The progress of winter wheat and canola crops is well behind last year's progress in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas according to the latest Crop Progress and Condition reports from the USDA.

In Oklahoma, wheat continued to be rated mostly good to fair.  Freeze damage from the freeze two weeks ago was reported in a few counties, but the extent of the damage remains to be seen. Wheat jointing was 59 percent complete by Sunday, 20 points behind the five-year average and 32 points behind this time last year.  Thirty-nine percent of the wheat crop was rated in fair condition, 26 percent was in good condition and 33 percent was rated as poor to very poor.

Canola was rated mostly good to fair, with 43 percent rated poor to very poor. Twenty percent of canola was reported as blooming by the end of the week, compared with 97 percent this week last year.  (Click here for the full Oklahoma report.)

In Kansas, the winter wheat crop was 22 percent jointed, behind 76 percent a year ago and the 33 percent average. The condition of the crop was rated as 11 percent very poor, 20 percent poor, 38 percent fair, 29 percent good, and 2 percent excellent.

 The condition of Kansas range and pasture was rated as 44 percent very poor, 33 percent poor, 18 percent fair, 5 percent good, and 0 percent excellent.  (The full Kansas report is available here.)

Rain fell across much of Texas last week, with some counties receiving in excess of four inches. Some areas, mainly the Northern Plains, the Trans-Pecos, South Texas, and the Lower Valley, however, received little to no relief from dry conditions, as windy conditions persisted to dry out soil moisture.  Fifty-one percent of the state's wheat crop was listed in poor or very poor shape, 32 percent was in fair condition, and 16 percent was rated good.  (Click here to read more from the Texas report.)

Farm Bureau Sends Farm Bill Proposal to Capitol Hill 

The American Farm Bureau Federation is sending a farm bill proposal to Capitol Hill. Approved this weekend by the AFBF Board of Directors, the proposal offers a diverse mix of risk management and safety net tools to benefit a wide range of farms and it saves $23 billion compared to the cost of continuing the current program.

The American Farm Bureau farm bill proposal helps reduce the nation's budget deficit, provides an adequate economic safety net for the nation's farmers and is based on several core policy principles, according to AFBF President Bob Stallman.

"There is far less money this year than last with which to secure an adequate safety net for the many family-owned farms that make up the bulk of America's agricultural system," Stallman said. "Last year, Congress merely extended the old 2008 farm bill until Sept. 30 of this year. Now, while unfortunately we have less money to work with, it is vital that Congress complete a new five-year farm bill this year. Doing so is in the economic interest of our entire nation."

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

 

Trade Barriers, Slow Demand in Selected Markets Challenge February Meat Exports

February continued the trend set at the end of 2012 for U.S. beef and pork exports with higher values on lower volumes for beef and a continued slight decline for pork, according to statistics released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

Beef exports managed a 5 percent increase in value ($430 million) over February 2012 despite a slight decline in volume (86,367 mt). February pork exports slipped 5 percent in volume (178,510 mt) and 6 percent in value ($494.6 million) compared to a year ago.

"The good news is that the long-awaited change in beef access to Japan came through in February," said USMEF President and CEO Philip Seng. "Conversely, trade barriers and other obstacles seem to be emerging at a rather alarming rate in 2013. Sluggish economic conditions in certain markets also create a challenge, but this is why we have made such a strong effort to diversify our destinations for red meat exports over the years. As some of our key markets struggle, growth in other regions has helped provide balance." 

Click here for more of this story and a link to the full meat exports report.  

 

Is More Beef Herd Liquidation in Store for 2013?

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

Drought conditions in parts of the Plains have improved modestly since the beginning of the year. Some improvement has occurred in South Dakota, Kansas and Oklahoma. Additionally, the latest drought outlook from the Climate Prediction Center continues to push the line for potential drought improvement farther west. Though this raises hopes for drought moderation, the fact is that much of the Central Plains is still in serious drought and very vulnerable to worsening drought conditions. The next two to three months are critical to determine the forage prospects for the remainder of the year.

Meantime, there are indications that the prolonged winter weather may be causing additional herd liquidation at the current time. Beef cow slaughter, after decreasing almost ten percent in the first eight weeks of the year, is up 6.8 percent in the last two weeks compared to year ago levels for the same period. This brings the year to date total to a meager 6 percent decrease compared to 2012. A decline in beef cow slaughter of more than double this rate would be required to suggest herd stabilization. There may be several factors contributing to accelerated herd liquidation in recent weeks. Extended cold weather may have pushed some producers, especially in the central and northern plains, beyond their exhausted hay supplies with no alternative but to sell additional animals.   

You can read more of this story by clicking here.

Three Oklahomans Honored for Positive Effects on OSU and Oklahoma

Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources has honored three Oklahomans with one of the organization's highest honors, the DASNR Champion award.

Dave McLaughlin and Linda Shackelford of Oklahoma City, and Osage County's Bob Hamilton, have been selected as the 2013 award recipients.

"Our three honorees have exceptional records of providing meaningful and lasting benefits to Oklahoma and the region as part of the state's production, processing and related agricultural industries, in addition to being outstanding leaders in their communities," said Mike Woods, DASNR interim vice president, dean and director. 

Click here to read the profiles on these three award winners.  

 

We Need Horses for the Southern Plains Farm Show- and a Date Change for Commercial Cattle Grading Contest

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. 

The 2013 Commercial Cattle Grading Contest for FFA and 4-H Youth

starting at 9:00 AM Friday, April 19, 2013 at the SOUTHERN PLAINS FARM SHOW- to be held in Barn 6.  Registration begins at 8:00 AM that morning. The top scoring individual overall will receive the Rick Jones Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $2000.00. Rick Jones was a lifelong cattleman and a founding partner of OKC West Livestock Market, Inc.; El Reno, OK. Rick always realized the importance of having a good eye for cattle, feeling it was the single most important key to success in any aspect of the cattle business.

Over $6,000 in scholarships will be handed out to top finishers of this contest. Those participating will first attend a one-hour seminar on grading presented by Gary Bledsoe, Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Consultant on Rural Developmentand Jason Harvey Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Market Development Coordinator. Following the presentation, teams of 4 contestants will grade 15 head using the criteria covered in the seminar- the contest is open to all 4-H and FFA members.

This is a date change for the contest- the date originally circulated was Thursday April 18- but due to conflicts with several district speech contests- the contest moves to Friday April 19.

Senators Question EPA Giving out Personal Information of Private Citizens to Environmental Groups 

The Environmental Protection Agency has now heard from Senate Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee about the release of private personal and business information to environmental groups. In a letter to Acting EPA Administrator Bob Perciasepe - Committee Republicans (Including Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe) said the inclusion of detailed information including the size of various cattle operations in several states, personal contact info and email addresses demonstrates a troubling disregard for the interests of both private citizens and competitive businesses.

The EPA provided this information in response to a Freedom of Information request. According to the Senate letter - FOIA is meant to inform people about what the government is doing - not private citizens. The Senators wrote that EPA's current application of FOIA represents the antithesis of a transparent government and an offensive abuse of agency discretion. The Senate Republicans asked the EPA to brief the Environment Committee about the release of the data by no later than April 18th. They also asked for answers to several questions in writing by the 18th - including what the agency is doing to prevent similar releases of private information. Last month - nearly 40 members of the U.S. House made a similar demand that the EPA reassess its FOIA policy.
 

Click here for more from the Minority website of the Committee- this link includes the full text of the letter to the EPA.