(upbeat music) - Hello everyone, and welcome to "SUNUP."

I'm Lyndall Stout.

We begin today talking about baled crop residue as another option for feeding your cattle this winter.

Let's kick things off today with Dr. Paul Beck.

- This is one of those situations that we get into every, you know, so often when you get in droughts and get short on hay, you know, for the most part our crop producers would rather turn that residues back into the soil and get the nutrients and the organic matter back into the soil for their next crop.

But when it becomes a value to us a feed resource, whenever we're short on hay, the crop producers are willing to go ahead and bale that up and ship it.

When we've seen a lot of truckloads of these crop residues coming in from our cropping areas into Oklahoma for use as a livestock feed to get us through the winter.

And they make a pretty decent replacement for hay.

Most of them are fairly low quality.

But there's a range in quality, depending on the crop and depending on the conditions whenever they were baled and harvested.

- And let's talk a little bit more about that and give some guidance to our viewers.

Not all of these crops when they're baled, or the crop residue when it's baled, they're not all created equal.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Whenever I think about straws, stovers, and stocks, you know, those are usually fairly low quality.

So wheat straw is something most of us in Oklahoma are familiar with.

It's, you know, the aftermath, after we harvested wheat or, you know, could be any kind of small grain, They're usually about 4.5 to 5% crude protein and 45% TDN.

Pretty easy to remember.

You know, they can be a, you know, depending on weeds and some other contaminants in there, they may be a little bit higher in quality than that.

So there's a range in that.

If we look at corn stalks, they're a different appearing crop.

They're still there about 4.5 to 5% crude protein and right in there in the mid 40s as far as TDN or digestibility.

But then when we look at milo stover, the aftermath from a grain sorghum crop, you know, it could be, you know, up over 5 to 7% crude protein and over 50 to 52, or so, 55% TDN.

I've had some samples come back to be fairly good quality.

So those lower quality, the corn stalks and the wheat straws.

Soybean residue is another one that we would think would be higher quality because it's a legume.

It's actually fairly low quality as well because mostly what's left over is the soybean stems.

All those take quite a bit of supplement to meet the requirements of just a gestating cow.

With that cow with really low nutrient requirements, they're gonna need about 50% TDN and about 7% crude protein.

So even that real low nutrient requirement cow is gonna need some supplement to go along with that.

Stocks or wheat straws and that type of product.

When we look at the milo stover at, you know, 7 to, you know, 8% crude protein and 50 to 52% TDN, you know, that will meet the requirements of that gestating cow.

So it's actually a fairly nice product.

You know, there's still some green leaf material and some green stalks in that.

So it makes a decent cow hay or roughage for a cow going through the winter.

When we start moving into lactating cows, if we have fall-calving cows, or move closer into our spring-calving, you know, timeframe, those cows' requirements are vastly higher.

So all of those products are gonna need a lot of supplement to meet that cow's requirements.

And it could be up to about 10 to 12 pounds of a supplemental feed to match those requirements.

- So it sounds like it's really important.

It always is, but especially when you're considering this strategy to get that hay tested.

- Yeah, you know, the hay test is one of the most cost effective ways to design a winter feeding program.

And it's a very small investment relative to the overall cost of that nutrition program for your cow.

So for.

- 15 to $20, we can get a sample and we we need to sample every field of hay or any of these products before they come in so that we know what we're getting and we know what we're buying.

But, you know, sample 10 to 15% of the field, or at least 15 to 20 bales to get an adequate representation of what's out in that field.

And, you know, at minimum we need to know the fiber levels, the crude protein, and the digestibility, or the total digestible nutrient content of that roughage source.

- You and the team have covered this topic in the recent rancher's lunchtime series and of course your newsletter.

- Yes.

We had Mary Drewnowski, she's a scientist out of University Nebraska, Lincoln.

Years of experience feeding these crop residues because, you know, that's where a lot of these are coming from and you know, dealing with the grain sorghum, and corn stalks, and soybean residue.

She presented a couple of weeks ago November 17th on our rancher's Thursday lunchtime series, we did a webinar on that.

And then we also had a article in our newsletter that I wrote based on that presentation, talking about these different qualities and how to best use those products to feed our cow herd through the winter.

- And you really kinda have to sit down and map it out.

So the county extension office, your local ag educator is also a great resource to map it out as well as that forge test, right?

- Absolutely.

Go to your county agent and have them help you get the sampler probe and what you need to get your sample analysis done.

And then they can sit down with you and help you plan out your winter feeding program and try to match the, you know, nutrient requirement of your hays that you have available to the requirements of your cows, and what supplements will fit for these different periods throughout the winter.

- Okay.

Paul, great information.

Thanks a lot.

And for a link to (upbeat music) the resources we just talked about, just go to sunup.okstate.edu.

Another reminder that you can receive discounted forage and water testing through your OSU local county extension office between now and the end of the year.

(upbeat music continues) - Welcome to the Mesonet weather report.

I'm Wes Lee.

Most of the state has been able to pick up a little rainfall over the past month.

Outside of the panhandle, rainfall was near normal for most of the state.

There were even a few small pockets shown here in blue that received near twice the monthly normal rate.

You can see the soil moisture improvement over the past week on this 10 inch fractional water index map.

Remember zero being as dry, and one as wet as the sensor can read.

The greens show the areas that had the biggest increase in soil moisture levels.

At the four inch level about 90% of the state is at or near the highest moisture reading.

Of course the panhandle and even parts of the Northwest continue with the drier than normal trend.

At 10 inches the drought areas of the Northwest show up dramatically on the map.

The remainder of the state is in pretty good shape at this depth.

At our deepest sensor you start to see the residual of the year long drought.

Over half of the states need additional rainfall to help replenish moisture levels at this depth.

Chances of light rain are fair next week, but a good soaker with some runoff is unlikely this time of year.

Now here's Gary with a look at longer term rainfall rates.

- Thanks Wes.

And good morning everyone.

Well, we did get some more precipitation so that means more improvements on the drought monitor.

How expansive were they?

Let's take a look at that newest map.

Well now we have a good portion of the far southeastern corner and up into East Central Oklahoma with no drought.

They're simply an abnormally dry conditions, and it's not really too dry there, it's simply signifying that they're going out of drought and not coming back into drought.

Now as you get to the northwest of there very quickly you get back into the extreme and exceptional drought which travels all the way up in the Oklahoma panhandle.

We have a bit of improvement down in Southwestern Oklahoma.

Now, a lot of those surpluses of November tend to wash out when we go all the way out to the entire fall.

So climatological fall, September through November we look at the rainfall totals.

Again the southeastern corner shows the greatest area of expansive big totals but we also have a big total up there in Sequoia County, Adair County, that region up into East Central Oklahoma.

So as we continue to travel to the northwest, however you see those.

- Colors switch from the oranges and yellows to the greens.

Another look at that rainfall from the fall.

We do see on this departure from normal rainfall map, the deficits are quite expansive across the state.

They run from about seven inches in parts of central and east central Oklahoma.

A wide area of three to five inch deficit amounts from central up in the northeastern parts of the state.

Taking a look forward to December on the outlooks from the climate prediction center, not much of a signal for temperature, but for precipitation unfortunately we see increased odds of below normal precipitation across at least the Western two-thirds of the state, but especially the western panhandle.

When we translate that into the drought outlook for December, unfortunately it shows most of the state persisting in drought or intensifying.

So at least that's through the December 31st timeframe.

That's it for this time.

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

(upbeat music) - It's hard to believe we're already approaching 2023.

So, Derrell, as we get closer to 2023 what is cow slaughter looking like?

- You know, we've been watching cow slaughter all year.

It's, it's stayed higher than we expected, or at least, you know, generally expected, because of the drought, we've been forced to liquidate cow, more cows.

Cow slaughter is up over 12% so far this year.

Heifer slaughter is up as well.

And so that's sort of artificially, if you will, or temporarily maintained higher levels of slaughter.

It's gonna moderate at some point.

And there may be some signs that at least the cow slaughter part is moderating a little bit here at the end of the year, but it's still up on a year over year basis.

- Does that mean beef production's gonna be higher?

- Beef production is higher in 2022.

Again, you know, it's, it's that temporary thing, right?

We're sort of, we're sort of eating inventory, if you will, because of the drought force liquidation.

So, so we're setting a new record for beef production in 2022, but the implication is that as we go forward there's gonna be a, a sharp drop because this is not a sustainable thing.

You can't keep doing this.

And so we will see at some point, and I think it'll happen as we get into 2023, we'll notice a fairly sharp decrease in beef production.

- So let's talk about livestock prices, and let's start with fed cattle.

How's that gonna be looking like at the end of the year?

- Fed cattle prices have strengthened at the end of the year.

They, they've taken a nice jump right before Thanksgiving and continue to move higher.

And though, you know, even though cattle slaughter has maintained up to this point, I think the market is really reflecting the fact that cattle supplies are getting tighter.

And so we're seeing generally all of these cattle markets strengthened as, as we go to the end of the year.

- What about feeder cattle?

- Same thing with feeder cattle.

Sharp increase.

You know, we've been doing fall preconditioning calf sales and these markets have really jumped after Thanksgiving.

And so, you know, again, supplies are getting tight and I think the market's starting to really feel that pressure, and that'll be there as we go into 2023.

- So we're, we're ending 2022 on a, on a strong note?

- We are ending in 2022 on a very strong note, I think we're gonna see a, a, a fairly significant change in conditions as we go into 2023, although we don't really know yet what the drought's gonna do to us, but still we're gonna see a continued tightening of supplies and continued strength in this market.

- All righty, thanks Derrell.

Dr. Derrell Peele Livestock Marketing Specialist here at Oklahoma State University.

(upbeat music) And just a reminder about the 2022 Census of Agriculture, you can respond to the census online right now at agcounts.sda.gov, or respond via mail once the paper questionnaires arrive in your mailbox the second week of December.

This is an excellent opportunity for Oklahoma producers to tell the country how much agriculture impacts the world.

Just by responding, you have the power to influence decisions that will impact American agriculture for years to come in areas such as transportation, farm services, policy, and production practices.

The census of agriculture also provides valuable information that will be used to plan the future, including community planning, farm succession, availability of operational loans, and other funding, and much, much more.

The deadline to respond is February of next year.

For more information about the Census of Agriculture, just go to sunup.okstate.edu.

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

Well, in recent weeks we've talked about a lot of topics that help us address and deal with drought and the continued high heat that plagues cattle and cattlemen across Oklahoma.

Our title this week is Preparing for Winter, and it's hard to believe as we tape out here in early October, and it's still pretty warm, that winter is just around the corner.

But we're gonna address things that are always important going into winter and this particular year probably have a little more significance in certain cases.

First thing we address is water.

Water is the most important of our classes of nutrients.

A clean and abundant water supply is absolutely critical.

As we get into the freezing temperatures of winter, very low ponds are more subject to freeze over, and whatever we need to do to secure we've got ample water supply for winter, now is the time to be taking action and figuring out that, what that needs to be.

Second topic of discussion is securing our winter hay and feed supply.

We are critically short of growing days and even if we receive some moisture at this point, the reality is the forage base we have on hand right now is the forage base we're gonna have to go through the winter.

Hay is already scarce.

Prices I would anticipate, while already high are gonna get higher as we move into the winter months.

- There are some programs to assist with trucking expenses on hay if we can secure, can secure some in other states, that are worth checking with your local FSA office about, but the reality is we are need to deal with the forage base we have, and have those winter hay supply and feed demands met, at this point, or be getting 'em taken care of in short order.

If we don't have ample grass or hay, the third thing we address is that we're gonna have to eliminate cow inventory or cull cows.

Cow culling has been covered in recent weeks on Cow Calf Corner.

We can refer back to that and passed newsletters, or YouTube channels where that's available, but also the potential, as hard as it is to believe, there are parts of the country that have received moisture and have got some forage and grass, it may be possible to ship your cows into other regions, have some custom grazing done, and bring them back a few months later.

If that is the case.

I tell you to be aware of the trucking bill, with shipping cost being what they are right now, the shipping cost may exceed the actual cost of grazing if you look at that.

But eliminating some cow inventory may be a dire necessity at this point in the year as you assess your own ranch operation.

Fifth thing we get to, also covered recently in Cow Calf Corners, is just monitoring body condition on cows.

If you've got cows that are thin right now, as you wean, having lived through the summer that we've been through in Oklahoma, you may not wanna put the feed resources into 'em, but now is the time to do it.

It's more easy for those cows to recapture flesh when they're dry and get to an adequate body condition level prior to calving.

And if we get that done right now it's gonna pay dividends on the breed back and the reproductive efficiency that we see going into next spring on our cow herds.

I hope this helps and thanks for joining us this week on Cow Calf Corner.

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

Kim, let's dive into the markets first thing and talk about overall, what are the markets concerned about?

- Well, right now, most people are talking about it's between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and there's just not much happening in the market, which there's some truth to that, but it's not as significant as it used to be, because we're in a world market with wheat, with corn, with beans, with cotton.

All those prices are determined on the world market, not on the US market.

So changes in prices are more significant now than say they were 10 years ago, the, the rumors on the market are what they're talking about, it's a Federal Reserve and their interest rate, raising those, are they gonna raise 'em?

How much are they gonna raise 'em, and what impact is that gonna have?

You got the value of the dollar, it's went from about 112 down to almost 106.

That's almost a 6% improvement in our price, our prices on the world market.

You've got China, COVID and China, big problem there.

The world's wondering what impacts that's gonna have on our markets.

They've been buying soybeans, that's been good for us here in the United States.

And of course I think people are realizing, we gotta start watching the weather.

We've been paying attention to the war, Russia, Ukraine, what's going on there, but the weather is a major factor, I think the market's gonna start concentrating on.

- Specifically, what are you seeing in the wheat markets?

- Well, if you look at the wheat chart you've got a down trend that started around the 1st of October.

It's a gentle down trend.

You've had prices up as high as $9.50.

They're down now around 8.60, over the the last couple weeks they're, they've been sneaking lower.

We've been talking about a sideways pattern in those wheat prices.

But if you look over the entire time period, we got a little down tread going on there.

You've got Australia and Argentina, they're in about the middle to a little over halfway through their harvest, coming in near expectations.

Got some weather problems in Australia, flooded, floods, roads washed out, having trouble to move some of that wheat into market.

You've got EU's exports for wheat are relatively strong.

You got the world supply of wheat.

The stocks used ratio, they've been, it's been moving down for the last four years, and so it shows that stocks are tight.

And then you've got the US winter wheat conditions, which are bad, but they've improved a little bit over the last couple weeks.

- What are you seeing as far as corn then?

- Now that's a dead market.

I mean that market's just been moving sideways.

But again, if you'll look October forward we had those sideways movements through October into November, but in November we've got just kind of sneaking down a little bit.

And if you got a floor on those prices, we're right near that floor.

If they break it, then we can get some down moves in corn or they may just continue to wall around, but just not much happening in corn.

You look at soy beans, now there, we got some improvement in bean prices this week, it looks like it's broke that upper resistance level, we might have beans moving a little higher but China's been in, by sneaking in, and buying our products here, and that always has a positive impact on our prices.

- Cotton harvest is winding down in Oklahoma.

How our prices looking there?

- Well, you know, cotton was up 120, and that was excellent prices, then it's broke and started down.

It got down to $72, went back up to 89.

Oh, around 83 it's, looks like, like it's creating a floor around 80 cents.

We've got a short crop and we've had a short crop to, this is the second outta the last three years.

So cotton stocks are relatively tight.

- Hard to believe we're in December.

I know the year flies by but what are you already looking ahead to for next year?

- Well, producers are already starting to look at how they're gonna use their assets this next year.

The soil, the land.

You look at wheat, current price, $8.65, a basis around a -47, forward contract for harvest delivery, $8.20, that's a -55 basis.

Corn, $7.32 current with a +70 basis.

You go out to the '23 crop, $5.80 with a -25 cents.

So corn type stocks, they're really strong basis.

Soybeans $14.50, current price.

The basis, a -10, go out to the '23 harvest, the basis is a -85 at $13.10.

Cotton, $85.50, current on the futures.

You look at December of next year around $78.65.

- Okay, Kim, lots of great information.

Thanks a lot, and we'll see you next week.

(upbeat music) - Today I thought I'd share a little bit of information about microwave ovens.

Percy Spencer, an engineer with Raytheon, the defense technology company, is credited with inventing the microwave oven in 1945.

Today, all microwave ovens operate by using the same general technology.

Microwaves are generated inside of the oven by an electron tube called a magnetron.

The microwaves are reflected by the metal walls of the oven and are absorbed by the food.

The microwaves, in turn, cause water molecules inside the food to vibrate.

It's this vibration of the water molecules that generates the heat which cooks the food.

This is why it's important to be very careful when removing food and beverages from the oven because they can become quite hot.

It's also important to note that items cooked in a microwave oven do not become radioactive.

Glass, paper, ceramic, and some types of plastic containers, are all considered to be microwave safe.

In other words, microwaves can pass through these materials without being blocked.

However, they can become hot from the heat of the food cooking inside.

This is why some types of plastics should not be used in microwave ovens because they can melt from the heat produced by the cooking food.

Metal pans and utensils can reflect microwaves and therefore should not be used because they can cause uneven cooking and can potentially damage the oven.

The Food and Drug Administration has regulated the manufacture of microwave ovens since 1971.

Microwave oven manufacturers are required to certify their products meet safety performance standards created and enforced by the FDA.

In the past, there were concerns that microwave ovens could interfere with the operation of certain types of electronic cardiac pacemakers.

Current pacemaker are designed to shield against this type of interference.

However, patients with pacemakers should consult with their healthcare provider if they have concerns.

So just a little bit of information if you are curious about microwave ovens.

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

(upbeat music) - For the past two years, we've been doing a podcast called the "Extension Experience Podcast."

It's hosted by three area specialists from the Northwest District of Oklahoma.

Josh Bushong, our agronomist, area agronomist up there.

Trent Milacek, our area economist, and myself, Dana Zook.

And we started the podcast just to offer a different programming type.

We host a variety of different topics.

Of course, I talk a lot about nutrition, a lot about different livestock.

Trent talks about the economics of variety greens and cattle.

And then Josh brings it out, rounds it out with agronomy topics that producers are interested in.

We try to look at realistic topics for Oklahomans.

We try to give people a better view, or a different view, of Extension.

So we introduce state specialists and talk about things that are going on in Extension.

So if you're interested in the podcast, you can find it on a variety of podcast apps, but we're on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and Spotify.

But you can also find us on our blog, and a link to that will be on the SUNUP website.

I hope you are able to tune in.

(upbeat music) - That'll do it for us this week.

Remember, you can see SUNUP anytime @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.

(upbeat music) (gentle music)