Featured Story:

This is it- today is the day that at least three decisions regarding your involvement in the 2014 Farm Law and your personal federal farm program safety net must be made.

The deadline for selecting a safety-net coverage path under the 2014 Farm Bill was extended a week ago out to Tuesday, April 7(today) by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The two paths which producers must select between are Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC). Additionally,  land owners were given this extra week as well to either update their yield history or reallocate base acres.

"This is an important decision for producers because these programs help farmers and ranchers protect their operations from unexpected changes in the marketplace," said Vilsack. "Nearly 98 percent of owners have already updated their yield and base acres, and 90 percent of producers have enrolled in ARC or PLC. These numbers are strong and continue to rise. This additional week will give producers a little more time to have those final conversations, review their data, visit their local Farm Service Agency offices, and make their decisions."

In order to make their official selection between the ARC and PLC programs, agriculturalists must have their appointment scheduled at their Farm Service Agency office by close of business TODAY- even if their appointment is scheduled later in April.

Incredibly- if you have not yet started working on this of yet- click here for the Oklahoma FSA webpage- they have resources for you to take a really quick look at before you call your local FSA office and pull the trigger on which safety net option you want.  

No Decision on your part means that USDA decides for you- you lose your right to participate in a possible government payment for the 2014 crop year and you are automatically enrolled into the PLC program for the 2015 through the 2018 crop years.

Winter Wheat Crop Remarkably Better in 2015 Compared to 2014- At Least in Texas and Oklahoma- Crop Ratings Galore

The First National Weekly Crop Progress report of the 2015 growing season was released on Monday afternoon- and the first national planting stats of the season are available for Cotton and Grain Sorghum. For both crops, planting is behind the five year average. For the cotton planting season, there is a total of two percent of the US crop that has been planted thus far in the 15 major cotton growing states- versus the five year average for this date of six percent planted.

The national grain sorghum planted stats shows nine percent of the crop now planted nationally- versus fifteen percent normally planted by this date.

Click here for our links to the National Crop Progress report- and more details on cotton and milo planting- as well as the 2015 winter wheat crop.

Meanwhile, the Kansas Wheat crop is not in that great of shape- and the numbers show that there is not a ton of difference with the nation's number one wheat producing state this year versus 2014.

The Kansas crop only shows 33% in good to excellent condition, 44% fair and 23% poor to very poor. The 2015 Kansas crop is not in much different shape in the first week of April as the 2014 wheat crop was- the 2014 ratings show 29% good to excellent, 44% fair and 27% poor to very poor.  Click here for this week's stats on Kansas.

Meanwhile for the Oklahoma April 6th report- the Oklahoma wheat crop slips one percentage point from a week ago at 43% good to excellent shape versus 44% a week ago- while we are just getting by when it comes to moisture for this year's crop- consider where we were a year ago by this date when we had gone with virtually no moisture all the way back to the fall months right after planting- the 2014 winter wheat crop in Oklahoma had none of the crop rated excellent and 15% rated good, 37% fair and 48% rated poor to very poor.  

The current Oklahoma wheat crop ratings may be too optimistic- and could decline drastically if no rain is received in the northwestern quarter of the state really soon. 

Click here for the Crop Weather Update for Oklahoma this first week of April, 2015.  In Contrast- here's the 2014 Crop Weather update for the first week of April, 2014- you can see how desperate we already were because of no rain from October to April.

Finally, the Texas wheat crop is so much better than a year ago- it is truly remarkable.

The Texas 2015 wheat crop is 54% in good to excellent condition, 35% in fair shape and only 11% in poor to very poor condition. The 2015 Wheat Crop is in FAR BETTER shape than the crop of 2014 was- only 13% was rated good to excellent last year at this point, 24% was rated fair and the great majority of the crop- 63%- was in poor to very poor condition. 

Click here for the latest Crop Weather details for Texas.

With the Discovery of Messenger RNA, Noble Foundation Researchers See Opportunity to Develop More Efficient Crops

 

Scientists at The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation with colleagues from Germany and Spain have made a discovery that will change the way researchers view messenger RNA (mRNA) and, in the future, could potentially aid the development of more efficient crop plants.


Messenger RNAs play pivotal roles during gene expression. They communicate the information encrypted in DNA genes to an organism's protein factories. Proteins are the ultimate products of the genes, and they carry out the instructions by building, repairing or altering the plant during development or as conditions change.


For decades, researchers believed that mRNAs generally stay within or near the cells in which they are produced with only a few exceptions known. The new research reveals that mRNA molecules are much more mobile than ever before imagined. They not only leave the cell, they can travel throughout the plant. The new discovery also shows that mobility of mRNAs is the rule rather than an exception.   

 Click here to read more about how this might turn out to be a game changer for developing more efficient crop plants and advancing agriculture.  

OSU's Derrell Peel Sees Decreased Beef Production in Canada Here in 2015

Dr. Derrell Peel, OSU Extension Livestock Economist, provides a weekly cattle industry market analysis as a part of an Oklahoma State University Electronic Newsletter called Cow Calf Corner.  In his latest analysis- he focuses on Canada.

Dr. Peel says "The North American cattle and beef market is a complex set of cattle and beef flows among Canada, Mexico and the U.S. These trade flows played a role in the unprecedented production and prices that occurred in 2014 and will play a role in 2015 and beyond. Trade impacts among the NAFTA countries were generally as expected in 2014. Beef imports from Canada increased while beef exports to Canada decreased compared to 2013. Cattle imports from Canada and Mexico also increased year over year along with beef imports from Mexico. Canada and Mexico accounted for a combined 31.1 percent of U.S. beef exports and 30.9 percent of U.S. beef imports in 2014. The impact of Canada and Mexico on the U.S. cattle and beef market may be different in 2015. More detail on the Canadian situation follows.

Peel adds that  "Canadian beef exports are expected to be close to 2014 levels in 2015 due to tight supplies. Nevertheless, U.S. imports of Canadian beef are up nearly 14 percent in the first two months of 2015."

He adds that he believes it may be difficult to maintain those levels for the balance of the year- click here for the full analysis that Peel offers about the beef industry in Canada.

National Pork Board Embraces Steps to Curb Antibiotic Resistance

The National Pork Board applauds the White House action plan for combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Pork Checkoff, which is funded directly by America's 62,000 pig farmers, could expand its existing research to address this growing consumer issue if the additional commitment of $1.2 billion is realized.

"Collaboration across our industry - from the farms to the dinner table - is critical," said Chris Hodges, chief executive officer of the National Pork Board. "America's pig farmers welcome this new federal initiative and are committed to continuous improvement to ensure responsible antibiotic use on the farm.

"Our industry pledges to go above and beyond simply complying with federal guidance," Hodges added. "The Pork Checkoff has deployed millions of producer dollars to fund antimicrobial research for well over a decade and, as noted in the White House statement, is one of the leading agricultural organizations to lead research efforts. Any additional dollars earmarked for research could serve to address the risk posed to animal and human health by antibiotic resistant bacteria."

More is available here from the National Pork Board on the Pork industry's efforts to work with researchers and regulators in combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Award winning broadcast journalist Jerry Bohnen has spent years learning and understanding how to cover the energy business here in the southern plains- Click here to subscribe to his daily update of top Energy News.

Middle Meats Rally as Grilling Season Arrives- Ed Czerwein Offers Boxed Beef Analysis

Ed Czerwien, USDA Market News Reporter based in Amarillo, writes and produces a Weekly Boxed Beef Trade Analysis. In his latest report from Monday afternoon for the week ending April 3rd- Czerwein reports "The Comprehensive or weekly avg Choice cutout which includes all types of sales including the daily spot cutout was 251.14 which was 4.16 higher. The normal seasonal grilling season has definitely started in most areas which has helped to improve prices especially for steak type middle meats."

A key indicator of the grilling season's arrival- Czerwein says "the choice chuck, and round primals were both 1 higher and the middle meats which are loins and ribs were 9-10 higher and are continuing their big seasonal price rallies as we begin the grilling season."

He also says you can tell exports are off- based on wholesale beef movement- you can hear his full report and read more by clicking here.

This N That- Procedural Vote for Right to Farm Expected Wednesday, Red Flag Warnings in Place and Eastern Oklahoma Beef Conference Planned for Friday

HJR 1012 faces a key procedural vote on Wednesday- as the Senate Rules Committee is expected to consider the measure and it needs to come out of that Committee this week in order to remain alive this session.  If the Rules Committee, chaired by Senator Ron Justice, puts their stamp of approval on the proposed Constitutional Amendment, it would then be available to be voted on by the full Senate in the next couple of weeks. 

In talking to many of the key agricultural interests at the Capitol- it is expected that the Rules Committee will move HJR 1012 out of their Committee and onto the floor to await a possible vote.

HJR 1012 is the "Right to Farm" proposal that could land on the ballot for a vote of Oklahomans in November 2016. 

**********

One of the most dreaded warnings for folks on the high plains is the Red Flag Warning- and there are a large group of counties in the Texas Panhandle and in western Oklahoma that have earned that dubious honor for Wednesday.   

A Red Flag Warning means that you have a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures mixing together and that can lead to any dry vegetation turning into a dangerous wildfire with just a single spark.

Click here for the Red Flag Warning that is in effect for a host of counties- and note that there is a watch that most of the rest of the counties in western Oklahoma find themselves under for this time period.

**********

We only got details of this beef cattle meeting in the last day or so- but wanted to pass it along to you as it looks like a great meeting planned for McAlester this coming Friday, April 10.  The Eastern Oklahoma Beef Cattle Summit has as its theme "Grassroots Management" and will be featuring a great lineup of state and area extension folks from OSU- as well as an Extension educator  from Arkansas, Dr. John Jennings, who will be talking about a concept called the 300 Day Grazing Plan.

Click here for details of the meeting and how you can check on late registration.