From Drought to Flood: the Hammon Story

One town, two droughts, two floods, two very different results.


Straddling the boundaries of Roger Mills and Custer Counties in a river bend where the Washita River joins Big Kiowa Creek, sits the small town of Hammon. During the Dust Bowl, Hammon baked beneath crushing drought. Crops withered and herds dwindled. Poor land management left the soil hard, erodible and, most cruelly, nearly impervious to water.


When rain finally came to Hammon in April 1934, the hard ground was ill prepared to accept the 14 inch downpour. When its tributaries flooded, the Washita River swelled two miles beyond its banks. The flood that swept through Hammon stole 17 lives and caused $53 million dollars in damage adjusted to today's dollars. Families, homes, roads, bridges, railroads and crops all suffered.


After four years of drought, spring 2015 has again brought rains to the town of Hammon. The area received 26 inches of rain between April and May-twice that received in the same period in 1934.


"The dams are making the difference," said Nena Wells, Upper Washita Conservation District manager. "We'd likely be underwater if it weren't for them."


Wells is referring to the 143 flood control dams constructed in Roger Mills County since the 1950s. This network of dams, built along tributary streams of larger rivers, is designed to capture and slow the flow of water as it moves downstream. Compared to zero percent flood control in 1934, the dam network has captured 58 percent of floodwater upstream of Hammon this, according to USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Water Resource Office estimates. As a result, damage in town was minimal.


During Memorial Day weekend, watershed experts with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission (OCC), the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts and the National Watershed Coalition surveyed flood control structures from a helicopter.  Click here to read more about their findings and see aerial pictures.
 

Rainfall Delays Planting Progress Across Southern Plains

Oklahoma received record setting precipitation this past week. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported eight districts had the wettest period on record since 1921.   This last week's rainfall boosted the state's top soil and subsoil moisture conditions to mostly adequate to surplus. In the weekly crop progress report, the wheat crop condition rated 36 percent good to excellent, 41 percent fair and 23 percent poor to very poor. The crop lost three points in the good to excellent category. The canola crop rated 61 percent good to fair. Row crop seeding continued to be delayed throughout the state due to wet conditions. Pasture and range conditions were rated 78 percent good to fair. Click here for the full Oklahoma report.


Thunderstorms moved across Texas this past week bringing upwards of ten inches of precipitation. Lodging of wheat and oats due to flooding and high winds was experienced in several regions. USDA reports the wet conditions have delayed wheat harvest with four percent of the crop in the bin.   USDA reports 56 percent of the wheat crop was in good to excellent condition, 31 percent fair and 13 percent poor to very poor condition. Corn planting gained two points with 77 percent of the crop planted and 74 percent emerged. Sorghum was 72 percent planted, soybeans were 69 percent, cotton was 29 percent and peanuts were 32 percent. Click here for the full Texas report.


Precipitation fell statewide across Kansas this past week. The heaviest rainfall, up to three inches, fell in southwest and south central Kansas. USDA reported 30 percent of the wheat crop is in good to excellent condition, 42 percent fair and 28 percent in poor to very poor. The crop gained one point in the fair category. Corn was 84 percent planted, behind last year and the average of 92. Soybeans were 20 percent planted, sorghum was nine percent and cotton was at nine percent. Click here for the full Kansas report.  

As Planting Nears Completion, Corn Crop Appears to Be in Good Condition

Corn farmers have nearly completed plantings for 2015 according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Advancing to 92 percent complete, growers' progress now surpasses the five-year average for this time by four points.


"With planting nearly complete, farmers turn to best management practices and hopefully favorable weather to nurture the crop along," said National Corn Growers Association President Chip Bowling. "Despite the implications of a swift and successful planting season, a record-setting crop is not guaranteed by any means. A long summer still lies ahead and, as in many years, the fate of the crop will largely be decided by propitiously timed rains in the middle of the summer."


Corn emerged also exceeded the average with 74 percent of all acres up by May 24. The five-year average at this point is 62 percent. Michigan and Wisconsin both achieved 35 or more points beyond the five-year average for maturity, the greatest margin seen last week.


The report also included the first assessment of the 2015 corn crop quality, with 74 percent of corn acres rated either good or excellent. As the crop maturity has progressed more quickly than in previous years, there is not data point of comparison available.


Soybean planting reached 61 percent complete. That's a gain of 16 points over last week. Progress was six points ahead of last year and the five year average.  

Cotton planting nationally reached 47 percent.  That's behind last year's 60 and the five year average of 61.


To view the full report released Monday, click here.  

Peel Foresees Another Great Year for Herd Rebuilding

The recent rains has reduced the effects of drought and helped the grassland recover across much of Oklahoma and Texas. That bodes well for cattle producers looking to increase their herd numbers. Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel said this rain is exactly what cattle producers needed.


"I think it's going to be a pretty significant effect, as we go forward," Peel said. "The issue for the last several years in the beef industry has been sort of what we had to do, as opposed to what we wanted to do."


In the last month, the southern plains areas that had the worst drought in that region have received significant amounts of rain. That's going to allow for herd expansion. Some of these areas have been in drought for so long and will need additional time to recover. Peel thinks this is going to stimulate expansion for the foreseeable future.


"I think we are going to see fairly aggressive expansion pace here in 2015 as we go forward," Peel said. 


I featured Peel on our latest Beef Buzz, as heard on great radio stations around the state on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network. Click or tap here to listen to this Beef Buzz.


In the latest Cow/Calf Corner newsletter, Peel offers more lessons in beef demand.  Click here to read more. 
  

Monsanto Moving Forward with New Canola Products and Biotech Wheat

Biotech wheat is still several years away, but the seed company Monsanto will be making some important decisions in the near future. Monsanto Regional Director for State Government Affairs Duane Simpson said the company is finishing with phase two of their first generation biotech wheat and they will decide soon when they will advance into phase three. He said this starts the work with regulatory approvals, which could take six to eight years.


Monsanto will also release two new products for canola farmers in the near future. TruFlex Roundup Ready canola allows farmers a broader window of application for Roundup. The second product is dicamba tolerant canola. Simpson said this will give farmers three different herbicides plus Roundup. This will give farmers multiple modes of action for weed control. He said this will help clean up fields, especially if farmers are seeing some issues with glyphosate resistant weeds. Simpson said these products are going through their final regulatory approvals.


Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have become a hot button issue for some consumers. With Monsanto continuing to develop new and more advanced seed lines, Simpson said Monsanto is doing a lot to improve the public perception and acceptance of GMOs by helping people understand GMO's and the benefits of planting GMO's.  

Click here to read more or have the opportunity to listen to the full interview as Simpson addresses why a national GMO labeling standard is needed.  

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.

Could the Flood Gates be Needed at Lake Altus Lugert? 

It has been three years since a drop of irrigation water has been delivered from Lake Altus Lugert in southwestern Oklahoma.  The Lake Level has gradually declined to a point where this spring it dipped below ten percent of being filled up to the point where the conservation pool is full. In mid February, there was just a little over 12,000 acre feet of water in the lake- and that was 9.2% of normal.

When we were at the State Lodge for the spring Peanut meeting where Mike Kubicek was honored for his service to the industry ahead of his retirement- it was crazy low- lots of dirt seen around the water left and lots of weeds grown up in what is normally the Lake bed.  

Well- for the time being- that is all just a memory.  As of early this morning- the conservation pool had passed the 85% full level- and by the end of this week- the lake could hit the 100% mark.  Inflows continue at almost 10,000 cubic feet per second- and that makes it certain that this multi purpose lake will be full again- and perhaps some or all of the flood gates may be opened. The current numbers show Lake Altus at 85.65% full, with over 110,000 acre feet now in place. (it's up over 15,000 acre feet since 7 am yesterday morning!)

In a Facebook post by long time resident and farmer Robert Dan Robbins, he says he last remembers all of the flood gates at Lake Altus Lugert being opened in 1997.  

For cotton producers in the irrigation district in primarily Jackson County- it's late to react to the possibility of irrigation water being available this year- but the 2016 growing season may be the first irrigated cotton crop in several for those producers.

This N That -  Nominees Sent to the Governor and It's Big Iron Wednesday

The district five election for a wheat commissioner that will represent the industry on the Oklahoma Wheat Commission board was held this past week in Ponca City- and three nominees have been selected- with their names going to Governor Mary Fallin for her final selection of the Commissioner for a five year term.

The three nominees include incumbent Don Schieber of Ponca City, Brady Cooper of Newkirk and Stan Claybaker of Blackwell. 

With the Wheat Commission becoming more privatized when the new Fiscal Year rolls around July first- this is will be the last election where the nominees will be submitted to the Governor of the state.

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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 422 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.