Great Plains Canola Production Grows in Importance to the Industry, Jeff Scott Says 

The canola crop across Oklahoma is looking spectacular going into the winter says Jeff Scott. Scott is a farmer near Pond Creek in north central Oklahoma and he is the current president of the Great Plains Canola Association. He is also a vice president with the U.S. Canola Association which just held its annual Fall conference in Oklahoma City. I spoke with Scott at the meeting about the coming of age of canola production in the Southern Plains and his take on the prospects for the 2014 crop. 

Scott said the fact that U.S. Canola held its meeting in Oklahoma City this year reflects favorably on inroads being made by canola producers in the Southern Great Plains.

"I think it's pretty major. This is our opportunity to highlight to a national organization what we've been doing down here. The money that they've put into the programs down here to expand acres--our U.S. Canola Promote Canola Acres program-we have gotten the lion's share of the money out of that. We've made it work. We've taken those funds, leveraged them with other funds and seen real growth, real traction in the region."

And, Scott says, it's not just producers who are taking note of the expansion of the canola industry in the Southern Plains; it's also seed companies, agricultural chemical companies and other allied industries that are also members of the U.S. Canola Association.

"It's really a unique group with the United States Canola Association. We have oilseed crushers, we have chemical companies, we've got seed companies, we have food end-user companies, we've got a plethora of industries coming to the table. And while each one of us may have our own little niche that we are focused on, as a group we're able to come together and look at the big picture and at the expansion of canola across the United States. The bright spot of that canola growth is the Southern Great Plains centered in Oklahoma."

You can catch our full interview and the rest of this story on your website by clicking here.  

Oklahoma Among States Receiving USDA Grants for Native American Projects 

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack commemorated Native American Heritage Month and recognized USDA programs that strengthen Native Americans and their communities.

USDA provides a vast array of funding and technical assistance to help Native Americans and their communities. For instance, during fiscal year 2013, USDA Rural Development's Electric Programs invested $275 million - an historic high - to bring new and improved electric infrastructure to more than 80,000 Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This total includes a $167 million loan to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority headquartered in Fort Defiance, Ariz.

In Oklahoma, the USDA is funding the following projects:

-- The Latimer County Housing Authority has been selected to receive a $449,400 Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance Grant to provide grants to public or private non-profit organizations and Indian Tribes, which the recipients will use to recruit, screen and provide loan packaging assistance to 20 people interested in participating in Rural Development's Self-Help housing program. 

-- The Tri-County Indian Nations Community Development Corp. is receiving a $376,050 Self-Help Housing technical assistance grant to help build 27 new homes for low- or very-low-income families.

Click here for more of this story.
 

Beetles Enjoying a Buffet of Saltcedar in Oklahoma

It's been a hard day's night, and they have been working like a dog. Saltcedar beetles may be the new rock stars for property owners in Oklahoma.

Brought from the Middle East and planted along the United States' east coast because it could handle high salt content and effectively prevented bank and beach erosion, saltcedar has swept the nation.

For more than 100 years, the invasive species has worked its way through river systems and has spread from the Carolinas to California and as far north as the Canadian border. While the saltcedar is great for erosion control, it causes major problems to native species sharing the same area.

Landowners have tried several management practices including herbicide application, prescribed fire and mechanical removal to fight off the species. But, recently landowners have been noticing some plants dying in the western edge of Oklahoma due to the saltcedar beetle.

You can read more of this story by clicking here. 

  

Social Media Placement Crucial in Getting Positive Beef Message to Millennial Consumers

Michelle Peterson Murray is the senior executive director of innovative communications for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. They are Beef Checkoff contractors, so, as a result, she works on behalf of all cattle producers in getting their message out via social media. She says one of the most amazing things about social media is its ability to precisely target each customer.

"The beauty of digital is that it allows you to be real time and to connect with that consumer in the very moment. So, for instance, on Facebook, if a consumer is posting information about looking for recipes or that they can't come up with something good to eat for dinner tonight, we can specifically target those kind of consumers and send a news feed post that goes right in front of them instead of having them having to seek out information about beef."

Murray says one of the keys to keeping that message in front of the consumer is being able to rise to the top in Google searches on an ongoing basis when the consumer is thinking about beef.

Michelle joins me on the latest Beef Buzz.  Click here to listen in.  

Developing Heifers Fills Pens, Creates Supply

In the face of a shrinking cow herd, the management of Kuner Feedlot in Colorado looks for creative ways to fill pen space. The 100,000-head JBS Five Rivers yard recently began a heifer development program that is far from ordinary. It combines genomic technology and the disposition scoring with traditional selection criteria.

As General Manager Nolan Stone explains, they purchased 4,000 angus-based heifers and then ran the Gene Max DNA test which measures gain and grade potential on commercial cattle.

"From there we selected the top 50 percent. Any heifer that scored above 50 on the Gene Max made it into the first cut of the program. The heifers that didn't make it in fit in very well because we also have a natural program at Kuner and we bought all-natural calves to begin with, so those heifers went into our all-natural program.

"Most people look at the heifers and try to pick the best ones. We felt like this was a way to take that a step further we actually had genetic value on those heifers and they were selected solely on that to begin with. And then from there we pared down based on phenotypical characteristics," Stone said.

You can read more of this story or watch the video version by clicking here. 

Large Grain Crops Driving Short Term Markets, Stewart-Peterson Exec Tells Farm Broadcasters 

The National Association of Farm Broadcasters is meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, this week. In addition to attracting broadcasters from all over the nation, the meeting brings representatives from agriculture companies and groups as well.

Bryan Doherty is a senior market adviser for Stewart-Peterson, a nationwide consulting firm dealing with marketing services and commodities. He said that in the short term, producers are dealing with large grain crops. The projected corn carryout is near the 2 billion bushel mark and Doherty said that will have a tremendous impact on the markets worldwide.

"To give you a relative compass to work with, that's more than double a year ago. Consequently, prices are about half of what they were a year ago and the market is viewing the current supply as very adequate. That can change, but now it's adequate. The consequence of adequate supply is more likely sideways or lower trade activity as fall wears on into early winter. And maybe some price recovery into winter, but chances of a significant rally are going to have to come on some type of supply issue, Southern Hemisphere weather or planting conditions are awry in our home base here in the U.S."

Doherty says such a quick reversal in corn supplies over a one-year period is not unusual. It all boils down to the addition of planted acres and higher yields. It is also affected by the demand side which fell when corn was near the $7 per bushel mark. Another large factor in the quick turnaround of ending stocks is the incredible ability of technology in the form of better seeds, better equipment, and better chemical inputs to increase yields. 

You can listen to my conversation with Bryan or read more of this story on our website.  Please click here to go there.

On the Farm Bill Beat- J Douglas is the Farm Bill Reporter of the Day- Talking to Chairman Frank Lucas 

As reported on FarmPolicy.com, RON Radio Affiliate K101 was ground zero for farm bill information as J Douglas Williams talked on Wednesday with the Chairman of the House Ag Committee Frank Lucas.  K101 is the most listened to radio station in the state of Oklahoma when it comes to farmers and ranchers- and Woodward is in the heart of the Third Congressional District of the state of Oklahoma- the home district for Chairman Lucas.

According to Chairman Lucas- "I am in the process, with my senior colleagues on the House side on the Ag Committee, to try to negotiate out the differences between us and the Senate. There are three big areas of difference, and in reverse order, food stamps. The Senate wants to save about $4 billion by basically making the Northeastern states that use food stamps to help pay for their citizens' home heating oil to stay warm in the wintertime to pay more."

"The Senate essentially just doesn't want to make any changes in food stamps. The House wants to do ten times as much, so working that out is going to be tough," the Chairman added.

Chairman Lucas pointed out that, "The second area is the dairy program. The House leadership doesn't want to do supply management, which makes the dairy insurance work better. The Senate insists on that. That's a philosophical issue about supply management by the federal government.

"And the biggest area, the one that matters probably the most, generally, to our listeners, is the commodity title. The Senate wants to do...they've finally come around to the fact that you have to have a safety net that works not just for the Midwest, but for everybody else. They want a program by which, when you sign up for five years, you're automatically covered under either version of the safety net."

In the K101 interview- you also have Frank Lucas mentioning the "E" word- Extension. "This really, really needs to be done by the end of the year, which is not that many weeks away. But if you can't make it happen in that timely fashion, then you probably need an extension. Now the problem with an extension is so many of my friends on the left and the right up here are opposed to the direct payment system in the old farm bill, which, by the way, is the least trade distorting, most WTO compliant.

"It's our best battling tool with the Australians and the Argentines and the Brazilians. It's politically unsustainable, but it's the best economic policy. A lot of folks I serve with won't vote for an extension if it actually extends the whole present farm bill, which we did this year. So yes, I'm getting squeezed from several directions."

You can hear the full interview between J Doug and Chairman Lucas by clicking here.

Our friend Keith Good has also done a transcript of the K101 interview with Frank Lucas- click here to jump over and read that.