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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As Wheat Tour Begins- Kansas and Oklahoma Wheat Crops in Far Better Shape Than Year Ago

 
The tour scouts will be heading out in six directions this morning as the 2016 Wheat Quality Council Winter Wheat Crop Tour gets rolling out of Manhattan, Kansas. Their first stop tonight is Colby, Kansas- night two- they will be in Wichita and then the wrap up happens in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon.  They are not going to Kansas City this year since the CME moved the Kansas City Futures Market out of KC to Chicago.

Based on the latest Crop Progress numbers- the scouts should be seeing much better wheat than a year ago- scouts will see wheat fields that have ratings in the good to excellent categories that are almost twice that of last year- 27 percent of the crop was good to excellent a year ago(it's 52% this year) and 32% was rated poor to very poor as they toured the fields in Kansas last May. This year- that poor to very poor number is just 10%.

Likewise- the Oklahoma crop is rated by USDA much higher than a year ago- 64% of the crop is rated good to excellent this week, which is up five percentage points from a week ago- and compares to 38% good to excellent last year at this point. Twenty three percent of the crop in 2015 was rated poor to very poor- while the number released yesterday afternoon for the Oklahoma crop is just 5% is rated poor- nothing in the very poor column.

The Wild Card for Oklahoma will be how many acres were destroyed by the hail of this past weekend- many fields were hit by falling ice from the southwestern corner of the state up towards Canadian and Oklahoma Counties- we may get some inkling of that on Wednesday when we have the Oklahoma Wheat Crop Estimates discussed at the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association meeting- 10:30 at the Crowne Plaza on Northwest Highway.

If you care to follow the Wheat Tour via Twitter- you can by searching for the hashtag #wheattour16. 

By the way- we have all the details of yesterday's Crop Progress Report from Uncle Sam- Corn Plantings, Milo Plantings as well as the wheat ratings- click here to check all of that out- we have links to several states in our story online- including Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Missouri. 

Missouri wins the big stuffed animal this morning for the work their corn farmers have put in- they are now 89% planted- far ahead of the 47% five year average- WOW!

Derrell Peel Ponders Whether Non Fundamental Feeder Cattle Futures Trade Harms Cash Feeder Cattle Markets or Not

 

Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, regularly offers his economic analysis of the beef cattle industry. Today, Dr. Peel looks at the non fundamental nature of today's Feeder Cattle Futures.


"A growing chorus of cattle producers are expressing frustration regarding feeder cattle futures markets. For many years, I have defended the value of futures markets and the role of speculators in making those markets possible. However, it is increasingly important to ask and deal with questions and concerns, or the alternative may be undesired.


"Feeder futures have become increasingly volatile in ways that often appear unrelated to market fundamentals. Erratic futures price movements and increased basis volatility makes it difficult or impossible for the industry to use feeder futures for its two primary roles of risk management and price discovery. Producers have historically been quick to blame speculators for unwarranted influence in cattle markets but without speculators there would not be enough liquidity for most agriculturally-based futures markets.


"Since their inception in 1971, feeder futures contracts have suffered from marginal levels of liquidity, which often limited the effectiveness of the contracts. Feeder futures (and especially options) have been thinly traded in the distant contracts making them difficult to use. Liquidity is required for traders to have orders filled quickly, completely and cost effectively. A question is, have changes in recent years have aggravated the problem and threaten the future viability of feeder futures? 

 

 

Read Dr. Peel's complete feeder cattle futures commentary.

R-CALF Sues USDA Over Beef Checkoff - Claiming It is Illegal to Promote International Beef With Checkoff Funds

 

The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today, alleging that the agency's Beef Checkoff tax, which collected more than $80 million in FY 2015, is being unconstitutionally used to promote international beef, to the detriment of U.S. beef products and producers. R-CALF USA, whose members are independent cattle producers across the United States, says that while its members must pay a $1per-head tax to the Checkoff program, funds from that tax are used to convince consumers that beef from R-CALF USA members' cattle - raised domestically and in compliance with rigorous standards concerning safety, treatment and quality - is no different than beef produced under far less stringent procedures abroad. Click here to view the papers filed against the USDA and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.


"The Checkoff's implied message that all beef is equal, regardless of where the cattle are born or how they are raised, harms U.S. farmers and ranchers and deceives U.S. citizens," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. "Despite what we know to be clear evidence about the high quality of beef raised by independent U.S. cattlemen, we are being taxed to promote a message that beef raised without the strict standards used by our members is the same as all other beef, a message we do not support and do not agree with."


Under the Checkoff, all Montana cattle producers, including R-CALF USA's members, are required to subsidize the programs of the private Montana Beef Council, which is comprised of individuals closely aligned with some of the largest multinational, industrial cattle producers. In one promotion paid for by the Council, tax money was used to fund an advertising campaign for fast food chain Wendy's, in order to promote a product which could contain beef from 41 different countries. In addition, Checkoff funds have been used to advance the agenda of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association which promotes the idea that "beef is beef, whether the cattle were born in Montana, Manitoba, or Mazatlán."

 

This is not the first time the Beef Checkoff has come under fire. Click here to read more about the current lawsuit and other legal challenges.

NCBA's Colin Woodall Talks WOTUS and the Status of Litigation 

 

Farmers and ranchers have spent several years speaking out against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "waters of the United States" rule. While the U.S. Court of Appeal for the 6th Circuit issued a stay of the rule last fall, Colin Woodall, vice president of governmental affairs with National Cattlemen's Beef Association, says the fight will likely continue into the next presidential administration.


The regulation continues to make its way through the legal system, and Woodall says NCBA appealed a recent decision to keep the case in the 6th Circuit. 


"We felt we had a much better chance going into the Southern District of Texas, where that judge was a little bit more appreciative of everything we're going through in the overreach we have seen from the EPA," he says.


Although the appeal was denied, it may not be the end of the road for those who oppose the rule.

 

 

 

Former Congressman Wes Watkins Gives Back to Oklahoma FFA

 

Former Oklahoma Congressman Wes Watkins returned to his blue and gold roots last week as he greeted FFA members during the organization's state convention in Oklahoma City. Watkins says it was an FFA convention in Stillwater years ago that inspired him to attend OSU and begin his journey of public service.


"It all started for me here in the FFA," Watkins says. "I was a green country kid from Bennington, Oklahoma. I came to OSU because the FFA got me up there, and the whole world opened up to me."


Watkins served as president of the Oklahoma FFA Association in 1958-59. He said the skills and values he learned while speaking in public, learning parliamentary procedure and even competing in livestock judging contests remain with him today. 


"If we just carry what we learn in the judging contests - talk the good points first - into our human relations, we'd be wonderful," he says with a laugh.


He was excited to back among the current members discussing his new biography - much of which talks about his experiences in FFA and the impact the organization made on his early life. Watkins and his wife, Lou, donated nearly 400 copies so that each FFA chapter in the state could take one home.


"I owe the FFA more than I can ever repay it," Watkins says. 

 

Listen to Watkins, who represented Oklahoma's 3rd Congressional District in southeastern Oklahoma for 20 years, talk with me about his appreciation for FFA and the lasting impression it made on his career.

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Animals Cannot Digest Plastic, Either

 

Birthday, wedding and graduation celebrations often include releasing helium balloons. What a sight to see as the balloons are released to gently float away.


However, that is about where this fairytale ends. The balloons actually do not just float away never to be seen again.


"I don't think people realize the balloons don't just keep going up forever. They come back down, often in important areas for wildlife and in the ocean," said Dwayne Elmore, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist.


Released helium balloons and wind-blown plastic grocery sacks can be ingested by animals or cause them to become entangled. Pictures of wildlife species from all over the world suffering from human trash are littered throughout the internet.


"Not only is it a hazard for wildlife, it's simply littering," Elmore said. "It's not just a local problem, either. Those helium balloons can travel many, many miles before they come down."


While wildlife fatalities are hard to quantify, the impact on livestock is quite evident for farmers and ranchers.

 

 

Click here to read more about how balloons and other trash are causing problems in the country.

Boxed Beef Values Take a Tumble- Ed Czerwein Offers His Analysis

 

 

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.

His latest report is all about falling values. Ed writes "The daily spot Choice box beef cutout ended the week last Friday at $211.45, which was $8.86 lower compared to the previous Friday. There were 724 loads sold for the week in the daily box beef cutout, which was about 11 percent of the total volume.

"The comprehensive or weekly average Choice cutout, which includes all types of sales including the daily spot cutout, was $214.11, which was $4.11 lower."

Read his full report- and take a listen to his commentary by clicking here.

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