. The "Beef...It's What's For Dinner" Facebook page has received more than 850 thousand fans and Buckmaster is hopeful that number grows to over a million by the end of the year.


"What's wonderful to see is how people are sharing their passion for beef on Facebook and they're sharing their menu inspirations and what they had for dinner and what recipes that they like," Buckmaster said.


"We love to see that passion these beef fans have for our beef community and for beef," Buckmaster said.

Recent Study Addressing Pesticides and Autism Joins Library of Junk Science

CropLife America (CLA) is dismayed by the alleged connection that researchers with the University of California, Davis have made between pesticide applications and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism among children. "Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Prenatal Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticides: The CHARGE Study" was published in Environmental Health Perspectives on June 23, 2014. The study draws inaccurate and scientifically questionable connections between proximity to pesticides and neurodevelopmental disorders. The authors have created unnecessary fears among parents and contributed nothing to an understanding of the etiology of autism and other developmental disorders in children.


CLA points out that a number of elements needed for scientifically robust research results are lacking in the study. The modeling used in this study to measure proximity must be grounded in real measures of exposure such as biomarkers in blood or urine (Chang et al. 20141). The study did not do this. Also, using addresses as a proxy for the location of pregnant women when the pesticide applications occurred assumes the women were at that address and outdoors precisely when the pesticides were being applied. The study did not investigate the possibility that these women may have been away from their residences, indoors or otherwise guarded from potential exposure.


Importantly, "exposure" does not equate to "harm." Harm can only occur if the exposure, or dose, is sufficiently high to have an effect. Pesticides are rigorously regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure that real-life exposure across a variety of situations is not sufficient to cause harm. This includes ensuring pesticides cannot drift beyond the target organism in the field and onto other people at levels that cause harm. This study, by equating proximity to exposure, incorrectly assumes the pesticides drifted impossibly far distances and at impossibly high concentrations.  
 

Click Here to read more about CLA's rebuttal to this UC Davis study.  

Aversion to GMOs Becoming Driving factor to Buying Organic

 Of all the thoughts that race through the mind of a mom or dad as they do the weekly grocery shopping and decide whether to put an organic or non-organic item in the shopping cart, the desire to stay away from foods that have been genetically modified has never been greater.


Avoiding GMOs (genetically modified organisms), for themselves or their children, is an increasingly important reason why parents choose organic food, according to the Organic Trade Association's (OTA's) U.S. Families' Organic Attitudes and Beliefs 2014 Tracking Study, a survey of more than 1,200 households across the nation with at least one child under 18.


Almost 25 percent of parents buying organic said that wanting to steer clear of genetically modified foods is now one of their top reasons for selecting organic, the most in the four years the survey has been taken, and up significantly from 16 percent who said the same in 2013. Of the fifteen reasons for buying organic that parents were asked to rate, not buying GMOs showed the biggest jump by far from attitudes a year ago.

Click Here to read the full article and to read about what consumers are looking for in grocery shopping.  

Monsanto Back In Wheat Business with WestBred

Monsanto Company has announced changes to its WestBred® wheat seed distribution model designed to enhance business and expand opportunities for its seed partners and their growers.


"Wheat is a vital, global crop planted on over 500 million acres and supplying 25% of the world's calories," said Jeff Koscelny, Monsanto U.S. Wheat Commercial Lead. "Experts agree production must increase by 40% by 2050 to meet global demand. New investments, technologies and innovations in wheat will be critical to keep up with this soaring global demand."


Monsanto and WestBred are active in the southern plains hard red winter wheatbelt with several varieties including Winterhawk, Cedar, Grainfield, Armour, Redhawk, and experimental variety WB4458. Westbred has participated in the Oklahoma State University 2014 wheat variety trails and have performed well.


The new seed supplier-focused model will move the WestBred wheat seed business toward a more service-based approach. WestBred wheat seed suppliers will see a variety of immediate benefits as a result of these changes, such as the availability of more technical knowledge and additional wheat experts in the field supporting the WestBred brand. The changes will also result in better inventory management and improved product value, according to company officials.  


 Click Here to read more about the future of WestBred.  

This N That- OALP Class XVII Announced, and OALE Rolling Across Spain  

Class Seventeen of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program has been announced, as the 25 members of the Class will meet together for the first time in August on campus at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. The applicants that were extended an invitation to participate and accepted will be involved in Leadership Development seminars over the next 18 months, as well as participate in a eastern US study tour that will include time in Washington, DC and will conclude their Class XVII agenda with an international study experience to a destination to be determined next spring.

The new class members are:

Kristin Alsup - Oklahoma City

Christy Combs - Eufala

Crystal Cowan - Guthrie

Patrick Crouch - Broken Arrow

Brian Forrester - Miami

Jared Grissom - Earlsboro

Janlyn Hannah - Cache

Chad Hartin - Stuart

Amanda Horn - Oklahoma City

Brad Lyle - Guymon

Bob Mulligan - Tonkawa

Susan Murray - Stillwater

Bryan Nichols - Lone Grove

Shawn Norton - Ardmore

Josh Payne - Coweta

Robert Rana - Wister

Matt Sandmann - Durant

Alicia Seyler-Nevaquaya - Tulsa

Bambi Sidwell - Edmond

Preston Simic - Garber

Kirby Smith - Oklahoma City

Bill Steinert, Jr. - Fairmont

Justin Street - Stillwater

Coleen Thornton - Welling

Josh Widener - Ponca City

The Director of the OALP, Dr. Edmond Bonjour tells us "I am very excited about Class XVII.  These 25 class members offer a lot of diversity:  agricultural background and training, experience, and knowledge, and represent all areas of the state.  We look forward to our first seminar on August 20-22 in Stillwater."


 

Click here for more on the OALP. 

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The Oklahoma Youth Expo Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Encounter Class XI is traveling across Spain for its international encounter from June 22 to July 1.

OALE is a leadership program for students at Oklahoma State University majoring in agriculture. Members experience various aspects of Oklahoma agriculture by touring farms and learning about policy. The group finishes the program with an international trip.

The OALE XI members include: Taylor Graham, Brock Herren, Miranda Moorman, Alyson Moore, Morgan Neilson, Hannah Nemecek, Dalton Newell, Kassandra Pfeiffer, Emily Sewell and Maverick Squires.

Click here for more about their travels that will be wrapping up early this week.