A deadline of Oct. 1, 2015 has been set for public comments on the proposed pollinator plan, according to Kenny Naylor, Director of Consumer Protection Services for the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF).


Before that deadline, the fourth and final regional public hearing will be held in Hugo to gain input on the proposed pollinator plan. The public hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m., Sept. 23 at the Kiamichi Technology Center, North Seminar Room, 107 S. 15th St., Hugo.


About 80 people gathered for a public hearing held Aug. 11 at Langston University's campus in Oklahoma City. That was followed by the regional meetings. The first three were: Aug. 26 in Enid, Sept. 2 in Lawton and Sept. 9 in Tulsa.


Pollinators are essential to agriculture in Oklahoma. They are responsible for the success of many of the state's crops like canola, sesame and watermelons. Native pollinators are also necessary for many native plants like redbud, Oklahoma's state tree, and Chickasaw plum.


The Oklahoma Managed Pollinator Protection Plan (OKMP3) is being developed in response to a growing need for a balanced public policy that mitigates risk to pollinator species, while minimizing the impact of that mitigation on production agriculture, according to ODAFF.


Oklahoma's MP3 is a multifaceted plan involving multiple stakeholders.


A draft pollinator plan is posted on ODAFF's website at www.ag.ok.gov.


Comments can be submitted to Naylor at kenny.naylor@ag.ok.gov .


A group will be formed with stakeholders to address changes to the plan.

Tailgating offers a wonderful time to get together with friends and family, eat great food, but don't forget the milk. Dairy MAX is encouraging consumers to include milk and dairy products in their tailgate by offering cheese, yogurt and milk at your team events this fall. Dairy MAX spokesperson Susan Allen encourages consumers to bring on the milk.  Susan will be my guest tomorrow morning for our regular Saturday morning In the Field TV segment as seen on KWTV News9- at about 6:40 AM.


"You know our future hall of famers, our kids and even us, we don't get the three servings that we need every day, so don't forget to pack a cooler full of milk," Allen said.


Milk has become more widely available with convenient, single serving milk products and Allen said some products are even shelf stable, so parents don't have to worry about the drink becoming warm. If you have kids, she recommends creating a do-it-yourself tailgate-able.   Inside a box, she includes all the different food groups with cheese, grapes or strawberries, carrots, pretzels and milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics only recommends only two drinks for kids, Allen said this includes milk at meals and water in between. She said other drinks can pack on calories, but no nutrients, so make sure you nourish your kids with milk.


Dairy MAX recently launched a new website, called "DairyDiscoveryZone.com" to connect with consumers. The site offers a wide variety of recipes, like a dairy farm family favorite "Slow-Cooker Chili". She said adding cheese, sour cream or even Greek yogurt is a great way to add calcium and other nutrients and it will fuel you throughout the game. She recommends kids and adults checkout the Dairy Discovery Zone website for valuable information.  Click here hear our conversation with Susan and learn more about Dairy promotion with Dairy MAX.

Cattle prices have fallen dramatically in 2015- and all segments of the business have suffered in the downturn.  Protein Analyst for Rabobank, Don Close, calls the current market "radically oversold" as he discussed the situation with us at the Kenneth and Caroline Eng McDonald Foundation Beef Symposium that is underway this week in downtown Oklahoma City.


Close was the opening speaker for the two day meeting- and he spoke to the group about how the US Beef Cow herd is being rebuilt- but will look different in the years ahead as a sizable number of cows will no longer be out on pasture 365 days a year.  


In talking with me after his presentation- Close acknowledges that he and many of his fellow cattle market watchers have been caught by surprise as the industry has experienced the steep slide in cattle prices.  Feedlot cattle, yearlings and calves have all been impacted.  The Texas Cattle Feeders Association indicate in their market reports from the beginning of 2015 that slaughter cattle prices in the southern plains were flirting with the $170 per hundredweight level- as of mid September- they report slaughter steer and heifer sales at $143.  Yearling prices- basis the Oklahoma National Stockyards- were quoted in a range of $225 to $236 per hundred for seven to eight hundred pounders- this compared to the sale on Monday of this week when those same weights were bringing $194 to $212.


Calf prices have dropped even more- the June first Oklahoma National Stockyard price for five to six hundred pound Medium and Large Frame 1 Steer Calves ranged from $255 to $291- this week they were quoted by USDA from $213 to $239- forty two to fifty two dollars per hundred lower.


From the top of the cattle market annually- there is often a ten to fifteen percent fallback in prices- but Close calls the more than twenty percent crash this year a "radically oversold" situation.  He admits that he is not certain that the market fall is done- but he believes that history suggests that a price rebound could be coming between now and the end of the calendar year.

Click here to read more and to listen to my Q&A with Don on the journey downward for cattle prices- where bottom is and what may lie ahead.

A new study will help the beef industry prioritize its efforts to boost beef demand. Kansas State University Livestock Market Economist Glynn Tonsor and Center for Risk Management Director Ted Schroeder came up with five bottom-line opportunities and priorities for the cattle industry. The first step is understanding demand. Tonsor said in order to improve something, you must first measure it. In this discussion, he said you have to understand what demand is, before you can make investments to improve it. This also means understanding per capita consumption is not the same things as demand, which is knowledge gap for the industry.


"So, hence our priority would be get that in front of producers and get them to take it up and understand it and appreciate it, more than they do today," Tonsor said. "And stated bluntly, if you don't know what demand is, it's going to be hard to make the right decision about what to prioritize."


Number two of beef demand priorities, Tonsor said it's important the beef industry analyzes international beef demand prospects. This includes identifying countries and regions that can pay for U.S. beef. Tonsor and Schroeder are among many economists that think the global economic environment is going to positive outside the U.S. and global protein demand is going to grow. The United States is positioned to be one of multiple suppliers of beef, but Tonsor said it's unclear which countries or regions are going to grow the fastest or are more likely to be positioned to value and pay for U.S. beef.


This audio was provided by Kansas State University, as Tonsor was interviewed by Eric Atkinson of Agriculture Today. Click or tap here to listen to today's Beef Buzz.

Wheat prices finally rebounded a little bit with prices going up 30 cents. On this weekend's edition of SUNUP, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson said it's hard to tell if wheat has hit bottom, but the market has broken the short-run down trend that was established last July, when the Kansas City wheat contract price dropped to $4.66. Anderson predicts the Kansas City wheat price will establish a sideways trading pattern.


"Now, one problem is that we haven't broken the long-run down trend that was established in December of 2010," Anderson said. "To break that, we probably got to get KC prices up above $5 and maybe up closer to $5.50."


The strong U.S. dollar is impacting farmers and their local cash grain prices. In following the trade weighted index by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Anderson said it has the index 18 percent above the eight year and ten year average. If you look at export prices, he said this increases the price for exports by a dollar or lowers the price to farmers by a dollar. Without this index, he said current wheat prices should be in the $5.50 - $5.75 range, rather than $4.50 - $4.75.


In watching the Kansas City wheat December contract, Anderson said the bottom is at $4.66, as that is the lowest price on the nearby contract since 2007. The price will challenge $5 on the topside and $4.60 on the bottom. If wheat prices can break through $5.20, he said there is chance it could be closer to breaking that long-term down trend and farmers could see some slightly higher prices.  Click here to read more about Kim's recommendations in marketing 2015 crops.

The Cattlemen's Beef Board will invest about $42 million into programs of beef promotion, research, consumer information, industry information, foreign marketing and producer communications in fiscal year 2016, if this week's recommendation of the Beef Promotion Operating Committee is approved by USDA, following review by the full Beef Board.


In action concluding its Sept. 15-16 meeting in Denver, the Operating Committee - including 10 members of the Beef Board and 10 members of the Federation of State Beef Councils - approved checkoff funding for a total of 11 "Authorization Requests," or proposals for checkoff funding, in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2015. The committee also recommended full Beef Board approval of a budget amendment to reflect the split of funding between budget categories affected by their decisions.


"Tremendous efforts go into making decisions about responsible investment of producers' and importers' hard-earned dollars into checkoff programs that produce results for its investors," said Beef Board and Operating Committee Chairman Jimmy Maxey, a cattle producer from California.

The Operating Committee approved proposals from seven national beef organizations for funding through the FY16 Cattlemen's Beef Board budget, click here for details.

Oklahoma continues to have import restrictions in place over concerns about Vesicular Stomatitis, even though the state has not had a case this year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service currently has 90 affected premises under quarantine in seven states, including Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. Since last week, 29 new Vesicular Stomatitis virus cases were identified and quarantined.


State Veterinarian Dr. Rod Hall offered an email update on Thursday- details from the good doctor can be read and are available here.

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Most cattlemen and women recognize their farms and ranches in the definition of sustainability. That's according to Oklahoma State University Assistant Professor Sara Place.


"It's producing safe, nutritious beef for human consumption, but doing it with long-term business viability, stewardship of natural resources and responsibility to community, family and animals," Place said. "And so that's something that a lot of producers probably can say, you know, that's what I do already. And really what's encompassed within that definition is economics, environmental issues and social issues."  Click here to read more.

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Courtesy of Don Nelson with Allendale- here's his expectations for this afternoon's Cattle on Feed Report from USDA- which will be released at 2 PM central time.