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Final Wheat Harvest Report of Season- Oklahoma Wheat Commission Calls Harvest 98% to 99% Complete

Wheat harvest is wrapped up in most parts of the state with harvest taking place in areas of Southwest and South Central Oklahoma as well as in the Panhandle regions. In most places all areas are 95 percent or more completed with the exception of the Panhandle. The Oklahoma Wheat Commission is calling harvest statewide to now be at 98 to 99% complete in most regions with the exception of some areas in Southwest, Oklahoma and the Panhandle.

Heavy rains slowed the progress of harvest in parts of the Panhandle this weekend with some areas reporting anywhere from one inch to two inches of moisture depending on the location. Out in the Hooker Guymon area, harvest is now predicted to be 75% complete, while in the Boise City area it is predicted to be 25% complete. Producers are finishing up on the dryland wheat around the Hooker area and have started in the irrigated wheat this past week.

According to the Wheat Commission- yields have ranged from the 30s to the 60s across the state, with a lot of forty to fifty bushel per acre fields reported statewide.  Except for the southwest, where rains hurt wheat quality- test weights stayed above sixty pounds from start to finish in 2016.  Protein levels have struggled- but have generally ranged from 10.5 to 11.5% for this year's Oklahoma crop.

To read the complete report- the final report for the Oklahoma Wheat Commission for 2016- click here.

AND- for those of you that want to check on the latest Kansas wheat harvest commentary- click here for Day 15 of the Kansas Wheat Harvest- courtesy of the Kansas Wheat Alliance.

Corn, Sorghum and Soybean Crops Mostly Good to Excellent Nationally- Wheat Harvest Rolls in the Plains  

 
The US Crop Progress report continues to call the 2016 US Corn Crop in exceptional condition, with 75% of the crop rated in good to excellent condition- six percentage points better than at this point in 2015. The US Soybean crop is also looking better than the crop of a year ago- the 2016 crop being called 72% in good to excellent shape versus 63% in good to excellent condition in late June of 2015. Grain sorghum is now largely planted in the US, with 95% now in the ground and the crop called 70% in good to excellent condition- up two percentage points from the crop of 2015.

The US Cotton crop is sitting at the same condition rating as we saw at this point in 2015- 56% in good to excellent and 36% rated in fair shape. .

The harvest of the US Winter Wheat Crop has made significant progress in the latest week- jumping from 20% complete nationally to 45% done in this latest report- that's twelve percentage points ahead of the 2015 harvest and four percentage points ahead of the five year average.

Click here for the USDA Crop Progress report as released yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile- the Oklahoma Crop Weather Update shows USDA getting closer to the Oklahoma Wheat Commission harvest number we detailed above- USDA now calling wheat harvest 87% complete in the state- four points ahead of the five year average.

Despite social media reports we have been seeing about dry weather in parts of Oklahoma hurting the 2016 corn crop- USDA says it is 81% in good to excellent shape- and that other spring planted crops are looking mighty fine in the state as well.  Click here for the state of Oklahoma Crop Weather update as released yesterday afternoon.

In our Crop Progress summary on the website- we also have details of the Kansas and Texas reports- click here to jump over to read more and to grab the links for those updates.

 

New OSU Hard Red Wheat Variety Bentley Tops OSU Wheat Variety Trials for 2016

Three more variety trial plots have been reported on- and the test plots in Afton, Alva and Thomas have helped make Bentley the top performing wheat variety in the OSU wheat trials in 2016- both in the rankings and in average yield per bushel for all locations. These ratings have been calculated for the varieties that have been found in all fifteen locations reported on thus far in 2016.

Here are the top six varieties that were a part of all trials harvested to date by OSU Small Grains Specialist Dr. David Marburger:

Bentley             64.93 bushels per acre

WB Grainfield    63.67 bushels per acre

TAM 204           62.26 bushels per acre

Iba                    61.73 bushels per acre

Gallagher            60.13 bushels per acre

SY Flint              59.87 bushels per acre

Read more about our analysis of the wheat plot trials across the state for the 2016 crop by clicking or tapping here- Marburger says the last of the plots will be reported soon- what remains are the plots in the Panhandle.

By the way- a tip of the hat to our intern working with us this month- Kalee Horn of Edmond, for crunching the numbers from all of the plot locations for us.  Kalee is an Ag Communications/Ag Education Major at OSU.

In Honor of This Coming Weekend- Two Barbecue Trends Ya Gotta Love!

 
Belmont Meats is based in Canada- but do offer meat products not just in Canada but also into the US.  And- their in house Chef, Curtis Dool, has some thoughts on two of the trends he thinks are REALLY BIG right now among consumers that love to grill.

Those hot trends include- Burgers Are Boss and Bacon is BIG.

Dr. Darrell Peel Examines Recent Volatility in Beef and Cattle Markets

 

Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, regularly offers his economic analysis of the beef cattle industry. This analysis is a part of the weekly series known as the "Cow Calf Corner" published electronically by Dr. Peel and Dr. Glenn Selk. Today, Dr. Peel examines recent factors contributing to current volatility in the beef markets.


"A wide variety of internal and external factors are impacting beef and cattle price levels and volatility. Beef production is at a seasonal peak in June with weekly beef production since late May estimated to be nearly 7 percent above year ago levels. Fed cattle prices have dropped and could be near an early seasonal low with feedlots ahead of schedule for summer marketings. Year over year cattle slaughter is up while cattle carcass weights are lower compared to last year, moderating beef production increases somewhat.

"With Independence Day meat already booked, wholesale beef values have dropped sharply the past ten days to support sales of seasonally large beef supplies. If the three-day July 4 weekend results in strong retail beef movement, beef markets may maintain good momentum through the summer doldrums between July 4 and Labor Day meat sales in August."

Peel goes on to write about his thoughts on this past Friday's Cattle on Feed report and more- click here to read his full analysis.

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Purdue Unveils What They Call a Progressive Animal Care Plan for Their Birds

Purdue Farms announced this week new animal welfare standards that the company says will improve care for birds on its farms, trucks and slaughterhouses. Titled 2016 and Beyond: Next Generation of Perdue Commitments to Animal Care, the plan was developed with input from stakeholders such as farmers, academics and leaders of animal advocate organizations who were invited by Perdue to help shape this progressive animal care plan that sets new industry standards.

Among the changes, Perdue said it would adopt controlled-atmosphere stunning at all of its slaughterhouses, moving away from shackling live animals. This means the birds will be rendered unconscious before being unloaded off trucks and therefore more calmly processed through the slaughter plant. Perdue said it would install windows in broiler houses to provide birds natural light and provide more space per bird in barns.

Perdue Farms, already about 14 years into efforts to remove antibiotics entirely from its products, is effectively transferring practices it has learned from organic chicken production company-wide. The changes will be implemented over a period of seven years.

More details of the Purdue announcement can be read by clicking here.

Remembering Jimmy Draper

 
Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese issued a statement Monday on the death of Guymon agriculture producer Jim Draper, 82, who died early Sunday:


"Oklahoma agriculture, conservation, and the Panhandle have lost a great advocate and leader in Jimmie Draper. Jimmie was a kind and generous man who would host just about any group any time on his family farm near Guymon. We extend our sympathies to his family, while sharing with them that he will be greatly missed by the rest of us as well."

With the statement, Bryan Painter, who worked for the Daily Oklahoman and wrote about agriculture and rural Oklahoma, offered up an article that he wrote about Draper and his eclectic collection of stuff that people all over the country have stopped and spent time looking at.

You can read Bryan's article from 2006 on Jimmy Draper and his stuff by clicking here.


Down through the years, I have stopped at the Draper homestead seven or eight times- at least.  I always was amazed how much stuff and how every time that you went- you would see something different from days gone by. It has always been amazing to me how many different license plates were up on the walls- all over the place.

At least a couple of times- we did radio broadcasts from there with the local radio stations that we have had worked with- and the clutter just made it feel comfortable.

There's even a website for this unofficial museum of stuff- click here to check it out- Jimmy would be glad to have you take a look at some of the pics of the place.

Funeral services are planned for Thursday in Guymon- click here for his obituary.

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