- We have lots of great information for you this week on SUNUP.

Oklahomans saw the first snow of the season.

The Mesonet team gets you up to speed on its impact.

The state releases millions more for drought relief and we're talking turkey just in time for Thanksgiving.

Get your cup of coffee.

SUNUP starts right now.

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

I'm Lyndall Stout.

We begin today with Dr. Amy Hagerman, our Ag Policy Specialist.

Amy, the state releasing more drought funding.

You were in that emergency drought commission meeting.

What were some of the takeaways?

- So the first set of money has pretty much been expended in all of the counties.

There's been an incredible response to this program which really just goes to show how expansive this drought is and how much impact it had on producers in the state.

So the commission set aside a further $12 million.

Now, you'll recall, this is a total $23 million fund.

This will bring to a total of $20 million that will be spent on these different kinds of water projects.

But just in recognition of the response that we've had so far, an additional $12 million was set aside.

- So kind of outline how this next wave is gonna work and what producers need to keep in mind.

- So really we need to think about this as a second wave of applications because the commission and recognition of some of the proactive efforts that farmers and ranchers have already been involved in to respond to drought, prioritize the projects a little bit differently.

In the first wave of funding, the $8 million that all the applications are in for so far, each county prioritized certain water projects going in and they didn't take applications on all of the water projects based on those priorities.

Just in recognition of some of the work that has been done already, the commission is actually expanding that out so that all nine water priorities are being accepted in all counties for the $12 million pot of money.

Another change this time is that in the first round, only pond clean out was retroactive to June 11th.

Now, all nine activities will be retroactive to June 11th.

This creates some real documentation challenges for producers who have already dug a well or put in new piping.

So producers are gonna have to really make sure that they have all of their invoices, their contracts, their receipts, any pictures that they have taken, if they're thinking about applying for some of that retroactive money.

- And the deadline is coming very quickly and we have Thanksgiving in the mix.

So get us up to speed on that part.

- Yeah, the deadline is very soon.

So November 28th is the deadline to put in applications, but for some people who already put in an application under round one, there's good news.

If you put in an application but did not receive funding under the original $8 million, your application automatically rolls into the $12 million consideration.

It will be for those producers who are maybe putting in one of those retroactive practice applications that will need to very quickly get their application together for that November 28th deadline.

- So to apply, where do they need to go?

- So they need to go to their County Conservation District office, talk to them about what that exact application is.

It's a pretty straightforward application to go in to go into the pool.

You won't hear right away because their county district group all meets together to help rank those applications and according to their priorities.

And so, it will take a little bit after that before people will really hear if they have the cost share funding or not.

- And you can also go to the County Extension Office for some guidance on some of the solutions you may need to map out in the first place, right?

- Absolutely.

These water projects are just one aspect of the entire range of activities that really are needed when we're in a drought like this.

So talking to your County Extension Educator is a great first step to identify that full range and how does this fit into the full range of activities that are happening on that operation.

- And bottom line, trying to get some solutions and support for producers with numerous challenges because of the drought.

- Absolutely.

This is a cost share program.

So if given especially the costs of some of these projects right now under current materials costs, it's really nice to have that added help to implement some of these solutions that will help not just for this drought, but a lot of these will be really beneficial for any future droughts.

- And the State Department of Agriculture also has a role in this as well.

Kind of tell us about that piece of it.

- Yeah, so, the Emergency Drought Commission is made up of three different individuals and one of those is Secretary Arthur with ODAFF.

They're helping to distribute this information.

They're helping direct producers to these programs and then also it connects to other programs that they have as well.

- As well as federal programs.

So it does get a little confusing on the landscape of who's involved, what to do, what you can apply for, how they all stack together.

But again, just talking to your county educators is a great first place to help sort out exactly what works for your operation.

- Exactly.

Well thank you for helping us sort it out today, and we will provide a link to those agencies as well as a link to your local county extension office on our website, sunup.okstate.edu.

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

I'm Wes Lee.

After spending most of last year with temperatures above normal, things seem to have changed recently with the first blast of winter.

Temperatures dropped below normal last weekend and have stayed there ever since.

You can see this on this line graph of statewide average air temperatures.

The dark line is the long term average, and the blue line shows temperatures for this year.

Data on this graph is smooth temperatures, which takes out the daily fluctuations and shows trends better.

On Tuesday, a hard freeze was seen in most of the Western counties, with the coldest air in the panhandle.

If you add in the wind chill, the felt temperatures in the West reached down into the single digits.

Wind chill is only calculated when temperatures are 50 degrees or lower, and wind speeds are three miles per hour or above.

This cold front also brought the first significant snow amounts to the state.

Totals ranged from one to more than six inches in the Southwest.

The coldest air of the season was expected to arrive on Friday with high temperatures forecasted to stay near freezing.

The temperatures are expected to increase in Oklahoma next week, as seen by the gray and browns on this forecast map.

Now here's Gary with info on our persistent drought conditions.

- Thanks, Wes, and good morning everyone.

Well, we had another precipitation event.

That now makes three to four precipitation events we've had in the last month or so.

Each one of those helps whittle that drought map down a little bit more.

Let's take a look at the newest drought map and see where we're at.

Well, more improvements over in Southeastern and East Central Oklahoma.

A little bit more up into Northeastern Oklahoma.

This is where those heavier rains and snows fell over the last 14 to 21 days really.

We're starting to catch up a little bit.

We still have a large area of the state under that extreme to exceptional drought, that's the red and the darker red colors.

But we do have a little bit of hope with these precipitation events, we just need more.

We can see those areas of relief on the first 15 days of November.

The rainfall map from the Oklahoma Mesonet, we see that large area of one and a half to three and a half inches of rain, even above four inches in some cases across the Southeastern quarter of the state.

Little bit heavier rain streaks or snow streaks, even up into Northeastern Oklahoma, North Central Oklahoma, and a small one up in far Northwestern Oklahoma.

Other than that, just areas that have gotten about an inch or less, those are the areas that definitely need more.

Actually, everybody needs more, but some need a little bit more than others.

Those areas of surplus show up a lot better on the percent of normal map for the calendar months so far, down in Southeastern, North Central, Northwestern, Northeastern Oklahoma, a little bit in Southwestern.

But we also have those dry areas out in the panhandle, and other regions around the state where those yellow and orange colors show up.

Just need a bit more rainfall over better coverage of the state.

As we've talked about before, we are in the midst of La Niña.

So we take a look at this rainfall departure from normal map for the December through February timeframe.

This is usually when La Niñas are at their most impactful.

We do see that the southern two thirds of Oklahoma over those timeframes do see less than normal rainfall in the La Niña period.

That's something we have to take into account when we look at the latest drought monitor map for December through basically the end of February.

We do see most of Oklahoma expected to remain in drought through the end of that period.

So really the same matches that we always give during this drought over the last 14, 15 months.

We simply need more precipitation.

Rain or snow, We'll take it.

(upbeat music) That's it for this time.

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

(upbeat music continues) - Well the cold North wind is blowing, as you can tell by our hair.

So Kim, is there any winds of change happening in the wheat markets?

- Not a whole lot.

Wheat was a little more active than the other markets this week.

You looking about a 35 cent price range for wheat prices, from $8 and 90 cents up to 9.25.

End of the week, in the middle there somewhere.

On corn, only 11 cents moved from the bottom to the top, $7 and 27 cents to 7.38.

So not anything happening in corn.

Soy beans, we can get some big moves in beans, but not this week.

About 22 cents from 14.28 to to 14.50.

- Just not much happening in the market.

You look at cotton, it was 86, 88 last week.

It's 86, 88 this week.

So, and the winds aren't blowing in the market.

- So what happened to all that volatility that we've been seeing in the past couple weeks?

- Well, we've completed the 2022 harvest for all practical purposes.

We had some drought and some yield problems.

We uncertainty about the the amount of production but the market adopts to shocks in the market.

You look at Covid, you go back to in the Covid time, it costs almost $40,000 a container to move it from Asia to the United States.

You can move a container from Asia to the U.S. now for less than $3,000.

You look at the Russian Ukraine war, a lot going on there but the market has adjusted to that war and it looks like Russia is gonna leave those export facilities open.

Ukraine's got three facilities open now.

They're hoping to open the fourth one in the next few weeks.

So some things are adjusting to the shocks that have been in the market and prices are waiting to see what's gonna happen in the future.

- In that future is there any risk for lower prices at all?

- There's always risk for lower prices.

However, if you look at the stocks that use ratios for wheat, corn, beans, all your commodities, they're relatively low.

And when you've got tight stocks, that means the market's gonna hold that price relatively high.

Could we lose a dollar in wheat over the next couple months?

Yeah, we could, but you're looking at $9 wheat going down to eight.

You look at corn, the same thing on corn and beans, cotton.

For the U.S. corn and beans are really tight.

Cotton is slightly tight on the stocks to use ratio on ratios.

So there is some downside risk but I don't think there's very much.

- Are higher prices possible then?

- There's always possibility for higher prices.

But again, for all practical purposes, the harvest are completed in the northern hemisphere and the majority of the world's crops are produced in the northern hemisphere.

We still got Argentina and Australia harvesting.

We got Brazil and Argentina with some beans.

Those could have some impacts.

Lose those crops, we could have higher prices.

But again, right now on the nearby horizon, there's just not much impetus to move prices up or down.

- So what do you expect prices to do?

- I don't have a clue.

However, my best guess is we're gonna move sideways.

We're gonna move into weather markets with these tight stocks.

If we don't get some rains in US and some and Argentina and some other areas like that, I think prices could move up.

I don't think there's much downside risk until we get out maybe into the spring of next year.

- Alrighty, thanks Kim.

Dr. Kim Anderson, grain marketing specialist here at Oklahoma State University.

And just a reminder about the upcoming 2022 Winter Crop School.

The event will be held at Oklahoma State University Student Union on December 14th through the 15th.

Experts from OSU, University of Missouri, Kansas State University, Texas A and M, University of Arkansas, University of Georgia, and the University of Tennessee will share their latest research on topics such as soil conservation, forage, nutrient management, and much, much more.

The school will offer both in-person and virtual options but early registration is due by November 30th, so don't delay.

For more information about the 2022 Winter Crop School, just go to sunup.okaystate.edu.

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

This week's topic is Beef is What's for Thanksgiving and our title borrows from a very long lived and successful promotional campaign for beef, the product called Beef, It's What's for Dinner.

It's been around since 1992.

It's one of the most well-recognized advertising slogans in America.

It is estimated that 88% of Americans identify with that marketing campaign.

And so I borrowed from that to talk about Thanksgiving this year.

Thanksgiving was first celebrated in this country by the pilgrim settlers in 1621.

And since that time it has truly became an American holiday rooted in production agriculture.

It's a time of the year when we may bring our own unique taste and flavors to the table, but we gather with family, we give thanks for another year of harvest, we make plans for the future and celebrate the day.

In America it is long term been a tradition that we eat Turkey on Thanksgiving but this year I encourage you to consider beef for Thanksgiving dinner.

If you're gonna do that, I would suggest you consider a couple different things.

First, how much time do you have to cook?

Now this is gonna lead you to a cut of meat, something that can be cooked long term, maybe smoked, slow roasted, like a brisket or a roast or potentially something like burgers or steaks that can be seared shut, cooked at high temperatures, very short amount of time.

And so as we make plans with family and think about what cut a beef we're gonna have, give thought to how much time you wanna spend in preparation.

Any of these things are gonna result in that tender, juicy, wholesome beef flavor that we all love.

Second thing to consider, what is your budget?

If we're gonna go with something like steaks or prime rib roast, we're looking at cuts that are gonna cost more per pound.

- We're gonna want to figure out how much of 'em we need to accommodate the amount of family and guests that we've got joining us for Thanksgiving dinner.

If we're looking at something where we spend less per pound, again, ground beef or hamburgers on a grill, something like brisket or roast, something we may slow cook is gonna be a little less expensive to buy on a per-pound basis.

Two things to keep in mind as we make plans for beef at Thanksgiving dinner.

Regardless of what cuts you choose, you're gonna be eating something that is delicious, nutrient dense, and is gonna pack a lot of punch in terms of protein, B vitamins, iron and zinc, and it's gonna deliver that great beef flavor to you.

As we think about Thanksgiving this year, I want to give thanks to America's farmers and ranchers.

We in America are fortunate to spend as little of our disposable income for food as any country on the globe, because of the resilience, the business planning, the perseverance and ingenuity of America's farmers and ranchers.

So thanks to all of you, and I remind you, beef is what's for Thanksgiving.

Appreciate you joining us on "Cow-Calf Corner" this week, and happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

- For those who are having turkey on their Thanksgiving table next week, we have a few turkey facts for you from the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

In the USDA's latest turkey hatchery report, production is up this year versus last year.

There are 27 million eggs in incubators, a 3% increase.

4% more poults hatched, totaling 22.4 million.

Meanwhile, turkeys raised are down 2% from last year, with 212 million forecasted for 2022.

And here are the top six states that make up nearly 70% of all Turkey production in the US.

Minnesota is the largest, followed by North Carolina, Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, and Virginia.

We have a link to the full USDA turkey report and other interesting agricultural stats on our website, SUNUP.okstate.edu.

(upbeat country music) - So as we enter into October and November, deer activity generally increases, and there's a couple reasons, but the primary one is that the rut is taking place, and this is the time of year when deer are breeding.

And the bucks, the male deer, are actively chasing does and searching.

And they'll often let their guard down, and they become less wary.

They'll cross roads, you know, with reckless abandon.

And this is the time of year we really need to be careful when we're driving, particularly during the low-light periods, early and late in the day and at night, and, you know, slow down, really watch the roadsides, and just be aware that deer are probably on the road and coming across the road and they're not paying very much attention to you.

So we need to be extra vigilant to try to prevent hitting a deer, which can, well, obviously ends poorly for the deer, but causes a lot of vehicle accidents.

And if a deer does enter the roadway when you're driving, by all means, don't swerve.

Just slowly and steadily apply the brakes and try to, you know, decrease your speed, but don't swerve out of your lane.

You're liable to hit someone or go off the road.

So just be extra vigilant.

Try to minimize driving during the night during the fall, and also, you know, slow your speed down.

(upbeat country music) - With the recent snow, we have some questions about another forecast regarding the wildfire situation.

Here's SUNUP's Kurtis Hair and our extension fire ecologist, John Weir.

- Well, there's frost on the ground, which means cold mornings, and the grass has pretty much gone dormant.

So John, we have gotten some recent moisture, some snow, so how's that impacted the wildfire picture?

- So, you know, the recent rainfall that we've had, been around, it's light, again, it's not a drought breaker.

We've still got a, you know, biggest majority of the state still in at least the severe drought category and still exceptional in doing that.

What that moisture does do, is gives us some short-term salvation, kind of, from wildfires, again, due to a little bit of moisture.

The main thing we have to remember is that dealing with wildfires, especially during the dormant season, and especially as dry as we are, it's a almost a day-by-day deal.

It depends on the day.

You know, we start to get these days where we're gonna get some high winds and lower humidities, you know, this little bit of moisture that we've got dries out quickly, 'cause we gotta remember, the dormant vegetation, mainly dormant grassy fuels that we've got, those are one-hour fuels, and so it only takes about an hour after some kind of event for them to dry down and equilibrate with what's going on in the outside atmospheric conditions, and they'll burn.

And so that's why we see times where we've got a little bit of rain or you get a little bit of snow, and then that afternoon or the next day, you know, after it melts off, stuff catches on fire and burns.

And so that's what we gotta really be careful with.

And the other thing to think about is, you know, even though we are real, we're extremely dry, we're fixing to be even drier possibly because we're going into the driest time of year here in Oklahoma, December, January, and February are the driest months of the year, we get the least amount of rainfall.

- Also we start to get a lot of these fronts that come down that don't have moisture with them, associated with them, and really low humidities.

And that's when we really start to see the incidents of wildfires, and problems, and stuff arise from that.

- And it's predicted to be a La Niña year, which in this part of the country, warmer and drier.

- Warmer and drier.

And so, like I said, you know, again, we'll take the moisture as we can get it, and enjoy that part of it.

But again, it's still not a drought breaker, and it's also not a wildfire breaker either.

And so we're gonna have to stay day-by-day.

And so we need to make sure and still take our precautions, you know, protect our valuables, protect our property, and be thinking about it.

But also be diligent with the use of fire, with any kind of activities that can cause a fire or do anything.

We need to be thinking about that because the conditions, even though we got a little bit of moisture, things dry out real quickly.

Again, you know, as we've always stressed, you know the wintertime this time of year and on is not the time of year to be burning brush piles and things like that, especially if we get a snow.

Everybody thinks that's just safe 'cause you can go out.

Yeah, it's safe to burn that brush pile at that moment.

The problem is, those brush piles can smolder for days, weeks, even months under really dry conditions.

And then the next big wind event, dry conditions that we get, nobody's there tending that fire, watching over it.

And there it goes, and it takes off, and we cause a fire.

You know, May and June are the time to be doing that kind of brush pile burning.

This time of year is not it.

- And burn bans are also really helpful for people to look at to see if they can get out and burn.

But- - And we do need to monitor that for any kind of activities and things like that.

Again, a couple of weeks ago we had 30 plus burn bans in the state.

As of Monday there was only four in the state.

Again, all that moisture that we've got they have allowed a lot of those burn bans to lapse.

So make sure you check and see what kind of burn bans are is going on in your county, and what kind of activities are limited.

- And looking ahead, you know, like you said, moisture, we need the moisture.

Sometimes that's not gonna help.

But looking ahead to the spring when that's really, kind of, peak wildfire season.

I think it's always important to, you know, let landowners know the things that they can do to protect their property.

- Yeah.

And again, you know, as we're getting more, you know, we're gonna continue to dry down through the winter, you know, unless we just somehow we get moisture all winter long doing that.

But again, think about all the activities about, you know, making sure you keep things mowed down short around all your buildings, out-buildings, homes, you know, all those, those kind of activities of thinking about how do we protect our structure and stuff?

'Cause, you know, the biggest thing we have to remember is we need to protect our stuff as if we weren't gonna be there to protect it, or nobody was gonna be there.

'Cause again, a lot of times, you know, we get those big wildfires.

The fire departments are so busy doing that with so many different structures, so many things going on, they can't protect every structure, every building, and everything that's out there.

So we've gotta make sure that our stuff can stand alone and be protected without anybody even being there.

- All right, thanks John.

John Weir, OSU Extension Fire Ecologist here at Oklahoma State University.

And if you'd like some more information about wildfire prevention, just go to our website.

SUNUP at okstate.edu.

- That'll do it for us this week.

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

From all of us here at OSU Agriculture, we wish you and yours a very safe and happy Thanksgiving.

And we'll see you next time at SUNUP.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (fire crackling)