2014 Oklahoma Cotton Crop Doubles 2013 Crop in Latest Crop Production Forecast

The 2014 Oklahoma Cotton Crop will be much better than a year ago- with production expected to more than double the dismal crop of 2013. However, the latest USDA Crop production numbers shows that hot and dry conditions in late July and all of August really hurt the upside potential of the crop, with Uncle Sam reducing the predicted size of the crop by 55,000 bales from August to September. The 2014 crop is now estimated to be 320,000 bales, more than twice as many bales as was ginned in 2013 when Oklahoma farmers saw their cotton crop result in 154,000 bales being produced. Both the number of acres expected to be harvested as well as the yield of lint per acre are both well up from 2013 with 210,000 acres of cotton are expected to be harvested this season- and the current yield is being called 731 pounds of lint per acre. That's off from 818 pounds that was the expectation based on the August report.


The other spring planted crop that has really jumped higher in 2014 versus 2013 is the grain sorghum crop. With an increase of 60,000 acres over a year ago when it comes to harvested acres predicted- Oklahoma farmers are set to harvest 21.78 million bushels of grain sorghum this year, up 47% from last year's overall production of 14.85 million bushels.


Many of the grain sorghum acres grown this year came at the expense of corn in the state. There are 40,000 fewer acres of corn to be harvested this year than last- and even with a five bushel per acre increase in production this year (150 bushels per acre)- overall production is called 40.5 million bushels- off ten percent from 2013.


Oklahoma soybean production is called 9.145 million bushels, off about ten percent from 2013, while the Oklahoma Peanut crop is down nine percent from 2013 at 54.5 million pounds.  Click here for the national crop production numbers.  

USDA Boosts Grain Stocks; Traders See Bearish Futures

The US government is certain farmers have produced a record corn and soybean crop. On Thursday, the US Department of Agriculture increased production and stocks. In a interview with the Radio Oklahoma Network, Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities said the report put downward pressure on the market. 


"We found nothing in this report except for bearish numbers as it put additional pressure and new contract lows in our wheat, corn and soybean complexes today," Leffler said.   


In the September US Department of Agriculture Supply and Demand report, the agency projected American farmers will harvest 14.395 billion bushels of corn this year. This was higher than trade estimates and 363 million bushels more than the August report. Corn yields are projected to reach 171.7 bushels per acre, an increase over last month estimate of 167.4 bpa last month. USDA also projected domestic corn supplies will total 2.002 billion bushels at the end of the 2014 -2015 season ending August 21, 2015.   Leffler said this is the highest corn stocks level since 2004 - 2005.


In the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, USDA increased global corn stocks for 2014 - 2015 to 189.91 million metric tons.   Leffler said world corn stocks are projected to be at the highest level in the last 15 years.


USDA continues to forecast record soybean production this year. USDA boosted US soybean production estimates to 3.913 billion bushels with a average yield of 46.6 bpa.  Domestic soybean stocks are projected to total 475 million bushels. The agency also increased global soybean stocks to 90.17 million metric tons. Leffler said world ending stock are at record levels.  Click here to read or listen to more analysis from Tom Leffler.      

14 Billion Bushels and 14 Billion Gallons in 2014

Farmers are poised to harvest a record corn crop this fall and achieve the highest yield per acre in U.S. history, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates released Thursday. Meanwhile, the U.S. ethanol industry is on pace to produce a record amount of clean-burning renewable fuel, according to recent Department of Energy (DOE) data.


Thursday's USDA report projects the 2014 corn crop at 14.4 billion bushels, with a record average yield of 171.7 bushels per acre.


"The American farmer has done it again!" said Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). "U.S. farmers should be congratulated for producing what is primed to be the fifth record-breaking corn crop in the last 12 years. The innovation and rapid technology adoption we've seen in the corn sector over the past decade has been nothing short of astounding. The American farmer has again risen to the challenge to meet all demands for feed, food and fuel."


Corn ending stocks for the 2014/15 marketing year are projected at 2 billion bushels - the highest since 2004/05. Meanwhile, prices are expected to average $3.50 per bushel. Global grain supply is also set to establish a new record and grain stocks are likely to hit a 14-year high. Pointing to a report released earlier this week by RFA, Dinneen said today's USDA estimates "drive yet another nail in the coffin of the outrageous food vs. fuel debate."
 

Click here to read more.  

Canola Growers Look Ahead to New Season

For ten years Oklahoma's canola industry has gradually developed. The devastating drought effects of this past year brought havoc for the 2014 canola crop. Great Plains Canola Association Executive Director Dr. Ron Sholar said he looks for there to be some carryover effect into the 2014-2015 growing year.


"It was a terrible year for everything we planted and that will have always have some negative impact," Sholar said. "We're hopeful that we are not going to lose our momentum. We were poised for great growth, but the kind of year we just are coming out of with some prospects of drought out there have slowed things down just a bit."


I caught up with Sholar to talk about the planting of the 2015 canola crop. In talking with seed company reps and with growers the canola association has found most growers intend to continue to plant canola this year.   Sholar said he anticipates a slight drop in acreage especially in the southwest part of the state.


Canola planting is just getting underway. Under guidelines from the Risk Management Agency, farmers have a 30 day window to plant the crop. Sholar said farmers should not under estimate the importance of planting as it relates to the eventual outcome of what you harvest next May or June.  Click or tap here to read more or to hear our full conversation with Ron Sholar.    

Japanese Love Combination of US Beef and Baseball

The Japanese love baseball. They also love US beef. When you put the two together you get a winning combination. That's what the US Meat Export Federation recently did as they promoted Nolan Ryan beef brand into the Japanese market. Yakiniku Den Restaurants, a Japanese-style BBQ restaurant chain headquartered in Osaka, Japan, recently completed a major promotion for Nolan Ryan Beef in their restaurants in Japan. USMEF helped celebrate the top winners from this promotion at a baseball game in Houston, Texas. USMEF President and CEO Phil Seng said it was a great evening.


"Nolan Ryan has had a tremendous interest in Japanese market for a long time," Seng said. "He visited Japan back in 2007 with the opening of the market. He was part of those festivities in kicking it off with promotions and with seminars. He has his own brand with Nolan Ryan Beef and he has done very well in Japan. Nolan Ryan is a big name in this country, but also in Japan for their love of baseball."


The star power of Nolan Ryan was able to line up with this popular barbecue chain and a great promotion was the result. Ryan has built partnered with a powerful barbecue chain called Yakiniku Den Restaurants, a Japanese-style BBQ restaurant located in western Japan. Seng said Ryan is hosting the President of the company along with a lot of the managers along with the importers that helped bring in that product.  Click here to read or to listen to this Beef Buzz feature. 
 

20-Year Study Shows Levels of Pesticides Concerning for Aquatic Life

Levels of pesticides continue to be a concern for aquatic life in many of the Nation's rivers and streams in agricultural and urban areas, according to a new US Geological Survey study spanning two decades (1992-2011). Pesticide levels seldom exceeded human health benchmarks.


Over half a billion pounds of pesticides are used annually in the U.S. to increase crop production and reduce insect-borne disease, but some of these pesticides are occurring at concentrations that pose a concern for aquatic life.


The proportion of streams with one or more pesticides that exceeded an aquatic-life benchmark was similar between the two decades for streams and rivers draining agricultural and mixed-land use areas, but much greater during the 2002-2011 for streams draining urban areas. 

You can click or tap here to read more- but that major conclusion from this study suggests that homeowners in urban areas may be more careless with pesticides than folks in production agriculture are- thinking if a little is good- a little more is better.  

State Fair of Oklahoma is Underway- Livestock Judging, Ice Cream Judging and Pork Chop Eating Included

It was a mild and pleasant opening day for the 2014 State Fair of Oklahoma yesterday- and I am proud to say that we enjoyed our first pork chop sandwich of this year's event yesterday afternoon. It's the not the finest example of photography in the world- but here's that little piggy- one of many that the Oklahoma Pork Council will be serving in OKC and Tulsa in the next few weeks:

Kristan Alsup with the OPC says that the opening day was a good first day of sales for the Pork Chop Shop- as they offer the Pork Chop Sandwich as well as the Pulled Pork and the Pork Burger.  They are out where they have been for years- on the west side of the now defunct Space Needle.

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Meanwhile, the Young Farmers and Ranchers of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau are welcoming several hundred 4-H and FFA youngsters this morning to the fair as they compete in their annual Livestock Judging Competition. They start at 8 AM and will be judging throughout the morning- with awards to be handed out this afternoon about 1 PM or so.

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And we look forward to helping Susan Allen and the DairyMAX folks on Sunday afternoon for the annual Ice Cream Contest- it begins at 2 PM in the Creative Arts Building- and as always there are three categories to judge (it's a HARD job!) and the public get to be in on the selection process as for a small tasting fee- you can taste all of the entries and vote for the "People's Choice."  Come on out and join the fun on Sunday- it's looks like it will be a perfect day weather wise so everybody and their dog will be there- you might as well be, too!

We have the daily activities related to the Livestock Barns listed on our Calendar on the website- click or tap here and check it out.