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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

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U.S. Cattle Inventory Up Three Percent, Beef Cow Numbers Top 30.3 Million Head
 

Herd expansion continues to make strong progress in the U.S. The U.S. cattle inventory report released Friday showed the total cattle inventory was up three percent. Market Analyst Tom Leffler of Leffler Commodities said all cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1, 2016 totaled 92.0 million head. That was three percent above the 89.1 million head on January 1, 2015. He said the trade was looking for about two percent growth. Oklahoma's cattle inventory was up seven percent, Kansas was up six percent, Nebraska was up three percent and Texas was unchanged. Leffler said all categories were above year ago levels and some categories came in higher than trade expectations.


Total beef and dairy cows and heifers that have calved were estimated at 39.6 million head. That was three percent above the 38.6 million head on January 1, 2015. Beef cows came in at 30.3 million head. That was up four percent from a year ago. Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas had increases of four percent over a year ago and Missouri was up three percent.

The report shows that Texas remains the largest Beef Cow state in the US with 4.29 million head, Oklahoma is second with 1.953 million head, Missouri is third with 1.912 million head, Nebraska is fourth with 1.852 million head and South Dakota is the fifth largest beef cow state with 1.69 million mama cows. 


All heifers 500 pounds and over as of January 1, 2016 totaled 19.8 million head. This was three percent above the 19.3 million head on January 1, 2015. Beef replacement heifers were estimated at 6.29 million head. That was up three percent from a year ago. Leffler said that was in line with trade expectations. Texas and Oklahoma were the two largest beef replacement states- and had two of the largest increases of heifers on hand. Texas replacement heifer numbers were up 30,000 from a year earlier, while Oklahoma replacement heifer number grew by 40,000 head compared to January 2015.


With this negative report, Leffler said it's too early to know if this cattle inventory report will be a damper on the market on Monday.

Our Leslie Smith interviewed Leffer for analysis of this report.  Click or tap here to listen to the interview.

Click here to read the full U.S. Cattle Inventory Report from USDA. 

CME Group Chairman Terry Duffy Offers to NCBA Measure Designed to Dampen Live Cattle Futures Market Volatility  

It was November 1964 when the Chicago Mercantile Exchange commenced the trading of Live Cattle futures. There have been many times over the years when the cattle industry has been upset over the pricing of their cattle on the futures market- and after the market crash of cattle prices this past fall, cattlemen once again wondered if the cattle futures were doing more harm than good. This past Friday, Terry Duffy, Chairman of the CME Group, met face to face with cattlemen and responding to criticism over price volatility in the cattle futures market and announced measures to help curb price swings while denying that high-frequency traders are to blame.

Cattle futures will be added to an existing CME system that caps how many order updates traders can send in relation to the number of trades they actually execute. The change starts Monday, February first, according to Chairman Duffy speaking at the NCBA Cattle Marketing and International Trade Committee Meeting held by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in San Diego during the Cattle Industry Convention. The Chicago exchange, the world's largest futures market, is also examining five-to-six-second trading delays that would act as circuit-breakers.

In his Committee presentation, Duffy told cattlemen that he thinks that the trading hours for Cattle Futures are too long and pledges to look at shortening cattle futures trading sessions. He also expressed concerned about the continuing loss of cash trade in the industry, which is what the futures market is based upon.  That loss of a benchmark is something that the futures market cannot address, according to the CME Chairman.

Click here to read more and to hear our Beef Buzz dedicated to this give and take between the cattle industry and the CME.

From the Cattle Industry Convention- We Feature Our Q&A with Randy Blach and Phil Seng

Two of the folks that we sat down with at this year's Cattle Industry Convention in San Diego with were Randy Blach and Phil Seng.


We actually have a couple of stories on our website featuring Randy Blach. One is our Friday Beef Buzz based on Blach's presentation on Thursday from the Cattlefax Market Outlook Seminar.  According to Blach, the U.S. saw in 2015 the largest year over year increase in meat supplies since 1950. That was a major reason for the dramatic flip in cattle prices last year. A year ago, the cow-calf side had peak profitability and the most leverage within the cattle segment. Over the next two or three years, he said profit margins will narrow, but that industry will continue to make money. The cow-calf segment will be profitable, just not has profitable.


You can hear some of Blach's observations on the Mama Cow end of the business- as well as a cattle industry profitability  statistic that is breathtaking from our Friday Beef Buzz- click here to take a listen


Then, on Friday morning, we had the chance to sit down and talk with Blach about the Five Billion Dollar gain and then the Five Billion Dollar Loss that that the cattle industry has been over the last couple of years- as well as the beef cow herd expansion, the lack of cash markets, what your business strategy might be in 2016 and more- click here to take a listen to our complete Q&A with the top hired hand of Cattlefax direct from San Diego.


Another of the legends of the beef business that we sat down and talked with at the 2016 Cattle Industry Convention was the CEO and President of the US Meat Export Federation, Phil Seng.

Seng contends that U.S. beef and pork exports had their challenges in 2015, but there was good news as well. One of the bright spots was the Korean market. U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Phil Seng credits the Korean Free Trade agreement that was put together four years ago. The U.S. now has a duty advantage over its competitors in that market. U.S beef exports to South Korea were up seven percent and that comes at a time with a limited supply of cattle and a strong U.S. dollar. U.S. beef exports also showed growth in Vietnam and Singapore.

We talked Korea, Japan, TPP, COOL Repeal, China and more with Seng- you can hear our complete conversation with Seng by clicking or tapping here.

Cruz Flops Again on Ethanol Flip-Flop in Final Attempt to Win Over Iowa

Position on Renewable Fuel Standard changes again hours before caucus, but is still anti-ethanol, anti-RFS


At the final Republican debate before the Iowa caucus Thursday night, Sen. Ted Cruz once again changed his position on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Sen. Cruz now claims he would phase out the RFS only alongside a phase-out of oil and gas subsidies. The Republican presidential candidate had previously called for a 5-year phase-out of the RFS regardless of other subsidies, and before that has called for an immediate repeal of the RFS. Cruz's pandering is a desperate attempt to fool Iowa voters, but the fact remains that despite his façade he is still anti-RFS.


"Sen. Cruz's re-revamped position on ethanol last night left Iowans with two major takeaways," said America's Renewable Future State Director, Eric Branstad. "First, Cruz's constant flip-flops on the RFS have revealed serious authenticity and consistency issues with the candidate. Second, when a Senator from oil-rich Texas who's accepted more donations from oil than any other candidate-and is personally invested in oil companies-claims he's pro-ethanol and wants to eliminate oil subsidies, it's clear how important the RFS and ethanol are to winning in Iowa. That's why every single Democratic and Republican candidate has gotten behind ethanol and the RFS, except for Sen. Cruz and Sen. Paul."


You can find a substantive look at all of the presidential candidates' positions of the RFS by clicking here.

Midwest Farm Shows wants to thank everyone who came to the 2015 Tulsa Farm Show.  The show has grown tremendously over the past 22 years- and 2015 was the best yet!

Now is the time to put on your 2016 calendar the date for the 2016 Oklahoma City Farm Show, coming April 14, 15 and 16, 2016.  Contact Ron Bormaster at (507) 437-7969 for more details about how your business or organization can be a part of the 2016 Oklahoma City Farm Show!

Click here for more details about the 2016 Oklahoma City Farm Show- presented by Midwest Farm Shows

State of Oklahoma Requests Major Disaster Declaration for December Storm

Governor Mary Fallin Friday announced the state of Oklahoma has requested a major disaster declaration from the federal government related to the winter storm, ice, sleet and flooding that began Dec. 26.


Fallin requested individual assistance for homeowners, renters and business owners in nine counties, as well as public assistance to aid municipalities, counties, rural electric cooperatives and the state with infrastructure repairs and costs associated with responding to the storm in 41 counties.


The nine counties included in the request for individual assistance are: Adair, Cherokee, Delaware, Mayes, McCurtain, Muskogee, Ottawa, Pushmataha and Sequoyah.


The 41 counties are included in the request for public assistance are: Adair, Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cherokee, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Custer, Delaware, Dewey, Grady, Grant, Greer, Harmon, Haskell, Hughes, Jackson, Kay, Kingfisher, Kiowa, Latimer, McCurtain, McIntosh, Major, Mayes, Muskogee, Noble, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Osage, Pittsburg, Pushmataha, Roger Mills, Sequoyah, Tilman, Washita and Woods.  Click here to read more about the impact of the December storm.

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At the Cattle Industry Convention- Elanco's Kerry Keffaber Talks VFD with Ron Hays

At the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show, Elanco provided information to help beef producers better understand and prepare to implement Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) regulations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) new VFD rule for managing antibiotic use in livestock will go into effect Jan. 1, 2017, which means now is the time for producers to update their herd-health plans. Elanco has developed informational resources about the VFD, and suggests four steps farmers and ranchers can take to meet this deadline.


"With just 11 months until the final VFD rule is in place, it's important that every cattle operation start preparations so there are no surprises," says Kerry Keffaber, D.V.M., advisor for scientific affairs and policy at Elanco. "Collaboration plays a critical role in implementing these updated regulations successfully. That is why working closely with your veterinarian and feed supplier is the first of four steps we recommend for good antibiotic stewardship."


I talked with Dr. Keffaber in San Diego at the Cattle Industry Convention. Click or tap here to hear our conversation about the industry's efforts to provide this level of accountability to the public about how agriculture is handling antimicrobials.

This N That- Bluegrass Stockyards Destroyed by Fire, Millennial Kalyn and the Nine Day Forecast 

A past President of the Livestock Marketing Association is Gene Barber, one of the owners of the Bluegrass Stockyards- and Barber and his folks hosted the LMA Convention and the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship in 2003- one of the years that Billy Perrin from southeastern Oklahoma was President of the LMA. 

While Bluegrass was one of the bigger cattle auctions east of the Mississippi, the number of cattle in their weekly auctions had declined in recent years- and the company had hoped to relocate their Lexington market a few miles further out from town to a location near the intersection of Interstates 75 and 64- they were turned down in their application to do so. They do operate several other auction markets across that state- and it remains to be seen what sort of facility may rise up from the ashes of this multi-million dollar fire. 

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She's a bright, attractive young lady.   She is a former National Beef Ambassador. She's a brand new college graduate. She's a millennial. And, she has decided to go back home to ranch as a partner with her dad. She is Kalyn McKibben, who graduated from the Division of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University in December, and has decided to go home to Wyandotte, Oklahoma to be a rancher.


McKibben told her story at the Noble Foundation booth to Trade Show attendees at the 2016 Cattle Industry Convention in San Diego. She says that she has a passion for ranching, and is looking forward to being called a rancher, as well as being an agricultural advocate to consumers she may encounter in person or via social media.

Click here to check out our story with Kalyn and hear her comments about why she wants to be a Millennial Rancher.

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Finally- on this Monday morning- let's take a look at what is ahead of us this week weather wise- courtesy of Jed Castles with News9 KWTV- this is his nine day outlook for central and western Oklahoma:

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