Presented by

 

Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

 

 

 

 

Featured Story:

Dr. Clint Roush to Become 19th Member of Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame- Brett Carver, Randy Davis and Quintus Herron Also to be Honored 

 
The Governor's Agriculture Awards will be presented during a special ceremony hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry at 2 p.m. March 30 in Senate Assembly Room 535 in the state capitol. The public is invited to attend.


Dr. Clint Roush will be inducted as the 19th Member of the Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame as he is awarded the Governor's Outstanding Achievement Award in Agriculture. Roush carried what he learned about farming and ranching into education and then to board service. His experience includes 14 years of teaching and consulting in agriculture finance, farm financial planning, business management and strategic planning at Oklahoma State University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

Also being honored next Wednesday is Dr. Brett Carver. Carver will receive the Governor's Outstanding Public Service in Agriculture Award. He is the Wheat Genetics Chair in Agriculture at Oklahoma State University. He was nominated by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission for the work he has conducted as a wheat breeder and leader of the Wheat Improvement Team at OSU.

Randy Davis will receive the Governor's Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Award. He is President and CEO of Greenleaf Nursery Company with locations in Oklahoma, Texas and North Carolina. Greenleaf is one of the largest wholesale container nurseries in the U.S.

And- the Governor's Outstanding Legacy in Agriculture Award will be presented posthumously to Quintus Herron of Idabel. He was a professional forester, successful businessman and generous philanthropist who dedicated his 70-year career to transforming the timber industry in southeastern Oklahoma.

More details about the careers of these four men is in our Top Ag Story for this Tuesday morning-  click here to see more on these men that have given so much to Oklahoma and US Agriculture.

 

We Have Been Red Flagged in 44 Counties With Extreme Fire Danger Today- Then More Freezing Temps?!?   

 

If you live almost anywhere in Oklahoma- you are hearing the winds blow this morning- and they will continue to provide EXTREME FIRE DANGER through this evening.

Jed Castles with News9 in OKC has an excellent statewide map showing even areas that have had ample moisture this spring need to be careful because of fire danger today:

George Geissler, Oklahoma State Forester is saying this Tuesday morning "We are urging people not to do any outdoor burning or other activity that might spark a blaze through Wednesday. We also ask that you report any fire or smoke you see to your nearest fire department. Time is of the essence with the present and predicted fire danger as any new fire will spread rapidly."

More on the Fire Dangers of today from ODAFF and the Oklahoma Forestry Services is available here.

That's the first shoe to drop- now what about that second shoe???

The nine day forecast, again courtesy of our man Jed, is worrisome in that about the time we will start seeing what freeze damage has occurred to winter wheat and canola as well as in our fruit tree orchards(early next week), another bout of freezing temps may arrive:




If areas that are droughty get rains from that Easter storm being predicted- they will more likely be able to handle a short bout of cold- but there are lots of moving parts here- and plenty to watch and have concerns about.

OSU's Jeff Edwards Weighs in on Possible Freeze Injury to 2016 Wheat Crop

 

From his Blog, World of Wheat, Dr. Jeff Edwards, who continues to serve as OSU Extension Wheat Specialist for just a few more days, says that the temperatures were cold enough, long enough that we could be dealing with freeze injury. 

However, he says wheat is a tough plant and every freeze event is just a little different.  Jeff has some excellent insights and here is what he wrote on Monday:

Dr. Edwards offers a few points that he would encourage everyone to consider:

"Every freeze event is unique - the temperatures and time durations we use regarding freeze injury are rules of thumb and are not exact. I have seen instances where conventional wisdom would indicate complete crop loss and we skate through with minimal damage.


"It will take a few days to see how bad things are - Symptoms may start to appear later this week and will likely be clearly identifiable by the end of this week. Healthy wheat heads will remain turgid with a green color. Damaged wheat heads will be bleached, yellow, or brown and will easily break when pushed against. I anticipate that we will not have any partial "blanking" of wheat heads and that most wheat heads will either be okay or a complete loss. This post from last year has some pictures showing tell tale signs of freeze injury. The linked post also serves as a reminder that while freeze is the concern of the day, the potential worsening of drought conditions in NW Oklahoma has the potential to do far more damage.


"% damaged heads might not = % yield loss - It is still relatively early in the growing season and there is still opportunity for smaller (two nodes or less) wheat to produce additional tillers and/or retain secondary tillers. Whether or not these tillers are able to compensate for larger tillers that were lost due to freeze will depend on moisture and weather. IF (and that is a big if) weather conditions remain favorable, late emerging tillers in central and northern Oklahoma might still have a shot at producing grain. It will be tougher for more advanced wheat in southern Oklahoma to make this type of recovery."

US Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack Okays Using Checkoff Money to Build Demand for US Goods in Cuba 

 

Even as President Obama met with and was lectured about the evils of the US by Cuban Dictator Raul Castro, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was agreeing to an MOU with his Cuban counterpart, Minister of Agriculture Gustavo Rodriguez Rollero. The deal between our two countries indicates that we will be "sharing ideas and research between the two countries." 

The USDA news release offered no insights into what Cuba brings to the table in the area of research.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack says checkoff groups can promote U.S. agriculture in Cuba. Secretary Vilsack announced in that same release that USDA will allow the 22 industry-funded Research and Promotion Programs and 18 Marketing Order organizations to conduct authorized research and information exchange activities with Cuba. These groups, which are responsible for creating bonds with consumers and businesses around the world, will be able to engage in cooperative research and information exchanges with Cuba about agricultural productivity, food security and sustainable natural resource management.

That means that checkoff monies can be used to develop a potential market for US farmers and ranchers.

Bill Tomson with Agri-Pulse has authored an excellent piece about how these checkoff investments could really help lay the groundwork for selling a lot of ag products into Cuba- you can read his webstory by clicking here.

 

We are happy to have the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association as a part of our great lineup of email sponsors. They do a tremendous job of representing cattle producers at the state capitol as well as in our nation's capitol.

They seek to educate OCA members on the latest production techniques for maximum profitability and to communicate with the public on issues of importance to the beef industry.  Click here for their website to learn more about the OCA.  

 

Derrell Peel Talks Cattle on Feed and Spring Time's Impacts on Cattle Markets

 

Mondays, Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, offers his economic analysis of the beef cattle industry. This analysis is a part of the weekly series known as the "Cow Calf Corner" published electronically by Dr. Peel and Dr. Glenn Selk. Today, Dr. Peel looks at this past Friday's USDA Cattle on Feed Report and Spring time impacts on the Cattle Market.


"The latest Cattle on Feed report pegs March 1 feedlot inventories at 10.77 million head, 101 percent of year ago levels. February marketings and placements were both up year over year partly because of an extra business day in February due to leap year. Marketings were 105 percent of last year with daily average feedlot marketings equal to year ago levels. Placements were 110 percent of year ago levels, within a wide range of pre-report expectations. The placement number is not as bearish as viewed by some. First, the extra day in February allows more placements during the month. Secondly, it was compared to a small 2015 value that was nearly five percent under the five year average. Nevertheless, it was up and was the first significant year over year increase in placements in two years. Larger feeder cattle supplies mean that more cattle will be coming to feedlots and increased year over year placements will likely be the expectation for many months to come.


"Spring started officially last weekend but in numerous ways spring came early and has been evident since February. Despite a winter storm currently impacting the Northeast, unseasonably warm temperatures have predominated across much of the country recently. In Oklahoma many trees and plants broke dormancy in February and wheat reached the first hollow stem stage two to three weeks early, prompting large movements of feeder cattle to market in February rather than the more typical early March pull-off date, These no doubt contributed to the large February feedlot placements and may partially offset some March placements."

Derrell has more on how he sees factors this spring impacting cattle prices- click here to check out his complete analysis for this week.

Want to Have the Latest Energy News Delivered to Your Inbox Daily?

Oklahoma Wheat Ratings Slip in Latest Weekly Crop Progress- Kansas, Texas Rise 

 

The latest Crop Progress numbers are out- and the main crop to be watching here in March is the hard red winter crop ratings in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. 

Areas that are getting drier by the day have pushed the Oklahoma wheat crop ratings down by four percentage points in the good to excellent readings- a week ago, the Oklahoma crop had a 67% good to excellent rating- in the Monday afternoon report of this week, we have dropped back to a 63% good to excellent rating.

Click here for the complete Oklahoma Crop Weather Update.

Our neighbors to the north and to the south have both improved by one percentage point in that same good to excellent ranking.

Down south in Texas, the wheat crop now stands at 47% good to excellent- one percentage point up from a week ago- and five percentage points improved from the report released on March 7th.

Click here to read the complete Texas Crop Weather Update as of March 21.

Finally- our neighbors in Kansas- the largest HRW wheat state- has a crop currently rated 57% good to excellent- up one percentage point from both one and two weeks ago.

For the latest Kansas report, click here.

Weekly Boxed Beef Prices Push Solidly Higher In Latest Ed Czerwein Report

 

On a regular basis, Ed Czerwein of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Market News Office in Amarillo, Texas offers a review of the previous week's boxed beef trade. Here is his report of weekly boxed beef trade for the week ending March 19th. The daily spot Choice box beef cutout ended the week last Friday at $231.81 which was $7.76 higher compared to the previous Friday but at one point during the week- it had been over $234. There were 557 loads sold for the week in the daily box beef cutout which was nine percent of the total volume.


The Comprehensive or weekly average Choice cutout which includes all types of sales including the daily spot cutout was $224.62, which was $6.65 higher and likely the product of the grilling season rally.

Read more by clicking here- and be sure to listen to Ed's analysis of the weekly wholesale trade.

Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment,  American Farmers & Ranchers, Stillwater Milling Company, Oklahoma AgCredit,  the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, Pioneer Cellular, Farm Assure and  KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis- at NO Charge!

 

 

We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.   

 Click here to check out WWW.OklahomaFarmReport.Com  

 

 

God Bless! You can reach us at the following:  

 

 

 

Oklahoma Farm Bureau is Proud to be the Presenting Sponsor of the Ron Hays Daily Farm and Ranch News Email