Freeze Injury Update-Worse Than We Thought, Jeff Edwards Says 

In his latest World of Wheat blog post, Dr. Jeff Edwards, Oklahoma State University Small Grains Extension Specialist, discusses the extent of freeze damage he as seen across southwest Oklahoma:

On April 4th I toured southwest Oklahoma and surveyed freeze injury to wheat. In my experience, most freeze events are overhyped; however, this one was the real deal Holyfield. I traveled a route from Faxon to Chattanooga to Altus to Blair and ended up at Apache. Damage was similar at all sites, with injury ranging from 50 to 80%.

The best looking wheat was the hardest hit. Particularly troubling are some fields in the Altus area that easily had 80 bushel potential prior to the freeze. In most of these fields we are too far past the tillering stage to have yield compensation from secondary tillers. Late-emerging fields that were jointing or smaller escaped the freeze with little injury. Fields that had been heavily grazed and/or under-fertilized also escaped with relatively minor injury. Conditions improved slightly when I checked wheat in the Chickasha area and injury was more in the 10 - 30% range.

I am frequently asked if the injured wheat head will go ahead and "push through" as the season progresses, and the answer is no. So, if you see heads emerging out of the boot in a few weeks, they are likely not damaged and a head count at this stage will be a reasonable estimate of fertile heads. Since there will not be additional stem elongation in freeze injured wheat, it will not accumulate as much tonnage as in a 'normal' year.

Click here to read more and to find a link to Jeff's blog and photographs of freeze-damaged wheat.  

Oklahoma Ranked Number 1 in Controlling Nutrient Pollution for 2nd Year in a Row 

A recent comparison of EPA priority nonpoint source pollutant reduction numbers from across the nation shows that Oklahoma again ranks as the number one state when it comes to reducing harmful nutrients from our streams and rivers. This is the second year in a row that Oklahoma has ranked number one among states in reported non-point source nutrient reductions and the fourth year for the state to be in the top ten, according to Kim Farber, President of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD).

"This continued improvement in addressing water quality is a testimony to the success of the dedicated work done by farmers, ranchers and other landowners in partnership with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, local conservation districts, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Water Act 319 programs and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to address this critical issue," Farber said. "This success shows what can happen when we work together, respect individuals' private property rights and when the State and Federal Governments give landowners the financial and technical assistance they need to make changes. Locally-led, voluntary conservation works."

You can read more of this story or listen to an extended interview with Clay Pope from the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts on our web page.  Click here to go there.

 

More on the Number One Ranking in Nutrient Reduction- Shannon Phillips of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission

For the second year in a row, Oklahoma ranked at the top of the list among states which have cleaned up their waters significantly with the help and support of farmers, ranchers and landowners.

Shannon Phillips, the Director of Water Quality Programs with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, has been very involved in the highly-successful efforts to clean up Oklahoma's once-fouled waters. She spoke with Radio Oklahoma Farm Director Ron Hays about the amount of work necessary to get the job done. 

She said the Conservation Commission has supported broad efforts all across the state to help farmers and ranchers address their local needs rather than focusing on one or two major problem areas. She said this broad focus seems to be paying off.

"This is really an effort statewide and although there are some priority watersheds where there are more intensive efforts like the Illinois River, Eucha-Spavinaw, Grand Lake, the North Canadian River, this includes estimates to all the streams and rivers across the state as well."

You can hear the full interview with Shannon Phillips by clicking here.

 

OSU's FAPC Supports Made in Oklahoma Month

April is Made in Oklahoma Month, and Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center is helping to support local food companies.

FAPC offers businesses, producers and entrepreneurs access to expertise in business and technical disciplines in order to stimulate and support the growth of value-added food and agricultural products and processing Oklahoma.

"Made in Oklahoma Month is a great way to remind Oklahomans to support their local food products," Andrea Graves, FAPC business planning and marketing specialist. "When you buy local products, you are putting money back into the state-keeping the products, jobs and money in Oklahoma, which is the main priority of FAPC." 

Click here to read more.

USDA Announces Grants to Help Farms & Ranches Build Resilience to Drought

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the award of $5.3 million in Conservation Innovation Grants to develop approaches and technology that will help producers adapt to extreme climate changes that cause drought. These grants will fund projects benefiting several states that were significantly impacted by last year's drought. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) remains focused on carrying out its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty. Today's announcement is one part of the department's efforts to strengthen the rural economy.

"USDA is working diligently to help American farmers and ranchers rebound from last year's drought and prepare for future times of climatic extremes," Vilsack said. "Conservation Innovation Grants are an excellent way to invest in new technology and approaches that will help our farmers, ranchers and rural communities be more resilient in the future."

The grants will address drought-related issues, such as grazing management, warm season forage systems, irrigation strategies and innovative cropping systems. 

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

Foodservice Purchases of Beef Outpace Growth in the Sector

Each year between 700 and 1,000 significant foodservice purchasing executives report their wholesale beef purchases for the Foodservice Volumetric study. Enough data is collected to allow fairly robust extrapolations to the industry at large. Estimates are also cross-checked with 25 distributors and 5 protein processors focused on the foodservice channel. The time range covered is 12 months through a September month-end. A margin of error of +/- 10% should be assumed when interpreting pound estimates.

In the 2012 report, volume sales for beef were reported up 1.8%, while real sales growth in the entire channel was tracked at 1.5%. Thus, even in a year where beef per pound prices escalated coupled with overall food inflation, beef was able to outpace growth of the foodservice channel overall. Willingness to pay higher prices is a great indicator of strong demand. Compared to 2007, the foodservice industry is down 9.6% in total sales, while beef volume is down 7.8% over the same timeframe. If the foodservice industry continues to recover, there is still upward pound potential for beef and there are strong indicators that foodservice operators have the opportunity to capitalize on the distinctive power and allure of beef.

You can read more by clicking here.

 

This N That- Canola Crop Tour Rolls This Week,  Quality of 2012 Corn Called Superior & We NEED Horses! 

All during the week of April 8th, the Oklahoma State Cooperative Extension Service will be putting on Winter Canola Field Tours at 13 locations across the state. There will be three stops per day Monday through Thursday, with a final stop planned on Friday April 12 in northeast Oklahoma in Ottawa County.

The times, locations and directions for today include the following stops:

Monday April 8th- 10 a.m.in Jackson County, go six miles west of Altus on HW62, turn south, plot is located on east side of road.

At 2 p.m., in Kiowa county, from the flashing light at the intersection of HW9 and 44, west of Hobart, go one half mile south.

At 5 p.m., in Washita County, from the courthouse in Cordell, go one mile west, one mile north, then one mile east on north side of road.

To see details on the other ten stops for this week- and details about the program planned by OSU Canola Specialist Josh Bushong- click here.

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Despite the 2012 drought - testing has indicated the 2012 U.S. corn crop was superior in quality across a number of key variables to the high quality 2011 harvest. That's according to the U.S. Grains Council Export Cargo Quality Report. The report provides the results of tests on corn samples collected during the U.S. government-licensed sampling and inspection process for U.S. corn export shipments. According to this year's report - export samples had a higher test weight, lower incidence of broken corn and foreign material and lower moisture as compared to the 2011-12 export samples. As for chemical composition - the report observed higher protein levels and lower starch - with oil content also higher.

Click here for details of the report found on the US Grains Council website.

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We are just days away from the 2013 Southern Plains Farm Show- and we need two or three more horses for the folks at this year's farm show to consider utilizing in the Scott Daily horse training sessions that will happen twice a day at this year's show.  If you have a horse with an attitude that needs some adjusting- give me a call at 405-841-3675 or email me by clicking here and give me details about your horse and how to best contact you.  The horses will need to be brought in to State Fair Park with adequate feed and Scott and his team will take care of them from there.