Row crop harvest is well underway in south Texas, as sorghum, corn and cotton harvesting was taking place last week. USDA reports 45 percent of the sorghum crop has been harvested. That remains behind last year's 44 and five-year average of 47. Corn harvest progressed to 47 percent complete. That's ahead of last year and in line with average. USDA reports 56 percent of the state's corn crop was in good to excellent condition. Cotton rated 43 percent good to excellent, down three points from last week. The cotton harvest has just begun with one percent of the Texas cotton crop has now been harvested. Pasture and range conditions fell another two points with 33 percent in good to excellent condition.  Click here for the full Texas report. 

  

Mother Nature threw all types of curve balls at the wheat crop this year. The Southern Plains crop experienced both drought conditions along with flooding. In looking back at the 2015 crop, Oklahoma State University Wheat Genetics Chair Dr. Brett Carver said he was very satisfied how the OSU developed wheat varieties handled the conditions.


"We were really hurting for moisture for most of the year and we've had a lot of emphasis put on drought tolerance, you know, in our breeding program, so the varieties we have are fairly good on those conditions," Carver said.


However, no one was quite ready for the monsoon rains that arrived in May. Carver said it's been a long time since they were able to see how the crop would handle heavy rain during the finishing period.


"Some of the varieties didn't do as well as I thought they would have, but then you know this is the first good opportunity we've had since 2007 to look at those kind of conditions," he said.


The other big curveball was the onset of bacterial diseases, which played a big role in the outcome of this year's crop. Carver said unfortunately they don't address bacterial diseases directly.
Mother Nature also threw stripe rust at the crop this year. Carver said he felt like they were prepared for its arrival. He said the strip rust pathogen looked similar to the 2012 pathogen, but was slightly different. Carver said they were seeing injury on varieties that were not badly affected in 2012. Overall, he felt most of the OSU germplasm handed the 2015 stripe rust well.


I caught up with Dr. Carver at the Oklahoma Wheat Review held last week at Redlands Community College in El Reno.  Click here to read more or to listen to Brett talk with me about the future of the OSU wheat breeding program.

A newly released Consumer Reports' study suggests that conventionally raised U.S. ground beef is twice as likely to contain superbugs as sustainable beef. On the other hand, a review of the ground beef study confirms that pathogenic bacteria is rarely found in meat, the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) said. The bacteria identified in the Consumer Reports testing are types that rarely cause foodborne illness. Bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus, and generic E. coli are commonly found in the environment and are not considered pathogenic bacteria.


"The real headline here is the bacteria that Consumer Reports doesn't report finding in their testing -- Shiga toxin-producing E. coli - and just one percent of samples with Salmonella, a number far below USDA performance standards, which are the foodborne bacteria of greatest public health concern in beef," said North American Meat Institute Vice President of Scientific Affairs Betsy Booren, Ph.D.


"Bacteria occur naturally on all raw food products from beef to blueberries so finding certain types on some foods in a grocery store is not surprising and should not be concerning. As an industry, our number one priority is producing the safest meat and poultry possible and this is done by focusing attention on bacteria which are most likely to make people sick, particularly Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and Salmonella. It is telling that Consumer Reports did not highlight finding these bacteria on products they tested, which is a strong indication of the overall safety of beef."

Click here to read more about Consumer Reports' claims about antibiotic resistance and reaction from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, writes in the latest Cow/Calf Corner newsletter.


An assortment of new data was released recently. Choice retail beef prices for July decreased for the second month in a row, dropping 4.1 cents per pound from June to $636.5/cwt. Choice retail beef prices peaked in May at $641.2/cwt. All-Fresh retail beef prices, however, continued to increase, setting a new record in July at $616.3/cwt., up 5.2 cents per pound from June. The July spread between the Choice and All-Fresh retail price at 20.2 cents per pound is the narrowest since June of 2012.   The July All-Fresh retail price is 96.8 percent of the Choice retail price, a new record percentage and compares to the five year average of 93.1 percent. The percent Choice grading of cattle is high resulting is a relatively large supply of Choice to Select beef, likely the cause of the narrow spread between Choice and All-Fresh retail beef prices.


The August Cattle on Feed report pegged July placements at 99 percent of the low level of one year ago. July marketings were 97 percent of last year. Both placements and marketings in July were at the lowest July levels since 1995. Though the larger feeder supply indicated by the July inventory report will result in increased feedlot placements in the coming months, the flow of cattle through feedlots at the current time continues to be low. This is reflected in year-to-date cattle slaughter, down 7.0 percent compared to last year. The August 1 cattle on-feed inventory was 102 percent of last year as a result of continued slowdown of cattle in the feedlot, resulting in increased slaughter and carcass weights. Average cattle carcass weights are currently 13 pounds heavier than this time last year and partially offset reduced cattle slaughter resulting in year-to-date total beef production down 4.7 percent from one year ago.  Click here to read more about the August Cold Storage and the U.S. and Canadian Cattle report on cattle inventories.

 

 

OSU Extension Canola Specialist Josh Bushong is busy these days- he and his partner in crime Heath Sanders are putting the miles on their pickups as they hit three states for a series of Canola Drill and Plant Calibration Clinics that start today- and run into early September-

The Schedule includes:
Caldwell, Kansas this morning- starting at 9:00 AM
St. John, Kansas on Thursday, August 27th
El Reno, Ok at the Canadian Co Fairgrounds on September 2nd
Nash, Ok at the Nash Farmers Coop, September 3rd(morning)
Guthrie, Ok at the Logan County Fairgrounds, September 3rd (afternoon) 
Chillicothe, Tx at the TAMU Research Center, September 8th

Details on these sessions are available here.

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It was great to visit with long time friend and wheat producer Joe Shirley on the phone for a few minutes yesterday- Joe and Ann have farmed in the Alva area since the 1970s and have sold wheat seed for most of those years.

Joe tells me that they have focused on four varieties this year- and have a good quantity of high quality Iba, Gallagher, Ruby Lee and Duster ready to be planted this fall.

Joe will be glad to hear from you and meet your seed wheat needs as the planting window draws near- his number is 580-327-2070. His website to learn more is available here.

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We got a note yesterday from the current VP for External Affairs for the OSU Division of Agriculture, Gary Sherrer, that he is thinking about jumping back into politics.

He confirmed for us that he is seriously considering a race for the District 21 State Senate seat. The Senate seat is currently held by former OSU President Jim Halligan. Senator Halligan announced earlier this month he would not seek another term in the State Senate.

Gary is one of the most positive folks I have ever known- and I always carry some of those positive vibes away whenever we cross paths. He is a former state House member, has served as a Cabinet Secretary for three different state agencies and has done a great job in being a key Liaison between the OSU Division of Ag and State lawmakers.