The American Farm Bureau Federation Thursday released still more maps that show how the Environmental Protection Agency intends to radically expand its jurisdiction over land use via the newly issued Waters of the United States rule. Implementation of the rule in at least 13 states was recently halted by a court in North Dakota pending further hearings.


The maps prepared by Geosyntec Consulting show the dramatic expansion of EPA's regulatory reach across wide swaths of land in Missouri, Oklahoma, New York and Wisconsin.


Nearly all of the states' total acreage would fall under EPA scrutiny. Landowners have no reliable way to know which of the water and land within that area will be regulated, yet they must still conform their activities to the new law.


"The EPA's new rule places farmers in the agency's crosshairs for using the same safe, scientifically sound and federally approved crop protection tools they've used for years," AFBF President Bob Stallman said. "This rule creates a new set of tools for harassing farmers in court, and does it all with language that is disturbingly vague and subject to abuse by future regulators. It's worth saying again: The EPA needs to withdraw this rule and start over."


Maps detailing EPA's overreach in Missouri, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin can be found by clicking here. 

There is no doubt herd rebuilding is taking place across the United States, but how aggressive the pace is, remains to be determined. Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Derrell Peel predicts the pace is above two and half percent and it could be as much as four percent this year.


"That's one question, we have to wait and see just how much rebuilding we did this year," Peel said. "That will set the stage and this continuing events will set the stage then for what happens next year. I think we'll still be rebuilding next year, but perhaps not as aggressively, as it looked like earlier."


The number of cows in the U.S. continues to grow. Herd expansion started in 2014, continued into 2015 and will continue into 2016, but how many cows will be needed? That's a question, the industry can't answer. Peel said consumer demand will ultimately determine the size of the U.S. cattle herd. That will be determined by domestic and international demand in the next two to four years.


I featured Peel on the Beef Buzz feature. Click or tap here to listen to today's Beef Buzz.

Flash drought has jumped up and grabbed south central and southeastern Oklahoma since mid July. According to the latest Drought Monitor, severe drought is now up to 3% of the state, all across far SE OK, and moderate-severe is up to 9%. Areas in at least abnormally dry (D0) conditions now cover 20.43 percent of the state. Click here to see the Drought Monitor map and the rainfall map for Oklahoma since mid July.


According to Oklahoma Climatologist Gary McManus, the south central and southeastern counties are the most worrisome. He writes in his Thursday, September third Mesonet Ticker "The 2nd driest such period for south central Oklahoma since at least 1921, 4 inches below normal. And the southeast ain't much better. Combine that with that heat dome that sat over the state for so long (and made a comeback this week) and you have the perfect ingredients for flash drought. All those heat indexes of 110-115 meant all that previous 3 months worth of rainfall was evaporating from the soils and the lakes/ponds/reservoirs."

Speaking of reservoirs- McManus included a web link on where we stand with our major lakes across the state- and while it's not bad for the end of summer- it definitely shows that the very hot temps have taken their toll.

The canola planting season is about to get underway in Oklahoma. Lower commodity prices across the board have taken away some of the enthusiasm in planting for another year. That has been seen with the state's canola industry, which had a very tough year in 2014 due to the drought. While the 2015 growing season was better- fewer acres were planted and harvested.   Great Plains Canola Association Executive Director Ron Sholar believes it is important that everyone interested in canola being a viable cropping option work hard to build a "canola culture".


"You're either a canola grower or you're not," Sholar said. "So, you don't get to sit one out, if we're going to grow this industry."


Prices aren't as good as they were during the peak commodity price years. Like other crops, canola prices are about half of what they were a few years ago. Sholar wants farmers to be fair and recognize that prices have come down for everything. He believes there is still an excellent case to be made for growing canola. He said those benefits haven't gone away and the industry is much more aware of those benefits today, then 15 years ago.

Sholar says that in comparing new crop wheat prices versus a new crop bid for canola in 2016- there is a nice premium for canola- so for farmers looking for a crop that will pencil out and show a profit- there is a strong case to be made for canola in the 2016 growing season.


Click or tap here to hear our full interview with Dr. Sholar.

By the way- We will be visiting with Ron tomorrow morning during our In the Field segment that will be seen on KWTV News9 in Oklahoma City- at about 6:40 AM as a part of their Saturday morning news block. 

When you see the Made in Oklahoma brand, don't just look at the product. Look at the people behind it. In many cases they are at work well before the sun rises and end their day well after it sets.


The 2015 edition of the Oklahoma State Fair, Sept. 17-27 at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, is the perfect opportunity to experience their dedication and their tireless commitment to the quality found in Made in Oklahoma products.


And the place to find those unique products during the Oklahoma State Fair is at the Made in Oklahoma Store in the front area of Oklahoma Expo Hall west of the Space Tower.  The Made in Oklahoma Store is a joint effort between the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Fair. It is a consignment store for Made in Oklahoma companies of various sizes.  Click here to read more about the Made in Oklahoma Store.

As farmers prepare to plant their wheat crop, they have some important choices to make. Farmers have until September 30th to sign up for crop insurance. On this weekend's edition of SUNUP, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson goes through the policy options. Farmers will have to choose between a yield protection or a revenue protection policy. Just like the name implies, yield protection protects a farmer from yield loss, as the price is already set. With the revenue protection option, Anderson said this protects farmers from both yield loss and changes in commodity prices. Under that option, he said it's possible to have a yield loss and prices go up and farmers could get a higher payment under revenue protection, than just under a yield loss policy.


In preparing for a new crop year, farmers will also want to make sure their farm records at the crop insurance agent's office matches the records keep through the Farm Service Agency. If those records don't match, Anderson said there is a possibility they have a loss, that they won't get paid.


With so many farmers effected by drought in recent years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has offered a yield exclusion option for winter wheat. This allow farmers to exclude low yields in exceptionally bad years from their production history. By removing these bad years in calculating yield for crop insurance coverage, Anderson said that will raise their guaranteed yield and result in a higher payoff.  Click here to read or to listen to this full interview as Dr. Anderson offers more crop insurance tips and the price outlook for wheat.  You can also find the lineup for this weekend's edition of SUNUP.

 

 

Labor Day is about as late as it can be this year- with this coming Monday, September 7th being celebrated in this country as the 2015 version of our "end of summer" holiday.  Banks and government offices are closed- as are markets- but it's a day where we will see farmers busy with grain sorghum harvest and perhaps some wheat planting- hoping for a nice shot of moisture this coming Wednesday or Thursday.  

 

Our email will take a one day break- and be back as normal on Tuesday- September 8th.  Our radio reports will be available on most of our great radio stations all across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network.  

 

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The Center for Consumer Freedom is going after Chipotle Mexican Foods with a new full page ad in the New York Post and a website to match- ChubbyChipotle.Com. 

The website calls out the fast food chain for the high calorie count on a typical meal served- as well as their marketing campaigns designed to make anyone not lined up to agriculture as they want it look bad.

According to their news release- "Chipotle uses claims like "GMO-free" to make its food seem better, however genetically improved foods are overwhelmingly recognized by scientists to be just as healthy and safe as conventional food. But Chipotle's burritos aren't exactly the paragon of health food: The typical order at Chipotle has about 1,070 calories, according to The New York Times."

Click here to see the complete news release- but be prepared- their "typical Chipotle customer" shown on the full page ad that we show with the release is not easy to look at.

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For those of us that have been around the block a few times- you may remember the Farm Strike days when hundreds of tractors were driven to Washington, DC and resulted in the famous Tractorcade on our National Mall- this back in the late 1970s.  Many of those tractors came from Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas- and of course, the epicenter of the Farm Strike movement was Springfield and Campo, Colorado. 

Farmers felt desperate as low prices were forcing foreclosures and causing a lot of despair.

Well- some of those same feelings are being felt by French farmers here in 2015- and they have invaded Paris with their own tractorcade this week.

From the British website for the Guardian- "Plummeting food prices, ever-increasing taxes and social charges, and "crazy" environmental standards: the farmers in Europe's leading agricultural power say they have had enough."  Click here to read more.