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Blayne Arthur Wraps Up Her Time at ODAFF- Ready for the Challenge of Leading the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation  

 
A farewell reception for Deputy Commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Blayne Arthur was held on Thursday afternoon at the State Agriculture Building in Oklahoma City. Arthur, who served with State Commissioners Terry Peach and Jim Reese, is leaving ODAFF as she accepts the position of Executive Director of the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation.

Her final day with ODAFF is today- she begins her service at the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation May 31st.

We talked with Blayne about her time at ODAFF and what lies ahead as she takes over the Executive Directorship of the Oklahoma 4-H Foundation- click here to read more and to listen to our visit with her.

By the way- Betty Thompson has been named the new Deputy Commissioner for ODAFF- Betty grew up on a dairy farm and is a former Miss Oklahoma- who actively promoted the benefits of dairy foods during her year as Miss Oklahoma.

Near Record Global Wheat Harvest and Stocks Projected for 2016 - Kim Anderson Explains

The USDA recently announced projections for the 2016 wheat harvest, and OSU Grain Marketing Economist Dr. Kim Anderson says world production is predicted to be higher than he originally thought.


"You know we talked about being around 26.1 billion bushels a couple of months ago. Of course, the weather changed around the world - in Oklahoma, the U.S. and in the foreign countries," he says. "The USDA had world wheat production at 26.7 billion bushels."


Last year's harvest produced 27 billion bushels of wheat, which is the current record. Anderson says the last three to four years of record or near record production - combined with this year's bumper crop - will put world ending stocks up over 9 billion bushels.


Because about 50 percent of Oklahoma wheat is sold on the export market, Anderson says that record ending stocks number will affect prices here at home.


"Higher production, higher ending stocks means lower prices, which were experiencing now," he says. "We got Oklahoma prices in the $3.70 to $3.90 area."


Current prices means producers can't afford discounts at the elevator. Anderson once again stresses the importance of delivering clean wheat. He told SUNUP's Dave Deken dockage can range from a $.05-$.12 discount and foreign material discounts start at $.02 for .5 percent, goes up to $.50 for 3.1 percent and get worse from there.


"The discounts are serious this year because the market wants a quality product; they want a clean product," he says.


You can watch Kim this weekend on SUNUP, or you can click here to get an early listen to his comments.

Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma Host Centennial Celebration

The Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma recently held a centennial celebration in honor of Farm Credit's 100 years of service to rural America.


The event was held May 11th at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City and drew over 70 legislators, numerous agricultural business representatives, Farm Credit employees and board members from across the state.


A reception was held on the 4th floor rotunda of the Oklahoma State Capitol building followed by the reading of two resolutions, one on the floor of the House of Representatives and one of the floor of the Senate, recognizing Farm Credit for 100 years of service to the agricultural industry and the economic boost Farm Credit provides to the state's economy.


An official resolution was introduced on the House floor by Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman and State Representative Scott Biggs that commended Farm Credit for its 100 years of support and service to the agricultural community in Oklahoma as well as nationwide. A portion of Representative Biggs' comments praised Farm Credit for their role specifically in supporting young people involved in agriculture, through 4-H and FFA sponsorships and young farmer and rancher programs.

Click here to learn more about Farm Credit's 100th celebration.

Fifty-Plus Ag Groups Show Support for Farm Credit System

With farm and ranch commodity prices increasingly under pressure, concerns are growing that the agriculture economy may be entering a prolonged period of instability, making the role of the Farm Credit System more important than ever, the American Farm Bureau Federation and more than 50 agricultural groups wrote to the Senate Agriculture Committee.


"Credit availability in good times is singularly important to our respective members. Credit availability in tough times may well mean the difference between producers staying on the land or being forced to abandon their operations," the groups wrote.


The array of credit products offered by both the Farm Credit System and commercial banks, often in a collaborative and cooperative manner, ensures that farmers and ranchers and their industry sector partners have access to financial tools that are vital to their success, according to the groups.

Read more about the widespread support for the Farm Credit System.

Click here to read more from the ASA.

Click here to read more from NCFC.

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A lot has changed in the cattle market since this point last year when record fed cattle weights caused a surplus in beef supply and a drastic drop in prices. Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, says feedlots are now doing a better job of marketing cattle in a timely manner and beef prices are starting to reflect it.


"The situation is quite different now compared to what it was most of last year, in that feedlots have an incentive to pull cattle forward," he says. "They've done that; they've marketed cattle aggressively - which initially put additional supply on the market and weighed on prices in April - but then following that we're very current right now. Carcass weights have come down, and so we've seen this little rally in the markets recently."


Demand for beef will continue to play an important role in the equation, and Peel says this time of year provides several opportunities for featurings during the Memorial Day and Father's Day weekends.


"Demand is key to this thing because we did put more supply on the market early," he says. "It did weigh on prices, but the good news is that quantity came through and we moved that meat through the system.


"There is a good indication now that we probably have not only moved meat currently but forward priced quite a bit of meat, taking advantage of those lower prices that existed say two to three weeks ago."


We also get Dr. Peel's take on the second half of 2016- read more and hear all of his comments by clicking or tapping here for this latest edition of the Beef Buzz.

 

Let Them Eat Cake- The Latest Op-Ed on State Question 777

 

The Oklahoma Ag Policy website, a website created by the Public Policy Division of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, has posted an article entitled "Let Them Eat Cake." 

It's a piece designed to make a case for State Question 777- based on the problem of hunger here in the state of Oklahoma. It takes aim at the radical environmental and animal rights groups who the article says are pushing policies that only they can afford and that are costly to consumers who face hunger.

"With little understanding of economics or animal husbandry, these groups are pushing for legislation that ultimately limits the ability of farmers to produce food.

Waiting on Wheat Harvest- We Talk With Mike Schulte Tomorrow Morning In the Field

Mike Schulte with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission will be our guest Saturday morning for this week's In the Field- to be seen on KWTV News9 at 6:40 AM.  Mike and I will be talking about the 2016 wheat harvest and what has tuned into a delayed start because of this week's cool, damp weather.

On Thursday afternoon- we did receive and post Dr. Bob Hunger's latest wheat disease update- he says "Except for in the panhandle, wheat foliage is pretty much done for in Oklahoma. Wheat in the panhandle was mostly in the kernel forming stage."

Dr. Hunger does quote a couple of southwestern Oklahoma folks who think we might still be ten days to two weeks away from wheat harvest in the southwest.

We also traded tweets last night with Jimmy Kinder of Walters- who thinks if we can ever get past this New England like weather- we could start by the latter part of next week- apparently the wheat is ripe- just needs to dry out a bit.

Unfortunately- it does look like we may be fighting more rain this coming week- coupled with more normal temperatures. Our colleague and friend Jed Castles of News9 provides this nine day graphic- and as you can see- it may get a bit bumpy in the week ahead.



 
The blog version of what may be ahead- with an Eastern Oklahoma perspective- comes courtesy of Alan Crone with the News on 6- click here to take a peek.  

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