Latest USDA Crop Progress Report Shows Mixed Bag for Southern Plains Wheat Crop

As drought conditions improve in Oklahoma, the state's wheat crop shows incremental improvement. In the weekly crop progress report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the state's wheat crop rated 38 percent good to excellent, 39 percent fair and 23 percent poor to very poor. The crop gained one point in the good-excellent category and one point in the fair category. Winter wheat headed was 90 percent complete. The canola crop rated 59 percent good to fair, up two points from last week. Click here for the full Oklahoma report.


The Texas wheat crop continues to progress. The latest USDA report has shown no change over a week ago with 52 percent good to excellent, 33 percent fair, 15 poor to very poor.    The wheat crop has 82 percent of the crop headed. That was up 22 points from last week. Hail and hard rain damage was reported in the Northern High Plains, the Blacklands and the Edwards Plateau while the crop began to mature in South Texas. Planting slowed in many areas due to wet conditions. Corn planting was 70 percent complete, up 14 points over last week and 60 percent of the crop has emerged. Sorghum was 63 percent planted and soybeans were 48 percent planted. Moisture conditions favored grass growth throughout the state, aiding range and pasture development. Click here for the full Texas report.


The Kansas wheat crop continues to show stress from drought and rust pressure. The latest crop progress report had the crop gaining one point in the good to excellent category and one point in the poor to very poor category. The latest report has the state's winter wheat crop rated 27 good to excellent, 41 percent fair and 32 percent poor to very poor. Winter wheat jointed was at 91 percent with 41 percent of the crop headed. Corn planting was 52 percent complete, a jump of 20 points over last week. Soybean and cotton planting has gotten started. Click here for the full Kansas report.   

Nationally the story is all about the rapid progress of planting corn- with 36% of the corn crop planted in the last seven days- we are now at 55% complete as of Sunday afternoon. For the complete Crop Progress report- which includes the first Pasture and Range Conditions summary for the 2015 season- click here.  

Peel Analyzes the Unusual Cattle Markets of 2015

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


Unusual market conditions lead to unusual incentives that result in unusual market behavior. This makes markets unusually difficult to figure out. There is considerable variability in views across the industry about the current and coming fed cattle market for the remainder of 2015. And for good reason; we are seeing extremes in conditions and behavior that are clouding the picture.


The April 1 cattle on feed inventory was essentially unchanged from one year ago. However the makeup of that inventory was unique in several respects. The number of heifers on feed was not only down 10.1 percent from one year ago, it was the lowest quarterly heifer on feed number since 1996. This is not surprising given the anticipated heifer retention and herd expansion that is underway. Fewer heifers in feedlots would naturally suggest that steers make up a bigger percentage of total cattle on feed. More than that however, the number of steers on feed actually increased in April, up 5.4 percent year over year, to the highest quarterly steers on feed total since January, 2008. As a result, the April 1, 2015 steers on feed total was 69 percent of total cattle on feed, 2.4 percent higher than one year ago and a new record level. Until now, the 2014 total was tied for a record percentage of steers on feed that only occurred once prior (in 2005) in data back to 1996. It appears that feedlots have drawn heavily from available steer supplies to maintain feedlot inventories so far this year.


Variability in placement weights also adds to the challenge of determining the timing of fed cattle production. For many months, monthly feedlot placements have tended to swing between large proportions of lightweight cattle (less than 600 pounds) and placements of heavy feeders (over 800 pounds), often with fewer cattle in the traditional feeder placement weight categories of 600 to 800 pounds. The "tails" of the placement weight distribution add to the difficulty because there is no way to estimate the average weight in the category, especially for the heavy feeders. Average placement weights vary because of changes in average animal size and because of changes in the steer to heifer mix.  Click here to read more from Dr. Peel.

NFU Says Trade Promotion Authority Goes Against Constitution

The National Farmers Union isn't excited about where Congress is going. Later on this month, the full House and Senate will consider Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).   This provides the President with the ability to "fast track" trade negotiations and trade agreements are voted on by Congress with an up or down vote. NFU Senior Vice President of Programs Chandler Goule said NFU opposes TPA because it goes against the Constitution.


"The United States Constitution says that it is the U.S. Congress who is to enter into trade agreements with foreign counties and when you pass something like TPA, you are basically signing away your constitutional rights," Goule said. "You are handcuffing your Senators, you are handcuffing your Congressman, but really what you're doing is you are taking away the voice from family farmers and ranchers to make sure we don't have additional dairy products coming in and offsetting our domestic production, to guarantee we are going to get that beef export market that was promised in that deal or to make sure that we don't take on more sugar from Australia. You basically tied your Congressman to a yes-no vote and the true loser at the end is the family farmer and rancher."


With TPA, trade negotiations would be voted on by Congress with a up or down vote. Goule said that limits the ability of American farmers and ranchers along with citizens from voicing their concerns with trade agreements, because Congress does not have the ability to amend these trade agreements.


In looking at the Trans-Pacific Partnership, NFU said they don't support the agreement.  Click here to read more or hear my full interview with NFU as Goule addresses Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and the latest efforts of the Beef Checkoff Working Group.  

Soy Growers to Chipotle: Misinformation is Not a Marketing Strategy

The American Soybean Association (ASA) issued a statement in response to Chipotle's announcement that the fast-food chain would remove all foods containing genetically-modified ingredients, including the soybean oil used in cooking, from its menu. ASA President Wade Cowan, a farmer from Brownfield, Texas, noted farmers' continuing frustration with the misinformation about agricultural biotechnology advanced by Chipotle this week:


"Farmers are no strangers to the heated discussion of GMOs and biotechnology. We recognize that there are passionate viewpoints on both sides, and we respectfully disagree with those who choose to dispute the scientific consensus on the safety of these agricultural innovations. What is different about Chipotle's announcement this week is that it smacks of a willful subversion of science, all in the name of selling burritos.


"Chipotle contends that more study is needed on GMOs, even though they are among the most studied and tested food products in the world, and have been since their introduction almost 20 years ago-all without a single incidence of harm to humans, plants or animals. Think about that for a minute: a planet's worth of meals over two decades means literally trillions of servings without one adverse occurrence. Chipotle, however, bypasses the overwhelming scientific consensus and places long-debunked safety concerns first and foremost in its new effort. For this, the restaurant has been taken to task by viewpoints ranging from the Center for Science in the Public Interest to media outlets like National Public Radio and the Washington Post-voices that certainly couldn't be mistaken as 'shills' for big agriculture.  Click here to read more from the American Soybean Association.  

Animal Ag Alliance Provides Tools to Fight Back Against 'Meatless Mondays' and Activists

Kay Johnson Smith serves as President and CEO of the Animal Agriculture Alliance. This group is dedicated to providing resources for agriculture to fight back against anti-agriculture groups and campaigns like "Meatless Mondays". Johnson Smith said activists are using the proposed dietary guidelines proposal from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services as a way to promote their "Meatless Mondays" campaign.


"The Alliance has recently updated our materials that provide sort of the counter voice to why protein is important and why meat is important in diets as well debunking some of the myths that are projected by the 'Meatless Mondays' campaign," Johnson Smith said. "So we hope to have those pieces out and available to the public and available as a resource to farmers and ranchers and stakeholders within the next month."


Activist campaigns are targeting retailers and restaurants, along with the investors in these companies. Johnson Smith said the Alliance has reached out to a number of companies that have been identified as businesses that have been targeted by international activist groups as well as groups like the Humane Society of the United States, Humane League, Mercy for Animals, PETA among others. Johnson Smith said these activist groups are contacting investors in trying to create doubt about whether these companies are good business investments because of their animal welfare policies.


"It's sort of a back door way to push them to do more and to make more extreme polices for their suppliers," Johnson Smith said.   

Click here to read or have the opportunity to hear this Beef Buzz feature.  

AG Scott Pruitt to Testify Tuesday on EPA Overreach at U.S. Senate Hearing

Attorney General Scott Pruitt will testify today at a U.S. Senate hearing on the EPA's proposed Clean Power Plan. The hearing, titled "Legal Implications of the Clean Power Plan," is being conducted by the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety.


The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. ET in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building and will feature testimony from Attorney General Pruitt and others on the EPA's unlawful Clean Power Plan. The hearing will be available to view online.


Under the Clean Air Act, states are given the primary role to develop and implement policies to achieve the national goals of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. Only if states fail to act, is the federal government allowed to step in with a federal plan.


"The EPA claims its so-called Clean Power Plan gives states flexibility to develop a plan to meet its emissions goal. In reality, it is nothing more than an attempt by the EPA to force states into shuttering coal-fired power plants and eventually other sources of fossil-fuel generated electricity," Attorney General Pruitt said. 

Click here to read more about Pruitt's testimony over EPA's  proposed Clean Power Plan.   

This N That- Deadline for Dietary Guidelines Comments is Friday, Jayson Lusk on Chipolte and RAIN!

The comment period for the proposed Dietary Guidelines will close THIS FRIDAY, May 8th and cattle groups are urging their members to take time to make comments.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee removed lean meat from their definition of a healthy diet. the cattle groups are wanting folks to urge the Secretaries of USDA and HHS to review the science and reject these unsubstantiated recommendations.

To submit your comments- click here to jump to the HHS website where you can make your comments on the subject.

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OSU Ag Economist Dr. Jayson Lusk has a blog on his personal website JaysonLusk.Com- and in his latest posting dated May 4th- he talks about the backlash against the Chipolte decision to ban GMOs from their products(at least sorta ban them).   

Dr. Lusk writes "Last week I mentioned Chipotle's decision to go semi-non-GMO when discussing consumer sovereignty vs. scientific integrity.   

"I've been astounded at the voluminous, and nearly unanimous, backlash against Chipotle's decision in the media."

He adds that "Amazingly, I haven't seen one story in a major media outlet that has applauded Chipotle's move."

To read his full blog on the subject- click here.

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Rain is likely to be part of the landscape in Oklahoma over the next week- with some locales to receive as much as four inches if the weather folks are right.  As we write this morning- there are heavy rainstorms in the Texas Panhandle and starting to swirl into western counties of our state- click here for the latest forecast central and western Oklahoma courtesy of News9 and for eastern Oklahoma- you can click here on the News on 6 forecast.

Our friend Jed Castles has come up with a great 2015 versus 2014 shot taken out in the Cheyenne area in western Oklahoma- take a look- this sums up how we are doing this year compared to early May 2014- when drought was raging at exceptional levels:

 What a difference a year makes!!!