The USDA released its Cattle on Feed report for January 1, 2017 last Friday - in it, one data point that took everyone by surprise. That includes Dr. Derrell Peel, OSU's extension livestock market economist, who I spoke to first for his initial reaction of this report.

According to Dr. Peel's summary the January Cattle on Feed report showed on feed inventories that were just fractionally higher, at 0.3 percent compared to a year ago, with placements during the month of December were up 17.6 percent and marketings during the month of December were up 6.8 percent.

"Obviously, if there's a surprise - and it is a significant surprise - in this report," Peel said, "the placements came insignificantly bigger than pre-report estimates. Instead of being up 9 percent, we're coming in up nearly 18 percent, so that'll be the surprise."

He rationalizes that several things are at play here that contributed to this figure being double that which it was expected to be, and even says the market may have been trying to tell us this would happen with the rally we saw in feeder cattle prices during the 4Q.

"Clearly there was some demand for those cattle and we see that reflected here in the number of cattle it moved in the feedlot," Peel observed. "Some of it is month-to-month timing and you have to be a little careful with these things not to read too much into any one month because occasionally it's just sort of lumpiness and we smooth it out over time."

Based on that placement number, Peel predicts the market will react bearishly early this week, if not today. To find out more about what Dr. Peel had to say regarding this report and what impacts these numbers will have on the markets going forward, continue reading or listen to my full interview, by clicking here.

BY THE WAY- Derrell and I also preview the US Cattle Inventory report that is out tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM central- the feature to me for that report is the latest US Beef Cow Herd number which will likely show another one to two percent increase in the US Beef Cow herd- the January 1, 2016 number was 30.3 million head- will we get to 31 million head in tomorrow's report?  Listen to my convo with Dr. Peel to get his take.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association is cheering after the Supreme Court ruled last week in favor of a landowner fighting the US Army Corps of Engineers for incorrectly claiming jurisdiction over private property citing the WOTUS rule under the Clean Water Act to justify their action.

In March 2016, NCBA filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court to support the Hawkes Company's private property rights and argue that jurisdictional determinations should be reviewable by courts. In a resounding victory, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Hawkes, setting a precedent that landowners may challenge the Corps' jurisdictional determinations. The case was then remanded back to the district court for a final decision on the facts, which found the Corps failed to prove that a WOTUS was present on Hawkes' land.

"Not only is the Hawkes decision a significant victory itself, it adds to the momentum of getting the flawed WOTUS rule fixed" said Scott Yager, NCBA environmental counsel. "NCBA is litigating the WOTUS rule, lobbying Congress, and working closely with the new administration to roll back this flawed rule."

Get the full story on the Hawkes case victory, by clicking here.

Agriculture is an industry that relies on the work of bees to pollinate our crops and help them to grow. Colony Collapse Disorder in bee populations has been a topic of discussion for several years now, and in an effort to help solve this mystery afflicting our bees, the National Corn Growers Association has stepped in to help with Bee Care, a research platform aimed at allowing beekeepers to more effectively identify and address diseases plaguing bee colonies, that is scheduled to launch next month.

"Supporting this research work at the NAGC is just part of Corn Growers overall effort to assure healthy bee populations. BeeCare is an important tool that will allow beekeepers to evaluate and address health issues in a timely manner," said Carson Klosterman, a farmer from Wyndmere, North Dakota and member of NCGA's Stewardship Action Team. "We are also actively engaged in the Honey Bee Health Coalition which has the goal of reversing recent declines in honey bee health and ensuring the long-term health of honey bees and other pollinators."

For more information about the work being done to help improve the health of bee populations, click here for the full story.

In the coming weeks, I will be moderating the 2017 Texoma Cattlemen's Conference, set for Feb. 24 at the Ardmore Convention Center, will focus on the growing effort to address sustainably produced beef. I'd like to extend an invitation to any of you that might be interested in attending.
 

The morning session will include updates on Noble Foundation research and demonstration projects. Hear about initial observations and results from the implementation of new technologies, and learn what is on the horizon for beef producers with technological advancements and the emerging applied sciences.

The afternoon session will consist of a panel discussion with company executives from McDonald's, Tyson, Beef Marketing Group, Integrity Beef Alliance and the Noble Foundation. They will describe their contributions toward the future of sustainable beef within their sector of the beef value chain.

The conference and trade show opens at 8 a.m. The program will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. Registration is $40 per person, which includes lunch. Special pricing is available for students and government personnel.

For more information about the conference, featured speakers or how to register, click here.

For Jimmy Taylor and his wife, Tracy, of Taylor Ranch located in Cheyenne, Okla., the best way for his commercial cow-calf operation to stay competitive is to produce the highest quality product possible.


So in 2005, the Taylors decided to pursue optimizing calves' value by switching to raising high-quality carcass cattle. By doing so, the Taylors could take advantage of extra premiums through retaining ownership of the cattle through the feedlot and selling on the grid for excellent carcass genetics.


A key component of this new focus was the decision in 2012 to use GeneMax from Zoetis. They started with GeneMax Focus, but soon switched to GeneMax Advantage because it offered more data. DNA samples are collected on heifers at two months of age.


"The more data I can get, the better job I can do as a manager," Taylor says. "GeneMax makes that possible."


Taylor uses GeneMax Advantage two different ways in his decision-making process: first, as a tool for making culling decisions, and secondly, as a tool in determining matings for his heifers.


The test, refreshed in 2016 to include individual trait reporting for specific maternal, feedlot and carcass traits, is for use in commercial Angus replacement females (75% or greater). It helps producers like Taylor make better-informed selection, mating and marketing decisions.

Continue reading to learn more about how the Taylors turn GeneMax data into profits on their ranch, or watch a video featuring the Taylors, by clicking here.

According to the 2017 Global Feed Survey released last week by Alltech, annual global feed production surpassed the 1 billion metric ton mark for the first time ever this past year.


Aidan Connolly, chief innovation officer and vice president of corporate accounts for Alltech, says this milestone comes at a time when the number of feed mills worldwide have declined, indicating consolidation within the industry.


"In particular, the Chinese story is always interesting; a lot of consolidation in that country," Connolly explained noting that feed production has become very concentrated. "The US and China are quite comparable in size, but together they represent 1/3 of the total feed production in the world."


In fact, the survey shows that within the top 30 countries ranked by production output, which represent 82 percent of the world's feed mills and 86 percent of the world's total feed - the top ten alone account for 2/3 of total world feed production. Given that where there is feed production, there is also animal production - he says this centralization illustrates that most of the world's protein is being produced by relatively few countries. This information of course suggests more trade opportunities for the US.


"If the US continues to be free to export round the world; if there was the greater freedom to export to China and Russia," Connolly said, "that's what we have to be looking for - is to continue to grow our industry and to export more to other markets."


Listen to more of Connolly's interpretation of Alltech's Global Feed Survey, on last Friday's Beef Buzz - click here.

A resolution honoring Iowa pork producers passed that state's House of Representatives with bipartisan support last week. The "Fry Moore Bacon" resolution received laughs from lawmakers as it was introduced by state representatives Joel Fry, Tom Moore and Rob Bacon. Bacon said the bill is intended to address a serious issue, but he couldn't resist adding his colleagues Fry and Moore to its list of sponsors. 

 The resolution recognizes the Iowa Pork Congress, the largest winter swine trade show in the United States, as well as the pork industry as major economic drivers in the state. Iowa is the top pork-producing state in the U.S., creating an estimated $36.7 billion in total economic output. The resolution won unanimous support by lawmakers in the Iowa House of Representatives.

Of Course.

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The last couple of days of January are looking spring like- Blue Skies- Sunshine and upper sixtes to lower seventies- and Jed Castles has been nice enough to give us at least a tiny shot at rain this coming weekend- we'll take it Jed!

Here's his Monday morning take on a nine day forecast for Central and Western Oklahoma:

Winds are not expected to be extreme today or tomorrow- but the warmer temps keep us flirting with fire danger. 

For eastern Oklahoma- Michael Grogan has written a nice end of month blog on the weather scene- and he expects more winter like weather later this week as we kick off February- click here for his News on 6 weather blog. 

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We have traveled on over to Nashville- just ahead of the 2017 Cattle Industry Convention that really starts cranking up tomorrow and gets into road gear by Wednesday as the Cattlemen's College is the featured attraction that day.

On the plane with us to Music City- several folks from Texas and Oklahoma getting in for some early meetings- in talking with Michael Kelsey of the OCA this past week- he thought we could have a couple of hundred Oklahoma folks at the event- counting cattlemen, their families and also trade show folks.  

Nashville is always one of the most attended venues for this gathering- with a lot of people from the mid south involved in the cattle business driving in to go to the trade show- the largest cattle specific trade show in the US each year. 

We are looking forward to offering you lots of insights from Nashville all this week here in our email, on our website, on our radio reports on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and also via Twitter and our Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Facebook page.