(lively music) (music continues) (lively music continues) - Hello everyone, and welcome to Sunup.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

It's a special time here on the OSU campus: the 101st state 4H Roundup.

We'll have much more on the activities like this that are underway this week a little later in the show, but first we're talking about alfalfa and the impacts of drought.

Here's our Extension Forage System Specialist, Dr. Alex Rocateli - It's been seven years that I'm here in Oklahoma.

And so far, this has been the driest and hottest year that I had experienced here.

And I can see how the alfalfa is suffering this year.

The alfalfa right now is pretty much getting into dormancy that is stimulated by the drought.

Meaning that the plant right now is not growing anymore.

And even it start to put some flowers and seed trying to escape from this drought.

However, producers might be wondering what I supposed to do with my alfalfa?

Well, if you see that your alfalfa is already stunting and has less than six inch of growth, I would say, do nothing.

Just let the alfalfa be as is right now.

As soon as the rainfall comes back, new growth are gonna come from the bottom part of the plant.

After that, the plant get about 10% bloom.

You can think about harvesting.

On the other hand, some producers started to experience drought when the alfalfa was red in a good stand in a good vegetative growth.

In these circumstances, I would say, wait for those plants get at least half percent bloom preferred 100% bloom because in this case, the plant could store enough energy in the crowns and in the roots.

And then they can really go there and cut and get a new regrowth.

In this case, that you were cutting a high strand that start to experience the drought, it doesn't make any sense to cut in a higher stable height let's say six inches.

Because in that case, the old parts of the plants that you're gonna leave in that field are pretty much synapsing And the new leaves are not coming.

In this case, make sure that you have kind of minimal trampling there.

And also that the animal is not going to graze lower than six inches to keep a minimal amount of leaf there for the alfalfa continue doing some photosynthesis.

And the alfalfa growing season is just in the middle right now.

That doesn't mean that you're not gonna get any more forage from alfalfa.

We just need to hope for more rain and wait for four weeks after rain, and the alfalfa can really catch up in growth again.

And we still can have up to two cuts this season (upbeat music) - Welcome to the Mesonet weather report.

I'm Wes Lee.

Handling Oklahoma summers is often unpleasant, and this year it has been downright brutal.

Since temperatures went above the long term average on June 10th, they have pretty much stayed there with most days averaging eight to 10 degrees above what is expected this time of year.

And after this welcomed, but short, cool down this weekend, temperatures are expected to climb back into the hundreds next week.

For cattle producers, obtaining adequate hay has become a major focus.

For certain producers, especially in the Southwest, obtaining adequate water supplies for livestock has become an even greater issue.

Limited rainfall and high evaporation rates have supplies disappearing right before your eyes in the drought stricken areas.

On Tuesday, you can see the pan evaporation rates from the Mesonet website.

Pan evaporation is slightly different than lake evaporation rates, but it is close enough for ag estimations.

You can see the average of these sites from west to east is about a half an inch a day.

This equates to about 14,000 gallons a day lost on a one acre pond, and that doesn't include leakage or water consumed by animals.

You must keep a close eye on water supplies in your grazing areas until rains and runoff resume.

Now here's Gary showing just how dry it has been this summer.

- Thanks Wes.

And good morning, everyone.

and dry it is indeed before this weekend, and hopefully the relief we saw, we did have a major ramp up of drought across the state on the drought monitor map.

Let's get right to it.

Well, you can see the unfortunate news yourself all but the little tiny sliver of far east central Oklahoma where they did get five to six inches of rain all under drought.

A lot of that is the extreme drought.

We also have a lot of that severe drought, a little bit of moderate drought.

So a major ramp up.

- As I said, trying to catch up with that flash drought situation, trying to get the intensities to match up with the impacts.

And we can see exactly when it began, of course, June 11th through July 27th, that 46-day period, we have a lot of the state that's had less an inch of rainfall.

In fact, we've had a lot of the state that's had less than a half inch of rainfall.

Now, we do see those areas that got a little bit more, the Northwestern quarter down across the far East Central Oklahoma, scattered about here and there, maybe an inch or two in some places.

But by and large, all those blight blues and darker blues and even whites are areas that missed out on the good rains.

When we look at the departure from normal rainfall map for that same timeframe, June 11th through July 27th, unfortunately we see a lot of the state from more than four inches to even more than six inches below normal, even during the summer.

That's a pretty significant thing.

So missing out on a lot of rainfall that we need to keep up with this heat.

And we are seeing major ramifications from that heat and drought.

So the pasture and range conditions from the USDA for the week ending July 24th show 45% of the state in poor to very poor, those pasture and range conditions.

And that's up from 40% from a year ago.

So only 5% was in that condition a year ago.

So not very good this year.

And the top soil moisture percent, short to very short has exploded over the last month.

Just about a month ago, it was at 37% of the state at short to very short and now it's at 82%.

So just a massive increase as we go along.

Now we're much more attuned with Arkansas and Texas and Kansas and New Mexico and the surrounding states.

So unfortunately, the drought and heat have had effects on the Sooner State.

So something to keep in mind.

So we got a little bit of relief.

We definitely need a lot more especially across certain parts of the state.

So let's hope for that as we go forward.

Otherwise, we're just gonna have to keep our eye on this drought and see where it goes.

That's it for this time.

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

(upbeat music) - Dr. Kim Anderson, our crop marketing specialist, joins us now.

Kim, let's dive right in and talk about what's happening with crop prices.

- They're just volatile.

You look at wheat prices, go back to June 1, wheat prices were in the $11 range.

By the mid-July, we were down around $7.80.

We're back up to $8.30.

Just look over since we taped last week, wheat prices have been down 30 cents and up 50 cents.

So they're around $8.30.

You look at corn prices, again, go back to early June, $7.10.

By mid-July, they're down to $5.50.

They're back up to $5.90 or so right now.

Now, this is forward contract corn prices for harvest delivery.

This last week, down 30, up 30, 35, and there are forward contract prices close to $6, around $5.90.

Soybeans, same thing.

You go back to June, $15.

You could forward contract soybeans.

Down to $12.50, back up to above $13 right now, around $13.10 or higher.

This last week, soybean prices for harvest delivery was down 60 cents and up $1.40.

Just a lot of volatility in this market.

- As we know, this time of year, producers are making some of their planting decisions for the next growing year.

What is the market offering for 2023 harvested wheat?

- Well, relatively good prices.

North Central Oklahoma, you can forward contract $8, $8.10, 65 cents under that July 23 contract price.

This time last year, those prices, forward contract prices for the '22 crop were $6.20 and the basis was a minus 30.

You go down in Southwest Oklahoma, $7.75, $1 under basis.

This time last year, they were very close to North Central Oklahoma at $6.10 with a minus 40 basis.

Panhandle area, $8.25, a minus 50 under that July 23 contract.

This time last year, $6.10 or a minus 40 cent basis.

You notice the basis this year is weaker than it was this time last year.

And I think that reflects the volatility in this market and the relatively high prices.

- What do you think is driving prices?

- Well, if you look at... Well, you gotta say Russia and Ukraine.

And that's all you read in the market, but you also gotta look at the supply and demand issue with wheat.

And we've got tighter stocks.

You look at corn, Ukraine exports corn.

It looked like they were gonna be able to ship some of that corn out.

Corn prices came down.

So that's driving it.

But the main driver for corn is Brazil and Argentina and weather.

Soybeans, go back to Brazil and Argentine, weather, and China.

You gotta watch China when you come into soybeans.

They buy 60% of the world's exported beans.

- And what do you think is gonna happen next with prices?

- That's just difficult to say.

You look at COVID-19's impact, that took wheat prices from $4.50 up to around $8.

Russia-Ukraine took it from $8 to $13 and now it's back down around $8.

- I think you gotta look as we go out into the future and next year, the stocks-to-use ratio.

US wheat stocks-to-use ratio from 19 was 49%.

Right now, it's projected to be 33.

You look at corn for 2019, 14%, 10% now.

Soybeans, 13% down to 5%.

And those stocks-to-use ratios tell me that price is gonna remain relatively high.

- A lot of analysis this week, Kim.

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

Talking land values now, here's OSU Extension Ag Economic Specialist Roger Sahs with an update.

- Well, the land value website has been updated for 2021.

And according to our study, the land markets in Oklahoma for farm ground, they showed a pretty strong performance.

They were up about 26% across the board on average.

A little bit higher for crop land, a little bit lower for pasture ground, but overall, a fairly substantial increase in values and the strongest that we've seen in a number of years.

And I think we had a number of factors that came into play.

For instance, we had some strong commodity markets that impacted those farm land earnings.

We had some historically low interest rates, makes those financing decisions a bit easier to pencil out.

Then we had a number of buyers out there that were looking at some of these tracks as a potential hedge against inflation.

But I think going forward for the remainder of 2022, we may see some headwinds and challenges, especially if we see some declines in those commodity markets going forward, and also a continued increase in those interest rates to combat inflation.

And then also whether or not we will see those inflationary pressures continue to impact those operating margins.

They're being squeezed right now, and they are in a situation where you might have to rethink those purchasing decisions down the road with that in mind.

So I think there are some pressures and challenges that might be facing the markets going forward.

We're just gonna have to wait and see how things play out.

For more information on those land values, go to sunup.okstate.edu (catchy instrumental music) - Good morning, Oklahoma.

Welcome to "Cow-Calf Corner".

This week, we're gonna talk about anaplasmosis.

It's not a pleasant topic.

It is something that we deal with in the state of Oklahoma when we think about cow-calf production, beef production in general.

And effectively, we're gonna talk about how we manage around it and try to prevent it.

Now anaplasmosis can be spread from beef animal to beef animal a number of ways.

First, there is some evidence that a lot of anaplas gets transferred whenever we're just working cattle.

It can be needles as we give vaccinations, it can be dehorning, castration instruments, anything that transmits blood from one animal, blood to the next animal is potentially a source of transferring anaplasmosis.

But we know anaplasma is also carried by ticks and certain flies.

Now one of the realities of it is we have anaplas and beef animals in the state of Oklahoma, and it can be effectively managed so it doesn't become a big issue for us.

Typically, if we see anaplas outbreaks, while there are clinical signs of this disease, the way we often figure out we've got an outbreak is we start finding dead cattle, particularly the cattle that are two years of age or older is where we see this disease manifest itself.

And so what measures can we take to prevent this problem?

First, if we will feed a tetracycline product in our mineral or as part of our supplemental feed program, we can prevent this from causing us issues.

Now the first and foremost thing that we need to do in 2022 is consult with our veterinarian because it's gonna require a veterinary feed directive or VFD in order to get that prescription to have that mineral or purchase that mineral with the tetracycline products in it.

They're gonna prevent an anaplas outbreak.

So consult your vet, get a VFD in place.

It's definitely the time of year right now that we want cattle on a tetracycline product to prevent outbreaks.

If we see clinical signs and we've got animals that are dealing with this, it can be treated with antibiotic products.

Again, you're gonna need to consult your veterinarian to talk about how to address it from that standpoint.

When we think about other measures we can do to try to minimize the impact of anaplas, actually, and it is kind of an extra level of management if we're given herd vaccinations by actually changing needles from animal to animal, we're gonna prevent that transference.

If we can control ticks and flies to the extent possible.

- Whether it is burning pastures in the Spring, where we've got a history of tick issues in those pastures or potentially rotating, so we're not using those pastures that have got higher tick infestations this time of year.

We know that's gonna be beneficial to us, controlling flies and all the means that we've discussed in past Cow-Calf Corners to try to keep fly populations under control, all the way through insecticide products that we can use on cattle to prevent or control flies and ticks.

So, anaplasma is in Oklahoma is a problem we need to deal with.

We can effectively deal with it if we follow some of these best management practices and it is the time of the year to keep it in mind and be getting those products into the mineral for our cow herds to prevent anaplasma outbreaks.

Thanks for joining us this week on Cow-Calf Corner.

[Upbeat music] - Is your pond weedy?

Is a plant overabundance an issue in the appearance of your pond?

I like to follow what I call the 20% rule in most pond situations.

If a pond is around about 20% covered or filled by an aquatic plant, that's generally considered optimal.

That's going to provide a good amount of habitat for the fish and do what is necessary to prevent wave erosion along the shorelines.

On the other hand, if you're pond plant abundance is getting far above 20% or headed in that direction then you need to take some steps to consider a plan to reduce plant over abundance.

It starts with bringing either a sample of the plant itself or some good close up photos to your County Extension Office.

Once we have the problem plant identified in most cases we're going to try to match it up with an herbicide that fits both the plant and all the particulars of your pond situation and objectives.

Go slow with using herbicides.

Treat the pond in sections, as advised by your County Agriculture Educator.

Beware of totally eliminating plants from a pond.

When you do that you're going to throw it out of balance.

You're going to, if you care about fishing you are eliminating all of the habitat and a lot of the food sources for that fish population your fish will become skinny.

And you're opening up the shorelines to wave erosion and possibly creating a situation with that wave erosion that will create a muddy and ugly looking pond situation.

So don't go too fast.

Pond plant over abundance is something that unfortunately most people overlook or put off until the next year.

Watch out for that problem.

Get after it right away and don't wait.

Otherwise your pond will probably end up being more weeds than water.

[Upbeat Music] - Now to 4-H Roundup, which brings hundreds of young people from around the state to the OSU campus every summer.

(students cheering) - [Steve] So we have our hundred and first Oklahoma 4-H Roundup.

It's an opportunity for our 4-H senior members to come to campus, participate in various workshops, learn about various different academic departments.

- We're doing Think Fast for breakfast.

And it's like a little game show in which they'll put multiple questions on the board and you send it in on a little remote (crowd cheering) and the winners will receive a hundred dollars for their team.

- [Jaclyn] Yeah, one of my favorite things about 4-H is that I'm able to express myself and be friendly and be open and be excited.

So events like this, especially Think Fast and with Roundup, I just get to be energetic and watch the room just come alive.

And it's amazing.

I love it so much.

- Coming to Roundup, I love getting to meet a lot of new people, seeing all my old friends from 4-H, getting to hang out, competitions like the speech contests, I love to do.

And of course, honor night on Thursday nights to see who all won the awards, at like, the big awards for 4-H. - Main thing is it's a really good opportunity for the network with other 4-H members from across the State, they have a good time.

Probably one of the favorite activities is the dance each night for our youth.

- The dance, like the dance is one of my favorite parts.

You just get to have fun with your friends.

Get to chat.

And I like just being able to hang out.

- It's almost like a second family here.

It's just a giant family.

Everyone's always nice to each other.

They... it's kind of like get to see like the real you.

4-H brings out a side of you that you might have not have known was there.

- Our 4-H alums, you know, always talk about their experiences at 4-H Roundup, and this is kind of the, you know, this is the kind of the capstone event for the year.

The opportunity to come to Roundup, represent their County.

- This will be my third in-person Roundup but my fourth Roundup altogether - This is my second term as district president.

The first in like, 4-H history to serve two terms.

- [Interviewer] Is this your last Roundup?

- It is my last Roundup.

I even got a ribbon that said, it's my last Roundup.

I kind of cried a little bit, like 4-H has been my home away from home for so long.

It's been a family that supported me like through thick and thin, through everything.

My district advisor, Greg - Oh, and he has been one of my hugest supporters.

Watching my friends grow and become better people it's such a huge moment for me to be able to see Foragers that I've seen, you know, from the beginning of the program all the way up to the top.

It's been amazing.

I love it so much.

I don't really wanna leave, but you know, I'm aging out, but I'm never really gone.

(audience yelling) (upbeat country guitar music) - Curly dock is a toxic plant that grows here in Oklahoma.

There's actually quite a few different types of dock, but this but curly dock is the one that's most widely distributed across the state.

It's not acutely toxic to animals, so it doesn't kill them really quickly.

They have to eat quite a bit of curly dock to actually have issues with toxicosis.

But the issues happen typically when you have animals that are turned into a pasture before many of our warm season grasses have started to grow.

Other instances when you might have issues with curly dock are when you do a prescribed burn in a pasture and the areas along a creek or pond don't burn well.

This plant typically grows in those types of habitat and if it doesn't burn up and it's one of the only plants that's still remaining after the fire, you can have animals that end up consuming it, and quite a bit of it.

Enough that can really be a toxic issue for them.

If they consume enough of this plant, it will kill cattle, sheep, and goats.

You can identify curly dock by its growth form.

So it has these long narrow really wavy leaves, as you can see here.

Then when it flowers, it puts on these little winged seeds and as they mature, they turn this darker red color as you can see behind me.

At this time of year, midsummer, we typically don't have too many issues with animals consuming curly dock, simply because there's so many other plants for them to choose from.

If you're gonna control this plant, the best time of year to do it is when it's small, early spring.

Typically you wanna spray it with herbicide before it's six inches tall.

24D and metsulfuron-methyl are two really excellent inexpensive herbicides that effectively control curly dock.

A good thing to do at this time of year is note where you have this plant growing, so then next year you can go ahead and kill it when it's small.

This plant is perennial, so in the winter, it will die back to the ground, but it will regrow from that same plant.

So you'll have the same plants growing back in the same location year after year.

(upbeat guitar music) - Finally, today, a really sweet story.

Sweet success is the name of the celebration to mark the conclusion of a 50 million capital campaign for OSU Agriculture.

- Together, we are embarking on new frontiers!

(audience claps) - Ample confetti, lots of balloons, and of course, President Shrum and Pistol Pete set the stage for the event on the OSU campus this week completing the 50 million New Frontiers campaign.

It's all for this building, under construction on the corner of Farm Road and Monroe.

- We're going to have research facilities in our laboratories that are state of the art.

And in our teaching laboratories as well.

Students will have an opportunity to learn with the latest technology.

We've also designed it in a way so that as technology changes, we're not locked in.

We aren't putting things in concrete.

We're making sure that we can move in and out as different technologies come along.

- [Lyndall] New Frontiers is one of the fastest capital campaigns at OSU.

Generous gifts from more than 600 donors to advance agriculture in Oklahoma for generations.

(audience claps) - New Frontiers also, you know, I believe, means new technologies and the college of ag has been advancing in our technologies.

I think that also entices students to come here, that we are a premier place to study agriculture and just all the opportunities and advancements that they're gonna be able to have with this new building.

- [Lyndall] These renderings show what the building will look like when it's complete.

- It will help us do a better job of preparing graduates to work, to be in the workforce, serving farmers and ranchers and working as partners with farmers and ranchers.

It will help us to advance our research program so that we are at the leading edge.

That's why we call it New Frontiers.

We're at the leading edge of discovery that will help to transform our agricultural practices, our ranching practices, you know, for the future.

- OSU president, Dr. Kayse Shrum, says agriculture is one of her key priorities with the ultimate goal of helping to feed the world.

- We very much appreciate what you do.

I understand the challenges and you know, it's key.

And that's why we wanna make sure we have another generation of students that we're educating that can continue the great success that we've had.

- New Frontiers Agricultural Hall is set to open in the fall of 2024.

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

A reminder, you can see Sunup anytime on our website as well as our YouTube channel and social media.

From the 101st state 4H Roundup, I'm Lyndall Stout, and we'll see you next time at Sunup.

(upbeat country music) (crowd cheers) (guitar plays)