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Dr. Tom Coon has quickly learned his way around the state of Oklahoma, even as he continues to get year one under his belt as the Dean and Vice President of the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Coon joined the OSU family last July, so he is learning the spring schedule that many in Oklahoma agriculture know by heart- late winter meetings, the Youth Expo, the Spring Oklahoma City Farm Show, the State FFA Convention and so much more.


Dr. Coon has shown up at a great many of the meetings already since last summer- and he told me as we talked at the winter Quarterly Board Meeting of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association "I'm a professional student and this is one more example of how I get paid to go out and learn things." On Tuesday, he started the day in Durant, learning about economic development as it is tied back to agriculture- and from Durant- he drove into Oklahoma City to offer noontime remarks to the OCA.


Dr. Coon bragged about the tremendous faculty and staff that makes up the Division of Ag and Natural Resources- and told the cattlemen and ladies that there's a lot of good things going on- both in Stillwater as well as across the state for DASNR. There are several building projects underway- and he said there is also some equipment upgrades happening as well. 

Details on those infrastructure projects are available here if you go and listen to my conversation with the Dean from that OCA gathering of yesterday.

The latest global grain stocks report was fairly quiet. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) report Tuesday morning. Market Analyst Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities said it was a typical February report.


"No big surprises, nothing really catching anyone off guard, no market moving numbers took place," Leffler said. "We saw a little tweaking of the numbers and that's pretty much it." 


In looking at the U.S. numbers, soybean ending stocks were lowered by 25 million bushels from last month to 385 million bushels. Leffler said that a result of imports increased by 10 million bushels, crush increased by 15 million bushels and exports increased by 20 million. He said that was no big surprise to the market, but a little lower than what the trade anticipated.


U.S. corn ending stocks were lowered by 50 million bushels from last month coming in at 1.827 billion bushels. Leffler said feed and residual use was lowered by 25 million bushels and ethanol usage was increased by 75 million bushels.


In the report, U.S. wheat ending stocks were mostly negative. Traders were expecting an increase, but the report showed a larger than expected boost in the nation's wheat supplies. Leffler said wheat ending stocks were increased by five million bushels to 692 million bushels, which was more than what the trade was looking for. Imports were lowered by 20 million bushels, exports were lowered by 25 million for a net increase in ending stocks of five million bushels. 
 

Read or have the opportunity to listen to the full report as Leffler breaks down the global WASDE production and stocks numbers, by clicking here.  

American Heart Association Certifies Extra Lean Ground Beef

The Beef Checkoff Program announced that Extra Lean Ground Beef (Ground Beef that is at least 96% lean, 4% fat) is now certified by the American Heart Association® to display its recognized and respected Heart-Check mark. Retailers now have the opportunity to help identify eight different extra lean beef items as options for part of an overall healthy diet to their shoppers using one of the most trusted nutrition icons on food packaging today.


The extra lean beef cuts that meet the American Heart Association's® requirements for heart-healthy foods as part of an overall healthy dietary pattern, and are certified to display the Heart-Check mark. 


Click here to read more about the eight different extra lean beef items that are heart healthy.   

Oklahoma Couple Named as a "Face of the Farm Bill"

In the month of February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is spotlighting the stories of farmers and ranchers who have been helped by the 2014 Farm Law. This week's couple hails from eastern Oklahoma and their story is being seen nationally on the USDA website.


A Oklahoma cattle ranch couple is sharing their story of trials and triumphs. Julie and Robert Carr left Texas 30 years ago to move to Oklahoma to buy a ranch and raise cattle. They started with 80 acres and built up to nearly 600 acres of pasture with 130 cows. Then came the drought, one of the worst in the state's history. Since 2011, the Carr's slowly watched everything they worked for dry up and wither away. With no wells and relying solely on surface water, they were hit hard. Like many Oklahomans, they started selling off their aged cows first, hoping the drought would end. But when they saw there was no end in sight, they made more drastic decisions and ended up selling 60 percent of their herd.


"We had to decide which cow to take to sale and which one to sacrifice in order to save another," said Julie. "We got to the point of praying for rain. When you see pastures turning into nothing and there is nothing you can do, you are helpless."  

Click here to read more about their story and how the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill saved their family ranch.   

This past year will go down in history as one of the best years for cattle producers. At the recent Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio, Texas, CattleFax Chief Executive Officer Randy Blach talked about the historic nature of 2014 for the beef cattle industry and for most of animal agriculture. He called it a "perfect storm".


"You just don't the stars line up like that," Blach said. "Everything happened, there wasn't enough protein domestically or globally and then when it started to rain, feed prices continued to softened and we saw increased expansion activity that really slowed down the number of animals being harvested. It really put things into motion, so we won't see another one like that for quite some time, but it was sure fun to see one." 


One of the great things about 2014 was the profitability that most of animal-agriculture enjoyed.


"Anybody in the protein business had an incredible year, it didn't matter if it was dairy or if it was pork or poultry or all of the segments of the beef cattle industry, they all had wonderful years," Blach said. "Most of these producers down here this week at this convention have spent a lifetime in this industry and you just won't repeat one of this magnitude, so it was great to see." 

Read and have the opportunity to listen to this Beef Buzz, including what producers need to watch for in 2015, by clicking here.    

Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains- Click here for Jerry's website where there is a link on the Left Hand Column where you can subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News. 

OSU's Pecan Management Course Begins March 10

Whether you are a seasoned grower, new to the industry or simply wanting information about pecans, the 2015 Fundamentals of Pecan Management course offered by Oklahoma State University will provide participants a wealth of research-based information.


OSU has been offering this course for 18 years and more than 500 people from around the region have participated over the years. The goal of the course is to provide an in-depth experience, both in the classroom and hands-on in the orchard, for current and prospective pecan growers, said Becky Carroll, OSU Cooperative Extension assistant specialist, fruit crops and pecans.


The class will meet one Tuesday per month beginning March 10 and continue through Oct. 20, with the exception of June. The meetings will take place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Cimarron Valley Research Station near Perkins.


A registration fee of $250 per person is due by Feb. 27. Click here for more information.  

This N That- Mike Thralls- Rest in Peace; OCIA Meeting and Big Iron Wednesday 

I got word last night of the passing of our long time friend Mike Thralls, former Executive Director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission.  Mike had been battling cancer- and this morning, that battle has ended.

Mike leaves a tremendous legacy in the world of conservation here in Oklahoma and nationally- he was honored just days ago by the National Association of Conservation Districts at their annual convention and last August- as he was packing up his office at the OCC, we had the opportunity of sitting down and talking with him about his career in Conservation work- you can hear his thoughts about those years of service by clicking here.

Details will be our later today regarding a memorial service for Mike- we will share that as we get it.

He will be missed. 

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The Annual Meeting of the Oklahoma Crop Improvement Association is set for this coming Friday and Saturday morning at the Oklahoma City Embassy Suites.   

We have been told that at the meeting- details will be unveiled about a new building that will house the Oklahoma Foundation Seed activities-

They have an excellent program- click here to see the actual program from their website

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It's Wednesday- and that means the Big Iron folks will be busy closing out this week's auction items - all 256 items consigned.  Bidding will start 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 or tapping here.