Certified Angus Beef Sets 8th Consecutive Sales Record 

When change and uncertainty are everywhere, that which remains the same stands out. Perhaps that's why, with the highest beef prices the world has ever seen, the 17,000 Certified Angus Beef ® (CAB®) brand partners in 47 countries celebrated eight straight years of record sales and the tenth consecutive year of growth.


Fiscal 2014, which ended September 30, saw a 400,000-head decline in the number of Angus-influenced cattle available at the brand's 30 licensed packing plants across North America. But a greater share of those featured Angus influence and a record proportion met the 10 CAB carcass specifications, resulting in a net gain of more than 80,000 additional cattle accepted.


Translated to beef sales volume, that meant the new annual mark to beat is 882 million pounds, 2% higher than last year's 865 million. More cattlemen followed market signals that pay $50 million in yearly brand premiums according to research this year, while partners in the beef trade provided more consumers dependable value for the higher price tag.


Consumer sales could be seen as 4.7 billion three-ounce servings that injected $6.8 billion into the beef industry in the last year.  Click here to read more on how Angus cattle have never been worth more money than they are now.
 

BIO Group Applauds USDA Efforts to Address Weed Resistance

New and diverse strategies are needed for farmers to better fight weeds in today's agricultural systems said the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Thursday.


"Because weeds are very effective at stealing light, water and nutrients needed by crops, effective weed management is critical to farmers' productivity," says Cathleen Enright, BIO's Executive Vice President for Food and Agriculture. "And while weed resistance has been plaguing farmers for millennia, we are pleased with the urgency that the Department is placing on this challenge."


The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced October 15 several new programs aimed at addressing weeds management.  Click here to read more from the group BIO on how this will help seed companies combat herbicide resistance.   

Cheaper Feed Prices Boosting Finished Cattle Weights

One of the realities of the US cattle industry is having some of the smallest numbers the nation has seen in decades. As producers begin to retain heifers and grow their cowherd, that means even tighter cattle supplies in the days to come. Livestock Marketing Information Center Director Jim Robb said while there are fewer numbers, many of the cattle in feedlots are being fed to heavier weights.


"Steer dressed weights have gone up dramatically, we've had strong year over year increases," Robb said. "The normal pattern is for year over year increases but we haven't had those really the last five or six weeks. We have had slaughter number running this past week nearly eight percent below a year ago for all cattle. Steer and heifer slaughter running four to five percent below a year ago. We probably haven't done a very good job marketing cattle but its worked out well to the advantage of feedlots."


While there are very tight supplies of cattle as indicated by the slaughter level reports, Robb said its unusual in this type market environment there are record high steer weights averaging 893 pounds in the prior week. That was up six pounds week over week and 26 pounds above a year ago, but in the current market it doesn't make as much difference. He said it doesn't seem to be a major problem for the industry as packers are still stepping forward and buying these cattle.  Click here to listen or to read more from Jim Robb on our Beef Buzz feature on how heavier weights could bring cattle prices lower.  

FFA runs in the blood, literally, for Gatlin Squires of Kingfisher, Oklahoma. As the son and grandson of agricultural education teachers, FFA has been a way of life for this Oklahoma State University freshman. Since the age of four he has had lots of FFA memories and aspirations in watching other FFA members.


"I always wanted a blue jacket of my own to wear," Squires said.


As a eighth grader, Squires remembers watching his older brother compete in prepared public speaking and extemporaneous speaking contests, which seemed daunting for the teenager.


" I was very quiet and shy and I really wasn't a very good speaker at the time," Squires said. "But seeing my brother be able to go in and do this, I just knew he was the greatest in the world at public speaking."


A few years later Squires followed his brother's footsteps in competing in his first FFA speech contest his junior year. Since then he has gotten a lot better at public speaking in winning the state FFA extemporaneous speaking contest. This month he will travel to Louisville, Kentucky for the 2014 National FFA Convention to represent Oklahoma in the national extemporaneous speech contest.

I interviewed Squires to talk about preparing for the national speech contest.  Click here to listen to the full interview.  He will also be my guest on the "In the Field" segment Saturday morning at 6:40 on KWTV News9 in Oklahoma City.    

This preview of the 2014 National FFA Convention is sponsored- as will all of our reports coming from Louisville later this month- by the Oklahoma FFA Association, the Oklahoma FFA Alumni and your Oklahoma Ford Dealers.  

Canola Planting Complete- Early Stands Look Good- The Latest Pics

Oklahoma's 2015 Winter Canola crop has been planted- and as we scouted both wheat and canola fields this week- we found this canola field just north of P&K Equipment on US 81 in Kingfisher County which was nicely up to stand.


The photo below(taken October 15, 2014) shows that the crop is up and growing and got a nice shot of precipitation from this past weekend's rains. Weeds are also in the field and in some cases also overwhelming the canola. It's likely that when the field dries out- this farmer will be applying some Roundup to clean up these weeds. 

Click here to view more pictures from this field- taken on Wednesday of this week.

The Five Nations Beef Alliance* concluded a successful meeting and tour in south Texas last week, capped by the unanimous endorsement of a public statement calling for all Trans-Pacific Partnership nations to support 'gold standard outcomes' for beef that do not sacrifice important reforms for political expediency.


The annual meeting, hosted by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, unites beef industry leaders from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. This year, members of the group toured several Texas beef value chain operations, including McFaddin Enterprises Ltd., a fifth-generation ranch operated by NCBA President Bob McCan; King Ranch; Graham Land & Cattle, a 30,000 head feedlot; and Capitol Land & Livestock, one of the largest livestock dealers in the United States. The group also visited HEB, an important retail partner which offers a wide variety of beef cuts to consumers.


"The opportunity to bring producer leaders from across the world to Texas and showcase the beef industry in the United States was an honor for me and my family," said McCan. "During the course of the week, we formed working relationships that cross political boundaries and it's those relationships that will benefit our producers in the United States as we work together to find common ground in the future." 

Click here to read more of the priorities set out by the Five Nations Beef Alliance. 

Anderson Watching Global Uncertainity In Markets

Wheat prices have turned around in recent weeks. There has been a 40 - 45 cent price increase from the bottom of the market. On this weekend's edition of SUNUP, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson offers his outlook for wheat prices.


"If you look at the December Kansas City wheat contract it's challenging the $6 dollar level, Anderson said. "Remember when it was down at $5.50, we said if it stays there we may challenge the $6. We got to $6. If it breaks $6 we'll go to $6.20. I think a good reason of that is last week's WASDE report. They lowered the ending stocks for wheat from to 698 million bushels to 654 million and I think that's significant."


There has been a little rally in the corn market as well. Anderson tells Lyndall Stout that analysts are equally divided as to whether the market has reached its bottom. The big unknown is the size of this year's corn crop. Corn harvest is behind schedule, which is a concern for Anderson. The latest US Department of Agriculture report, the national corn yield average was raised to 174.2 bushels per acre and some analysis think it could go higher to 176 bushels an acre.   USDA also lowered the number of harvested acres from 83.8 million to 83.1 million acres. Anderson said traders will be watching how USDA will adjust the national yield average and number of harvested acre in the November crop production report. 

Click here to read more about the global factors that could influence world commodity prices.