Featured Story:

There were lots of important stories that we covered for you in 2013- and I think our headline on this final day of the old year captures three of the more important of those stories.  Let me explain those three "teases" to help us reminisce about 2013:

"Unfinished Business" is a pretty easy tease to guess- Congress once again came up short in getting a new five year farm bill done in this calendar year.  We were first on the hunt for a 2012 Farm Bill and saw those efforts smashed to bits in the rough seas of the House as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor refused to schedule floor time for the House Ag Committee passed farm bill in the fall of 2012- and a last minute nine month extension was approved at the first of the year- 2013.   

Congressman Frank Lucas pushed on- passed yet a second bi-partisan farm bill through his Committee in 2013- only to see it defeated on the floor of the House this past summer. House leadership decreed that a farm bill minus nutrition was the way to go- it passed with no Democratic support and then later by the skin of its teeth- a Nutrition Only measure was passed as the GOP doubled down on the level of spending cuts called for in the Ag Committee version of a Nutrition Title.  

That brought us to a Conference Committee late in the year- the full Committee met once- and since then it has been staff and the Big Four trying to get a deal done- apparently- a framework may be in place to take to the Conference Committee next week- with several fringe issues to be decided by votes in the full Conference. Now we hope for the 2014 Farm Bill to be done "soon."

A few weeks ago- one of our conversations with House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas pretty well summed up the decisions the Big Four was trying to sort out- click here to listen to what Mr. Lucas told us then- and we'll compare that to what is said next week when and if the Farm Bill Conference Committee reconvenes.  

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Our second tease is the "Ebb and Flow" and we are talking about how drought greeted 2013 full bore- and then gradually released its grip on about the eastern two thirds of the state as the year moved from January to December.  At the beginning of the calendar year- 100% of Oklahoma was in drought, with 95% of the state in the extreme to exceptional drought categories- the worst levels of drought measured by Uncle Sam.  

As we end the year- there is still drought conditions present in more than 38% of the land mass of the state, with a small segment of southwest Oklahoma stuck in exceptional drought- that to be found in Jackson, Tillman and Harmon Counties. 

In those counties as well as in the Panhandle- it was another tough year for production agriculture- but with the drought easing in the bulk of the state- we had a decent wheat crop and much better spring planted crops than a year earlier. AND- we saw recovery on our pasturelands from the previous two years of drought.  

We have the last drought map to be released in 2013- click here to take a look. 

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You may be wondering what this last tease is about- "The Party Continues."  Well, one of the great stories of 2013 has been another year of growth in value and tonnage of US beef being shipped overseas- even in the face of very tight US Beef supplies.   

At the heart of this party is the unleashing of the Japanese appetite for US Beef.  Japan was our largest customer of US beef internationally in 2003- and then came the Cow that Stole Christmas.  The first case of BSE ten years ago put US beef exports in "time out" with a lot of countries- and Japan was one of the most frustrating of those markets.   

The Japanese claimed to have had a couple of younger beef animals that had BSE- no one outside of Japan believed it really was Mad Cow disease- but the Japanese did and they first opened their market back up to US beef about three years after that first case found in our country- but only to beef from animals twenty months of age or less- that greatly restricted our access to that lucrative market and it was only this past fall (fall of 2012) that we finally saw the Japanese slide that number from twenty months to thirty months- and that's when this party that has lasted all of 2013 really began.  Click here for an interview we did earlier this year with Phil Seng of the USMEF about the Japanese market turnaround  

Many other stories that we covered were worthy of mention- especially from the perspective of different segments of our vast industry- you can scroll back through our Ag News Stories as found on our website and find your favorites for the year. 

Oklahoma Wheat and Canola Conditions Slide Lower in December  

Both wheat and canola crop conditions slipped lower over the course of the month of December- but to put things in perspective- we are in far better shape than we in as we ended 2013 and began 2013 for both of these crops.  

This is a big improvement over the previous year, and allowed more grazing opportunities for livestock. Thirty-two percent of the wheat crop was being grazed, even with the five-year average, and ten points more than during December 2012.

This report is the first of three monthly reports that NASS will release during the winter months- before resuming weekly crop weather updates in March.

Click here for more details of crop and weather conditions as December wraps up.

Noble's Billy Cook Says Cattle Producers Will Benefit Greatly from Technology and 'Smart Ranch' Concept

Technology is being deployed throughout the agricultural sector at an exponentially-increasing pace. Applications of precision agricultural techniques and devices abound when it comes to crop production. Billy Cook, senior vice president and director of the Division of Agriculture at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation thinks it's about time to kick the use of technology into high gear with regards to animal agriculture. As a researcher, his specific interests involve replacement beef heifer selection and management and enhancing stocker cattle performance on cool-season and warm-season pastures.

He spoke at a recent seminar focusing on the burgeoning use of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. I got a chance to interview him afterwards.  Cattle producers, he said, can look forward to being a part of this technological revolution.

"We're going to have to utilize technologies as we go forward. Our producers need every opportunity and every advantage that is out there. I think that we tend to overlook technology to a point and then when we do introduce it, we don't introduce it in a way that a producer realizes the value. So, we're very interested in technology. In fact, we're anticipating starting a new program looking strictly at the application of technology for producer solutions."

Click here to read more or to listen to my interview with Billy Cook.

Derrell Peel Talks Herd Rebuilding Considerations for Oklahoma Cattle Producers

Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, writes in the latest Cow-Calf Newsletter:

According to the latest Drought Monitor, 51 percent of Oklahoma has no drought, 30 percent of the state has slight to moderate (D0-D1) drought conditions, and 19 percent of the state is in severe to exceptional (D2-D4) drought. One year ago, 100 percent of the state was in severe to exceptional drought (D2-D4). Just three months ago, less than 8 percent of the state had no drought while 71 percent of the state had slight to moderate (D0-D1) drought and 21 percent had severe to exceptional (D2-D4) drought. This means that drought conditions have continued to moderate in much of the state but there has been relatively little improvement in the worst drought areas in the southwest, northwest and Panhandle. The state is currently divided with most of the eastern half devoid of drought conditions and most of the western half still experiencing some level of drought.

At this point is it is impossible to tell what conditions will be in 2014. While conditions are the best they have been in more than two years in some regions, drought conditions could redevelop. Regions that are still experiencing drought after more than three years, may see improvement or continued drought in 2014. In those areas where drought is eliminated or significantly moderated, producers face a mix of production and management considerations. Many producers have a financial need to increase production after two or more years of drought reductions. However, in many cases, forage resources need more time to recover which means that grazing must be carefully managed to promote recovery while efficiently utilizing available forage. For cow-calf producers, questions of how and when to rebuild the cow herd are tricky and require careful consideration. Fortunately, producers have several alternatives and considerable flexibility to devise a herd rebuilding plan. 

Click here to read Derrell's recommendations. 

U.S. Corn Imports on the Rise in Latin America

U.S. corn exports to Latin America continue to grow. According to the USDA, the Western Hemisphere's accumulated U.S. corn imports are more than 67 million bushels ahead of last year at this same time. Mexico, the second-largest U.S. corn market, is the largest contributor to this market change, importing 39.4 million bushels more than last year.

"It is exciting to see how free trade agreements lead to increased exports for farmers," said National Corn Growers Association Trade Policy and Biotechnology Action Team Chair Jim Zimmerman. "The work done on a policy level is having a direct impact upon markets for corn. Right now, farmers clearly understand the importance of fostering all markets, particularly given the incredible abundance grown in 2013. Tearing down the barriers that allow our customers abroad access to our supply only makes sense for American agriculture and America's economy."

While Mexico dwarfs other importers, both Colombia and Peru show significant increases of U.S. corn imports. These two dramatic turnarounds can be attributed to free trade agreements that removed trade barriers and made U.S. corn a more attractive and competitively priced product.

 

Happy New Year!!!! 

As we conclude our time together here in 2013, it's my honor to say "thanks" to each of you that read our daily email, check out what is on our website, access the latest information via our App, follow our Tweets, Check in and Like Us on Facebook, watch us on News9 and the News on 6 and of course, listen to us daily on one of our 46 Radio Oklahoma Ag Network radio affiliates.

One story that we did not mention in our top story of today as we looked back on 2013- was another great year of covering the Oklahoma FFA- and one of the highlights of that was watching Tyler Schnaithman win the National Prepared Public Speaking Contest- the FIFTH year in a row that Oklahoma had brought home that Championship.  You can go and review the achievements of our 4-H and FFA members on our Blue Green Gazette and you can click here to jump over to our FLICKR page to relive a multitude of events that we were at during the course of the year.

I mentioned Facebook- if you are a Facebook person and do not currently like our Radio Oklahoma Ag Network page- please consider stopping by and "liking" us- we are almost to 500 likes and want to push pass that and well beyond in the new year- help us do that! 

As we begin 2014- please know that we are here to serve you- the wonderful folks who are a part of the farm and ranch scene in Oklahoma and across the country.  If you have a suggestion on how we can better report the farm news and markets for you in any of the ways we push information out- I want to hear from you.  

If you have a calendar item we need to include- we want to hear from you as well.  

If you have praise, a complaint or a rant- that's okay- send those to us- we will read every one of them and respond as is appropriate.

Email me by clicking here.   

To each of you- my prayer is that you will have a safe new year's celebration and that 2014 will be your very best year yet!   

God Bless- and we will next be communicating with you via this email on Thursday, January 2, 2014!