(uplifting music) - Hello everyone and welcome to SUNUP.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

We continue on the topic of blister beetles this week, our extension alfalfa expert Kelly Sues talked about scouting in your fields last week, and today we turn to equine and our specialist, Doctor Kris Hiney, for some information on protecting your horses (twangy country music) against this small, yet very destructive insect.

- Blister beetles are an insect found in Oklahoma that actually are a pretty grave concern for horse owners.

Ingestion of just a few of these insects can actually be lethal for the horse.

So you can find blister beetles quite often in fields of alfalfa, which is often why we recommend that if you're gonna feed alfalfa to horses that it's actually imported from states that are blister beetle free.

But they can even come into your barn.

So they may actually be seeking out the dark or the cooler temperatures this time of year.

And these insects swarm.

So if you have a few, you might have many.

And it's really important if you've had or found any blister beetles in the barn, you need to check your feeders, water buckets, any surface that you may be even picking up hay that these beetles may have landed on.

Because again, can't stress this enough, ingestion of just a few of these insects can be fatal for your horse.

So blister beetles contain a toxin that's called cantharidin and it is essentially a blistering agent, which is why they cause them blister beetles.

If you've actually ever inadvertently smashed one of these guys on your skin, it'll burn and blister your skin.

So now imagine that that's on the inside of the horse.

So it actually really creates a lot of havoc with their GI tract.

And so you may see the horse is maybe playing in the water, almost seeming trying to rinse their mouth out colic, diarrhea, and again, death after ingesting just a few of these guys.

So pretty potent insects.

And one of the unique things about these beetles is they retain that toxicity even after they're dead.

So even if you have hay from last year that these beetles were in, they're still gonna be toxic to that horse.

So primarily we concern ourselves with alfalfa when it comes to blister beetles.

So they're associated with sort of the flowers on alfalfa.

But be aware that anything that is still flowering this time of year may actually be an attractant for these insects.

So it is not unheard of that other flowers and fields may actually attract them.

But again, because alfalfa has the pretty little purple flowers, that's where the beetles will be attracted to.

And because they cluster, a lot of times when they're cutting that hay, they'll kind of cut a swath that will have those beetles in there.

So we've actually been encouraging a lot more people to grow alfalfa in Oklahoma.

And for me, as kind of the extension, or the equine extension specialist, makes me really concerned that people have more readily available alfalfa grown locally.

But again, you really have to be careful about that.

Obviously, stage of maturity changes a little bit.

You can spray the fields, but even any quality hay producer that I talk to in Oklahoma are still never gonna guarantee that their alfalfa is going to be safe for horses, just because they can't truly guarantee that.

So alfalfa is a absolute great feed for people whose horses need a higher protein content.

So we think about mares and foals quite a bit.

So those reproducing horses because other horses will just be fine on grass hays, they don't maybe need as high of a protein requirement.

So in that case, I would say using a grass hay, maybe adding a protein supplement, we don't have a concern over those beetles.

And then checking, you know, if we're trying to feed alfalfa for a little bit of extra calories, there are other sources to provide calories to that horse with not just providing alfalfa.

If you're set on alfalfa, and again, it's a great feed, imported, so we bring in a lot from Colorado, New Mexico, et cetera, or any of your bagged alfalfa.

So the cubed or pelleted is all grown in different regions that beetles are not a problem.

For more information about blister beetles and alfalfa, go to the SUNUP website and they'll have links to the fact sheets that will give you all the information you're looking for.

(uplifting music) - Hi, Wesley here with the Mesonet weather report.

Another week of summer has come and gone, and it was likely the hottest week we will encounter all year.

On Wednesday afternoon, it again climbed into the hundreds over a wide swath of the state.

The hottest temperatures, as usual, were focused on the West.

- But because of higher humidity levels the East had the highest felt temperatures or heat index.

14 heat indexes were common midweek.

This continued to add to the map of days above 100 through Tuesday.

By the weekend, an additional two or three days will likely have been added to this map.

As brutal as this heat wave has been, in reality, this has been a pretty mild summer.

When comparing the statewide recorded average temperatures, we see that early May and late July were above normal.

But from latter May through early July, the temperatures were cooler than expected as compared to the past 15 years.

Even when looking at the entire month of July, we see that much of the state average below normal.

Only a small sliver of land in the far southwest came in warmer than the average.

Relief from this recent two-week heat wave as a cold front finally makes its way into the state will arrive by late in the weekend, returning us closer to normal temperatures.

Now ,here's Gary with more July details.

- Thanks, Wess, and good morning, everyone.

Well, today I am gonna take a look at the latest drought monitor, take a look back at July and then look forward to August.

Let's get right to it.

Well, the drought monitor map is just about the same as last week.

The only changes a bit of an increase in the severe and moderate drought down in far Southwest Oklahoma.

Gotten lots of bad reports from dry farm ponds.

And of course, the fire danger's been up down that area.

But so far the rest of the state is holding steady while we go through this mini heat wave.

Let's take a look back at that July rainfall from Oklahoma Mesonet.

We can see on this map the rainfall totals for July.

Lots of rainfall from the Eastern Panhandle down through Central into Southeast Oklahoma.

A little bit of streaks of heavy rain up in Northeast Oklahoma.

But that heavy rainfall corridor from the Panhandle down through Central Oklahoma is where those totals of six to eight to even as as much as nine inches fell.

Those are the areas that are outta drought, that really got punctuated being outta drought during July.

But again, we look down there at the far Southwest.

In some cases, less than two inches of rainfall.

So, that's where the danger area lies.

Now, the departure from normal rainfall for July, we do see those areas from the Panhandle down through Central Oklahoma.

Three to four to five to even as much as seven inches above normal.

Unusual rainfall for July for that area of the state.

Again, those small areas of deficits or really close to normal are the places where they didn't get as much drought relief.

Now, let's take a look at August.

The Climate Prediction Center's outlooks.

The temperature outlook, increased odds of above normal temperatures for the entire state.

That won't be good for areas that are going into drought because that puts a lot of pressure on the soil moisture.

And then increased odds of above normal precipitation across far northern Oklahoma.

Now, that corresponds to a drought outlook for August that sees drought improvement or possible removal in the area up in North Central Oklahoma.

But unfortunately, we will see persistence in drought down in far Southwest Oklahoma.

So, I guess the good news from that map is we don't see any new areas of drought developing, at least according to the Climate Prediction Center.

Let's hope that comes true.

That's it for this time.

We'll see you next time on the Mesonet Weather Report.

- Talking ticks now.

You may have heard talk recently about the red meat allergy that can develop from tick bites.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Northeastern Oklahoma is part of the region of the country with the most reported cases of what's known as Alpha-gal.

OSU Extension Nutrition Specialist, Dr. Janice Hermann explains how that allergy can develop.

- So, lone star ticks have been moving.

They've been mostly in the east and southeast, but they are moving west and they are in Oklahoma, particularly more Central and Eastern Oklahoma.

And the lone star tick, a bite from a lone star tick can trigger an allergic reaction that's called Alpha-gal syndrome.

Mammals have a compound called Alpha-gal, but humans don't.

And when the lone star tick breeds on a mammal, and then bites a human, they're not exactly sure, but it can trigger an allergic reaction to Alpha-gal.

Since mammalian meat does contain Alpha-gal, people can develop an allergy to meat such as beef or pork or venison.

But also, some people who have really severe Alpha-gal syndrome can actually also develop an allergic reaction to products containing that such as milk or even gelatin or beef broth.

One thing that makes it difficult to pinpoint Alpha-gal syndrome is that the allergic reactions occur later than would a food allergy.

Food allergies usually symptoms occur rapidly whereas Alpha-gal syndrome, you may not have symptoms until two to six hours after you've consumed the product.

And a lot of times people don't associate that with the fact that they had muscle meat.

Symptoms of Alpha-gal syndrome are very varied.

That can also make it difficult to pinpoint.

They can be respiratory, they can be skin, they can be gastrointestinal.

And so, and again, not everybody has the same types of reactions.

And what makes it further difficult is that sometimes people don't have a reaction each time they consume something containing Alpha-gal.

The way Alpha Gal Syndrome is diagnosed is going to your healthcare provider and having a blood test.

- [Woman] That checks for antibodies in the blood, for Alpha-gal.

The best way to avoid Alpha-gal syndrome, is to avoid tick bites, and to follow your tick prevention guidelines.

- [Reporter] For tick prevention, OSU extension entomologists say to always use some type of insect repellent like DEET, before you go outside, and to always do a tick check after you get back inside.

Remember though, tick populations are higher in the summer, they're still active in the fall and winter, and so are the risks associated, with tick bites and diseases.

To learn more about ticks, go to SUNUP.OKState.edu.

(upbeat music) Dr. Kim Anderson, our crop marketing specialist, is here now.

Kim, why don't you just cover the latest, in the wheat markets?

- Well, if you look on what's going on with prices, we've had quite a dip.

You go back to June one, we was running around $7 and 50 cents wallowed around, oh, plus or minus 60 cents or so, until we got into mid-July, and then we had that report, exports in Russia had plenty of wheat production, on the market.

Then they were going to stop the exports outta Ukraine.

We got an increase up to 850.

We've now taken about a dollar 40 cents off of that.

I think it's important, that we watch what's going on in Russia and Ukraine.

I think right now what they're saying is that, that we're gonna get that wheat out of there.

I think you need to remember that we're expected to harvest a 29.3 billion bushel world crop.

That's a record.

If you look at the US, about a 1.7 billion bushel crop, that's above the last two years, 1.65 at hard red winter wheat at 577 million.

Watch those numbers, as that August 11 report comes out next week.

And then you've got droughts, on the positive side in Europe, in Africa and Australia.

And that could impact prices as we get on into the fall.

- Let's switch gears to corn, now.

Harvest in Oklahoma will start in the coming weeks, what are you telling producers in terms of prices?

- [Kim] Well, right now you can forward contracts, somewhere around $4 and 74, 75 cents.

You go back to June, you know, that price was up around a $5 and 50 cents.

It's came down to 460, as we looked, we got more corn acres.

The yield's looking really good.

Things are, the harvest are going relatively good.

Brazil and Argentina, you know, we got it down to 460, brought it back up to round five, round 475 is the best guess right now.

- Let's look at the world's situation, as it applies to corn prices.

What's going on there?

- I think we need to look at who determines price.

You look at the major exporters you've got Brazil at 28%.

The number one corn exporter for the last two years.

The United States at 27%, Argentina at 20%.

So if you're watching price, Argentina and Brazil alone are 48, essentially 50%.

And then you've got Ukraine at 10%.

So you've got those three countries right there, that compete with the US.

It's got about 60% of the world exports, very important price wise.

I think what you gotta look at is production, now, world corn production, 48.2, a record.

Five year average, 45.2.

US production, a record, 15.3 billion bushels, five year average, 14.2, Brazil 5.1 billion.

Not a record, but near record there.

Their average is 4.2, Argentina 2.1 , above average, but of 1.9 billion.

And of course you got Ukraine at at a billion.

I think what you gotta look at is with a third, of the US production, Brazil exports more corn, so a bushel more or less in Brazil or Argentina.

It's gonna have a bigger impact than bushel change in US.

So I think we gotta watch Brazil, Argentina, and we gotta watch what's going on in Ukraine, with corn prices.

- Well, good thing we have you to tell us all about it, Kim.

Thanks a lot.

We'll see you next week.

- [Narrator] Producers interested in planting canola this fall, may want to check out an upcoming educational meeting in Enid.

It's at 10:00 AM Wednesday, August 9th at the Hoover Building.

Located at 300 East Oxford Avenue.

Presentations will be geared toward both new and experienced farmers.

OSU extension area agronomist, Josh Bushong is on the agenda.

The event is free and so is lunch.

But your RSVP is needed.

To learn more about this event, just call your extension office, or go to SUNUP.OKState.edu.

(gentle music) - Good morning, Oklahoma, and welcome to Cow-Calf Corner.

I'm Mark Johnson, and it's the time of year in Oklahoma to keep heat stress in line.

Particularly heat stress that can occur, in cow calf production systems.

Now, the typical cow calf production system in Oklahoma has got some advantages relative to heat stress, as opposed to what we might see in feedlot situations.

Typically, those cows are out on pasture, they're gonna have more sources of shade.

In a lot of cases, they're gonna have access to a pond.

- That they might even stand in for certain parts of the day that helps 'em with a little bit of evaporative cooling.

But as the temperatures go up, certain things we wanna keep in mind relative to cow calf producers and avoiding heat stress.

If we get to the point that we see cows actually doing open mouth breathing we know we're dealing with heat stress.

Anytime that we see night temperatures not getting to 70 or below we know we're gonna be in situations where cows are gonna have a hard time offloading heat that builds up as a result of grazing and digestive activity through the course of the day.

And anytime we're above 85 degrees for a high we're potentially gonna see cows that get heat stress.

So what are some things we can do, keeping that in mind?

Following up on last week's theme we wanna keep an abundance supply of fresh clean water out for our cows and for our calves.

Furthermore, in addition to just knowing we've got enough of a fresh supply of clean water out for 'em if we're actually talking about some sort of an automatic water, if we can get a shade over that to actually keep that water a little bit cooler it works to our advantage.

If we've gotta work cows move cows at this time of year it is best to start that activity at about daylight and try to get it done in the morning hours of the day.

As I mentioned earlier, typically cows body temperature is gonna increase through the course of the day.

If our daily high occurs at somewhere around 4:00 PM and we've seen cows grazing through the morning that heat that results as a result of digesting fiber is gonna continue to build body temperature for another four to six hours past that.

So we wanna avoid working cows later in the day avoid working 'em in the evening, try to work cows if at all possible in the morning hours this time of year.

So some things to keep in mind.

In addition, provide shade if we can.

If we've got a source of shade for cows, let's be cautious about where we stack hay relative to that.

If we're building a shade, let's think about where it sets relative to, say, tall standing forage that might block airflow because we wanna create as much air flow through those shaded areas as possible.

A little higher shade permits airflow going along over the top of the cows as opposed to something that sets a little too low.

Hope this helps.

All these things to keep in mind as we try to prevent heat stress and keep our cow herds as healthy and productive as possible, this time of year.

Thanks for joining us this week (mid tempo music) - [Announcer] In its first year of operation our state's new 988 mental health Lifeline received more than 40,000 calls, no doubt, saving lives and helping people find support resources in their communities.

The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services says one in five state residents have a mental health issue.

It is always okay to ask for help, call or text, 988.

You can also find resources through OSU extension on our website.

(mid tempo music) - Today, I thought I'd share a few food safety tips to keep you safe during grilling season.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, rates of food poisoning increase during the summer months because the warmer weather causes bacteria to grow faster.

With that in mind, here are four steps from the Food and Drug Administration to help reduce your chances of coming down with a case of food poisoning.

The first step is to clean.

Wash your hands before and after handling food for at least 20 seconds, with warm water and soap.

It's also important to wash cutting boards, dishes utensils, and countertops after preparing each food item.

The second step to prevent food poisoning is to separate.

When shopping, keep raw meat, poultry and seafood separate from other items in your cart.

Often grocery stores provide plastic bags to help keep these items apart, to prevent cross-contamination.

Never place cooked food on plates that have been exposed to raw meat, poultry, or seafood until the plates have been washed in hot soapy water.

The third step to prevent food poisoning is to cook.

Use a thermometer to ensure that food reaches the proper internal cooking temperature.

Color and texture are not reliable methods.

Intact, whole cuts of meat, such as beef, pork, and lamb should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit and allowed to rest for three minutes before serving.

Hamburgers and other ground meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Poultry should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

The fourth step to prevent food poisoning is to chill.

Keep food refrigerated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below, until it's time to cook.

- [Narrator] Refrigerate leftovers within two hours.

However, if it's 90 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter outside, refrigerate leftovers within one hour.

An additional food safety tip is to check your grill to ensure that it's clean.

If you use a wire bristle brush for cleaning, make sure that none of the bristles remain on the cook surface.

They could dislodge and become stuck in food.

So just a few food safety tips for summer grilling season.

For more information, please visit sunup.okstate.edu or food.okstate.edu.

- Finally, today with dove season approaching, we thought it would be a great time to take a look back at a SUNUP favorite on how food plots can help you up your hunting game.

SUNUP's Kurtis Hair has more.

- [Kurtis] At first glance, it appears to be just another burnt, barren field.

But with a little closer look, you'll notice this land is essentially a five star buffet for a popular game bird.

- [Dwayne] So dove is actually the second most abundant bird in North America, over 300 million doves.

It's very common bird.

Large bag limits.

It's usually the first season that opens every year so it's kind of a big tradition for people to think about going out in September and hunting.

It's a social event.

The main thing you need to realize about dove is they eat grain.

- [Kurtis] Whether it's soybean, millet, sunflower, or wheat, the main food source for dove is grain.

And growing these crops to attract these birds and other game animals is a popular method in hunting.

- [Dwayne] But the grain has to be available on relatively bare ground.

They're not going to dig through vegetation.

So not only do we have to produce the grain, but we have to manipulate the site in such a way that the dove can access it on pretty exposed surfaces.

- [Kurtis] There are several ways to manipulate the plot for grain access.

You can mow, burn, or do both.

- [Dwayne] And in this particular wheat plot, the mowing and the burning works best, but it requires more effort.

If you just burn, the seed doesn't necessarily shatter as much as you'd like, but you do have bare ground.

If you just mow, the seed is very shattered and distributed but you have a lot of litter, and, in some places, the dove can't access the grain.

- This field will be ready for dove season next month, but getting to this point is a long process.

You don't just come out, throw some seed in the ground, sit back and wait till summer to burn and mow.

You have to manage the crop.

- So actually even before planting, it's really important to get out there and get a soil sample.

Irregardless of whether you're a farmer or or food plot manager, the soil is an extremely important aspect of growing a good food source for whether it's livestock or wildlife.

Really, it is.

Fosters another critical nutrient because it establishes a good root, and we're wanting these plants to grow in some potentially marginal soil conditions and definitely some marginal environments because we may be without rain.

So establishing a good root on that plant is really important.

- [Kurtis] It's also important to manage wildlife during the growing season.

Along with wheat, Dwayne and Brian also planted sorghum and sunflower in this field, but these crops didn't last long.

- [Brian] But on this particular site, we have a really high deer density and the deer wiped the millet out so we have no millet.

Also, the sunflower has been severely impacted.

Soybean is another one that deer issues can be really problematic on.

So if you're planting any of those three, millet and particularly sunflower and soybean, you need to think about planting very large acreages.

At least five acres, but probably 10 acres or more.

- [Kurtis] Once the crop matures, spraying it with glyphosate will help dry it down before the manipulation process.

Although food plots require a lot of time and management, the returns are great for landowners and hunters.

- For every four or five ag producers I consult with, I consult with one wildlife food plot either an owner or leaser.

- [Dwayne] You know, you don't have to plan anything.

But certainly if you wanna hunt with a large group of people, having a prepared field like this that has a lot of grain that you can draw doves in is really beneficial to get huge numbers of birds.

- [Kurtis] For more information on managing food plots, go to our website sunup.okstate.edu.

I'm Kurtis Hair.

(gentle upbeat music) - That'll do up for our show this week.

Remember, you can see us anytime at sunup.okstate.edu.

And also follow us on YouTube and social media.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

Have a great week everyone.

And remember, Oklahoma Agriculture starts at SUNUP.