- Hello everyone and welcome to Sunup.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

It was quite a rainy week in Oklahoma as plot tours and field days from OSU continue around the state where OSU scientists get to talk one-on-one with producers.

And this week our Sunup crew is bringing you some information from the Wheat and Forages Field Day at Chickasha here.

Sun ups Kurtis Hair to kick us off.

- Thanks Lyndall and Sunup viewers.

We are joined now by Marty New, our Southwest area livestock specialist.

And Marty, you know, wouldn't be a field day without it being a little bit cold and of course a bunch of storms kind of moving through, pushing us inside.

But today you did get a chance to speak to some producers, so talk a little bit about what you were talking about today.

- Okay.

This year we initiated a seeding rate study to see if the, on a forage production basis, basically from a cattleman standpoint, if we increase the seeding grade in our wheat fields, does that produce us more forage or how it's gonna affect the forage growth in a dual purpose or dual operation setting.

- And that's one thing that's great about the Chickasha Field day is that it is the wheat and forge field day.

So what were some of the questions that producers were asking about the seeding rates?

- Well, they were asking, you know, how did, how did our climate affect it?

Which, you know, when that study was initiated in October, it was very dry, you know, and throughout the study we only had 11 inches of rain - Yeah.

- On that study.

So we think, you know, that obviously had an impact on it as well.

But also the difference in, we use two different varieties and how the maturity level of those varieties affected it through our, through the research that we were collecting throughout the study.

- What was the varieties - We used?

Green hammer and scab Stryker.

- Mm.

So what were some of the things that you were finding even though with those challenges of drought?

- One, we were maintaining a, you know, obvious when we started collecting data in December, our forage production was obvi increased with the, you know, the increase in the seeding rate.

But as those, the variety started to mature, some of those one variety particular by the end of the study in April had decreased - In - Amount of forage regrowth in a simulated grazing situation versus the lighter seeding rated area.

So, - So when it comes to weeds though, in that seeding rate and you know, there might be some plants out there that the producers don't necessarily want to, so in those kind of less seeding fields, was that an issue at all?

- It, we were anticipating that in the lighter or in the lower seeding rated plots, but however, I think the rainfall that we had throughout really limited the amount of weed pressures that we did have in the, in the lower seeding rate throughout the study.

We had 11 inches of rain from October to the last clipping, which was April 2nd.

And the interesting thing about that is seven inches of that was the first two months of the, of the study.

So basically from December through August or through April, we had about less than an inch of rain.

So we, we really feel that impacted the, the regrowth of those plants in these simulated study trials.

- And, and granted these simulated trials, you know, this is, you know, one year, one calendar year growing year and, and obviously things are gonna change from year to year.

So what are you anticipating or expecting for different years when you're with these variety trials?

- Right.

Our goal is to, you know, have this same trial or similar type study next year and really add more to it to stimulate more grazing opportunities and be able to measure the pounds of beef that maybe we can increase our stocking rates for these producers.

That's in a, in a, you know, stocker operation setting, particularly for southwest Oklahoma.

That's what we really like about this research station as it really gives a representation of southwest Oklahoma and we can really collect a lot of good data and then hopefully throw the economic factors into it to see the end returns and, and if it's worth adding the, you know, increasing the seeding rate and the impact that may have as well.

Dr. Beck is working with us on this study and has a lot of other ideas that we'd like to incorporate as well.

- And this is an ongoing study too that you're gonna be going well into the future as well.

- Yeah, I I, my per I would really like to see us do it on a yearly basis to really, because you know, obviously the climate's gonna be different every year and to see if we can measure the impact of rainfall, possibly cold weather Yeah.

Other impacts that can affect it as well.

Yeah.

- Alright, thanks Marty.

We'll check back in on that study in the future - Talking wheat disease now and the impact that the recent rains could have in the field.

Here's Sunup's Elizabeth Hokit with Dr. Miriam Awo.

- We're here now with Miriam.

I own our small grains wheat pathologist.

So Miriam, we're out at the Chickasha wheat and forage field day.

And you spoke just recently, what did you speak about?

- Yeah, so we had rain today and so we had to go indoor and I presented about the with diseases and how we can manage them.

So I first gave an update of what we see here in the state and then talk about what they can expect to see in the field, especially that we get rain now and on the different management, whether it's now or maybe early before they do the planting for the next season.

- Yeah.

So what are some of the diseases that we're seeing and where are we seeing those at?

- So early in the spring we had drought, so it, it was really, so if we have drought we have low moisture and most of the fungal disease that require that moisture to, to infect.

So that's why we didn't see much in terms of fungal diseases in, in Oklahoma in March and even until mid April.

And we, we were, we have a few samples that were infected with viruses like wheat streak mosaic virus and also with the Soilborne wheat mosaic virus and the wheat spons mosaic virus.

So those are a few cases, nothing much in terms of rust.

We also watch what is happening in Texas.

We have low level of stripe rust but they have leaf rust.

So this year in contrast to what we have last year, we have low risk of stripe rust but we are going to see maybe leaf rust later, maybe in May.

- Yeah.

So we haven't seen many fungal diseases because of the drought that we've experienced, but now that it seems like it's been raining quite a bit, can we expect to see any changes in that?

- Correct.

So we may expect to see leaf spotting diseases.

So I already start seeing that a few days ago when I was doing scouting, especially on the lower canopy, I was seeing septoriea tritici blotch and tan spot.

So that's all the lower canopy.

So it nothing much on the flag leaf and again that flag leaf is what we need to protect.

Nothing much on the flag leaf I'm seeing here.

The field is, is really green, but with the moisture that we get, we can expect to see more of diseases.

But for, it depends where you are in the state.

So if like here our crop is headed, so probably is the effect of the disease is not going to be high because we are I believe close to flowering right now a chickasha, so the disease impact is going to be low.

If it occur it may affect the grain filling, but also there are some fun fungicide.

The, it depends on the product, but usually the harvest restriction is 45 to 30 days.

So also we have, we will be limited on what fungicide we can use if we pass that flowering stage.

- So at this point, if we see any leaf, rust or leaf spotting diseases, will that impact the yield at this point?

- Usually if it is too late, that is not going to impact the yield as if it happens too early in the season.

So for example, last year we have swipe rust as early as in February and March in southwest Oklahoma.

So the crop at that stage, it's still very vulnerable to diseases, so that's going to have the greatest impact on yield.

But if we, our crop is already headed and we don't have much risk of diseases, then the, the, the impact on yield will will be lower.

- Yeah.

So are you recommending that producers spray for these diseases?

Right now?

- What I recommend it because it depends on their crop stage because some people, some people they, they, their crop is already headed, but others maybe it's not yet there.

So what I recommend is to keep scouting their fields if they start seeing diseases they, they can spray if they are in that stage where they can still use fungicide.

- Alright, well thanks Miriam.

We'll keep an eye on the wheat fields.

Thank you.

Yeah, - Good morning everyone.

This is state climatologist Gary McManus with your Mesonet weather report.

I don't know what to say.

Our weather has gone absolutely insane over the last few months, just four months after we had our wettest November on record.

Now we've had our wettest April on record and that's significant because April's during the wet season.

So the wettest April is sort of like the coldest January or the hottest July when it's in that season.

That's significant.

Let's get right to those new maps and see where we are.

Let's take a look at the Mesonet rainfall totals for April 1st.

And you can see incredible numbers, some numbers there from South central up into northeast Oklahoma, 15 to 17 inches for the month.

Everybody except far northwest Oklahoma and the panhandle had, you know, five to 10 inches and it was our wettest on record.

So the statewide average was well over eight and a half inches.

And that tops the previous record holder April, 1942 of 8.32 inches.

So another record shattering month here in Oklahoma for rainfall.

Take a look at those departure from normal April map and you can see again pretty incredible.

We, we do see those surpluses from South central up through northeast Oklahoma.

You know, some cases over 10 inches, 11 inches, everybody's above eight inches or so though, so most of the state though we did see surpluses of three to five inches at least, again, safe for the panhandle.

It's pretty incredible how the, the panhandle in that far northwest corner keep missing, missing out and that's why we still have drought in that area.

Now let's take a look ahead for May.

We do have the newest outlooks from the climate prediction center.

For temperature, we see increased odds of above normal temperatures across the eastern two thirds of the state.

And for precipitation we see increased odds of above normal precipitation, especially across the, the western half or so of the state.

So that would mean more of the same than what we've seen in April.

Hopefully the western parts of the state gets get the additional rainfall that they've missed out on over the last month or two.

Now for the drought outlook, given those temperature and precipitation outlooks, we do see most of the drought expected to be removed as we get to the end of May.

However, that little bit up there in far northwest Oklahoma in the Buffalo beaver Roger Mills County areas, it's expected to remain but improve.

So hopefully we'll get rid of that severe drought at least.

Okay, another momentous month here in Oklahoma for weather.

When does it ever stop?

Well, eventually it will and we will get some tranquil conditions, but when we look at the future, we do see more rain, more storms and that's par for the course for Oklahoma.

That's it for this time.

We'll see you next time on the Mesonet weather report.

- I am Darryl Peele, extension livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University.

You know, cattle markets continue to move very strongly.

We've got prices continuing to move higher.

One of the reasons for that is the fact that we've had a lot of rain in Oklahoma the last few days, couple weeks, and you know, kind of running counter to the, the general forecast.

But we'll certainly take it.

It's got a lot of moisture.

We're off to a good start with pasture and hay production and, and so that's, that sets us up pretty well.

We don't know what the summer's gonna bring, but at least we've got a good start for right now.

The other thing that's happening right now, we're moving into May and, you know, soon it'll be summer grilling season.

And so we've been, you know, on the, the, the wholesale beef market has already reflected purchases for Memorial Day weekend, which kind of kicks off summer grilling.

And you know, we've seen very strong runs for, you know, many of the popular grilling items, you know, strip loin steaks, ribeye, that kind of thing.

And we've also continued to see very strong prices for ground beef, at least in terms of a general wholesale formulation.

So, you know, we're continue to see beef demand very strong.

You know, one of the concerns the industry has had for a long time is, is do we get to a point where there's some consumer pushback on that?

And we really just can't see very much at this point.

Continues to look pretty good.

The other thing of course is we're operating in a, in a broader environment with a lot of uncertainty and volatility.

Markets tend to be affected by almost on a headline by headline basis these days.

And so that's a, you know, that's a bit of a concern for producers.

We've had several little short term setbacks in markets, which can be really a problem for if producers get caught trying to market in those, they generally haven't very long and aren't likely to in most cases because the supply fundamentals are so strong in the industry.

So overall, you know, my outlook has not changed.

We continue to look for stronger prices, generally tightening supplies.

We're beginning to see some of that on the beef production side.

And so, you know, but we do have these uncertainties from a macroeconomic standpoint and a global economic standpoint and we'll have to keep a close eye on those to see if they turn into big enough events that they actually impact consumer demand.

That could change our overall trajectory in the industry.

But at this point we continue to see very strong prices.

- Good morning Oklahoma and welcome to Cow-Calf Corner.

Our topic this week is to revisit like we do annually this time of year, a little bit about cattle working facilities and what we get into.

And it's that time of year when a lot of us, whether we're vaccinating calves for the first time bringing in cows to potentially synchronize and ai, we take a look at facilities and give thought to maybe ways to improve or build upon.

What we've got.

And our topic is really to get into the discussion about a sweep tub versus a bud box.

Most all working facilities are gonna have the chute itself where we actually have a head catch, potentially a means to squeeze, but that's where we're gonna contain animals.

We're gonna administer vaccinations, do preg checks, whatever the case may be.

The animals are actually gonna be in the squeeze chute leading up to that.

We're gonna have an alleyway.

There's a lot of different alleyways that can be built or that are on the market a lot.

Some of those have got vertical sides that adjust in and out.

Some are a little narrower at the bottom, a little wider at top to prevent that temptation of animals trying to turn around.

And how you wanna set up your alleyway is really in the eye of the beholder and, and works relative to how many cattle you've got to work and the size of those cattle.

We typically think if we've got something that's adjustable, if we can make it a little narrower at the bottom, say around 16, 18 inches, maybe about 28 inches tall up at the top, that's gonna accommodate most normal sized cattle.

Where we get into that thing that we need to decide on if we're building a new facility or improving upon what we got really gets into how we're gonna bring the cattle into that actual alleyway and eventually lead 'em to that chute.

The historical way, the age old way is some sort of a sweep tub.

Where I'm standing today is actually in the sweep tub itself.

And if we imagine that we were running cattle up through this alleyway between the camera and I and this area right behind me, that alleyway sets back behind me into my right.

We've got the sweep gate.

And it's basically a mechanical means.

You've got some some backstop to it here as it would go around a curved sheet metal tub itself that prevents it from being pushed back by cattle.

And it gives us a mechanical means to actually crowd cattle into the alleyway itself.

There's probably gonna be some backstops set up in the alleyway to keep those cattle from backing out.

So this is the old traditional sweep.

What do we like about a sweep?

Well, we never actually have to get inside with the cattle in order to use the sweep gate.

We're behind it.

We've got the stop mechanism in place we can crowd the cattle in.

It works pretty well.

The other way that we can go about this that potentially requires a little more training and a little more thought with regards to just cattle behavior and their normal instincts is to set up a bud box.

If we could imagine something setting at about a right angle to the alleyway, approximately 12 foot wide, 20 foot long, we are going to use a Bud Flow box to capitalize on cattle's instincts to actually escape us and get away.

A bud Box has got the advantage of being able to be set up on a temporary basis.

We can use some portable panels to actually set up a bud box and so it creates the opportunity to try it, see if it works for us, see if we like it.

The thing about a bud box, you need to be in the box with the cattle.

So one of the decisions is to, on the comfort level you've got and actually being in the box with the cattle in order to get them to go where they want.

There are some hybridization of these that we find on the market anymore.

Something that is set up to capitalize on the bud box and cattle's normal instincts that can keep the operator on the outside of a bud flow tub, if you will, for lack of a better term, where walking by creates that path and their instinct to escape and go back.

So you will find some things that kind of are somewhere in the middle of the traditional sweep tub versus a bud box.

I hope this helps and if you're improving upon facilities this spring, give thought to what kind of a crowding mechanism you want and works best for you and your operation.

Thanks for joining us on Cow-Calf Corner.

- I am Mark Turner and I'm the extension wildlife specialist at OS and today we're gonna be talking about fawns.

This time of year, a lot of landowners are gonna start seeing does with fawns out on their properties, or maybe they just see fawns by themselves and there's a lot of concern for whether that fawns abandoned or, or whether they need to do something and, and also what landowners can do to maybe help increase fawn survival.

There are several things to consider whenever you see a fawn.

The first and foremost is don't touch it because most likely that fawn is not abandoned, its mother's probably close by, could even be watching you typically, especially during that first couple weeks of life, when they're most vulnerable to predation by things like coyotes and bobcats.

The does will actually leave the fawns bedded in a location and only go to them typically whenever they're feeding.

They'll do that several times a day.

But that means for most of the day, that fawns actually by itself.

So if you see a fawn, don't assume that it needs to go to a wildlife rehabilitator or anything like that, you can just leave it alone and know that that mother is almost certainly just, just around the corner watching you and, and ready to potentially defend that fawn.

If it has a, a coyote or a bobcat, come and try to get it.

If you're a landowner that's interested in maybe trying to increase survival of white-tailed deer fawns, there are a few things you can do.

First, using treatments like prescribed fire as well as forest management and, and, and simply just not mowing areas to allow them to, to grow up to, to vegetation that's say around waist tall, that's gonna allow fawns to have some cover that they can use to hide from predators.

And having a good mixture of, of some shrubs as well as some, some brambles and Forbes and grasses is gonna allow them to, to be safe there.

Another thing that you can do that oftentimes gets overlooked is providing food for the, for the doe.

So lactation actually is the most difficult process for an animal to go through.

You know, we oftentimes think about bucks growing, antlers being really tough and, and them having to have a lot of protein and, and other minerals to grow large antlers.

But actually that doe producing enough milk, especially if she has two fawns, is really a limiting factor.

And by providing high quality, nutritious forage, again using some of those same management practices such as prescribed fire, as well as providing high quality forage in your food plots during the summertime, that's gonna increase her ability to provide enough milk to allow her fawns to grow quickly and survive.

If you'd like more information on Whitetail deer management and other topics, check out the Sunup website for some resources that we have.

- Finally today we head back to the field day at Chickocee to learn about this year's Axiom trials and the continued efforts to improve Oklahoma wheat.

- We are at the South Central Research station in Chicochee, Oklahoma, where the OSU Wheat Breeding Program conducts across the state field trials.

This is one of the most important sites we have in the state.

We subject about 22,000 lines to yield testing here.

But among those 2000, we have a couple of special trials, what we call qualification trials.

We are simply trying to, or qualified the release of both Clearfield and Coaxiom adapted lines.

So I'm standing, in fact, in front of the Clearfield qualification trial and behind me would be the Coaxiom Qualification trial.

Very different genetic material in each of those experiments.

- So this coaxiam just gives us another tool in the toolbox as far as you know, our options for grassy weed control.

Maybe if you have some rye problems, we can, we can look at those coaxium varieties for that and, and rotate with the Clearfield products in different years.

So we, we don't rely too heavily on one technology.

- So we, we use a two x rate, a two x commercial rate, we use a a different form of the herbicide, a little bit hotter, and we use a pretty hot adjuvant.

Those three together give us a pretty stringent look.

And as, as can be seen beside me, the weed is doing quite well because it has been selected before for this kind of herbicide tolerance.

But we just have to show it.

We have to show it in a very systematic way.

- I think we're, you know, there's still a couple, couple of these that maybe look a little more favorable than the others, but not, not too many surprises for me anymore.

So basically, I mean, we, we have these breeder increases so that we have the smaller fields here so we can pay closer attention to those and that's where we get our seed to go plant in our larger fields this fall.

And, and so that we just help maintain our purity and, and seed quality better from these smaller fields.

- The big difference from this year and last year is I would've already collected not one, but two different notes on stripe rust susceptibility in our breeding material.

Well now we haven't had that opportunity this year, but the note that we had last year will be lasting enough that we can get by this year without it.

But that was a, that was a game changing moment in the program to have that kind of pressure here at Chicochee.

It may not have existed in other, in producers fields.

Let's hope not.

It was pretty severe here and I was able to basically reshape the program and orient it towards a much higher level of resistance than what I had had going into last year.

This year.

It may not be stripe rust, it could be leaf rust based on what we know is going on down south.

I'll take what we can get.

- Oklahoma wheat producers, do you ever have questions regarding your operations that need quick answers?

Well, the OSU Wheat Team developed a group text chain that will give producers direct access to extension state specialists just by texting the word wheat.

You can get timely updates on disease occurrences, wheat management, upcoming plot tours, and the latest applied research findings.

You can also reach out anytime with questions or observations from your field.

To learn more, just go to sunup.OKstate.edu.

- That'll do it for our show this week.

A reminder, you can see us anytime on our website and also follow us on YouTube and social media.

And remember, you can stream us anytime at youtube.com/sunup tv.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

Have a great week everyone.

And remember, Oklahoma Agriculture starts at Sunup.