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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oklahoma's latest farm and ranch news
Your Update from Ron Hays of RON for Wednesday October 15,
2008! A
service of Producers Cooperative Oil Mill, Farm Credit Associations of
Oklahoma and Midwest Farm Shows!
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-- Rainfall Persists in Western Half of the State
-- Armyworms Continue Offensive in Oklahoma Wheat Fields
-- Half Done with the US Soybean Harvest
-- Is There Enough Growing Season Left for Double Crop Sorghum to
Finish?
-- WIND Conference on the Calendar
-- Podcasting with Dr. Ray Huhnke
-- Two Sales in One Day- the Star Lake Herefords Bull and Female
Sales Coming Sunday October 19
-- Let's Check the Markets!
Howdy Neighbors! Here's your morning farm news headlines from the Director of Farm Programming for the Radio Oklahoma Network, Ron Hays. We salute our longest running email sponsor- Midwest Farm Shows, producer of the annual Tulsa Farm Show scheduled for December 11-13 here in 2008, as well as the springtime Southern Plains Farm Show in Oklahoma City. Check out details of both of these exciting shows at the official website of Midwest Farm Shows by clicking here. It's also great to have the Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma
with us regularly as an Email Sponsor- Financing Oklahoma is their
business! Check out their website which shows their locations statewide by
clicking
here! If you have received this by someone forwarding it to you, you are welcome to subscribe and get this weekday update sent to you directly by clicking here. | |
Rainfall Persists in Western Half of the State ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The latest
crop progress numbers show that we now have three fourths of the 2009 crop
now planted- right in line with the five year average. Farmers are wanting
to get the rest of those acres planted- but it may be a few days before it
will be dry enough, as the current rain system hangs around on this
Wednesday morning.
The precipitation has pretty well stayed in the western half of the state- with very limited rainfall seen in almost the eastern half of the state. However, totals at two inches or more accumulated over the last three to four days are very common in western counties. In the Panhandle, we have seen four inches of rainfall in recent days in portions of Texas and Beaver Counties, while even Boise City has enjoyed more than three inches of rain over the last seven days. We have a updating map of rainfall over the last four days across the state linked below from the Oklahoma Mesonet- it gives you a perspective of this system and where it has parked in recent days. We do expect rain in eastern areas of Oklahoma today- and then we will see clear conditions through this coming weekend. Wheat farmers, anxious to plant their remaining acres, say bring on the sunshine. Click here for the Precipitation Totals for Oklahoma over the last four days. | |
Armyworms Continue Offensive in Oklahoma Wheat Fields ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's the
word from the latest Oklahoma Crop Weather Update- with that report out a
day later than normal this week due to the Columbus Day holiday. The
report says "Armyworms continue to cause problems for many small grain
producers, with some operations having spray to save their crop with
replanting necessary in some locations. Insect activity increased from the
previous week with over one third of the State's cropland reported having
heavy to moderate insect activity. Winter wheat seedbed preparation
increased four percentage points from the previous week to reach 97
percent complete. Wheat planted was three-quarters complete by week's end,
an increase of 16 points from the previous week, and two percentage points
ahead the five-year average. Wheat emerged was nearly half complete,
increasing 21 points from the previous week and was in-line with the
five-year average."
Regarding our spring planted row crops- "Corn harvest was nearly three-quarters complete, increasing 17 points from the previous week, but 15 points behind the five-year average. Sorghum mature increased two points from last week to reach 39 percent by week's end, 29 points behind the five-year average. One fourth of the State's sorghum was harvested, 13 points behind normal. Soybeans mature were nearly half complete at 49 percent, up 10 points from the previous week but 20 points behind the five-year average. Eighteen percent of the State's soybeans had been harvested by week's end, 23 points behind normal. Eighty-three percent of the peanuts were mature by the end of last week, up 9 points from the previous week, but three points behind normal. Thirty percent of the State's peanuts had been dug by week's end, one point behind normal. Peanuts combined reached 18 percent, slightly ahead of normal pace. Cotton bolls were opening on 94 percent of the State's cotton by week's end, four points ahead of both last year and the five year average. Cotton harvested was at 10 percent by week's end." We have the rest of the report linked below for your review- I might add that our pasture conditions continue to look good as move more fully into the fall season, with 10% of the pasture and range conditions rated in excellent shape, 49% good and 32% fair. | |
Half Done with the US Soybean Harvest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It appears
that we have largely avoided a disaster that an early freeze could have
brought to the midwestern corn and soybean belt here in 2008. Crops have
been maturing rapidly, and harvest is moving right along. Fifty one
percent of the soybean crop is harvested, ten points behind the five year
average, while the corn harvest lags further back at 21% harvested, versus
the five year average of 41% by mid October.
The southern crops are also a little behind the five year average for harvest, but the lag is generally in single digits. The US Sorghum crop is now 43% harvested versus a five year average of 51% done by this point, while the US cotton harvest is now 25% complete versus the average of 31% complete by this point. We have the full crop progress summary linked below from the USDA NASS website- check it out. Click here for the weekly crop progress report from NASS of the USDA. | |
Is There Enough Growing Season Left for Double Crop Sorghum to Finish? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's a
question asked by OSU Area Agronomist Roger Gribble in the latest OSU
Newsletter from the Plant and Soil Science Department. Gribble worked with
Al Sutherland of the Mesonet office in Norman to develop an answer to this
question.
Gribble says "As the wheat harvest of 2008 finished, northwestern Oklahoma was left with enough moisture in the soil profile to consider a double crop option. Most considered soybeans, grain sorghum, sunflowers, corn or sesame. In some situations the decision was made on seed availability and some made on market price and delivery points. Double crop planting windows were excellent the last week of June in most places, but in some locations the wheat harvest was delayed and double crop planting took place after the 15th of July. "As we stand today and look at double crop behind wheat, we see some
excellent stands and above average crop potential in most places. The
downfall of the crops looking this good is that we have been somewhat
cooler than our normal weather and a producer has to scratch his head and
wonder if the crops will have time to finish." Click here for the latest Plant and Soil Science Newsletter from OSU. | |
WIND Conference on the Calendar ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Organizers of
the 2008 Oklahoma Wind Energy Conference have announced some of the
details of the event planned for December 2-3 in downtown Oklahoma City.
The "save the date" announcement says "Come learn about Oklahoma's wind energy successes, energy policy developments, technology advancements, and what steps and actions are required to expand our state's wind energy contribution to America's energy mix. Featuring special keynote addresses by wind energy advocate T. Boone Pickens and The Nature Conservancy's CEO, Mark Tercek." Wind energy has received a lot of attention as renewable power sources continue to be a hot topic. This conference will look at the economics, the transmission of the power once generated and how to craft a win-win with the environment. The website that has been turned on for the event is linked below- they have a place on that site where you can register. Click here for more on the Oklahoma Wind Energy Conference- Revolution 2008. | |
Podcasting with Dr. Ray Huhnke ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At this week's
Oklahoma State University Biofuels Field Day, we caught up with Dr. Ray
Huhnke who is the point person when it comes to OSU's efforts in ethanol
research and development.
In our conversation here with Ray, we look at some of the specifics when it comes to research efforts here in the state as OSU is one of the three players in the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center- and we also look at the bigger picture and where we may be headed over the next several years in this renewable energy quest. We have this conversation up on our website as one of our Ag Perspectives Podcasts- and we invite you to go to the link and click on the listen bar to hear the interview. You can also subscribe to the Ag Perspectives Podcast through Itunes and hear some of the sharpest minds around in the business of agriculture two to three times per week. | |
Two Sales in One Day- the Star Lake Herefords Bull and Female Sales Coming Sunday October 19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's your
chance to select some of the best Hereford genetics around for your cattle
operation on Sunday, October 19 at the Star Lake Cattle Ranch in Skiatook,
Oklahoma.
At 11 AM- it's the Star Lake Fall Celebration Female Sale, offering 20
fancy show heifers and over 60 pairs. These females will feature the
freshest genetics the ranch has to offer. Montie Soules of Star Lake Herefords is proud of the lineup of the
Range ready Bulls that will be offered, and he tells us "These are the
premium genetics of the Star Lake New Hereford and they carry the right
package of economic traits to help keep you in business. Star Lake bulls
from past bull sales have performed for our customers, and these will
too." | |
Our thanks to Farm Credit Associations of Oklahoma, Producers Cooperative Oil Mill and Midwest Farm Shows for their support of our daily Farm News Update. For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked at the top of the email- check them out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis! We also invite you to check out our website at the link below to check out an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe. | |
Let's Check the Markets! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are some links we will leave in place on an ongoing basis- Click
on the name of the report to go to that link: | |
God Bless! You can reach us at the following: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: ron@oklahomafarmreport.com
phone: 405-473-6144
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