Before the implementation of the federal act and order that established the national dollar a head beef checkoff in the 1980s- Oklahoma had a checkoff run at the state level. Here in 2015, with little hope that the one dollar per head assessment will be increased nationally, more than a dozen states have considered the concept of adding to the national checkoff a secondary state administered checkoff and have adopted the concept.

Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey said OCA has been working with all of the organizations that sit on the Oklahoma Beef Council board- meeting regularly for several months in an effort to develop a plan that will work for Oklahoma. This includes the American Farmers and Ranchers, Oklahoma CattleWomen's Association, Oklahoma Dairy Producers Association, Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the Oklahoma Livestock Marketing Association.


"All of those organizations have been at the table during this task force opportunity, to kind of shape what we would want to do with a state checkoff," Kelsey said.


A draft petition has been circulated to members of the task force. The petition will likely be finalized at their next meeting on Friday, September 4th. Once the petition is finalized, Kelsey said they will start circulating the petition by mid-September to the state's beef producers. At that time, producers will be asked to sign the petition.


"If they do so, they're only saying they want a vote on a checkoff," Kelsey said. "By signing the petition, you're not saying you support it or you oppose it, you're just simply saying, I want an opportunity to participate in the referendum vote."

The cattle industry's right to petition for a secondary state beef checkoff in Oklahoma was authorized a year ago by the state legislature- and the ag groups that represent cattle producers have been working since that legislation was passed to work out the details and create buy in across the board in hopes of getting a yes vote for the second dollar.

Over this past weekend- I talked with Kelsey about the efforts to date and the plan of action- starting with getting cattle producers to sign a petition in the near future  Click here to listen to our full interview- which is our Top Ag Story on our website this Wednesday morning.

Nothing has changed in the cattle market, but outside fundamental factors have taken prices lower in recent weeks. That's according to Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel. There are lots of outside influences, like the stock market.


"Markets run off greed, fear and ego and at any one time, sometimes one of those emotions is more important than other," Peel said. "Fear has been the name of the game the last couple of weeks."


The downward trend in the U.S. stock market has been influenced by global events. Peel said the fear has been led by China, which has caused a great amount of uncertainty in the market. He said it will take some time for the markets to sort out this situation. With cattle prices remaining higher than historical levels, he said producers are sensitive to changes in the markets.


Peel addresses what the latest downturn means for cash and futures cattle prices.  Click or tap here to listen to this installment of an interview that we did with Dr. Peel over this past weekend- and is featured in this latest edition of the Beef Buzz.

CropLife America (CLA) has submitted public comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to the agency's Proposal to Mitigate Exposure to Bees from Acutely Toxic Pesticide Products. The EPA proposal would prohibit the foliar applications of products containing any of 76 pesticide active ingredients during bloom where bees are known to be present under contract pollination services. CLA's comments stress that this proposal would create impractical regulations that hinder agricultural production without positively impacting honey bee health or pollination services. Growers and beekeepers alike find this approach counterproductive, and many have voiced their opinions to EPA through public comment. EPA accepted public comments on the proposal in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0818 through Friday, August 28, 2015.


"Honey bees are crucial to agricultural production, and the key to promoting their health lies in farmers and beekeepers working together," stated Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CLA. "Through communication at the local level, growers and those providing contract pollination services can tailor solutions that work in their specific geographic areas. The crop protection industry supports the sound and responsible usage of pesticide technology to reduce pests and fight crop disease, and we will continue to work with growers, beekeepers, regulators and other stakeholders to support bee health."


Contract pollination services continue to be an integral contributor to agricultural production, with the gross revenue of beekeepers from pollination services in 2012 exceeding $650 million.1 The U.S. apiculture sector employed nearly 3,000 full-time workers in about 450 commercial beekeeping businesses in 2014, up some 16% from just two years earlier.2 Increasing communication among beekeepers across the country and the growers they serve about the use and timing of crop protection products can positively impact both pollinator health and the effectiveness of pollination services.  Click here to read more about pollinator management.

Contributed by Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Center for Economic Information & Analysis Manager Jon Biermacher, Ph.D.


"The Southern Great Plains has a comparative economic advantage in growing and managing forages for beef cattle production. Three categories of forage-based beef production systems that are common in this region include: 1) a cow-calf system that utilizes perennial native grass pastures, 2) a cow-calf system that utilizes introduced perennial pastures and 3) a stocker cattle system that utilizes annually established winter cereal forages. In the first two systems, weaned calves are supplied to the marketplace; in the third system, pounds of beef are supplied. Many variations of these three systems are being implemented on farms and ranches in the region. In fact, there are many producers who use one form or another of all three systems.


"A number of issues can and oftentimes do impede the long-term economic success, and hence the long-term sustainability of the forage-based beef operations in the Southern Great Plains. Some common issues include, but are not limited to, overgrazing perennial pastures, continuous monocropping of annual pastures such as cereal wheat and rye, mismanagement of essential nutrients and soil additives (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and lime) on both perennial and annually established pastures, and the continuous use of intensive annual seedbed preparation and seed establishment techniques, to name a few. Some of these issues may seem trivial, but there are economic factors that help explain why these issues are present on farms and ranches in this region."

Click here to read more about other factors that can affect short and long-term sustainability.

On a regular basis, Ed Czerwein of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Market News Office in Amarillo, Texas offers a review of the previous week's boxed beef trade. Here is the weekly boxed beef trade for week ending August 29 The daily spot Choice box beef cutout ended the week last Friday at $243.22 which was $1.68 lower compared to previous Friday. There were 625 loads sold for the week in the daily box beef cutout, which was almost 101 percent of the total volume. The weakening daily cutout once again corresponds to the fact that we are approaching the end of the Labor Day production period.


The comprehensive or weekly average Choice cutout which includes all types of sales including the daily spot cutout was $241.13 which was 16 cents higher.


There were 6,398 total loads sold which was 29 loads higher than the previous week. The formula sales were at 3,481 loads which was 58 loads lower than last week and was 54 percent of the total loads sold this week.  Click here to read more on exports, out front sales, imports and the latest cold storage report.

Attendees of the 2015 Farm Progress Show are seeing the latest in the fields and on exhibit.  The nation's largest outdoor farm show featuring 500 exhibitors and more than 300 acres of field demonstrations.  On Tuesday, AGCO, Case IH and Pioneer made new product announcements.  The Farm Progress Show continues through Thursday in Decatur, Illinois.

AGCO Corporation announced Tuesday that it will launch a new solution for wireless transfer of task data.  The Go-Task mobile app will enable farmers to make better decisions by reducing the time and effort it takes to move and manage the task data generated and utilized by their operation.  Click here to read more

about the features and benefits of The Go-Task app.

Case IH announced they have beefed up its forage lineup with the new Optum tractor series.  A multipurpose workhorse, the Optum series features the necessary horsepower for high-volume hay and forage operations, plus enough muscle for larger tillage tools and planters.  Elevating baling productivity, Case IH also announced a new ISOBUS Class 3 enabled Feedrate Control system available for select LB4 series large square balers.  Click here to read more from Case IH.

DuPont Pioneer announced this week the release of its Encirca Yield Fertility Management Service, which is something they are calling "a powerful tool for maximizing production within growers' existing fertility budgets. The program creates precise input modeling for phosphorus, potassium and lime. This new service also allows growers to make real-time modifications to fertility plans based on their field and zone specific nutrient needs, fertilizer budgets and yield goals."

Click here to read more about this service rolled out in conjunction with the Farm Progress Show.

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From the world of Facebook- we have a harvest update on grain sorghum from a couple of our producing friends in southwestern Oklahoma.

Matt Muller from Jackson County reports that "Grain sorghum (milo) used to be a tough, low input crop. This year it has required control measures for sugar cane aphids twice, grass hoppers and head worms."  We asked him how close to harvest he was- and he tells us "Lost first planting to wet weather so I had to replant. Pivot corners close, 5 days, main field 2 weeks. Double crop just heading."
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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 596 items consigned.  Bidding will start at 10 AM central time.