USDA Says All Oklahoma Crops In Mostly Poor to Very Poor Condition 

Another month of below normal precipitation added to the ongoing drought in Oklahoma according to today's Oklahoma Crop Weather report issued by the USDA-NASS Oklahoma Field Office.

The statewide average was just under an inch for the month of January to date. Although the Southeast district received more than two inches, this was still below average for the month. Statewide precipitation for the period since September 1st was only 50 percent of normal, ranging from 39 percent of normal in the North Central district to 66 percent of normal in the Panhandle.

The U.S. Drought Monitor continues to report that the entire state is in a severe to exceptional drought, with just under 40 percent of the state in an exceptional drought, the worst classification. The result of the continuing drought has been poor conditions for all fall planted crops and limited grazing of small grains. Livestock producers are low on water and hay supplies in addition to the lack of grazing.

Topsoil moisture conditions improved slightly from December, but 90 percent was rated short to very short. Subsoil moisture conditions were still rated 98 percent short to very short, though the portion rated very short dropped from 80 percent in December to 75 percent in January.

Conditions of all small grains and canola declined over the past month and were rated mostly poor to very poor. Only 22 percent of the wheat crop was being grazed, 14 points below the five-year average.  Sixty nine percent of the winter wheat crop is now rated poor to very poor, while the winter canola crop is rated at a miserable 71% poor to very poor.

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OKC to Host Range Management Meeting, Technical Training and Trade Show 

Rangelands occupy more than 23 million acres of land in Oklahoma and nearly half of the earth's land area. The Society for Range Management (SRM) is doing its part to ensure this land is properly managed.

Range managers, producers, companies, agency personnel, students, higher education professionals and anyone interested can learn about current issues affecting rangeland management, receive training associated with rangeland management and network with others interested at the 66th Annual Meeting, Technical Training and Trade Show at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City on Feb. 2 - 8.

As a gold sponsor for the event, the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University will have a strong showing with many faculty members giving presentations.

The week-long event will feature multiple presentations, tours, roundtable discussions, trade shows, workshops and forums. Nearly 900 have preregistered to attend and Karen Hickman, NREM professor and meeting co-chair, said the producers' forums are always a popular section. 

You'll find more details on our website by clicking here.

 

Oklahoma Farm Bureau Sponsors Video Contest to Promote Agriculture

Oklahoma high school FFA and 4-H members are encouraged to produce creative videos promoting farmers' care for animals, consumers and the environment in a contest sponsored by Oklahoma Farm Bureau's Young Farmers and Ranchers committee.

"The goal of the contest is to inform and educate the public with a positive message about farmers' deep passion and commitment to their animals, the environment, crops and consumers," said Mason Bolay, Tahlequah, YF&R chairman.

The contest, "Oklahoma Farmers Care: Doing What's Right for our Animals, our Environment and our Consumers," is open to any high school FFA or 4-H member. Entries can be submitted by an individual or by a team of 2-4 members from any Oklahoma FFA chapter or senior 4-H club. Only one video submission per chapter or club is allowed.

The deadline is March 15. There will be three rounds of judging with a farmer panel ranking the final three videos May 1. Prize money totaling $3,500 will be awarded to the winners.

You can read more by clicking here.

BASF to Expand Research into Fungal Resistance in Corn

BASF Plant Science is continuing to strengthen its focus on plant biotechnology solutions to achieve higher yield in plants. BASF will expand its fungal resistance research platform by adding corn as a target crop. At the same time, research activities in Nutritionally Enhanced Corn will be stopped and the European approval processes for potato products will be discontinued.

BASF will continue to focus on the development of crops that deliver higher yields and improved resistance to stress conditions. A key component of these activities in plant biotechnology is an industry leading collaboration with Monsanto for key row crops such as soybeans and corn. Both companies have jointly developed the first genetically modified drought tolerant corn, Genuity® DroughtGard™ Hybrids, which received approval for cultivation in the U.S. at the end of 2011 and was in Monsanto's Ground BreakersSM trials in 2012. The full commercialization is expected in 2013/14.

"Our 'Trait Technology Partner' strategy has proven to be successful. We continue to expand into fields where we can leverage our understanding of a plant's behavior to achieve more yield through plant biotechnology approaches," said Peter Eckes, President of BASF Plant Science. 

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

 

RFA Charges API with 'Cooking the Books' with Aggressive Fuel Mix Testing

Responding to a press conference by the American Petroleum Institute (API), Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said, "API has absolutely no credibility when it comes to talking about E15. That point has never been more clear than in this new study in which they 'cooked the books' by using an aggressive fuel mix to try and force engine damage. This isn't real testing and this certainly isn't real life. Enough already with the scare tactics. E15 is rolling forward and API needs to get out the way of progress that will result in a stronger country, a stronger economy, and stronger, cleaner environment. E15 will not be stopped by feet dragging and forecasts of fictional faults."

Although a waiver has already been granted by EPA for the use of E15 in 2001 and newer automobiles and light duty vehicles, and two U.S. Court proceedings have dismissed the legal challenge to E15, the oil industry continues to fight higher blends of ethanol in gasoline. The data developed by the U.S. Department of Energy that was used as the primary justification by EPA for the approval of E15 remains unduplicated and technically unchallenged. Research on fuel blends containing more than 10 percent ethanol have been developed by government and non-government organizations, state agencies, academia, and standards development organizations, and more have confirmed them to be effective; the length of time for this project stems from the lack of candidate failures during the early years of the test. Any test protocol can cause failure if given enough time to choreograph the outcome, Dinneen said.

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

 

Economic Well-being of American Farms to be Measured by USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will spend the next several months contacting farmers and ranchers across the nation to conduct the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). NASS conducts ARMS jointly with USDA's Economic Research Service. In an effort to obtain the most accurate data, the federal agencies will reach out to nearly 35,000 producers nationwide. The results of this survey will serve as a baseline for numerous federal policies and programs that affect U.S. farms and farm families.

"ARMS is our primary tool for gauging the financial condition andproduction practices on American farms and ranches," said Wilber Hundl, Jr. director of the NASS Oklahoma Field Office. "By participating in this survey, Oklahoma farmers directly impact the decisions that affect them, their families and their operations. 

"Decision makers from all facets of U.S. agriculture will use the collective information from ARMS to answer questions and make important decisions concerning the economic viability of American agriculture, the rural economy and other emerging issues," explained Hundl "That's why it is imperative for all farmers contacted by NASS to provide responses and help shape the future of U.S. agriculture." 

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Rainfall Rolls Across a Portion of North Central into North Eastern Oklahoma

Oklahoma rainfall totals turned out to be impressive across a broad section of north central and eastern Oklahoma in an end of the month storm system that looked and felt more like springtime than mid winter. Three of the most impressive rainfall totals that can be seen in the graphic above include Newkirk in Kay County with 2.67 inches of rain, Jay with 2.57 inches and Wilburton (southeastern Oklahoma) with 2.4 inches of rainfall. Burbank- not far from Newkirk- was the fourth Mesonet location across the state that topped the two inch level for rainfall in this system.


Many of the northcentral locations were among the driest in the state of Oklahoma before this storm- so the rainfall was especially welcome in those locations. While much of the winter wheat and winter canola locations in the state missed the larger rainfall totals- some locales west of Oklahoma City grabbed decent amounts of rainfall for this winter system- Hinton checked in with an inch while Chickasha, Apache and Weatherford all got six tenths.

Click here for the snapshot as of early Wednesday morning of the rainfall totals- not a drought buster- but every drop helps folks get along for a while longer.

Coming Thursday- Details from San Antonio and Washington 

Delegations of Okies are in both San Antonio for the National Assoication of Conservation Districts- as well as in Washington for the winter Wheat Industry meetings- we will have some details of what these groups are doing tomorrow morning in our daily email- as well as updates on our website quicker than that.