We have posted our full conversation from Monday afternoon with US Wheat Associates Director of Policy Dalton Henry about the study on our website.  You can read more about this study and hear our complete conversation by clicking here.

Corn, sorghum and cotton harvest is making progress nationally. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported all three crops are behind harvested. In the weekly crop progress report, USDA downgraded the condition of the nation's soybean, cotton and sorghum crops. Meanwhile, the nation's corn condition held steady.


Corn harvest has gotten underway across ten of the largest corn producing states. Nationally, five percent of the crop has been harvested, behind the five year average of nine percent. Harvest progress ranges from 57 percent of the North Carolina crop to one percent of Nebraska's and Indiana's. 


USDA adjusted the condition of the nation's soybean crop downward. In the top 18 soybean producing states in the nation, 61 percent of the crop was in good to excellent condition, 27 percent fair and 12 percent poor to very poor with 35 percent dropping leaves.


Cotton harvest has gotten underway in five states with four percent of the nation's cotton crop harvested. That's behind the average of seven percent harvested. Maturity remains behind with 46 percent of the crop setting bolls, six points behind the five year average. In the 15 main cotton producing states, USDA reported 52 percent of the crop rated in good to excellent condition, 35 percent fair and 13 percent poor to very poor.


Sorghum harvest nationally reached 22 percent complete, behind the average of 26 percent harvested. Sorghum maturity is ahead of average with 83 percent of the crop coloring and 43 percent of the crop mature. The nation's sorghum crop condition fell slightly since last week with 67 percent of the crop was rated in good to excellent condition, 26 percent fair and seven percent poor to very poor.


Click here for the full national crop progress report.

Sorghum harvest has gotten underway in Oklahoma. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Monday reported 15 percent of the state's sorghum crop has been harvested, ahead of the five-year average by two points. Sorghum coloring reached 84 percent and mature reached 36 percent. Sorghum rated 74 percent good to excellent, down two points from last week. With the state's corn crop, USDA had 94 percent in the dough stage, dent reached 89 percent and 50 percent was mature. The state's corn crop rated 64 percent good to excellent condition, unchanged from last week. Soybeans blooming reached 91 percent and setting pods reached 85 percent. Soybeans rated 57 percent good to excellent, up two points from last week. Cotton bolls opening reached 22 percent. The state's cotton crop rated 65 good to excellent, down two points from last week. Seedbed preparation was underway for small grains. Click here for the full Oklahoma report.


Sorghum, corn, cotton and soybean harvest is progressing in Texas. USDA reports 60 percent of the sorghum crop has been harvested, which is on track with the five-year average. The sorghum crop rated 67 percent good to excellent, unchanged over the previous week. Corn harvest gained one point with 53 percent of the crop harvested, down from the five-year average of 58. USDA reports 56 percent of the state's corn crop was in good to excellent condition, unchanged. Soybeans were 32 percent harvested. Soybeans rated 39 percent in good to excellent condition, steady with the previous week. Cotton reached eight percent harvested, behind last year and average. Cotton rated 42 percent good to excellent, down two points from last week. Winter wheat planting was underway with five percent of the crop planted. Click here for the full Texas report.


Corn and sorghum harvest has gotten started in Kansas. USDA reports corn harvest was 11 percent complete, behind last year and the average of 25. In the latest crop progress report, the corn rated 56 percent good to excellent, down one percent from last week. Sorghum harvest was two percent complete. Sorghum rated 65 percent good to excellent, down three points from last week. Soybeans rated 55 percent good to excellent, down one point from last week. Cotton rated 63 percent good to excellent, unchanged from last week. Winter wheat planting reached five percent complete. Click here for the full Kansas report.

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


"Total cattle imports from Canada and Mexico are down 4.0 percent for the first seven months of 2015 compared to last year. Cattle imports from Canada for the January to July period are down 21.0 percent year over year while cattle imports from Mexico are up 15.1 percent. Imports of cattle for immediate slaughter (from Canada) are down 34.4 percent compared to one year ago. Combined feeder imports from Mexico and Canada are up 10.1 percent through July compared to last year.


"Cattle imports from Canada are typically a mix of slaughter and feeder cattle. Through July, imports of slaughter steers and heifers from Canada were both down over 40 percent from last year and combined for a 44.0 percent year over year decrease.   Slaughter cows and bulls are down 20.5 percent from last year. Feeder steer imports from Canada are up 45.1 percent this year compared to one year ago while feeder heifer imports are down 18.9 percent from last year. Combined feeder steer and heifer imports are unchanged year over year. Lower total cattle imports from Canada reflect continued decreases in total cattle inventories in Canada, currently at the lowest level in more than 20 years."

Click here to read more of this week's analysis from Dr. Peel.

Following the lead of Texas and several other states, Oklahoma's cattle industry is moving forward to petition for a referendum for an Oklahoma state-level beef checkoff. Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey contends there are a lot of reasons why the national beef checkoff needs more resources. In speaking for OCA, Kelsey said the $1 per head checkoff was established in 1985 and the federal assessment hasn't been adjusted since the program began.


"The power of the dollar as we know has just shrunk," Kelsey said. "You can't buy a cup of coffee for 25 cents any more. It takes more to do that, so we need more funds in order to do those types of programs that we think we need to do to continue to position beef in the center of the plate." 


The Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association will be the group conducting the referendum, according to the petition. The petition has been approved by the seven groups that have come together as a task force. This includes the American Farmers and Ranchers, Oklahoma Beef Council, Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, Oklahoma CattleWomen's Association, Oklahoma Dairy Producers Association, Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the Oklahoma Livestock Marketing Association. 


The group said the reasons to propose of a new state assessment include increased funds for the core checkoff strategies of market development, promotion, research and consumer information. If passed, all assessment funds will be received and administered by the Oklahoma Beef Council. They will promote and defend beef and cattle production and aggressively promote and defend beef's importance in a healthy diet. The maximum state assessment will be $1 per head at the change of ownership. The state assessment, as required by state statute, is refundable.  Click here to read more or to listen to this featured interview with Michael Kelsey.

Antibiotic use in livestock is one of the most discussed and misunderstood topics in agriculture today, but the newest North American Meat Institute (NAMI) Glass Walls video aims to clarify exactly how, when and why antibiotics are used in animals. The video features a virtual tour of a livestock production facility from University of Nebraska and Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center veterinarian Brad Jones, DVM. Jones explains the decision-making process regarding antibiotic use in cattle and pigs, including the diagnosis of illnesses, treatment and antibiotic use considerations and how animals are tracked from antibiotic administration to harvest.


"I think the use of antibiotics in our industry is appropriate and I would also use the term responsible. It's appropriate for animal well-being and comfort. It's appropriate to treat certain diseases that affect the animal," Jones says. "How we utilize antibiotics and the decisions we make when we give them have a lot of thought behind them; not only thought because we're mandated to because of laws and rules, but thought because we understand the importance of maintaining use of antibiotics in our industry for the health and well-being of animals."


The video was created by NAMI as a way to give interested consumers an inside look at the process of using antibiotics in livestock while addressing many of the common misconceptions about their use. It supplements NAMI's variety of resources on antibiotic use including the " Facts About Antibiotics in Livestock and Poultry Production" brochure and several Meat Mythcrusher videos tackling common antibiotic myths such as 80 percent of antibiotics are used in animals, antibiotics are commonly used for growth promotion and animal agriculture is the biggest contributor to antibiotic resistance. Click here to watch the latest video from the North American Meat Institute.

Each week- Ed Czerwein with the USDA Market News office in Amarillo, Texas compiles a report on the boxed beef trade for the previous week- looking at overall sales of wholesale beef, exports and more. We have posted his latest report on our website- you can click here to read the full report and listen to his commentary for the trade from this past week.

According to Ed- "Weekly boxed beef trade for week ending Sep 12 The daily spot Choice box beef cutout ended the week last Fri at $236.09 which was $3.98 lwr compared to previous Friday. There were 665 loads sold for the week in the daily box beef cutout, which was almost 10 % of the total volume. The weakening daily cutout which has declined 10 out of the last 12 working days but has started to drop at a much higher rate now that retailers have restocked shelves after the recent holiday. It has dropped over $7.00 in the past two weeks.

"The Comprehensive or weekly avg Choice cutout which includes all types of sales including the daily spot cutout was $235.56 which was $2.62 lower. Last summer the Weekly avg Choice cutout dropped from $258 the week ending Aug 9 to $238 the week ending October 4th then started its normal fall increase."