Yesterday, the Oklahoma Wheat Commission's Executive Director Mike Schulte, published his latest report on the progress of this year's wheat harvest in the state.

According to Schulte, more farmers across the state are beginning to harvest while producers on the Oklahoma Texas line are finishing up their fields. Some reports say harvest is happening in a few places along the Oklahoma Kansas border. Most believe the majority of wheat in the North central and Northern Oklahoma areas will be ready to harvest in the next 7 to 10 days. Early reports of harvest in these regions are from early plantings and early maturing varieties. 

Test weights across the state are still being considered to be extremely favorable, averaging 60 to 62 lbs./bu. Yields on the wheat that has been harvested are reported all across the board, depending on variety, management practices and the weather. Proteins across Texas on up into central Oklahoma are being reported in the 10.5 to 11% range.

Producers in Southwest and Central Oklahoma regions are moving at full speed attempting to harvest as much as possible before expected rains arrive this weekend.
 

To view Schulte's complete report from yesterday on the very latest progress of Oklahoma's wheat harvest, including a town-by-town breakdown, click here.

Thursday of this week marked the beginning of Dairy Month, which is taking place all month long during June. To get in the spirit of things, I invited our friend Susan Allen of Dairy MAX to join me in studio and talk about a new campaign the dairy industry has launched to promote dairy products and the people that produce them.

"There's a brand-new campaign called Undeniably Dairy," Allen confirmed, offering a website consumers can visit to learn more. "You can go there and see videos and learn stories, get great recipes your kids might like. It's kind of like walking through the barn with a dairy farmer and hearing what they do every day."

In today's world, with so many removed from the farm and a growing percentage of ag-illiteracy in our population, Allen says many consumers know relatively nothing about the food they eat or how it's produced.

In fact, despite the fact that nearly everyone in the country lives just a stone's throw from a working dairy, most people have never been on an actual farm.

The Undeniably Dairy campaign she says will help dairy farmers better connect with consumers, to educate and inform them, about the work they do every day.

"It's a lot of hard work," Allen concluded. "But they do it because they love it and they're good at it."


Allen will join me for our weekly In the Field segment on KWTV News9 in the Oklahoma City area this Saturday morning at 6:40 a.m. In the meantime, click or tap here to listen to our off-camera conversation, right now.

As mentioned in the previous story, National Dairy Month festivities kick off yesterday, known globally as World Milk Day. According to Dairy Management, Inc., in the U.S., an average of 12 million gallons of milk are consumed each day, with nearly half of that consumed with cereal. People around the country are encouraged to celebrate this month with a cold glass of milk that offers great taste, great nutrition and likely came from a farm nearby.

To spotlight the role dairy plays in peoples' everyday lives and to bring consumers closer to where dairy comes from, the farmer-founded Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, in partnership with nearly 42,000 family farms, processors and dairy brands,  kicked off the month-long celebration of National Dairy Month with the "Undeniably Dairy" campaign - a multiyear effort to showcase all that is good about dairy, from the farm to the foods we love.

As part of this campaign, hundreds of America's dairy farmers, throughout the month, from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin to Colorado to California, will be "opening their barn doors" to reintroduce people to their local farms and the families who run them. A variety of signature events, including farm-to-table breakfasts with local chefs and farm tours, will give consumers an opportunity to experience farm fresh foods right from the source and learn more about where dairy comes from.

The dairy industry hopes this show of hospitality will help them to achieve their goal of reconnecting with the local people that purchase their products regularly.

"What better time than National Dairy Month to showcase the undeniable commitment that dairy farmers have to their local communities," said Beth Engelmann, chief marketing communications officer at Dairy Management Inc. "Our goal is that for every cup of yogurt or glass of chocolate milk that someone enjoys, there is a memorable connection back to the farmers that make it all possible."

To find out more about Dairy Month and the events organized to help educate and celebrate the diary industry's contribution to agriculture and society, click over to website to read more.

This week on SUNUP - Oklahoma State University Grain Market Economist Dr. Kim Anderson shares with host Dave Deken some of what he has heard, speaking with elevators across the state this week as the wheat harvest in the state moves into full swing.


According to Anderson, yields are coming in at or around expectations, in some cases in the South slightly lower due to unfavorable weather conditions. Test weights have been very good though, reported so far on average at approximately 60+ lbs. Protein, however, has been disappointing farmers, falling in a range of 10.5-11%.


Surprisingly though, prices in Oklahoma have increased some. Over the past week, prices saw a lift in the basis by .10-.15, while futures continue down a sideways path. Currently, cash prices in Oklahoma range from $3.50 - $3.70 / bu.


At the moment, Anderson interprets the market to be signaling farmers to store their grain for the time being. He says, from what he can tell, the market would prefer this action to save grain for use in the December/January time period. He says if you have on-farm storage available, you might consider storing grain until later this fall. In his opinion, production is moving in the right direction for markets to potentially offer improved prices by this fall.


"That's not a guarantee, but overall it looks like a pretty good situation," Anderson said, "even with 2016 wheat in the bin."


You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now, and check out the whole line-up for this week's episode, by clicking here.

Farmer and ranchers have been on edge lately, according to the National Farmers Union. The cause of this tension? They say it stems from worries related to a recent rally in the agribusiness sector, where merger and acquisition deals are creating behemoth companies, and decreasing the number of independent businesses. In turn, they say the motivation for innovation and price suppressing competition will also decrease - negatively impacting the people that rely on these products, the farmers, in the long run.

In January, NFU was alarmed when then-President-elect Donald Trump met with Bayer AG, a German agricultural input company. During that meeting, the two parties struck a deal, committing Bayer to invest $8 billion towards research and development, should the company be permitted to acquire competitor Monsanto Co. This deal suggested the administration's tacit approval of the Bayer-Monsanto merger, which would occur at the expense of family farmers and ranchers. Additionally, the timing of this meeting was troublesome, as it occurred before the President-elect had selected his nominee for Secretary of Agriculture. This left many concerned that after inauguration, President Trump would continue to prioritize the needs of agribusiness over those of rural communities.

The President of the National Farmers Union, Roger Johnson, is asking the Trump administration, now, to consider the farmers, as the legality of these mergers are being tested, and how they will be affected in this situation.

Click here to learn more on this developing story, regarding the consolidation of the agro-chemical and inputs sector.

If you belong as a member to Oklahoma Farm Bureau, exciting news - You now have a new person to reach out to for your service needs. OFB has promoted existing employee Mark Yates vice president of field services and membership recruitment. In his new role, Yates will work alongside field representatives and county Farm Bureaus to develop and enhance member engagement and involvement.



"I am confident in Mark's ability to lead field representatives as they fulfill the vital role of communicating with county Farm Bureau leaders and members," said Monica Wilke, Oklahoma Farm Bureau executive director. "In his new position, Mark will help guarantee a bright future for our organization by working side-by-side with county Farm Bureaus to strengthen and broaden their membership."



"Farm Bureau would be nothing without its members," Yates said. "I look forward to creating new and innovative membership initiatives as we continue to fulfill our mission of improving the lives of rural Oklahomans."


Learn more about Yates, his family and how he began his career with Farm Bureau, by clicking here to read OFB's announcement.