Edwards Provides Cautious Outlook for Wheat Lucas 

Oklahoma farmers are moving forward with wheat planting despite on-going drought concerns. The US Drought Monitor reports 91 percent of the state has been given a drought designation. That is a increase of almost 10 points in the last week. Oklahoma State University Wheat Extension Specialist Dr. Jeff Edwards is surprised wheat planting is running ahead of normal with about 60 percent of the crop planted.


"It's still fairly dry out there and to see that much planted does surprise me a little bit," Edwards said. "I think its all driven by the cattle market. We're short on pasture and we're going need some place for those stocker cattle to move and wheat pasture is the obvious place to get them there."


Some of the wheat that was planted in early September is starting to come up and its looking decent as there was still some moisture in the soil profile. Edwards said he is hopeful that the state can continue to receive some moisture to keep the crop going for wheat pasture as well as for the grain-only crop that is just starting to be planted.  


In recent years Oklahoma has been averaging about 5.2 million acres. If the state receives some timely rains in October, Edwards said he thinks wheat acres could increase to five and a half million acres to as high as 5.6 million acres.  

After a dismal wheat crop in 2014, farmers are cautious in putting that kind of investment into a crop with the unpredictable weather.  You can hear our conversation with Dr. Edwards by  clicking here and you can also read to his recommendations as well. 

Secretary Vilsack is Shooting for a New, Separate and Supplemental Beef Checkoff by 2016 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called some of the groups involved with the Beef Checkoff Enhancement Working Group into his office in Washington this past week and told them he was so frustrated with the current working group's failure to reach an agreement that he has plans to start a second checkoff under the 1996 generic checkoff act. According to Forest Roberts, CEO of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the Secretary announced his intentions to move forward in the near future with a "new, separate and supplemental beef checkoff." Roberts was in the meeting with the Secretary.


Also in the Secretary's office for that meeting was Immediate Past President of the NCBA, Wyoming Dairy farmer Scott George. George told the trade media in a teleconference on Friday afternoon that he was surprised at the announcement by the Secretary and that he was not supportive of a new separate checkoff that would be controlled more extensively by the Federal Goverment and would likely not be coordinated with the existing checkoff in building demand for the beef cattle producers of this country.

Roberts, George and Bob McCan, current President of the NCBA, all went on the record on Friday about the cattle group's concerns about adding a second federally mandated Beef Checkoff that would be more controlled by the Federal Government than the current program that has been in place since the late 1980s.  McCan told reporters that he fears this effort could prove to be detrimental to the current Checkoff Program that collects a dollar each time an animal changes hands.  

I have produced a special extended Beef Buzz featuring some of the key highlights from this past Friday afternoon's media briefing by the NCBA, offering their take on the ideas that have been run up the flagpole by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack. You can click or tap here to hear that report- as well as to read more from the Friday news conference. 

TSCRA Survey Shows Ranchers Plan Major Herd Rebuilding

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Marketing Committee recently conducted a survey where TSCRA members provided information on herd reductions, rebuilding intentions and primary rebuilding challenges.


Most survey participants indicated their herds are at 71% of their 10-year average herd size. This is in-line with previous drought surveys in 2011.


When asked about plans for herd rebuilding, responses indicated that members are positioning their operations for growth. If grazing and profitability conditions remain the same, 49% of ranchers expect to increase their herd size by an average of 34%.


If grazing and profitability conditions were to improve, 65% of responding ranchers expect to increase their herd size by an average of 35%. If grazing profitability conditions were to decline, 65% of respondents indicated they would either make no changes to or increase their herd size. 

Click here to read the TSCRA Marketing Committee Survey Executive Summary. 

Survey Finds Consumers Paying More For Bacon Cheeseburgers

Shoppers are paying slightly more for food at the grocery store compared to the first half of 2014. Higher retail prices for beef and pork products such as ground chuck and bacon, among other foods, resulted in a slight increase in the American Farm Bureau Federation's latest Semi-Annual Market Basket Survey.


The informal survey shows the total cost of 16 food items that can be used to prepare one or more meals was $54.26, up $1.06 or about 2 percent compared to a survey conducted about a year ago. Of the 16 items surveyed, seven increased and nine decreased in average price.


"Several beef, pork and dairy products rose in price during the second half of the year, accounting for much of the increase in the marketbasket," said John Anderson, AFBF's deputy chief economist. "As anticipated, food prices have increased moderately - by about 2 percent - during 2014, which is essentially in line with the average rate of inflation over the past 10 years."   

Click here for the results of the latest market basket survey.  

Soy Buyers Prefer Predictability of U.S. Shipments

Some international buyers prefer U.S. soy to that from top competitors Brazil and Argentina because they can count on it reaching them in a timely manner, according to a new soy-checkoff-funded study.


In fact, foreign soy buyers often pay as much attention to the timeliness of a shipment delivery as they do to the price. That's because late shipments can be expensive for buyers, as they incur costs in trying to find replacement crop, slowing down crush facilities and other problems that arise when shipments don't arrive in the time frame that was promised.


"Our industry depends on the reliability of our transportation system to keep us competitive in the global market," says Dwain Ford, soybean farmer from Kinmundy, Illinois, and United Soybean Board (USB) International Opportunities Target Area coordinator. "This study really shows the advantage the roads, rails and rivers give us and how important it is to maintain and improve our infrastructure."
  

 

Click here to read more on how the US has an advantage over Brazil and Argentina in meeting the demands of international customers. 

Oklahoma State University encourages farmers to take a broad based approach to controlling weeds. Across the nation a increasing number of weeds have been resistant to weed control products like glyphosate. Speaking at the recent OSU Caddo Research Station Tour at Fort Cobb, OSU Weed Specialist Todd Baughman said farmers need to look at a total program approach in controlling weeds in peanuts.


"We've got to start it from the front end with some type of pre-emergence or pre-plant incorporated program," Baughman said. "We have to be strong up front to set our general foundation."


While there are some post - emergence products, Baughman recommends using a residual product because peanuts are a slow growing crop, so weed control is important throughout the growing season. With the digging process at harvest late emerging weeds can also be problematic.   


I interviewed Baughman on the issues of herbicide resistant weeds.  Click here to learn more on treatment options in cotton, peanuts and soybeans. 

This N That - TSCRA Fall Gatherings in Elk City, Wagoner & Stillwater; Express Bull Sale and OCA Makes a Mean Ribeye Sandwich

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) will host a ranch gathering on Tuesday, October 7 at Elk City Convention Center in Elk City, on Wednesday, October 15th at the Wagoner Civic Center, and on Thursday, October 16 at the Payne Co. Expo Center - Heritage Hall in Stillwater, Okla. All three events begin with registration at 6:00 p.m. followed by a complimentary beef dinner.


The event is free and open to the public.  

The Elk City event will feature a legislative update and law enforcement news.  The Wagoner event will focus on issues facing ranchers and the Stillwater event will feature TSCRA Special Ranger Bart Perrier who will provide a law enforcement update and offer ranchers information on how they can keep their livestock and equipment safe and secure.


Please RSVP to 800-242-7820, ext. 192, or email to this address-  rsvp@tscra.org. You can also  Click here for directions.   

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A final reminder about the great folks at Express Ranches getting ready for their fall Bull Sale.  It starts at 12 Noon today- Click or tap here for details from their website.

They have videos of the Bulls being offered as well as a catalog of all of the offerings, Bulls and Females.

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 A post on Facebook alerted us to the word that has come over the weekend that the Oklahoma Cattlemen continue to fix a great sandwich at a real value- having been named the Best Food Item at the 2014 Tulsa State Fair!  

Congrats to OCA!