Wheat prices have been on downward slide since harvest and the outlook into the fall doesn't look that much better. Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson wishes he recommended more farmers sell a greater percentage of their crop at harvest, as prices have dropped 50 to 60 cents since June. That drop in prices has been attributed to surplus global supplies of wheat. Anderson said nearly every report from Europe, Germany, France, Russia, Ukraine and others has indicated more wheat will be harvested this year and the quality looks to be relatively good.


"Right now with the world projections for a record wheat crop, there's just not much hope on wheat price," Anderson said. "It looks like the market maybe building a bottom, but we've got a strong down trend and it's going to be difficult to break that."


The large global wheat supplies means lower exports for U.S. hard red winter wheat. The U.S. crop has some quality challenges with variable test weights and protein levels. The situation has been compounded by the strength of the U.S. dollar, that makes U.S. commodities more expensive relative to other countries. Anderson said Russia and Ukraine are undercutting the world market and their prices are significantly lower than U.S. wheat prices. Russia and Ukraine also have a significant transportation advantage in shipping to southeast Asia and northern Africa.


"That's hurting our exports and that's hurting our prices," Anderson said.


The lower price outlook may also impact Oklahoma planting decisions this fall. Farmers may look at planting their wheat crop earlier, in order to grow a crop for grazing and grain production. In visiting with one farmer that grows wheat, sorghum, soybeans and corn, Anderson said this farmer has broken even at best with his wheat crop for the past two or three years. This farmer has done better with his summer crops, especially those that are not double cropped. Anderson thinks it is very important that producers compare their options in growing wheat versus other crops.

I interviewed Anderson during the Oklahoma Wheat Review held on Tuesday at Redlands Community College in El Reno. Click or tap here to read more or to listen to the full conversation.

New technology aims to reduce the amount of water used by irrigators. One of those tools is through the use of Variable Rate Irrigation. This allows farmers to develop a water prescription based on a field's water needs and production potential. Switching to VRI is a large investment for farmers or landowners. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Specialist Charles Hillyer said the technology pays off in certain situations, like in fields with poor producing areas.


"Generally speaking, it's going to work best in fields that are very variable," Hillyer said. "So, if you have big variations in holding capacity, big variations in slope or big variations in soil depth, that's where VRI is going to be most useful."


VRI also works well for farmers dealing with regulatory challenges like having land located near a lake or body of water. When farmers can't spray or chemigate a field because of a nearby tributary, he said VRI can be very valuable in those situations.


In speaking at the Oklahoma Irrigation Conference Tuesday at Fort Cobb, Hillyer shared his experience with VRI. He led a research project in Oregon in 2013 and found there are some challenges in adopting VRI. Part of that is the availability of internet and cell signal in rural areas. Hillyer said the biggest challenge is integration, in how well the various aspects of the system work together.

Our own Leslie Smith interviewed Hillyer about the savings potential of the technology and what farmer's need to know before buying a VRI system. Click or tap here to read more or to listen to that conversation.

In an effort to continue to gain input on the proposed pollinator plan, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) is hosting four regional public hearings.


Those meetings, beginning a week from yesterday, are scheduled for: 1 p.m., Aug. 26 at the Garfield County OSU Extension Center, 316 E. Oxford in Enid; 1 p.m., Sept. 2 at the Great Plains Technology Center, Building 600, Rooms 655 and 656, 4500 W. Lee Blvd. in Lawton; 1 p.m., Sept. 9 at the Tulsa Community College Northeast Campus, in the large auditorium, #1470, 3727 E. Apache St., in Tulsa; and 1 p.m., Sept. 23 at the Kiamichi Technology Center, North Seminar Room, 107 S. 15th St., Hugo.


A draft pollinator plan for participants to comment on is posted on ODAFF's website at www.ag.ok.gov .  Click here to read more.
  

Cattle producers will have to be more transparent. That recommendation comes from Cameron Bruett of JBS-USA, one of the major meat processors in the US and globally. He was one of the keynote speakers at the recent Oklahoma Cattlemen's Convention in Midwest City. There is a fine line between being a cattle producer and being a producer of beef. He said cattlemen need to be able to tell the story of how each animal has been handled and cared for, as that animal becomes the high-quality, safe product, known as beef.


"It's a new paradigm, everyone in our industry, in agriculture is a food producer at the end of the day," Bruett said


Today's consumer wants agriculture to be more transparent, so Bruett said ag producers need to share that story with the next user, so when beef finally gets to the restaurant or the retailer that interacts with consumers, they can say with confidence, this product comes from a good cattle operation and from good people.


"The whole chain is involved in this process," Bruett said. "We all prioritize the things that you care about. You can feel good about eating beef and you can feel good about eating more of it."


The beef industry will never be vertically integrated like pork or poultry and Bruett said that's one of the strengths of the beef industry. But that also means beef producers have to be "virtually integrated in telling that story and communicating with consumers.

To hear this Beef Buzz feature with with Cameron Bruett- click or tap here.

Glenn Selk, Oklahoma State University Emeritus Extension Animal Scientist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter.


Each year in August, it is time for an important reminder. Fall-calving season is here. In fact, the start of the fall calving season often begins before some producers expect it. The target date for the beginning of fall calving very often is September 1. Most printed gestation tables predict that calving will take place 283 days (some 285 days) after artificial insemination or natural breeding. Cows and heifers that gestate in hot weather will often calve a few days earlier than expected.


Oklahoma State University physiologists studied early fall (August) and late fall (October) calving cows. Data from two successive years were combined for 60 Angus X Hereford crossbred cows. The "early" and "late" fall calving cows had been artificially inseminated in early November or early January, respectively. Semen from the same sire was used for all cows. All cows were exposed to a single cleanup bull for 35 days at 4 days after the AI season. The weather prior to calving was significantly different for late pregnancy in the two groups. The average maximum temperature the week before calving was 93 degrees F. for the "early" fall group. The average maximum temperature the week before parturition in the "late" calving group was 66 degrees F. There was a 100% survival rate for calves in both groups and both groups of cows had very high re-breeding rates (90% and 92%, respectively).  Click here to read more from Dr. Selk on fall calving.

 

 

OSU Ag Economist Dr. Jayson Lusk has weighed in on a National Public Radio audio feature that aired yesterday morning- with Dr. Lusk saying story exposed several myths floating around about GMOs.

 

On a blog posting yesterday- Lusk said a statement by the NPR reporter jumped out to him as simply bad information- "The world's leading scientists say they (GMOs) are safe to eat. That said, there are concerns about possible carcinogens coming from the pesticides used on those crops."

That statement brought a response from Lusk- "That's a highly misleading claim for several reasons.  First, there are many GMOs that have nothing to do with pesticides.  Arctic apples, golden rice, low linoleic acid soybeans, and many others have nothing to do with pesticides use or carcinogens.  In fact there is now a GMO potato explicitly designed to reduce carcinogens.  Moreover, some GMOs, like Bt corn and virus resistant papaya reduce the use of insecticides. "

There's more- both dumb things said by the NPR reporter and a response from Dr. Lusk- click here for his posting on the web.


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Tomorrow and Saturday will feature the two day sale at Express Ranches that they call the Big Event.

Owner Bob Funk and Ranch President Jerold Callahan offer this word about the quality of the cattle for 2015- "We are more excited than ever about the Angus business and are once again offering the best Angus cattle that we own in this year's Event. We will be selling approximately 207 fall-calving females on Friday of which several have been donors at Express. The females are lotted 501 through 707 and will sell in sale book order.

"On Saturday, we will have the traditional Big Event offering comprised of over 300 head. This offering will also sell in sale book order and will include donor cows, fall-calving 2-year-olds, bred heifers, fall opens, heifer calf splits with spring-calving cows, and as always, show-heifer prospects that are eligible for the Express Scholarship program."

Details about the 2015 Big Event at Express Ranches are available here. There are links here that will let you check out the Sale Book and the Videos of the animals selling.

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Just added to our calendar at OklahomaFarmReport.Com - the Dewey County Conservation District is partnering with the USDA NRCS and the Oklahoma Conservation Commission to present a special field day next Thursday, August 27th.

Jimmy Emmons of Leedey is hosting this event- and he is one of the gurus when it comes to soil health and cover crops in the state of Oklahoma.

Details are available here- it will be worth your time to see how these conservation practices are working in western Oklahoma.