National Corn, Soybean and Cotton Crops Gaining in Maturity, Quality Holds Steady 

The nation's corn, soybean and cotton crops are holding steady in quality and maturity is nearly on pace with the five-year average. That's according to the latest crop progress report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The nation's corn crop is improving in condition. In the top 18 corn producing states in the nation, the crop gained two percentage points in the excellent category. Overall the crop was rated 69 percent good to excellent condition. Crop maturity came within one point of the five-year average with 55 percent of the crop silking.


"While crop progress reaches a more normal state of maturity for this point in the season, it is heartening to see that corn quality remains high," said National Corn Growers Association President Chip Bowling. "As tasseling still lies ahead, a more advantageous mixture of sun, heat and well-timed showers could improve the crop further. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that, as we see many years, it will be difficult to accurately determine the final yield and size of the crop until we finish harvesting and assess the corn we place in our bins."


Despite the progress toward silking across the country last week, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Texas continue to lag the five-year average by 10 or more points.


The nation's soybean crop is on track with average with 56 percent of the crop blooming and 17 percent setting pods. That's in line with the five year average. In the top 18 soybean producing states in the nation, 62 percent of the crop was in good to excellent condition. That's unchanged over the previous week.


The nation's cotton crop improved in condition, gaining one point in the excellent category. In the 15 main cotton producing states, USDA reported 57 percent of the crop rated in good to excellent condition. USDA reported 76 percent of the crop was squaring, behind the five-year average of 81 and 33 percent of the crop was setting bolls. That's three points behind the average of 36.


Click here for the full national crop progress report.  

Southern Plains Row Crops Progressing and Showing Improvement

Oklahoma's corn crop is holding steady, but maturity has made huge strides. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Monday reported the state's corn crop rated 64 percent good to excellent condition. That's unchanged over last week. Corn silking was 82 percent complete, up 17 points from last year and up two points from normal. Soybeans rated 57 percent good to excellent, up one point from last week. The state's cotton crop rated 77 percent good to excellent. That's down three points over last week. Cotton squaring reached 54 percent, down 22 points from last year and down two points from the average. Sorghum rated 78 percent good to excellent, up one point over last week with sorghum headed reaching 35 percent, up three points from average. The peanut crop rated 81 percent good to excellent, unchanged over last week. Click here for the full Oklahoma report.


Corn and sorghum harvest has started in Texas. USDA reports 23 percent of the state's corn crop has been harvested, behind the five year average of 39. Fourteen percent of the sorghum crop has been harvested, behind the five-year average of 29. Crop condition has held nearly steady across the board. USDA reports 63 percent of the corn was in good to excellent condition, 66 percent of the sorghum, 50 percent of the cotton and 56 percent of the peanuts. Click here for the full Texas report.


Wheat harvest in Kansas has nearly wrapped up for another year. USDA reports 96 percent of the crop has been harvested. The Kansas corn crop rated 58 percent good to excellent, up three points from the previous week. Corn silking reached 64 percent, which remains behind last year, but near average. The state's soybean crop rated 51 percent good to excellent. That's up three points from the previous week.   Blooming was at 32 percent, behind last year and the average. The state's cotton crop rated 61 percent good to excellent, down one point from last week. Cotton squaring was at 34 percent, near last year but well behind the 65 average. Click here for the full Kansas report. 

Peel Provides Outlook for Cattle, Hogs and Poultry for Remainder of 2015

With the marketing year halfway over, Oklahoma State University Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel is watching movement of both beef and cattle prices. He is watching a number of factors including the global economic situation and the strength of the U.S. dollar.


"Right now, the dollar has sort of stopped depreciating against many currencies, but it's probably going to stay at a relatively high level," Peel said.


The strong U.S. dollar is a double edged sword. Peel said it hurts U.S. beef exports, while it helps imports coming into the U.S. from Australia and New Zealand.


In looking at the outlook for feed resources, Peel continues to watch corn and soybean production. While the industry has a pretty good estimate on planted corn acres, it's hard to determine the number of acres planted to soybeans. With both crops, Peel said it's hard to estimate what the number of acres harvested will be and estimating yield potential will be challenging with the variable growing conditions.


Cattle prices look to remain strong, as tight beef supplies will continue for the second half of 2015. Peel said a lot will be determined by how aggressive producers get this year with herd expansion. He said there will be an increase in the calf crop because of the increase in cow numbers last year, but that will be offset by an increase in heifer retention. In talking with cattle producers, Peel said there is a lot of optimism. With record prices, there has been a lot of focus on expanding the cowherd, but producers in the Southern Plains haven't been able to do that until recently. 

Dr. Peel is our start of the week guest on Beef Buzz- and you can hear his comments by clicking or tapping here. 
 

Federation of State Beef Councils Awards Grants

State beef councils in seven states have been awarded grants from the Federation Initiative Fund grant program for upcoming efforts to increase consumer demand for beef in their states. The grants from the Federation of State Beef Councils are made to states with substantial consumer populations. The most recent awards were announced at the 2015 Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver July 18.


Requests to the Federation Initiative Fund are considered and voted on by the Federation Executive Committee, and may be granted at either the Cattle Industry Summer Conference or the Cattle Industry Convention. Total awards for the seven programs at the 2015 Summer Conference was $58,200.


The seven states and their awards were:

Arizona Beef Council - Gate to Plate Tour Series -- $7,600

Florida Beef Council - Nutrition Farm to Fork Tour -- $11,000

Hawaii Beef Council - Summer Sundays: Beef Fusion Recipes and Stories for Mothers in Hawaii -- $5,600

Indiana Beef Council - Fort Wayne's Best Beef Chili -- $4,000

New York Beef Council - Get Fit with the Protein Challenge -- $18,000

Ohio Beef Council - Team BEEF Prime Cuts Program -- $7,000

Pennsylvania Beef Council - Millennial 2 Millennial (M2M) 2.0 -- $5,000
 

Click here to read more.

Seminole County Receives USDA Funding for Rural Broadband Projects

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Monday announced $85.8 million in funding to strengthen access to high speed broadband for rural America. The grant includes $1.5 Oklahoma's @Link Services to provide high-speed broadband to homes, businesses and critical community facilities in parts of Seminole County.


"Broadband is fundamental to expanding economic opportunity and job creation in rural areas, and it is as vital to rural America's future today as electricity was when USDA began bringing power to rural America 80 years ago," said Vilsack. "The investments USDA is making today will deliver broadband to rural communities that are currently without high-speed internet service, or whose infrastructure needs to be upgraded. Improved connectivity means these communities can offer robust business services, expand access to health care and improve the quality of education in their schools, creating a sustainable and dynamic future those who live and work in rural America."


 The Telecommunications Loan and Community Connect Grant programs are an important part of USDA's broadband efforts.  Click here to read more about the Telecommunications Loans and Community Connect Grants.  

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.

Blue-Green Algae in Stock Ponds Can Threaten Livestock

Dr. Josh Payne, Oklahoma State University Extension Poultry Specialist, writes in the latest Cow/Calf Corner newsletter.
 

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are microscopic organisms that can be found in all types of water including farm ponds. Being photosynthetic, they utilize sunlight to support life. For most of the year, the concentrations are low and the organism is homogenously suspended in the water. However, during hot, dry summertime conditions organisms can rapidly multiply resulting in high concentrations called blooms. The blooms may range in color from blue to bright green, brown or red and may resemble paint floating on the water or pea soup. Blooms are more common in warm, slow moving water that is nutrient enriched. Storm events followed by prolonged periods of hot temperatures can often trigger a bloom.


Some cyanobacteria can produce toxins that can be harmful to livestock affecting the nervous system and liver. Toxins affecting the nervous system can cause muscle tremors, difficulty breathing, convulsions and death while toxins affecting the liver can cause weakness, pale mucous membranes, bloody diarrhea and death. The wind can actually blow the algae bloom to one side of the water source, thus concentrating it. Dead animals may be observed near these concentrated areas.
 

The Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory can help identify the algae by sending them a pint container of the suspect water.  Click here to read more about collecting a sample and preventative tips to reduce livestock exposure to blue green algae.

Rain Storms Invade Oklahoma- Temperatures Drop But Not For Long

Day time highs for at least the northern half of Oklahoma will only be into the 80s today- after low to mid 90s has been the norm for much of July.  

The storm system that has parked over Oklahoma has provided the cooler temps as well as sizable rainfall totals for the second half of July.

Rainfall amounts have basically shown up from about I-40 north- with the heaviest totals very much spread out- Gary McManus' favorite town, Buffalo, has clocked five inches of rain- 5.02 to be exact in the last 24 hours.  Cookson in far eastern Oklahoma has received 4.15 inches of rain while Newkirk has 3.7 inches of rainfall in its official Mesonet rain gauge. 

Click here to review the realtime Mesonet rainfall map- you'll note that southern Oklahoma locations have been left out of this mid summer shot of rainfall.

Meanwhile- the temps have moderated across Oklahoma for at least today- but that will not last long, according to Jed Castles with News9 in OKC.  Jed provides the none day forecast for us in graphic form- note we are facing 100s as a possibility around the first of this coming week.