It was a regular who's who in Oklahoma Agriculture yesterday afternoon- as the Junior Livestock Show Auction at the Tulsa State Fair saw the Grand Champion Market Steer, owned by 7th Grader Seth Tucker of the Garvin County 4-H, sold for $36,000.  One of the buyers of the number one animal sold last night was LC Neal, who says he has been buying top show animals at the Tulsa State Fair for 38 years straight. Joining Mr. Neal in buying the Crossbred Steer was McDonalds and the Choctaw Nation.

Other Grands that were sold at the top of the event last night included:

Grand Champion Barrow- Hunter Green of Wellston FFA- Sold for $12,000

Grand Champion Lamb- Hunter Dugan of Temcumseh FFA- Sold for $10,500

Grand Champion Meat Goat- Johnna Stottlemyre of Luther FFA- Sold for $12,000

Grand Champion Broiler Pen- Meagan Smith of Edmond FFA- Sold for $6500.


Before the night was done- 167 young 4-H and FFA members were rewarded in the Premium Sale.

HOWEVER- the number I think we need to remember- and celebrate- is 78. (or slightly more).  That number is the number of young men and ladies who donated their animal to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma with the aim of feeding fellow young people in our state who are hungry.

The donated animals will be used to produce pork sticks that can be used in backpacks for kids to take home from school and have food over the weekend- often when there would be no food in their home for them otherwise.

We talked about the donations- and other Life Lessons that come from the Show Ring with Roy Lee Lindsay of the Oklahoma Pork Council just ahead of the Auction- you can read more and listen to our conversation by clicking here.

By the way- later today- we will have more details about the Junior Livestock Show Auction in the Blue Green Gazette.

 

Traders will be watching the latest supply and demand numbers that will come out from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday morning. On this weekend's edition of SUNUP, Oklahoma State University Grain Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson said it will take until Monday or Tuesday to see how the market reacts to these latest production and stocks estimates.


"I think the big market day is going to be Monday to see what happens to our corn, sorghum, wheat, soybean prices," Anderson said.


Last week, wheat prices surpassed the $5 mark and have stayed above that threshold this week. In breaking $5, the next challenge was breaking the $5.20 level, the next price ceiling will be $5.30. Anderson said wheat futures prices have gotten up to $5.21, tapped it, then by the end of the week prices turned lower. He thinks traders were covering some long positions before the release of Friday's USDA report. On Monday, Anderson will be watching to see if prices can stay above $5 or if they will slide lower to $4.80. If prices move higher and break $5.20, he thinks prices could keep moving higher to $5.40, but it will all depend how the market handles these latest set of production numbers from USDA.  Anderson also addresses the price situation for corn, sorghum and soybeans.  Click or tap here to read more or to listen to the full interview.

Farmers from the National Corn Growers Association and the National Farmers Union announced Thursday the release of their white paper on how the EPA's proposed rule on the Renewable Fuel Standard is threatening farm income and rural economies across the United States.


Roger Johnson, President of the National Farmers Union said, "The EPA's proposed rule and the uncertainty around it have frozen investment in rural communities and sources of income for farmers in the advanced and cellulosic biofuels industry at a crucial time."


President of the National Corn Growers Association Chip Bowling said, "Our country's farmers and biofuels producers have met the challenges of the RFS, investing in renewable fuel production and creating jobs in rural America that can't be outsourced to other countries. Thanks to the RFS, we are helping to reduce foreign oil dependence with clean, secure American-made renewable fuel."

To read the NCGA/NFU white paper, to listen to the conference call or for additional information, click here.

The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Marketing Committee recently conducted a survey where TSCRA members provided information on cattle herd rebuilding intentions and challenges.  Since the highpoint of the drought in 2011, cattle raisers have continued to match their herd levels and rebuilding plans to grass and water availability. Most have increased their herd in the last year, though they have not yet returned to their normal 10-year averages.


Survey participants indicated their herds are at 74 percent of their 10-year average herd size. 18 percent of respondents are operating at 100 percent or greater of their prior 10-year average operating capacity.


Compared to the 2014 survey, cow and heifer retention was mixed. Region 1 (Texas Panhandle) showed the greatest change, increasing from 64 percent to 76 percent in 2015. Regions 2 (West Texas) and 3 (Oklahoma) remained unchanged at 68 percent and 75 percent, respectively. Region 4 (South Texas) was the sole region with lower cow and heifer retention, decreasing from 79 percent to 75 percent of the 10-year average. Regions 5 (southeast Texas) and 6 (northeast Texas) increased from 76 percent to 78 percent and 69 percent to 75 percent, respectively.

Though respondents have not yet rebuilt to their 10-year averages, TSCRA members are clearly rebuilding their herds.  Click here to read more about this survey.
  

Good cattle genetics are the core of every cattle herd. At the recent Heart of America Farm Show, Dr. Don Coover, a veterinarian from Southeastern Kansas that runs SEK Genetics, talked about how a profitable program is based on good genetics, but even more importantly is having cattle that fit a producer's environment and management style.


"There's probably more difference within breeds, than there is really between breeds and a lot of production parameters," Coover said. "So the key for most producers, is to find an animal and the genetics within that animal's breed that complement their environment, that work in their environment, that's profitable in their environment."


Instead of telling producers the kind of genetics they should get, Dr. Coover would rather help producers optimize the genetics that they have. By telling producers what actions they can take to help their cattle be more productive, he aims to keep producers away from abortion problems, pregnancy wastage and nutrition issues that limit production.  I featured Dr. Don Coover on the Beef Buzz feature. Click or tap here to listen this Beef Buzz feature.

For many who attend the Tulsa State Fair- one of the "must eat" foods found on the grounds is the tender, tasty ribeye steak sandwich offered up by the volunteers working the "Beef Tent" of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association. Michael Kelsey, the Executive Vice President of the OCA, says sales of the ribeye steak sandwich are trending strong again this year- and with expected good weather this final weekend of the fair- will be very close to the goal of selling 20,000 ribeyes here in 2015. That would improve upon the more than 18,000 sold in 2014.


There is a message being handed out with this fair favorite in 2015- Kelsey says they bought 40,000 paper sandwich wrappers with the Vote Yes for State Question 777 Right to Farm logo on them. OCA plans to use half of them at this year's Tulsa State Fair- will use many more in local events in the months to come and plan to use them again next October in advance of the Right to Farm State Question vote in November 2016.

Click here to read more (and to hear my conversation with Michael Kelsey) about the OCA sending 20,000 Vote Yes Messages out across the Tulsa State Fairgrounds- and also the organization's efforts to get signatures for a secondary state beef checkoff.

 

Gary McManus, our Oklahoma Climatologist, says in his latest blog posting that  "We now see the entire southern quarter of the state covered by moderate-extreme drought- 23% of the state, at least. McCurtain County continues to be the epicenter of the Oklahoma portion of this flash drought episode, but that's part
of a bigger area to the south and east."

Click here for the complete ramblings of Gary in his latest Ticker.

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Here's a quick reminder that Superior Livestock will  be cranking up their latest every other week sale of cattle from across the country at 8:00 AM central time this morning.

Details on the 18,000 cattle being sold today can be seen here.

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On September 17, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers hosted a closed webinar with agency personnel to address 27 questions regarding the final Waters of the U.S. rule. This week, the National Corn Growers Association joined 15 other agricultural groups requesting that EPA and the Corps to make public the answers to those questions.


"It's unfair to communicate to regulators on how to identify a WOTUS under the new rule, but not also share that information with the farmers and ranchers who are being regulated, and who bear all the risks and liabilities that come with it," said NCGA President Chip Bowling.

Click here to read the letter send by the Corn Growers to EPA.