Dr. Jeff Edwards has moved on from his long time position at Oklahoma State University as the Extension Small Grains Specialist for Oklahoma- but he is still performing some of the duties associated with that job since assuming the position as Head of the Plant and Soil Science Department in the Division of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Edwards officially took on that role August first- but he talked about what he and other members of the Wheat Improvement Team learned over the course of the 2015 Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop growing season during the Oklahoma Wheat Review held on Tuesday at Redlands Community College in El Reno.


Dr. Edwards told us after his presentation "we learned a lot- you know sometimes the school of hard knocks teaches you some valuable lessons" and said at the top of the list of things that he learned was "wheat streak mosaic is no longer just a problem in the Oklahoma Panhandle and that it can be an issue that can create difficulties between neighbors. The vector for that virus is the wheat curl mite, and and if it moves from one neighbor to another we can have issues there." The key to control, according to Dr. Edwards, is to make sure any volunteer wheat on your land is totally dead two weeks ahead of planting the next year's crop.

He also talked with us about wheat he saw frozen out coming back and producing 35 bushels an acre- and about the tremendous response to foliar fungicides that we saw across Oklahoma in 2015.

And- he says the lessons observed in 2015 will translate into how we approach the 2016 planting window. 

To hear his review of the past growing season- and what he recommends for the 2016 wheat planting window that is now just days away- click or tap here.

One of the best pieces of news I heard at the Wheat Review was the word that the OSU Administration has approved the job search to replace Dr. Edwards as State Small Grains Specialist- as it was indicated that the job has been posted.  In tight budget times- that's a position that cannot be allowed to set vacant for an extended period of time- and apparently OSU agrees.

 

Here in mid August- OSU Cotton Specialist Randy Boman has high hopes for one of the best cotton crops that Oklahoma has had since he crossed the Red River and joined OSU Extension- but in order for that to happen- Boman told our own Leslie Smith yesterday in Ft Cobb that we will need an extended growing season.

Talking with Boman at the Oklahoma Irrigation Conference, Boman told Smith "We do see some very, very good dryland fields that have very high yield potential. We're afraid to say that out loud, you know. Afraid we might jinx the whole system, but I think we're looking at some very good yield potential in a lot of dryland fields."


Because of the rains in May and early June- it was a late planted crop- and  the irrigated crop remains about two weeks behind in maturity. In comparing this year's crop to other years, Boman said this is one of the most immature crops in the past ten years.


"This is going to be a cliff hanger, in a lot of respects for a lot of guys," Boman said. "But, I think that we do have still have very good yield potential." With the first freeze date around November first, Boman said this crop will need warm weather for all of September and October to get this crop to reach maturity.

Click here to read more as well as the chance to hear their conversation about our 2015 Oklahoma Cotton Crop and the hopes for this fall as we head for harvest.

Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour scouts have been in fields with the possibility to yield over 200 bushels to the acre and fields that will produce only 2 bushels to the acre. So far in 2015, every stop on the tour's routes tells a different story and that made for some interesting conversations at both the east and west leg report sessions last night.

Based on what the scouts have seen and counted- Pro Farmer has estimated the yield of the corn crop in four states- and it looks like only South Dakota (at 160 bushels per acre) really lines up with what USDA was thinking last week in their August Crop Production report.

Pro Farmer acknowledges that in several states- like Nebraska- you have to adjust their estimate to align with production in areas their scouts did not cover.  For example, the Nebraska number from the scouts came in at 165 bushels an acre- but Chip Flory, the West Leg Tour Leader, said that the historical data suggest that you have to add 15 bushels an acre to the Nebraska number to get a more fair and balanced yield for that state- mainly because of the amount of irrigated acres that the Cornhusker state has versus what the crop scouts actually see.

With the adjustments- a Nebraska corn yield of 180 bushels an acre is seven bushels less than what USDA is thinking.  The Indiana corn yield was 145 bushels per acre versus the USDA August number of 158- and the Ohio number was WAY UNDER the USDA August guess- Pro Farmer calls it a 148 bushel crop versus the USDA's 168 bushel per acre crop.

If you want to read some of the comments of those on the tour- click here- and you can follow day three on Twitter by looking for the hashtag #PFTOUR15.

The 2015 Hard Red Winter Wheat Harvest is virtually done- from Texas all the way north to Idaho and North Dakota. And, according to the Executive Director of Plains Grains, Mark Hodges, the variability that we saw in the yield and quality factors in Texas and Oklahoma continued to be seen all the way north during the harvest that started in June and is winding down now in North Dakota.

We talked with Mark at the 2015 Oklahoma Annual Wheat Review on Tuesday in El Reno and he laughed and declared the end of the harvest season as producing "another abnormally normal year."

Click here to get his overview of the harvest from south to north- and how we have ended up beltwide on protein and other quality factors as well as in total production.

You can also go and check out the most recent harvest report from the hard red winter wheat states on the Plains Grains website- that report is available here.

In many cases, sustainability is all about things that the beef cattle industry already does in caring for animals, the land and those who are involved in the production of beef- but Cameron Bruett with JBS-USA says that we often fail in really explaining what we do to those that are not on the ranch on a daily basis.

In this edition of the Beef Buzz, as heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network, Bruett explains his view of sustainability and how the beef industry is working to offer some measurable standards for cattle producers and others along the beef pipeline to have in order to show progress in being more fully sustainable.

Bruett served for three years as the President of the Global Roundtable on Beef Sustainability- and he and his company, JBS-USA, have been prominent in the efforts to put into place the US Roundtable on Sustainable Beef.  He contends that sustainable beef production is a continuing journey to improve the way we raise livestock and product beef for the consumer.

To hear our conversation on the subject of sustainable beef with Cameron Bruett- click or tap here.

 

Agri-Pulse is reporting today that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has named 19 members of his Advisory Committee on Animal Health that will serve through June 2017.

Monica Wilke, executive director of Oklahoma Farm Bureau and Affiliated Companies, has been selected as one of The Journal Record's "50 Making a Difference" for 2015. This is part of The Journal Record's Woman of the Year program, which recognizes Oklahoma's leading women excelling in professional leadership and community activities.


Wilke will be honored an October first gala event at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

More on this award and about the rural roots that have made Monica Wilke the strong leader she is can be read here.

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Cattle producers are invited to gather for a Cattlemen's Boot Camp October 15th and 16th at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. The event is hosted by the American Angus Association in partnership with OSU, and provides producers information presented by academic and industry professionals. Registration is now available online and is open until September 30th.  More details can be had by clicking here.


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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 827 items consigned.  Bidding will start at 10 AM central time.