Five Oklahoma Counties Added for Canola Crop Insurance

Canadian, Comanche, Cotton, Logan and Noble counties are the five new Oklahoma counties eligible for USDA Risk Management Agency winter canola crop insurance, according to the RMA.


Oklahoma counties already elgible are Alfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Custer, Dewey, Garfield, Grant, Kingfisher, Major and Woods counties. In addition, Wichita and Moore Counties in Texas are now also eligible for RMA canola crop insurance.


This means that producers in these counties will be able to purchase crop insurance for winter canola with the time consuming and uncertain process of submitting a proposal for a written agreement.


Producers interested in buying a canola policy must do so by September 2, 2014. Oklahoma and Texas producers may choose the Revenue Protection Plan or the Yield Protection Plan in all counties where coverage is offered, the RMA stated. Producers may be eligible for federal crop insurance in non-covered counties through a written agreement. Written agreements must also be submitted by September 2, 2014.


Farmers choosing to plant winter canola in 2014 and who live in non-covered counties should contact their crop insurance representative and sign a written agreement and take the signed agreement to their local Farm Service Agency office. Then, they should make sure their crop insurance agent receives the signed agreement by July 31, 2014, to ensure coverage.


Producers are encouraged to visit with their crop insurance agent about eligibility for canola coverage. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA service centers and or by clicking here for a listing on the RMA website. 

On His Second Day on the Job- New OSU Ag Dean Meets and Greets With State Ag Groups 

On his second day on the job officially as the new Dean of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University, Dr. Thomas Coon was welcomed by farm and ranch groups in a reception held at the Oklahoma History Center near the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City.   The new Dean will be busy for the next several months in putting names and faces together as he travels across the state at events similar to the one on Tuesday evening.


Dr. Coon told the farm groups that he was looking forward to the challenge of meeting as many farmers, ranchers and other rural stockholders and constituents as he can that are impacted by the teaching, research and extension programs of the Division.  


The new Dean told us that he really looks forward to learning more about Oklahoma and how OSU and DASNR fit into the fabric of the state.  He added that he always enjoys spending time with farmers- as many of them are entrepreneurs in the truest sense.


Coon comes to OSU from Michigan State University, where he was director of Extension and a professor in the department of fisheries and wildlife. At Michigan State, he directed more than 600 staff and faculty on campus and in Michigan's 83 counties.  

As you probably know- the main color for Michigan State sports is Green- and State Secretary of Ag Jim Reese joked as he introduced Dr. Coon that the new Dean had been able to give away his collection of Green MSU clothing to his kids- who were delighted to get it- and was already building a nice wardrobe of Orange and Black.

Click here to read more (and hear our brief audio conversation) about Dr. Coon's second day on the job- we will have a lunch planned with the new Dean next week and will be doing a more in depth interview with him at the that time- which we will share with you- naturally.

A group of agricultural organizations, led by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation, said an interpretive rule that accompanies a proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) regulation is a legislative rule that must go through notice and comment rulemaking.


In comments submitted yesterday to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 90 organizations said the interpretive rule "binds farmers and ranchers with new, specific legal obligations under the CWA. It modifies existing regulations interpreting the statutory term 'normal farming, ranching and silviculture.'"


The interpretive rule would exempt 56 agricultural activities from a proposed rule that would expand the jurisdiction and authority of EPA and the Corps of Engineers over certain waters. Currently, based on several U.S. Supreme Court decisions, that includes "navigable" waters and waters with a significant hydrologic connection to navigable waters. The proposed regulation would redefine "waters of the United States" to include, among other water bodies, intermittent and ephemeral streams such as the kind farmers use for drainage and irrigation.  

Click Here to read more about the concerns over the CWA regulation.

New Vaccine Builds BRD Immunity In Young Calves

Bovine Respiratory Disease - known as BRD is a big problem for the beef cattle. BRD - as the disease is commonly called - is the leading cause of death in pre-wean calves 3 weeks or older. One company has come up with a new product that may help producers battle BRD in your youngest animals.


Merck Animal Health has come up with a new product that will allow help producers to vaccinate calves as young as 1 week of age for BRD. Dr. Brent Meyer - beef cattle technical services manager for Merck Animal Health - says the new vaccine - called Once PMH IN - is the only intranasal vaccine to deliver dual bacterial pneumonia protection in healthy beef and dairy cattle.


"Once PMH IN aides in the control of the respiratory disease caused by Mannheimia haemolytica and the prevention of the disease caused by Pasteurella multocida," Meyer said. "The intranasal vaccination helps stimulate at strong immune response because vaccine antigens are delivered directly to the mucosal surface in the nose, a major site of immune response in cattle." 


Click Here to read more out the research studies on this new BRD vaccine.   

The Missouri based  American Soybean Association has issued its support of the Missouri Farming Rights Amendment (Amendment 1), a measure that would amend the state's constitution to recognize and protect modern agriculture and the benefits that it provides all Missourians. 

Oklahoma Agriculture was ready to promote a similar amendment this fall- but late session maneuvering at the Oklahoma State Capitol sank the proposal for at least the 2014 session.  

In a Tuesday statement,  the American Soybean Association says they  "firmly supports Amendment 1 supporting modern agriculture in the Show-Me State. Our soybean farmers in Missouri and their counterparts in other crops and livestock commodities take strides every day to ensure that they conserve our state's natural resources while continuing to farm productively and provide all Missourians with the food, feed, fiber and fuel they need."   

Click Here to read more from the American Soybean Association. 

Columbia, Mo. attorney Brent Haden with Haden & Byrne Law Firm wrote an Op-Ed about Missouri's Right to Farm Amendment.  


"Opponents are trying to convince Missourians Amendment 1 is bad for family farms. This is false. Amendment 1, also known as the Missouri Farming Rights Amendment, will help family farmers the most by providing a level of protection against overly restrictive laws and regulations being pushed by out-of-state animal activist groups."

The Right to Farm amendment, if passed, will make farming and ranching a right in Missouri, similar in scope and protection to the speech, religion and gun rights already in Missouri's Constitution.  

Click Here to read more of Haden's comments.  

Noble Foundation Finds Alternative Culling Method Increases Profits

By summer, cow-calf producers start thinking about weaning their spring calf crop and how best to manage and market older, unproductive and open cull cows. To help provide producers options for managing and marketing cull cows, researchers at the Noble Foundation and Oklahoma State University teamed up and conducted a study that evaluated the economics of two alternative management and marketing systems for retaining open beef cows.


A total of 161 cows (48 in 2008, 42 in 2009 and 71 in 2009) from a black-hided Angus herd maintained at the Noble Foundation's Red River Farm were retained in either a dry-lot feed system or in a stockpiled native grass pasture grazing system. In the drylot system, cows were provided a low cost diet of rye hay, mineral and a 20 percent cubed supplement while the native pasture system allowed cull cows access to stockpiled native grass pasture.This system allowed cows grazing access to stockpiled native grass. In addition, at the time of weaning in October, body weight, body condition score (BCS), and USDA grade and dressing percentage were obtained for each cull cow. Approximately every 30 days for a five-month period, weight, BCS, and USDA grade and dressing percentage were collected again on each cow through March (about 150 days in total).


Using feed, pasture and labor costs, and body weight, BCS, and USDA grade and dressing data collected in the study, net returns were calculated for each management system at each of five sequential marketing periods (November, December, January, February and March). In addition, the body condition scores were used to categorize cull cows into three independent size categories, including thin (BCS<5), medium (5 < BCS ? 6) and heavy (BCS>6). In each period, net return was calculated as the difference between the revenue that would be generated at marketing minus retention, feed, labor and pasture costs minus the revenue that would be generated if cows had been sold at the time of weaning. This allowed us to compare the potential profitability that a producer could expect to earn for each marketing period beyond when cows are typically culled and sold at weaning in the fall. This is also the time of year when the market for cull cows is typically at a seasonal low.  Click Here to read more from the Noble Foundation.  

This N This N That- It's Wednesday and That Means Big Iron Day; and Here's the Graphic of the Day Courtesy of Monsanto

It's Wednesday- and that means the Big Iron folks will be busy closing out this week's auction items- all 400 of them- starting at 10 AM central time.    

Click Here for the complete rundown of what is being sold on this no reserve online sale this week.

If you'd like more information on buying and selling with Big Iron, call District Manager Mike Wolfe at 580-320-2718 and he can give you the full scoop.  You can also reach Mike via email by clicking here.  

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From the world of Twitter-  I thought you might enjoy this graphic that offers just a few of the words that describe today's farmer/rancher- I don't think it is original with Monsanto- but it does come from their Twitter feed:

For all that you do within the world of farming and ranching- thanks!