(bright upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome to Sunup.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

March is almost here, but Oklahoma's strong spring-like winds have already arrived bringing with them a higher chance of wildfires.

OSU extension, fire ecologist John Weir gets us up to speed.

(bright upbeat music) - So, you know, the conditions for wildfire right now you know, still not a lot has changed.

You know, there's still 70% of the state's in greater is severe or greater drought conditions.

So again, we're dry.

It's also the driest time of the year.

It's the dormant season.

We're fixing to starting to go into March which March is the windiest month.

And, wind is what drives wildfires in the dormant season.

And again, the dry conditions, you know, make it even worse but the winds are always the the big factor that impacts wildfires and stuff.

So again, we need to be planning and thinking about, you know, things that we're gonna do take our wildfire precautions around our buildings and our homes.

You know, we should have already done that.

But again, make sure we double check everything.

You know, be it storing equipment where fire can't get to it.

Make sure you have some kind of plan to think about what would happen if livestock were to be in the path of a fire and stuff.

How are we gonna handle that?

You know, all those different things that we can do.

So it's important to think about that.

Again, a lot of it's just a little bit of prior planning will go a long ways for that.

And, you know, trying to do it when it's happening is not, not a good time to be trying to plan or to act on things.

You know, you need to kind of think about it.

You know, again the benefits of prescribed fire are numerous, again for livestock production.

There's numerous benefits for livestock production.

Again, increased gain on stocker cattle, increased palatability of available forage, earlier greenup increased nutrient quantity and quality within that, again, for wildlife.

Numerous benefits for wildlife, also again for wildfire protection.

And, you know, so, so again the benefits are great for what we can get and what we can see with, with prescribed fire.

Burns, burns are, you know recommended for all kinds of different things.

You know, again, probably one of the the number one reason most people burn in this state, you know, is for cedar control.

You know, trying to control eastern red cedar and other woody plants that are invading our range lands and stuff throughout the state even our forest lands and stuff throughout the state.

And so, again, fire's an important part.

Even if you, you don't have a lot of cedars on your property, it's still a good thing to help, have fire to help keep those cedars back, keep 'em at check.

But also the other benefits that it's gonna provide with that fire that nothing else.

You know, there's no chemical there's no mechanical treatment, anything like that that mimics what fire can do to the land.

And that's an important part of it.

The deal with prescribed fire, it's all about planning.

You know, that's the difference between a prescribed fire and a controlled burn.

You know, prescribed fires are burns that are planned for specific objectives on a specific piece of land.

And so the biggest part of it is planning.

It's not one of those things that we're gonna go out wake up one morning and say, "Hey, what it looks like a good day to burn.

Let's go burn something."

You know, we need to have it planned.

We need to get fire breaks in place.

We need to notify neighbors, notify the local fire departments, you know make sure we got adequate equipment, adequate manpower you know, and make sure all that stuff's in line.

And then the biggest thing is of that day make sure the weather conditions are proper and within prescription of what you want to do to help you achieve your goals and objectives for that burn.

So, so one of the first things that you should do, if if you're thinking about doing a burn and again don't have a lot of experience and stuff with it, again contact local county office extension, also NRCS.

Again, they've have people that can help you with writing plans or at least points you in the right direction.

One of the, probably the biggest things is, is being able to contact and get some help from a local prescribed burn association.

We have 25 prescribed burn associations scattered throughout the state in about 36 counties.

And so, you know, there, there could be one close by that would offer some really good advice, help also assistance to helping you burn also give you experience and things like that to get involved with it.

(bright upbeat music) - Hello Wes Lee here with the Mesonet Weather Report.

Rainfall this past week was pretty much limited to what fell overnight on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning.

Amounts were limited outside of a very narrow one-inch ban that fell from Love County up to Ottawa County.

There were fractions of an inch west of this line and a little heavier amounts east, with totals coming in around a half an inch and has been the case lately almost no rainfall in the driest areas of the northwest and panhandle.

Looking at soil moisture, we continue to see the have or have not line in the state.

This four-inch percent plant available water map shows near 100% in the Eastern two-thirds of the state.

While the northwest and panhandle continue on with lingering drought concerns.

Looking deeper in the soil, this percentage of good moisture versus bad is easily recognized.

- The line from Cheyenne to Cherokee and westward have a lot of ground to make up to get back to full moisture profiles.

Next week there is some limited rain probabilities in the forecast.

But keep in mind that February is usually one of the driest months of the year.

You can check out all of our weather data and products on our newly released mobile friendly website.

Now here's Gary with a more detailed look at rainfall.

- Thanks Wes, and good morning everyone.

Well, as usual, we're going to start with the US Drought Monitor Report which does actually have some changes on it.

So let's get right to that new map.

Well we continue to see improvements across southeastern Oklahoma, at least the southeastern half of the state.

Basically south and east of I-44.

But we also see worsening conditions up in northwestern Oklahoma.

So this has seemed to be a a weekly thing, improvements in the southeastern part of the state, worsening in the northwest parts of the state.

So we definitely need to move some of that rain.

We continue to get up into northwestern Oklahoma and maybe get some changes up in that region.

We're going to go on to looking at the seasonal outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center.

So these will cover the March through May period, so basically the spring outlook from the Climate Prediction Center.

Let's start with temperatures.

We see increased odds of above normal temperatures across the entire state of Oklahoma.

But especially the southern 1/5 of the state and maybe a little bit out into the far western Oklahoma panhandle.

So increased odds of above normal temperatures.

Now for precipitation, we're sort of in between two areas to our southwest and northeast.

To the northeast we see increased odds of above normal precipitation, but not really approaching the state of Oklahoma.

Maybe a little bit up into the far northeastern part of the state.

And for the southwestern part of the United States, we see increased odds of below normal precipitation.

That also extends out into the far western panhandle.

So that would not be good news for those panhandle folks that are in drought and increasing drought at least over the last year and a half.

So when you combine the temperature and precipitation outlooks for spring, the Climate Prediction Center's drought outlook shows, at least for the Western 1/3 of the state climatologically speaking, that drought is expected to persist.

Because even though we are getting into the spring months, it is still relatively dry out across the western third of the state.

However, when we get over to the eastern 2/3 of the state, a little bit climatologically wetter.

So there is some improvement and possibly drought removal expected in those areas.

So good for the eastern half or 2/3 of the state.

Not so good for the western 1/3 of the state.

So springtime is approaching, hopefully our wettest part of the year will come through and we'll actually see some of that rain spread over into western Oklahoma and kill some of the drought in that region.

That's it for this time.

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

(upbeat music) - And now to a "SUNUP" favorite, featuring an OSU Extension team of educators and specialists geared specifically toward addressing disasters.

- [Reporter] Army reservists from the 486 Civil Affairs Battalion, report for duty at the Rogers County Expo Center in Claremore.

On the agenda, a training exercise with OSU Extension experts on how to safely handle livestock in an emergency.

- A lot of our soldiers don't have an agriculture background, so they haven't been around cattle or horses or really handled those type animals.

So it's important for us to have that skillset.

A lot of times when we work overseas, we might work around sheep or goats, cattle.

And so to have just a basic knowledge of how to handle these type of animals is extremely beneficial to us.

- [Reporter] Civil Affair Soldiers act as a liaison between the Army and civilians.

This battalion is based out of Sand Springs, Oklahoma and can deploy anywhere in the world.

First up, an overview of animal health and behavior with Extension veterinarian, Dr. Barry Whitworth.

They learn how to spot signs of livestock, distress, injury or illness, all with safety as the top priority.

- That's not normal behavior, so that would be another clue that we've got an issue.

- Our goal was just to educate them on the behavior of animals.

How to be safe.

That was the big thing.

We wanted to make sure the animals are safe as well as our humans are safe as they're moving.

Because if people get hurt, then that's not going to help anybody.

And so safety was our big thing, and how to be safe around a group of animals.

How to be safe around a group of horses, how to move them as a group and just kind of do that basic education.

- [Reporter] From here, it's into the arena to work cattle.

- That's a good description of, "Hey, I've got four steers.." - 11 heifers.

- [Reporter] Practicing how to move the small herd from one location to another.

Some, of course, are more cooperative than others.

(solders laugh) - [Reporter] The hands-on demonstration is key.

- It's good to see our soldiers out in training.

You know, we've dealt with Covid-19 for the last 18, 19 months.

So to get out of the reserve center and to really to have our hands on and do some training like this has, it's been fun to watch and it's good to see our soldiers interact and to take part in this training.

- [Reporter] Next up, soldiers see how to handle horses.

- Horses have two blind spots.

They cannot see directly in front of them and they cannot see directly behind them.

- [Reporter] They learn how to put on a halter and walk calmly and safely, as well as how to avoid possible pitfalls.

- We can't forget the basics, 'cause a lot of people, even if they've been around animals, they may not understand the basics.

When you're in a disaster situation and they're not your own animals, behavior is gonna be very different.

- [Reporter] The Army Reserves requested the training from OSU Extension's DART team, which stands for Disaster Assistance Response Team, an agile group that can work directly with counties and communities during their times of greatest need.

- The things that Extension can do, especially through our DART team, we can respond a lot faster than other people can.

We have that presence in 77 counties, right?

We also have an educator there that probably knows more producers, you know, knows what needs to happen in that area.

Kind of boots on the ground type thing.

- [Reporter] Recently, that training session you just saw and the Extension Disaster Assistance Response Team who led it, received the annual award for Outstanding Group from OSU Extension.

Congratulations to the DART team who received this award.

We certainly appreciate what you do for our state.

And you can read about this award and several more at sunup.okstate.edu.

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

This week we talk about freeze branding of beef cattle.

And as we've talked about in past segments over time, if we want to have good production records and a herd of cows, it's very important that we've got some sort of permanent identification on those cows.

Now, we can use ear tags and and a variety of things that may get lost, but the age old identification system of branding is proven throughout the industry.

And particularly at this point in time, a lot of cattle producers prefer freeze branding over fire branding.

We're gonna do less damage to the hide.

It's a fairly simple process once you get comfortable with what you actually need to do.

And Grant Hubbard, our Purebred Beef Cattle Center Headquarters Manager is joining us today.

I appreciate Grant taking time off from preparing for the Cowboy Classic Sale in April.

One of the things we point out when it comes to freeze branding, is we want to do it at times of the year when we've actually got hair growing on these cattle.

The process by which freeze branding works is we actually freeze and kill off the pigment, and so that the hair grows back white after we've completed the freeze branding procedure by a few weeks after we've done it.

So it works really well on black cattle, really well on red cattle, not so good on white cattle just because of that.

But the process we use here at Purebred Beef Cattle Center has proven to be pretty effective.

Customers have been very complimentary of it.

And we'll walk you through some of the things that we do here.

And behind us, you can see some of the equipment that we've got set up.

So Grant, as we get started, I know here in a minute we're actually gonna freeze brand one.

But how long ago today did you start preparation to get the irons activated and stuff like that?

- We let the iron sit in an alcohol or methanol solution with dry ice in it for about an hour and a half.

When the frost starts building up on the irons, that means they're cold enough and ready to go.

- Just walk me through the procedure.

We're gonna do some heifers today, some of our replacement heifers here at the school.

From the time we've caught that heifer and have her secured in the chute, and we know that a chute is very important for the safety of everybody and animal involved in this.

What's gonna happen at that point to complete the procedure?

- When we go to freeze brand these yearling heifers, we'll get them caught in the chute, squeeze them down, we'll share off a section of their hide with a surgical blade to make sure that's nice and tight to the hide when the brand is applied.

We'll let that, we'll shear it off, soak it, then spray it down with alcohol and let the brand sit on there for a minute to a minute and 15 seconds, and do that repeatedly for all their tattooed digits.

- And Grant, I know we're gonna use a rice root or a curry comb here to clean up that area.

Are we doing that before we peel that hair off or after?

- We will do that after to make sure all that debris is out of there after we've sheared off the hair.

The irons will stay on the hide for about a minute, minute and 15 seconds, and make sure right there about the 45 second mark, we take them irons and really roll in the edges over there so it's nice, crisp, and it comes out number full and form.

- And the irons we use here at the school, they're about three to three and a half inch irons?

- Yes, sir.

- And we like the size of those because as we do it on approximately yearlings they continue to get a little bigger with age they don't get obnoxiously big.

And yet they're big enough that if we're out checking heat in the pasture and we got that hip exposed to us, we're gonna see that and know what animal we're actually looking at.

What else to tell us about it Grant?

We got the iron, what we need the methanol and the dry ice.

We're getting methanol from a gas station nearby.

We're getting our dry ice from grocery stores.

- Yes sir.

- Producers may need to investigate do some homework on where you can secure those things.

We're mixing it to activate it with the irons in it.

We know we need a spray bottle of alcohol, the clippers, a rice root or a curry comb something like that to get that hide cleaned up.

And some means of timing.

- Yes, we use a stopwatch here and or set an alarm on your phone for a minute so then you don't have to have have it in your hand.

You can use both hands to freeze ramp.

- And I guess if we're doing this out at the pasture, in the middle of a pasture we gotta have a source of electricity for our clippers.

So possibly a generator if we don't have an electrical outlet in a barn.

- Yep.

And two insulated coolers also to keep that dry ice from melting off at a quicker rate and keep the irons cold.

- So if we're gonna be freeze branding all day long about how much methanol, and how much dry ice do we need to start the day with?

- Two to three gallons of methanol and a gallon of alcohol for your sprayer.

And then probably six or seven pounds of dry ice should get you through the day or approximately 50 head.

- So Grant, any final thoughts on freeze branding?

- I think the main thing is just take your time, no rush.

Because in freeze brands last a lifetime so you wanna make sure they're done right.

And I appreciate Dr. Johnson having me on Cow Calf Corner this morning.

- And you got a full day of it planned.

You're planning to do about 50 head of replacement heifers today right?

- Yes Sir.

- I guess one final thing, and I don't know if we talked about it yet, if it was rainy, if it was really humid, if it was really windy and we were dealing with a lot of bad weather, we'd probably cancel this and schedule it for another day, right?

- Yes sir.

And we're lucky it's beautiful sunshine here in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

So we're gonna run through all our yearlings this morning and this afternoon and get them all freeze branded.

- Thank you Grant.

And thank you all for joining us on Cow Calf Corner.

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

Kim, what's the market talking about this week?

- Well, as always, they're talking about the Ukraine Russian war.

There are export agreements coming up in March.

Russia's of course balking about renewing that agreement.

Ukraine's asking for years extension.

And then there's been quite a bit in the market about China assisting Russia in the war and it's unknown what they're gonna do and and the talk is they're toying with giving Russia additional support for the war.

And then of course you got the U S D A outlook forum that was Thursday and Friday of this week.

- With that in mind, what were the takeaways from that latest report?

- At this time, we don't know the numbers for the U S D A form, but we know the pre-release numbers from the market analyst and that's what is being used to determine price.

Now the analyst estimated that total wheat planted acres would be 48.5 million acres.

That's up 2.8 from last year.

You've got corn at 90.9 million acres.

That's up 2.3 million acres from last year.

Soybeans at 88.6 million acres, up 1.1 million acres and cotton down 2.4 million acres at 11.4.

So the planted acres says that we could have more wheat, corn and beans weather permitting and cotton may be slightly less.

You look at ending stocks, that's a summary of the supply and demand estimates.

Wheat ending stocks expected to increase to 650 million bushels compared to 568 this year.

Up 82 million.

Corn, 1.79 billion bushels compared to 1.27 this year up 520 million, and soybeans 304 million, still tight up from 225 million this year are up about 80 million bushels.

- A lot of numbers to digest of course in turn what is the market offering for these crops?

- And the market, like I said I think is using these numbers to determine price.

And if you look at forward contracting wheat $8.14 in central Oklahoma.

If you go to Southern Oklahoma you take 70 cents off of that, the panhandle about the same price, current price, $8.40.

You look at Milo, $5.35 corn, $5.70.

If you go the panhandle, it's 70 cents higher a southern Oklahoma close to the same price and soybeans $13.10.

- Looking ahead to the next marketing year what are you seeing there?

- Well if you're looking at information that's coming on down the pike, I think the next big release is March 31.

The U S D A will give the perspective plannings for corns, Sorghums, all the major crops.

I think, you know, these numbers that they gave at the forum are their model estimates.

- It'll be survey estimates on March 31.

And then in May, the WASDE will have the 2023, 24 estimates for both US and world crops.

- And we will have a special report from Kim Anderson then, of course.

- All right, you'll hear it here first.

- Okay, Kim, we'll see you next week, thanks a lot.

(upbeat music) Finally, today, we meet an Oklahoma producer named Karen Eifert Jones from Waukomis, and find out why she is a distinguished alumna in the Ferguson College of Agriculture.

Video manager Craig Woods put together this story.

(mellow music) (tractor engine roaring) - [Narrator] Karen Eifert Jones always knew she was meant to be a farmer.

- I was born into agriculture and farming, grew up near Waukomis, Oklahoma, as one of four girls in a family where my grandfather, my father, ran the farm, and story around was, my dad was the only one who didn't know he had daughters.

So, when I took all the aptitude tests leaving high school, they said that I should be a mechanic.

So I think that was based on my time on the farm.

But when I got to OSU, I looked at the different majors and ended up choosing agricultural economics.

- [Narrator] She was elected as the first female president of the College of Ag Student Body, and was named a top 10 senior.

- Some of my favorite memories at OSU were on the front steps of Ag Hall.

I think all of us who were there in the '80s, that was kind of the social media of the day.

- [Narrator] She didn't return to the family farm after graduating in 1985.

Instead, she joined Dow AgroSciences as an ag chemical sales representative before moving to the USDA.

She worked in Washington, DC for several years before transferring to the Kansas State Office.

While working in Manhattan, Kansas, a member of a field office sent her a publication by a local professor.

She didn't realize it at the time, but the author, Rodney Jones, would become her husband.

- By my thinking, he could've been 90 years old and married.

I had no desire to date this person, I just was interested in what he knew.

And he spoke at a meeting that I attended the next week, and we just really hit it off and got married just a few months later.

And that's been almost 25 years.

- [Narrator] The couple decided to return to Karen's hometown of Waukomis.

Rodney would become a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at OSU, and Karen became a full-time farmer.

- Coming here to this place and knowing that my great-grandparents were the first ones that ever turned that sod after the land run, and knowing that I could do what I could to make that soil better and raise those children there, those were things I didn't learn in a classroom, I didn't learn from any other jobs.

And so I knew that I really needed to be back here, where I started, to finish out that circle and to put back into play all the knowledge I had gathered when I worked, really, around the country.

- [Narrator] Karen would go on to become a leader in Oklahoma agriculture.

- A lot of other producers turned to Karen for kind of a sounding board on, "Hey, how's this working?

How can I improve on this?"

- [Narrator] She was a member of Class 16 of the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Program.

In 2017, she received the Master Agronomist Award from the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, and also was named an Oklahoma Significant Woman.

- But more than anything, I think she's just been an inspiration to very many people, showing how a dedication to hard work, to a strong family life that she and her husband have with their children, their strong faith life.

She's just been a great role model for a lot of us.

- [Narrator] The couple are major gift donors to the New Frontiers campaign.

- A lot of folks in her family have benefited from Oklahoma State University, and Karen herself, and, of course, me now, as a faculty member, and now our children benefiting from Oklahoma State University.

And we just thought the time was right.

We were blessed with some resources that we could.

- I've been asked what receiving this distinguished alumni award means to me, and first and foremost, I think it means I'm getting old.

But I also look at the other people who've received the award.

And I realize that it means that it's not just one thing I've done, but it's a lifetime of caring and giving.

- [Narrator] Celebrating Karen Eifert Jones, 2022 Ferguson College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumna.

- That'll do it for "SUNUP" this week.

Remember, you can see us anytime on our website, 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."

(gentle music) (gentle music)