Prospective Plantings Report is Bearish for Corn and Bullish for Soybeans- Tom Leffler talks with Leslie Smith 

Soybeans are in the driver's seat in gaining acres across the U.S. The 2015 Prospective Plantings Report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed a record number of soybean acres will be planted in the U.S. this year, while corn, wheat and cotton acres are shrinking. Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities said the report held a few surprises.


"Overall the numbers came in line with what they (traders) were expecting, but not quite to the extreme they expected, so it ended up being a little bit negative for the corn and wheat and positive for soybeans," Leffler said. 


U.S. corn growers intend to plant 89.199 million acres in 2015. That was down two percent or almost 1.4 million acres from last year, but higher than trade expectations. Leffler said the trade was looking for that number to be below 89 million and if it was closer to 88 million that would have been more positive for corn trading in the futures market.


U.S. soybean acres were pegged at 84.635 million acres. If realized, this would be a record number of soybean acres. That was 934,000 more acres than last year. Leffler said that was lower than expectations as traders were looking for 86 million acres, so the lower number was positive for soybean prices.


Wheat acres in the U.S. declined. The all - wheat acreage was estimated at 55.367 million acres. That was down three percent over last year or almost 1.5 million acres. Winter wheat acres came in at 40.751 million acres. Leffler said Kansas was down 200,000 acres, Oklahoma was up 100,000, Texas was down 100,000, and Colorado was down 250,000 acres. Spring wheat was projected at 12.969 million acres, down 56,000 from a year ago. Leffler said the wheat projections came in lower than trade estimates.


USDA also released the Quarterly Grain Stock report. Corn stocks totaled 7.74 billion bushels, up 11 percent or 737 million bushels more than a year ago. On-farm corn stocks were up 13 percent from a year ago, and off-farm stocks were up 7 percent. Leffler said the corn grain stocks number came in at the top end of trader's estimates, so that was negative for the corn market. 

Click here to read more or to listen to the full interview with Tom Leffler.  

More Soybean and Sorghum Acres Anticipated for Oklahoma This Spring- Canola Acres Off 46%

When it comes to spring planted crops- soybeans are king in Oklahoma in 2015- with farmers expected to plant 450,000 acres this spring- up 23% from a year ago.


Grain sorghum plantings are also expected to rise in Oklahoma this spring, hitting 410,000 acres- eleven percent higher than the planted number of 2014.

Corn and cotton acres will also increase this year over 2014- in fact the 8% increase in cotton acres to 260,000 acres is the only increase in cotton acres in any cotton belt state recorded by USDA in this report.

The most disappointing number coming from USDA when it comes to Oklahoma acreage was the cutback in Winter Canola Acres- canola acreage is 54% of last year's drought ravaged crop- standing at just 145,000 acres compared to 270,000 acres planted the fall before. The drought ravaged canola and wheat crop harvested last June shoved many producers away from canola- at least for this growing season.  

For Oklahoma, the 2015 Prospective Plantings Report was not a surprise in the two major commodities that occupy 85% of our cropped/hayed acres in the state. Right at half of the acres mentioned in the March 31st report released by USDA for Oklahoma are planted to winter wheat- 5.4 million acres, which is up two percent from the 2014 crop that was planted in the fall of 2013. Another 3.1 million acres is expected to be hayed in 2015 in Oklahoma- 14% less than that of a year ago.

In the case of winter wheat- Oklahoma has the third most planted acres of any state- only behind Kansas with 9.4 million acres and Texas with 5.9 million acres.

More on the Oklahoma angle from this much anticipated report is available here- and we have more details from the national report as well and commentary from Rich Nelson from Allendale.  

Op-Ed: Why is the Right to Farm and Ranch Resolution a Big Deal?

Op-Ed Written By Tom Buchanan, Oklahoma Farm Bureau President 


"Oklahoma is a rural, agricultural state with a multi-billion dollar agriculture industry. It would seem logical for agricultural producers to have the right to produce food and fiber using the latest research-proven techniques. That is why Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm group, supports HJR 1012, co-authored by State Rep. Scott Biggs and State Sen. Jason Smalley.


"The resolution, which has already passed in the Oklahoma House, would place on the 2016 general election ballot a proposal to amend the Oklahoma Constitution guaranteeing the right to engage in certain farming and ranching practices.


"Makes good, common sense, right? As Will Rogers once said, "If sense was so common, everyone would have it."


"This resolution would make it more difficult for outside interests to come into Oklahoma in an attempt to dictate agricultural production practices. This is not an issue of water use and regulation as certain urban and municipal interests claim."

Click here to read more  on HJR 1012 from Tom Buchanan.   

OSU Research Finds Beef Demand is Back

Going into the recession, things didn't look so good for beef demand. But everyone can now breathe a sigh of relief, says new research from Oklahoma State University. OSU animal scientist Deb VanOverbeke recently co-authored research on consumer trends in the beef business.


"Really, when we started looking at it, spending is back to pre-recession levels, you see the impact of that price and convenience and eating satisfaction are still important contributors to buying beef product," VanOverbeke said. "You still see demand for steaks. You even have lower-income households that are making more meals with meat. Although that may be ground beef, but it's still using meat. And you still see a great demand for beef product, even with the recession that we've been through."


Millennials-those who are 18 to 34-years old, consume more beef than those over 35. That's encouraging.


"Everyone says they don't know how to cook and what to do," VanOverbeke said. "But you see them using it more, cooking in-home meals with meat, as well as eating meat more in restaurants, no matter whether it's full-service or whether it's a quick-service, or whether it's the booming burger value chains that are out there. And so, the fact that millennials are eating more beef than the other groups, and that they're willing to pay for steaks and ground beef and any cut, is huge for the beef industry."


The research also pointed to a growing trend toward higher demand for branded beef products.  Click here to read more or to watch this video news release from CAB and the American Angus Association.  

Global Interest in Producing Sustainable Beef

The U.S. cattle industry has a great sustainability story to tell. A key player in helping measure sustainability and tell the story is Kim Stackhouse-Lawson. She is the Director of Sustainability Research for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Stackhouse-Lawson said while the cattle industry has done a good job in improving its environmental footprint in recent years, there is still some improvements that can be made. Not just for the beef industry but across the entire food chain that lies at the end of the food pipeline.


"Forty percent of the food agriculture produces is wasted," Stackhouse-Lawson said. "Only 20 percent of beef is wasted, but if we could reduce consumer food waste by half, we could improve the sustainability of beef 10 percent overnight. So it is absolutely the full chain working together to create more sustainable beef."


There are lots of critics of beef production. Stackhouse-Lawson said unfortunately in the sustainability space, it is so complex there isn't a easy way to combat those negative messages. In talking with critics, she recommends walking them through the value chain and explain beef production and how it contributes more than just beef. For instance, beef production provides open space for wildlife habitat, which sequesters carbon and provides clean water. 
  

The U.S. beef sustainability study was supported by the dollar per head beef checkoff.  Click here to read more or have the opportunity to listen to this Beef Buzz feature.

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 to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.

USDA Provide $332 Million to Protect and Restore Agricultural Lands, Grasslands and Wetlands

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Tuesday announced that U.S. Department of Agriculture is making available $332 million in financial and technical assistance through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will accept ACEP applications to help productive farm and ranch lands remain in agriculture and to protect the nation's critical wetlands and grasslands, home to diverse wildlife and plant species.


"USDA helps farmers, ranchers, private forest landowners and partners to achieve their conservation goals using our technical expertise, Farm Bill funding and sound conservation planning," Vilsack said. "Conservation easements are an important tool to help these landowners and partners voluntarily provide long-term protection of our nation's farmland, ranchland, wetlands and grasslands for future generations."


The 2014 Farm Bill consolidated three previous conservation easement programs into ACEP to make it easier for diverse agricultural landowners to fully benefit from conservation initiatives. NRCS easement programs have been a critical tool in recent years for advancing landscape-scale private lands conservation. In FY 2014, NRCS used $328 million in ACEP funding to enroll an estimated 145,000 acres of farmland, grassland, and wetlands through 485 new easements.
 

ACEP applications may be submitted at any time to NRCS; however, applications for the current funding round must be submitted on or before May 15, 2015.  Click here to read more about ACEP.  

Big Iron Wednesday

It's Wednesday- and that means the Big Iron folks will be busy closing out this week's auction items - all 634 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.