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Rainfall totals have been significant across a lot of Oklahoma, with just a few locations missing most of the rain. Most of those locations are in eastern counties of the state, although the amount of rain as of early Friday morning has been light in Alfalfa, Grant and Kay counties in north central Oklahoma, as well as in Major County in the northwestern quarter of the state. The Panhandle has been receiving rain overnight, helping rainfall totals in those three counties.

A large number of Mesonet sites have received at least an inch of rain in the last 72 hours, and in central and western Oklahoma- that either will help "dusted in" wheat or canola take off- or allow farmers waiting for rain to get into the fields this coming week and get some planting done.

As the rains fell, so did the Burn bans in 22 counties across the state- Governor Fallin making that call as of yesterday afternoon. Thirty three counties remain under a State of Oklahoma imposed Burn Ban while three other counties have a County Commissioner imposed Burn Ban.  

Click here for a chance to look at a snapshot in time graphic of rainfall  as of 5:30 AM this morning across the state for the last three days- and we also have the Burn Ban map in that same story we are sending you to.  

OSU Entomologist Offers Tips on Controlling Grasshoppers in Wheat and Canola 

Wheat and canola planting is underway. Unfortunately, two years of drought have left parts of the state with an abundant supply of hungry grasshoppers. Tom Royer, OSU Extension Entomologist, says these grasshoppers will eat until cold weather gives them permanent rest. A plague of hungry grasshoppers equals potential damage to newly-emerging wheat and canola. He suggested the following management options for grasshoppers in winter wheat and canola: 

Option 1 (For Wheat ONLY): A non-chemical option for winter wheat (but not canola) is to double-seed a 60-120 foot strip around the field margin. 

Option 2: Seed that is treated with imidacloprid (Gaucho), thiamethoxam (Cruiser), or clothianidin (Poncho) will reduce feeding damage from grasshoppers in canola or wheat. Seed treatments will reduce damage from moderate grasshopper numbers, but won't hold up under severe pressure. 

Option 3: Apply an insecticide (liquid or bait) along the field margins at seedling emergence. It may require up to a 150-foot wide band to get effective protection and a second application may be needed in two-three weeks. 

Click here to read more details on each of these three options.

Renewable Fuel Stakeholders Launch National Campaign

A large coalition of advanced and traditional renewable fuel stakeholders today joined forces to defend America's Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the economic, employment, domestic renewable energy and national security benefits the RFS provides. The new coalition, Fuels America, spans the full spectrum of domestically-grown renewable fuel, national security, renewable energy and other stakeholders.

The coalition also launched an online platform at FuelsAmerica.org and a Twitter presence @FuelsAmerica.

The launch comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers a request to "waive" the RFS, a move that coalition members stressed would have serious consequences for America's rural communities, renewable technology innovators and energy independence. 

Click here to read more and see the list of participating stakeholders.

Cattle Feeders Leaning on Heavier Weights, Grid Marketing with High Corn Prices

Cattle feeders don't like $7 or $8 corn, but they know what to do at those higher prices. Most of them feed cattle longer to heavier weights and sort them to market on a grid.

Maybe not all cattle feeders see it that way, but in the big picture, that's what is happening, says Shawn Walter, president of Professional Cattle Consultants (PCC). He presented "How big can we go?" at last month's Feeding Quality Forum in Grand Island, Neb., and Amarillo, Texas.

"Every few years we talk about it, can we make carcasses any bigger? Well, we keep doing it," he said, noting one of many graphs. "This is never a straight line, but we've had an upward trend for carcass weights since the 1960s all the way through the current year."

You might wonder why, unless you think about how the market gets what it pays for. Packers have been paying for more pounds. 

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

Anderson Expects Wheat Planted Acres to Stay Steady, Canola Acres to Grow

OSU Small Grains Marketing Specialist Kim Anderson says planted acres in Oklahoma are revealing a few surprises. In a preview of his analysis on this week's SUNUP program, he says some interesting trends are developing.

"The chatter in the market is that the wheat planted acres will be higher this year and I think that there is no question that in the soft red winter wheat area we'll have higher planted acres. Hard red winter wheat planted acres, that's questionable. Oklahoma will probably be about the same. You know, we're going to have an increase in canola planted acres and that's going to reduce some of our wheat planted acres, but I still think it's going to be the same as last year, at least in this location."

Even though wheat acres will apparently stay steady, Anderson says he doesn't believe that will hold true for canola planted acres.

"Well, if you look at canola, I just visited with a few people, of course nobody knows the exact number, but they're talking about a shortage of canola seed, having a hard time getting it. And, to me, that implies a lot of producers are going to plant canola. I know I talked to one producer and he's going not from a third, a third, and a third, in other words one-third canola, two-thirds wheat, he's going 50-50. He really likes canola."

You can hear Kim Anderson's full preview and catch the rundown for this weekend's SUNUP program by clicking here.

Oklahoman Wins World Livestock Auctioneer Championship Qualifier

Brian Little of Wann, Okla., took top honors in the second qualifying event for the 2013 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC) Sept. 24. The event was hosted by Southeast Mississippi Stockyards, AAL in Hattiesburg, Miss. Little was the 2012 WLAC Runner-up Champion and is sponsored by Coffeyville Livestock Market, LLC, Coffeyville, Kan., and Tulsa Stockyards, Inc., Tulsa, Okla.

Placing second in the qualifying event was Brandon Neely of Berkeley Springs, W.Va. Neely is sponsored by Carroll County Livestock Sale Barn, Inc., Carrollton, Ga.; Greenville Livestock Auction, Inc., Greenville, Ill.; and Alabama Livestock Auction, Inc., Uniontown, Ala. Third place went to Brian Curless of Pittsfield, Ill., sponsored by Fairview Sale Barn, Inc., Fairview, Ill., and F&T Livestock Market, Palmyra, Mo.

The top 10 competitors from the qualifying competition have earned their place in the semi-finals at the 2013 WLAC to be held at Montgomery Stockyards, LLC in Montgomery, Ala., June 14-15. 

Click here to read more.

Looking Ahead- Crop Insurance Deadline, McAlester Stock Cow Sale Saturday and Express Bull Sale Monday

The official deadline for signing up for Crop Insurance for the 2013 Hard Red Winter Wheat Crop across Oklahoma is Sunday, September 30- but since the deadline falls on a Sunday- you actually have until the close of business on Monday, October first. The price that contracts will be figured on for the 2013 crop is an all time high $8.78 per bushel.  For those that want to read up on some of the latest thinking by the "guru" on crop insurance in the HRW wheat belt, Dr. Art Barnaby of K-State, he has written on his current thinking about Revenue Protection and Crop Insurance for the 2013 crop earlier this week.  Click here to jump over and read up.

The McAlester Union Stockyards will be holding a special stock cow sale on Saturday at 12 noon. Consigned are over 1200 head of Bred Cows, Pairs, Bred Heifers, Open Heifers, and Bulls- click here for a listing of what will be up for sale in McAlester on Saturday- take a look.

Finally, on Monday, October first, the Express Ranches will be holding their annual Ranchers Bull Sale- and this sale is going to be a dandy. They have on offer 250 Angus Bulls and 250 Commercial Spring-Bred Heifers. Jarold Callahan tells us that they will be offering genomic enhance EPDs on the bulls that will be selling.  That means you have predictors that are the equivalent of knowing the outcome of their progeny before their first calf ever hits the ground. Click here for the Express Ranches website and links for their catalog and video of many of the bulls that will be selling.