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The USDA released its latest cattle on feed report Friday, revealing cattle and calves on feed for slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 9.8 million head on August 1, 2014. The inventory was 2 percent below August 1, 2013.


Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities called the report "neutral to slightly bearish." Jim Apel talked with Leffler on Friday afternoon- and you can hear Tom's analysis by clicking or tapping here.


Placements in feedlots during July totaled 1.56 million, 7 percent below 2013. Net placements were 1.50 million head. During July, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 425,000, 600-699 pounds were 260,000, 700-799 pounds were 355,000, and 800 pounds and greater were 520,000. For the month of July placements are the lowest since the series began in 1996.


Marketings of fed cattle during July totaled 1.79 million, 9 percent below 2013. July marketings are the lowest since the series began in 1996. 

The full report as released by USDA is also available through the link above. 

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Concludes August Area Meetings- We talk with Tom Buchanan

Oklahoma Farm Bureau has concluded their August Area Meetings for 2014, and OFB President Tom Buchanan says that several Farm Bureau members have gathered at lunch and dinner meetings across the state to receive a progress report from Farm Bureau staff on key state and national issues, while at the same time, offering feedback to Buchanan and the state Farm Bureau Board about their priorities.

Buchanan sat down with us on Friday and offered a laundry list of issues that local members raised to Buchanan and other state leaders and state staff of the general farm organization. Among the topics included in the discussion were statewide water quality and quantity , county road conditions, Ad valorem taxes, wind energy rights, farm bill implementation and the regulatory overreach by the federal government when it comes to agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Fish and Wildlife Agency. 

Buchanan adds that private property rights issues are always front and center with Farm Bureau members- and the Waters of the US proposed rule is a massive land grab that the organization is working hard to have withdrawn by the EPA.

You can read more and also listen to our audio conversation with Buchanan by clicking or tapping here.

Tom was also on our TV segment, In the Field, this past Saturday morning on KWTV News9- and if you missed the visit we had during the Saturday morning news- you can see the video here.

August Food Demand Survey Shows Steady Willingness to Pay for Steak and Hamburger This Summer

The August 2014 edition of the Food Demand Survey (FooDS) has been released by the Ag Economics Department of Oklahoma State University. According to Dr. Jayson Lusk who authors the monthly report, consumers have maintained a constant willingness to pay for meat products as they have been surveyed in last couple of months. The survey suggests that Beef and poultry willingness to pay attitudes are virtually unchanged from last month but are up relative to a year ago.

As of mid August, the dollar figure associated with the Willingness to Pay computation is $7.01 a pound for steak, $4.32 a pound for hamburger and $5.05 a pound for a chicken breast.  

To read more of the highlights of the report- and to review the full report released this past week by OSU, click or tap here.

Final Rule on 2014 Renewable Fuels Standard Volume Submitted to OMB

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Friday that the final rule establishing the 2014 Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) volume has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of interagency review, the final step in the process before the final rule is published.

In November of last year, EPA proposed a rule that set the total biofuels volume for 2014 at 15.21 billion gallons, of which 13.1 billion gallons would be derived from grain-based ethanol production. This is a reduction of 1.3 billion gallons from the statutory requirement of 14.4 billion gallons of grain-based ethanol production.

According to EPA, the agency received 340,000 comments on the proposed rule. Many of the comments opposed the reduction, and there is a great deal of speculation that EPA may require a smaller reduction in the final rule. However, the livestock industry generally supported the rule, supporting the reduction in the RFS as an appropriate step.

The OMB review could take up to 90-days, and most political observers believe that the rule's contents will not be revealed until after the November 4 midterm elections.

Several boosters of the RFS released statements on Friday- happy that the process is moving forward.  Click or tap here to read what those groups had to say.

For Cow Calf Producers- A Great Time to Be in the Cattle Business- Derrell Peel Tells All

For the cow calf end of the beef cattle industry, it's a great time to be in the business as long as you have been able to hang onto your cow herd through the years of drought. Cattle numbers are tight and prices here in 2014 have really responded with records being broken multiple times as the year has worn on.  

In our latest Beef Buzz, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel says that the opportunity to make money in the beef cow calf sector has never been better- and that profitability is likely to be out there for the balance of 2014, all of 2015 and likely in 2016 as well.  Click or tap here for what Dr. Peel is saying about calf and stocker profits for not just this year- but for the next several years. 

Our Beef Buzz programs are heard on many of our radio stations that are a part of the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network.  If you miss it live on the radio- you can always catch our programs- dating back several years- in the Beef Buzz section of our website.   

Report of US Losing Second Time in COOL Rule Dispute Angers Two Populist Groups 

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the World Trade Organization has sided with Canada and Mexico in regards to U.S. Country of Origin Labeling rules. the Wall Street Journal, cited "sources familiar with the panel's confidential report." Canada and Mexico have asked for the World Trade Organization's help against new U.S. COOL rules. The Wall Street Journal story adds that "The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the new rule after a WTO finding in 2012 that an earlier version was discriminatory. But Canada and Mexico said the amended rule was even more onerous, and limited exports of cattle and hogs into the U.S from their countries. The animals end up being sold at a discount to those from the U.S., they said.

Two groups are apparently mad at the Wall Street Journal for citing multiple sources about what may be coming regarding the revised COOL rule. Both the US Cattlemen's Association and the National Farmers Union have released statements blasting the publication for "irresponsible journalism" in reporting the US has lost for a second time in the attempts by the Obama Administration to write a WTO compliant rule.

Jon Wooster of USCA says "Until the WTO report is released, articles like this one are based merely on the claims of unnamed individuals and, in my opinion, amount to irresponsible journalism."

Roger Johnson of the NFU is also upset- saying "Let's be crystal clear. These are unsourced and unsubstantiated rumors and we can't and won't comment on a WTO report that we have not yet seen and is not yet public. Nor should anyone else." (I guess that means you don't have a right to know what sources are saying) 

You can read the full statements from both of these gentlemen by clicking or taping here. 

Dairy Carrie Catches PETA in a Video Misrepresentation

She has just been named as the 2014 Social Media Farmer of the Year.  Carrie Mess is a dairy producer from the state of Wisconsin- and she has a blog entitled "The Adventures of Dairy Carrie" with a subtitle that adds "I think I need a drink."   

Carrie was very unhappy recently with a dairy producer in North Carolina who got video recorded by PETA and it showed lots of filth surrounding their dairy animals.  It looked bad- but then- Dairy Carrie looked again and said WAIT A MINUTE.   

The video was not all that PETA said it was, according to the blogger. She dissected what the PETA folks were showing and came up with some different conclusions.   

Some of you have already seen this- but I figured on this Monday morning, once you get past the manure puree, you will enjoy her analysis.  Click or tap here and take a read and a look. PETA tried to pull a fast one, but this dairy lady pulled the rug out from under their credibility!