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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack Monday announced that eligible producers may now formally enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for 2014 and 2015. The enrollment period begins June 17, 2015, and will end Sept. 30, 2015.


"The extensive outreach campaign conducted by USDA since the 2014 Farm Bill was enacted, along with extending deadlines, is central to achieving an expected high level of participation," said Vilsack. "We worked with universities to simplify these complex programs by providing online tools so producers could explore how program election options would affect their operation in different market conditions; these tools were presented to almost 3,000 organizations across the country. The Farm Service Agency also sent more than 5 million educational notices to producers nationwide and participated in over 4,880 educational events with more than 447,000 attendees. I am proud of the many committed USDA employees who worked hard over the last several months to provide producers support to help them make these important decisions."


The new programs, established by the 2014 Farm Bill, trigger financial protections for agricultural producers when market forces cause substantial drops in crop prices or revenues. More than 1.76 million farmers have elected ARC or PLC. Previously, 1.7 million producers had enrolled to receive direct payments (the program replaced with ARC and PLC by the 2014 Farm Bill). This means more farms have elected ARC or PLC than previously enrolled under previously administered programs.


Nationwide, 96 percent of soybean farms, 91 percent of corn farms, and 66 percent of wheat farms elected ARC. 99 percent of long grain rice farms, 99 percent of peanut farms, and 94 percent of medium grain rice farms elected PLC. For data about other crops and state-by-state program election results go to www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.


Covered commodities under ARC and PLC include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice (which includes short grain and sweet rice), safflower seed, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat. Upland cotton is no longer a covered commodity. 

Click here to read more about the Farm Bill.  

Limited Harvest Reported in Latest Oklahoma Wheat Commission Harvest Update 

Limited harvest on sandier soil in central Oklahoma was reported in the latest Oklahoma Wheat Commission Harvest Report. Executive Director Mike Schulte reports in his June 15th report  "The Oklahoma Wheat Harvest continues to be at a standstill through all regions of the state. Producers in some areas thought they might try harvesting today(Monday) around the Medford area, but it will all depend on if moisture levels get low enough and no rains come later this afternoon or this evening.  

"Some wheat was harvested over the weekend in the Greenfield area on sandier soils with approximately 9,000 bushels collected in that area yesterday. As of this afternoon, some samples were brought into the Greenfield location but tested 19% moisture so most likely no wheat will be harvested in that region today. "(Greenfield is located in Blaine County)

In communicating with several producers in north central Oklahoma on Monday- they told us they needed sunshine to bring those moisture levels down to where the wheat could be cut.

For the full Oklahoma Wheat Commission report from Monday afternoon- click or tap here. 

USDA Reports Oklahoma and Texas Wheat Harvest Made Excellent Progress This Past Week- Before the Rains Came  

Before the rains came- Oklahoma wheat harvest was rolling well- jumping twenty five percentage points in one week- the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update shows 38% of wheat harvest now done in the state- up from 13% the week before. Because of the late start due to the massive amount of May rainfall- we remain well behind the five year average harvest completion rate of 57%.  

Canola harvest also made huge gains over the last week jumping from six percent complete to 57 percent harvested. Canola harvest remains behind last year and the five-year average. Planting of row crops was nearly complete with peanuts 99 percent complete, corn was 94 percent planted with 85 percent of the crop emerged. Seedbed preparation for cotton was 97 percent done, sorghum was at 94 percent and soybeans 82 percent. First cutting of alfalfa was 87 percent complete. Pasture and range conditions rated 73 percent good to fair. Click here for the full Oklahoma report.


Rain continues to delay wheat harvest in parts of Texas. Still, USDA reported the state's wheat harvest reached 47 percent. That is also a big jump from the week before of 20% done.  Row crops across the state continued to progress as planting continued. Producers in the Trans-Pecos region began replanting cotton, while producers in the Blacklands and North East region sustained damage to their sorghum and corn crops due to flooding. Corn planting was 98 percent planted, peanuts were 94 percent, cotton 88 percent, sorghum 83 percent and soybeans 81 percent. Click here for the full Texas report.


Wheat harvest is slow to get underway in Kansas. The weekly crop progress report has two percent of the crop harvested. That's in-line with last year, but behind the average of 18 percent. Corn planting was at 97 percent, cotton planting was at 76 percent, sorghum was at 58 percent and soybeans were at 57 percent. Overall, planting remains well-behind the five-year average. Click here for the full Kansas report.

Nationally, soybean and cotton planting has reached the homestretch. That's according to the latest crop progress report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Soybean planting has reached 87 percent complete, slightly behind the five-year average of 90 percent. USDA reports 75 percent of the crop has emerged with 67 percent of the crop in good to excellent condition, 27 percent in fair and six percent in poor to very poor condition.  

Cotton planted reached 91 percent complete. That's behind last year's 94 and average of 96. The crop rated 55 percent good to excellent condition, 38 fair and seven percent poor. That's a jump of five points in the good to excellent category over last week. The nation's sorghum planting reached 71 percent complete. The nation's corn crop has reached 97 percent emergence. The crop was rated 73 percent good to excellent, 22 percent fair and five percent poor to very poor. To view the full national crop progress report,  click here.

 

Peel Reviews Oklahoma Cattle Market, Prices Sharply Higher

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


"The removal of drought gives many Oklahoma cattle producers the first opportunity in several years to implement production plans that have been on hold during the drought. Cattle prices advanced dramatically through 2014 resulting in the near record prices levels observed currently.


"Oklahoma auction prices for 500-500 lb. Medium and Large, Number 1 steers averaged $280.53/cwt. in mid-June, up nearly 19 percent from the same time last year. The value is roughly $1,475/head, up about $230/head year over year. Comparable heifers are priced at $256.08/cwt., up a similar percentage as steers from one year ago and valued at $1,330/head.


"Medium and Large, Number 1 Steers at 750 - 800 lbs. currently are priced at $226.04/cwt., up 13 percent year over year, with value of $1,745/hd., adding about $210/head over year ago values.


"There have been numerous examples of auction heifers identified in market reports as sold for replacements. This has been occurring since the fall of 2013 but has become more frequent in the Southern Plains recently as forage conditions have improved. Open replacement heifers often bring $5-$15 cwt. more than comparable feeder heifers resulting in higher values of $50 to $150/head. For example, the most recent Oklahoma auction summary included 850-900 pound M/L, Number 1 open replacement heifers valued at $1,830/head, some $105/head more than comparable feeder heifers. The same auction summary reports bred heifers in the western part of Oklahoma, described as average quality black heifers, priced at $1,700-$2,075/head."   Click here to read more from Dr. Peel.  

USDA E. Coli Research Projects Aim to Improve Food Safety by Monitoring and Mitigating STEC

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is funding a multi-year $25-million project, studying the occurrence of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (S-T-E-C) in beef production to help significantly advance beef safety knowledge to protect human health. The S-T-E-C project is focusing on eight different subsets of E.coli including O157:H7, the E.coli strain that caused the outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants. There are 15 different institutions involved. The lead institution is the University of Nebraska. Others include Kansas State University, Texas A & M, New Mexico State University, among others. A veterinarian from Mississippi State University, Dr. Dave Smith, said this work is important for beef cattle producers and consumers.


"When we look at this whole problem of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, what we know from studying a specific one, S-T-E-C O157:H7, is that live cattle are the source of the organism," Smith said.


The research has been looking at when and where does it occur and why does it occur. The research is also looking at what can be done with that information to make it less likely to occur in live cattle. Dr. Smith said his project is trying to find ways to reduce E. coli in live cattle.


"A lot of research is about understanding, well what are those conditions that favor the organism, either its ability to grow in the GI tract or survive in the environment to be picked up by an animal," Smith said. "So, it's understanding those things that let us be able to tell cattlemen, these are the things that the industry can do that would reduce the risk for this organism." 

I featured Dr. Smith on his research project on our latest Beef Buzz, as heard on great radio stations across the southern great plains. Click or tap here to read more and hear their comments.  

Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains- Click here to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.

Noble Foundation Offers Techniques to Conserve Water Resources

Jim Johnson, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Soils and Crops Consultant  offers several ways that landowners can take better care of their water resources:


"On any landscape, there are opportunities to reduce the amount of water evaporated from the soil. One option for grazers is to leave the grazed stubble a little taller so it shades the soil a little more. For instance, if you normally graze to a 4-inch stubble height, try grazing to a 5-inch stubble height. You may give up a small amount of production, but you will gain a little more shade on the soil surface. Increasing shade on the soil surface reduces the temperature of the soil on a hot, sunny day, and in turn, reduces the amount of water lost to evaporation from the soil. The same holds true when mowing the lawn or cutting hay. Raising the cutting height by a small amount will allow your yard or hay meadow to evaporate less water and redirect that water to growing grass.


"The design of a pond to supply livestock water can also conserve water. A deeper pond with a smaller surface area is better than a shallow pond with a larger surface area. The bigger the surface area, regardless of the depth, the more evaporation can occur from the pond. For example, if the surface of a pond loses 1 inch of water over the course of three summer days, you would lose 1 acre-inch of water from a pond with 1 surface acre; you would lose 2 acre-inches of water from a pond with 2 surface acres. If the 1-acre pond is 20 feet deep and the 2-acre pond is 10 feet deep, they have the same storage capacity. However, the deeper pond with the smaller surface area will lose less water to evaporation."  

Click here to read more about ways farmers can reduce evaporative losses.   

This N That- Nebraska Family Waiting for NW Oklahoma Wheat Harvest to Start, TPA Stalls and Here Comes Bill

Wheat harvest has been slow to start for the Zeorian family of Manley, Nebraska. The family custom harvesting crew made their way to Oklahoma last week. The first stop of their annual harvesting route is near Shattuck, Oklahoma, but they haven't been able to cut any wheat due to the latest stretch of showers and thunderstorms. The family is well-known for documenting the wheat harvest since 2009 through the High Plains Journal's All Aboard Wheat Harvest Blog. For the third year, daughter Taylor Zeorian is sharing what life is like a custom cutter.


"I think the best thing about writing for this blog is that I can show people who don't know what our lifestyle is, what it's all about and what we do for the country, how we ....we play our small part in feeding the world," Zeorian said. 

Our own Leslie Smith caught up with several members of the family as they killed time waiting for harvest to get rolling- click here to read about their family affair- and take a listen to Leslie's conversation with Taylor about harvest life on the road.

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House Republicans say they are very committed to getting Fast Track authority finished- but are not saying exactly how that is going to happen. 

Late Monday, GOP leaders bought themselves time to deal with the issue by inserting language into the procedural rule for an unrelated bill that would give the House until July 30 to hold another vote on the Trade Adjustment Assistance(TAA) issue.   

Last Friday- the House overwhelmingly voted against TAA after House Speaker John Boehner had separated the Trade Promotion Authority bill into two votes- the TAA measure one that he believed that Democrats would support(they did not) and the second for TPA itself one that Republicans and Democrats could support- that second half of the measure was passed by the House.  However, both halves must pass the House to match the already passed measure in the Senate.

Various accounts say the House leaders are looking at several options- but it's safe to say their is not a quick fix out there that everybody will be happy with.  One good summary is on the Agri-Pulse website- check it out.

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We have always said in Oklahoma that one great way to break a drought is to have a nice wet Gulf based tropical storm roll onto the Texas coast and head north.  Well, the second named Atlantic storm of the season, Bob, is in the Gulf- and apparently headed our way. The only problem is- we don't currently have a drought to break- and Bob may become a real headache as the latest track showing him traversing across central and eastern Oklahoma in the next few days.  

Jed Castles at News9 in Oklahoma City has an excellent graphic that shows how much water may be associated with Bob- take a look and get ready to hunker down.