Communication Between Farmer and Crop Insurance Adjustor Extremely Important 

In the aftermath of last fall and winter's drought and now this spring's late freeze events, it looks like more and more farmers will be falling back on their crop insurance.

Scott Bulling with Superior Crop Insurance says he's been hearing from farmers all over the state about the condition of their wheat and canola crops.  He said it is extremely important for farmers who might need to make a claim on their policy to contact their agent or adjustor.

"If they do anything other than harvest that crop for grain on any insured acres, then first they have to contact their agent. And I know the urge will be strong to go ahead and start running the swather to get what value they think they can out of this wheat crop in particular, but do not start up that swather until after they've had an adjustor out there and he and that farmer have discussed their options."

In the case of a wheat crop, Bulling said the adjustor has to find some heads to be able to determine yield value. He said it is possible that a farmer may be directed to go ahead and mow the crop for hay, but he must leave some areas unmowed so that an adjustor can do his job.

"They have got to be able to take those heads, to look at them, do a verifiable count. That's going to take some time. That's going to take a little bit of patience on all our parts so that we can get to the point that we can determine where we're at. In some cases, if a producer wants to go ahead and start mowing that for hay, if that person is convinced that there's more damage than what he can stand to take to harvest, then talk to that adjustor."

Bulling said there are hefty penalties for farmers who do not communicate with their adjustor before taking action to salvage a crop.

"There are significant penalties if they go out there and start swathing without letting their agent and adjustor know. It's called "destroyed without consent," and that penalty will do two things: One, you'll still be compelled to pay that full premium on those acres and two, the penalty on their yield, on their production history, will stay with them for the next ten years.

Click here to read more or to listen to my full conversation with Scott Bulling.

ALSO- if you have the APP on your smartphone- we have posted the VIDEO from our Saturday morning In the Field segment that featured Scott explaining the need to communicate with your crop insurance folks. Open the APP, touch the Video selection and it's at the top of the Video page.

Canola Showing Resilience to Adverse Weather Events, Josh Bushong Says 

The fall drought and spring freezes have worked in tandem to slow the progress of canola in many areas of the state. Oklahoma State Extension Canola Specialist Josh Bushong has been touring the state and assessing the damage.

"Surprisingly, it's still holding in there very well. It's been kind of a big year as far as anything we could throw at the canola, it seems like it's happened. I think still the biggest issue that's had the most impact would be last fall's drought as far as getting a good stand established."

He said the late freezes, ice storms, and hail storms have devastated the crop in some areas. In areas with moderate freezes there has been little to no damage. In other areas where we had ice actually form on the plants bending them over, Bushong says the plants seem to be holding their own.

"The plants have gone back erect more or less. We've had good pod sets since then. The plant is still going very slow compared to normal. I'd say we're about at least two weeks behind where we typically are, but we're about four weeks behind where we were last year." 

You can read more by clicking here.

Stripe Rust Growing More Common In Some Areas, Bob Hunger Reports

Bob Hunger, Extension Wheat Pathologist at Oklahoma State University files his latest wheat disease update:

Reports of stripe rust were more common from Oklahoma this past week. Yesterday (25-Apr) I and Nathalia Grachet (OSU graduate student) looked at wheat in central Oklahoma to the southwest, west, and northwest of Oklahoma City (OKC). Wheat in this area was variable, but mostly around GS 10 (boot stage) to heads just emerging. Fields where freeze damage occurred showed a wide range of tiller maturity.

Fields around Apache, OK (about 75 miles southwest of OKC) including the variety trial showed light powdery mildew and leaf spotting (tan spot/septoria/stagonospora) with stripe rust found in one field located about 10 miles west of Apache - not severe but the incidence was spread across the field (variety unknown).

On our return trip to Stillwater, we found stripe rust on lower to mid leaves in the variety demo at Minco (about 25 miles southwest of OKC) with the most severe rust on Duster in Fig. 1 (photo shown above). Powdery mildew was severe on lower leaves of the wheat in the field surrounding the variety demo.

Click here for more.

National Land and Range Contest Brings U. S. Teens to Oklahoma

Approximately 1,000 teenagers and adults - members of FFA and 4-H Chapters from throughout the United States and their parents, coaches and teachers - will come to Oklahoma City next week, as they have the first week of May for more than six decades, to compete in a national educational competition. The National Land and Range Judging Contest, a three-day event that stresses soil and plant science, land management and conservation, marks its 62nd anniversary beginning on Tuesday, April 30.

After two days of opportunity to visit practice sites, the event will culminate on Thursday, May 2, with the contest at a site whose location is kept secret until that morning, followed in the evening by an awards banquet at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

The Land Judging contestants qualify for the national event by placing among the top five teams at contests in their home states, according to contest cochairman Kim Farber. Farber is president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, one of the contest's principal sponsors. She says the teens match their skills in judging the adaptability of the land for various purposes including farming, range management and home development. She notes the skills the teens apply at the contest involve principles they can apply in career fields like environmental and agricultural management, natural resource conservation, homebuilding and construction.

You can read more of this story on our website by clicking here. 

Farm Bureau Supports Legislation to Maintain Movement of Grains on Mississippi

New legislation introduced in the House, H.R. 1152, The Mississippi River Navigation Sustainment Act, would maintain the critical movement of goods during periods of extreme weather, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

"The Mississippi River is a critical national transportation artery on which hundreds of millions of tons of essential commodities are shipped, such as corn, grain, oilseeds and agricultural inputs," AFBF President Bob Stallman wrote in a letter to sponsors of the bill, Reps. Bill Enyart (D-Ill.) and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.).

"Recent low water events on the Mississippi River created great uncertainty for those who depend on our waterway systems. Whether it is low water conditions or devastating floods, we need to be proactive in planning and preparing to keep the Mississippi River open for commerce," Stallman said. He praised the recently introduced legislation because it will improve understanding of the Mississippi River system while providing additional flexibility for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to respond to extreme weather events through better water management, improved river forecasting and more effective environmental management."

Click here for more more of this article.   

Dollar-Value Indices Help Cattle Producers Increase Profits, OSU Professor Says

To make more money, try selecting for profit. That's what dollar-value indices help cattle producers do, says Megan Rolf, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Management Specialist.

"Selection indexes are really a great tool that we have to practice multiple-trait selections directly for profit because these indexes are in dollar values. So, dollars saved are dollars earned."

Ranchers who want to produce stand outs in the feedlot and on the rail often turn to the American Angus Association's Dollar Beef Index. A recent summary shows dramatic differences in progeny over the last 15 years in those bulls sired by the top ten percent compared to the bottom tenth for dollar beef. Those in the top group had five times the number of prime carcasses and a 67-pound weight advantage.  

Click here for more from Megan Rolf.

Wheat Quality Council Tour Rolls This Week in HRW Country

Participants in this week's Hard Wheat Quality Tour of Kansas wheat fields will get a first look at the impact that hard freezes the weeks of April 8, April 15 and April 22 will have on the 2013 Kansas wheat crop.

Nearly 80 folks are expected to participate in this year's tour, which is hosted by the Wheat Quality Council and intended to give its members an understanding of the growth and development of the Kansas wheat crop, plus provide insight into yield and quality potential.

The tour, which takes place April 29-May 2, leaves from Manhattan and follows six pre-determined routes. Those routes include checking fields in southern Nebraska, eastern Colorado and northern Oklahoma.

Participants will have overnight stays in Colby and Wichita, with daily evaluations of what they've seen in the state's wheat fields; a wrap-up session at the Kansas City Board of Trade will forecast the yield of the 2013 Kansas wheat crop.

What the group finds on the 2013 Wheat Tour is unknown, at this point. Last year, the crop was well ahead of schedule; this year's crop is about 10 days behind schedule and could be dramatically affected by recent freeze events.In addition, the lateness of this year's crop will make the estimates of the 2013 tour much less certain than in previous years.

The group will hear a report on the 2013 Oklahoma Wheat Crop on Wednesday evening at their Wichita stop, after the Oklahoma wheat crop assessment is made Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association.

Click here to read more about the 2013 Wheat Quality Council tour.