- Hello everyone and welcome to Sun Up.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

With Labor Day behind us, Summer is really starting to wind down now.

And with that in mind, we have a special treat for you.

A look back at some of our Sun Up favorite segments from the past few months.

To get us started, here's Dr. Eric DeViste talking about how much a bale of hay is really worth.

(upbeat music) - Hello, I'm Eric Devuyst, Extension economist at Oklahoma State University in the Department of Agricultural Economics.

Today I wanna talk to you about the economic cost of a bale of hay.

It's haying season in Oklahoma.

I hope by the time this airs, you've wrapped up putting up your prairie or native hay grasses.

One of the things that we see frequently is producers who are not thinking about what are all the costs that go into a bail of hay.

Of course, people know about the baling cost.

But if you bale it yourself, what should that cost be?

Well, we recommend putting in what are the custom rates right now in your area because that's your opportunity cost.

In other words, if you didn't bale your own hay, how much could you get for balng somebody else's hay?

For baling a round of hay, a five by six rounds, 1,400 pounds.

We could expect to spend around $28 to have that done custom for the cutting, raking, and bailing.

So we use that to represent the opportunity cost of putting up a bale of hay.

Then we have land charge into that.

We need to be charging something for our own land, even if it's ours and we're not paying rent to somebody, we're de facto paying rent to ourselves internally.

And so about $25, $20 to $25, maybe 30 for more productive grounds.

And then one of the most overlooked numbers is the cost of the nutrients in that bale of hay.

So for native hay, Prairie Hay, we typically don't apply nitrogen.

So we'll ignore that for a Prairie bale hay.

But there's phosphorus in that bale.

So you're looking at about two and a half pounds of phosphorus in that bale of hay.

Most of our soils in Oklahoma, a large percentage of our deficient in phosphorus.

If I don't replace that over time, I'm going to affect that plant community, the answer.

I'm probably going to get some lower quality forages.

That two and a half pounds of phosphorus is going to cost you about $5 plus per round for a 1,400 pound bale of hay.

If we have 1.1 tons to the acre for our Prairie Hay, we're looking at about $51 a bale for a 1,400 pound bale of Prairie Hay and Native Hay.

And if you look at prices right now, you'll see them all over the place, $35 to $55, depending on how big they are, the quality of the hay.

And so at $50, if you're selling that for $50, you're pretty close to breaking even economically.

But what that means is you're actually turning an accounting profit on it.

Because a number of those costs, including the phosphorus, and the land charge, might just be internal.

And so you're doing all right if you're getting about $50 a round.

Less than that, you better come back and look at sea, whether you're actually that sustainable over time.

Bermuda, this bale, has about 3.4 pounds of phosphorus in that.

And then we're also going to put nitrogen on that field.

The nitrogen that's in the bale of Bermuda Hay is only a fraction of what actually gets put down.

Because you're going to lose nitrogen to volatization.

And then you're going to get a lot of tissue growth that's not harvestable.

The lower part of the stems, the roots, for example.

So typical rate would be around 200 pounds of actual ampere acre per year for Bermuda.

So there's about $13 of nitrogen per bale that's applied, even though there's less nitrogen in the bale.

And then we got almost $7 of phosphorus in a bale of Bermuda Hay.

So, and we're probably going to put herbicide down if we're trying to sell it as weed-free hay.

It comes down to-- you're around $58 to $60 a bale for Bermuda Hay.

If you look at the hay markets right now, look at what's advertised out there.

You'll see a lot of Bermuda Hay in that $60 range right now.

So if you can put that bale up and sell it for $60 a round, you're going to turn in accounting profit and break even in terms of economics.

Did you know OSU Extension supports Oklahoma Farmers and Ranchers with mental health resources and programming?

If you or anyone you know is experiencing mental health challenges, call the Comprehensive Crisis Response Lifeline at 988 or go online to the OSU Extension website dealing with farm stress.

For more information about local resources, suicide prevention, finances, or disaster recovery, just go to sunup.okstate.edu.

There's really nothing like your first trip to the Oklahoma Capitol.

For the hundreds of kids who tour the Capitol every day, walking past these towering white columns may feel like walking past a building that would be more at home and roam than Oklahoma.

And like those kids, that wonderment is definitely not lost on these middle school students from Hollis.

Though their mission today is definitely different from the regular end of the school year trip to the Capitol.

So today, we have brought 18 students from Hollis, Oklahoma to the state Capitol to learn what civic leadership and public service looks like.

These students have been a part of the Hollis Leaders class, which has been a pilot program partnership between Oklahoma State University through the Royal Renewal Initiative and Hollis Middle School, focusing on civic leadership and entrepreneurship.

Lauren Klein is an OSU Extension Agricultural Leadership Specialist.

She says the Rule Renewal Initiative is a research program focused on rural communities and the issues they face.

And so our project is a part of that.

And we are focusing on the youth.

What can we do to help youth in rural areas?

Learn what it takes to make their town work and learn what it takes to solve and make decisions in their communities.

This Capitol trip isn't just a few hour ordeal.

The group began their journey yesterday, stopping at rural communities along the way to Oklahoma City to see the leadership of these communities in action.

We then stopped in Oklahoma City downtown to look at remote working spaces.

Because one of the ideas that the students have is trying to find a way to really advertise and incentivize people to move to Hollis and really trying to target those people who may work remotely.

Hollis leader Hannah Chris says the class is taught her so much about the different ways you can help.

So our leadership class is six and eighth grade boys and girls who were trying to become leaders of Hollis and how we benefit the community and the help with economic development in our town.

Today's agenda started with an appetizer of the tour of the building, learning about art, history, and a quick lesson on how our state government works.

But the main course was hearing from the folks who do this job, daily.

It is possible.

It doesn't matter where you're from.

Dedicated people like our Secretary of Agriculture, Blaine Arthur, who put into perspective just how important civics and agriculture are to everyone.

Secretary Arthur's experiences like this one are invaluable.

They start asking questions about, are you passing a bill that impacts me?

Do I maybe want to be a legislator?

Do I want to come with a group and talk about what's important to us in education or athletics or transportation?

So I think just the exposure to it is tremendous.

Especially students from areas that are a little further away from Oklahoma City, and especially from a rural area.

I think that makes them realize that people care about what happens in their hometown and what to make good decisions for them.

So our goal with bringing the students to the Capitol today is to help them to see that they're not forgotten about in Hollis, that the people they elect to represent them here in Oklahoma City really do care about the issues and the problems and challenges that they see in their community.

And if anyone could get that message across, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt would be the one to do it.

I didn't know any governor.

My parents weren't rich or they'd come from a political family.

And Hannah says this program is made learning.

Well, fun.

It's fun to get to go and do these things where we get to learn more about our state.

And it's fun to learn more about our community in town and just get to help.

It's fun to be a part of getting to help our community be better.

And I think that's one of the things the students are taking back.

Just conversations that I've heard as we've eaten meals or been on the bus is honestly coming to Oklahoma City coming to the Capitol has given them an even stronger appreciation for where they come from.

And who knows maybe one of these young minds was sparked today in a calling for civic duty was found.

Is there ever been to Hollis?

I have been to Hollis, stayed in a little motel, right?

But if not, a little learning can go a long way.

In Oklahoma County, on Curtis Hair.

Perfect.

Now to a story about the importance of introducing kids to agriculture.

It's tough to tell what's more fun today, the Mini Mesonet Weather Station demo.

It's called a tipping ring day.

Were the calving simulator-- --or maybe it's the baby ghost, chickens, cabs, and a horse just to name a few.

Welcome to the Agri Kids event.

Part of career day at Millwood Elementary School in Oklahoma City.

They're getting a glimpse of the variety that is agriculture, whether it's through livestock production ag or seeing some more hands-on activities for our indoor portion.

Hands-on learning about agriculture, the brainchild of Dr. Courtney Brown, OSU Extension Ag Leadership Specialist.

But then my experience as well as research shows that if we're not getting this programming in front of the kids early, then they aren't going to make the natural connection.

So in my mind, it's just a really great way to expand our advocacy efforts with agriculture and also get some kids involved that could see agriculture as another potential opportunity.

In-person connections with experts from Oklahoma State University and Langston University, opening eyes about career possibilities and where food comes from.

For each educator, Mindy Eragon translates the science to the day-to-day.

And of course, these cute, soft baby chicks bring it full circle.

A lot to see, a lot to do, and a lot to take in.

But that's the point.

We have goats, we have cows, we have sheep, and we have horses.

We're just trying to give the kids a wide spectrum of-- you know the different type of animals we have.

Agriculture is important for students for the simple fact, like every day life depends on agriculture.

You have farming, we have the horses, the livestock, just every day life revolves around different aspects of agriculture.

Farming and ranching realities like the simulated birth of a calf in a setting designed for fun.

We'll steady pressure.

Well, for the best part, most of these kids today have never seen an animal actually have a baby.

So it's kind of fun to see their reaction.

Most of them are pretty squirmish about it.

So hopefully we're dead south in here.

That brings them a little bit close to the agriculture.

And it appears they are judging by the smiles, giggles, and lots of questions and comments.

The station where they tell you about where peanut butter and jelly comes from, and where how they make the bread and the wheat, and how the whole process is.

So that has to be more than my favorite.

I love peanut butter and jelly.

And I actually never knew where it really comes from, and the process of how it's made.

And I never knew how bread was actually made, and the wheat, and all this stuff that's inside of it.

Having the information in front of individuals, so they can make those informed decisions.

It's really important.

And I feel it's really important for us as agriculturalists to take on that responsibility to go into spaces that don't have that continuous connection to the producer or to the companies.

Loads of curiosity combined with real connections leave a lasting impression.

I'm just here facilitating, but they're making the magic happen for the kids.

And that's what it's all about.

We want to tell you about a couple of OSU agriculture field days coming up that you might want to register for.

The first is the peanut and cotton field day on September 12th, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Cato Research Station in Port CAH.

Peanut blasting will start at 2.30 p.m. and other topics that will be covered include weed management, harvest aids in cotton, peanut varieties, soil fertility, and irrigation management.

You can find a link to registration, which is free, on our website at sunup.okstate.edu.

The next field day is coming up on September 18th, from 8.30 to noon at the OSU Turfgrass Research Center, the Turf and Landscape Field Day.

Topics include a review of the current findings of national research trials, summer survival of cool season for annual grasses, introduction to new research initiated in 2023, Turf Pest and Disease Management, and a continued look at non-traditional turf-type plant materials.

You can also register for this field day on our website sunup.okstate.edu.

Even though summer-like temperatures will probably stick around a while longer, those with a wood stove or fireplace are starting to think about getting prepared for winter.

For some information, here's our OSU Extension Forestry Specialist, Dr. Ryan DeSantis.

Summer time is a good time to start thinking about firewood.

Firewood's not the primary heat source for most Oklahoma households.

About 2% of Oklahoma households use firewood as the primary heat source, but a lot of people use it in their backyard, in their fire pit, and for other purposes.

When you're thinking about processing firewood, it's good to think about trying to get it down to a diameter of at the most 5 inches and a length of 12 to 16 inches at the most.

This helps fill it into your fireplace.

It also helps you make sure you have a low enough moisture content, so it's easier to burn the wood and you get a higher heat value.

When you think about the moisture content of your firewood, it's important to think about the process of combustion.

The first part of that is really removing the water from the wood.

So basically, the less water content in the wood, the lower the moisture content, the easier it is for that firewood to combust and provide heat.

So part of the process for firewood production is drying it.

People refer to this at first when you buy firewood as green firewood, when it's still wet or when it's first cut down.

Eventually, you want to make sure your firewood is processed and dried.

You can stack it.

You can also dry it before stacking it, but it's important to remember to have your firewood dry before burning it.

When you're burning firewood, the wetter the firewood is the more smoke you're going to get, the less pleasant it's going to be.

It's also, like I mentioned, it's going to be harder to combust.

So a lot of the preheating process when you're trying to get the fire started is really just trying to remove water from the firewood.

So the most efficient way to burn the wood is to try to remove the water first by drying it.

That can be done setting it outside, making sure it gets plenty of sunlight.

The way that you stack it, make sure that there's plenty of air circulating around it on all sides.

So the smaller the piece of wood, generally the lower the moisture content under comparable conditions.

So here's two pieces of firewood.

The smaller piece here is really an ideal size for firewood.

Less than five inches diameter.

Less than 12 to 16 inches in lengths.

This is going to be a lot easier to combust and it's going to provide heat faster than this other piece.

Now this piece of firewood, you probably, if you can, want to chop this up into smaller pieces so that you can get this combusting faster and providing heat faster so you can burn more efficiently.

Another important consideration when you're burning firewood is creosote management.

So basically you want to keep your chimney clean.

You want to make sure you're sweeping it.

And before you even burn, you want to make sure that you're burning wood without any kind of additives, any treatment to the wood.

You want to make sure you're burning the right species of wood.

And you want to make sure you're burning wood that's been properly dried.

So in Oklahoma, we have a really wide range of species of specific gravities.

And when I say specific gravity, what I'm really talking about is the density of the wood.

Wood density is really related to how much cell wall material is in the wood that you're burning.

Basically the higher the density of the wood, the more cell wall material, it's also going to be harder to dry out that kind of wood.

As an example, a bowdark or osage orange is a species that has a really high density, really high specific gravity.

It also produces the highest heat content or heat value of any wood that's native to Oklahoma.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Eastern Red Cedar, which is the least dense wood that's native to Oklahoma.

It also produces the least amount of recoverable heat value when you burn it.

So think about species and size when you're picking species.

If you have a choice, a species like Cedar or even cottonwood, our species that are going to burn and not provide as much heat as something like a hardwood, we'll be providing more information on firewood in the future.

But for now, go to the Sun Up website for more information.

[Music] Good morning, Oklahoma and welcome to CACAF Corner.

This week we follow up talking about BQA.

I recently had the opportunity to go to an in-service extension program here at OSU, learned a lot about the positive impacts of beef quality assurance and some of the impacts is having on consumer perception of how beef cattle get raised for producing food.

Did you know that consumer surveyed ranked farmers and ranchers as the most trustworthy source of information about how cattle get raised for food?

When we survey consumers, we actually find that 71% say they give thought to how cattle are raised in the process of producing beef, but only 26% feel like they have much knowledge about how this process works.

The positive about BQA is that once exposed to information about beef quality assurance, consumers perception of how beef cattle get raised for food goes up dramatically.

As well, if we look at the latest version or show that latest version of beef, it's what for dinner adds to consumers, it also dramatically increases their perception of how we raise beef cattle for food.

All this information is collected out of research done by the National Cattleman's Beef Association funded by beef check-off dollars.

Another thing that we learn as a result of this, most of us in the beef industry aren't that comfortable in trying to tell our message to consumers, but the message comes through loud and clear.

If we are willing to get BQA certified, it is the equivalent of standing at the retail display case in the grocery store and saying, "Enjoy a tender juicy flavorful steak tonight."

You know it's wholesome, you know it's safe, and you know it is nutrient dense.

Get BQA certified.

It's a positive and good news story for our industry and the best thing we can do to show transparency in the process and ensure that consumers have faith in the beef industry and all the segments that result in beef.

Thanks for joining us on CowCalf Corner.

Finally, today a very special story about wheat harvest and returning home.

Sunup"s Elizabeth Hokeh is with her family in Kinkishar County.

Rain.

A blessing for 51 weeks of the year, but that 52nd week, it can be quite the new sense.

And it wouldn't be an Oklahoma wheat harvest if it wasn't doing the exact opposite of what wheat producers like Frank Post-Pascial wanted to.

We've got chances of rain coming off and on and luckily we've kind of missed a few showers around and so we're looking for maybe some sunny days and a little bit of wind to dry things out.

The humidity in the moisture has not been favorable to combining conditions.

You never drive about rain, but this time of year if you're a wheat farmer, you don't want to see a whole lot of it.

With storm clouds looming over the fields, it's hard to forget the effects it's had on the past few years.

You know, we had a lot of 57, 58 pound wheat last year.

Not very much of it.

We've had a couple bad years.

It was not very good yield in a bad drought last year plus some hail.

Drought in hail seems like the wheat and the weather don't ever get along too well, but maybe this year they'll forget their differences.

There's reports of anywhere from 30 to 75, 78 bush of wheat already.

And there is some good wheat in the county, depending upon exactly where the field was located and if you was under the right rain cloud.

If you're under the right rain cloud, but if you're not, you're going to need a lot more help to beat the rain.

I got a nephew and his wife and two daughters and a couple of part time guys that come out after work and help me.

So yeah, kind of a skeleton crew.

For Frank's nephew, Brad Hockett, wheat harvest has come to be his summer vacation.

Yeah, this is my vacation.

I take time off of my regular job to come out here for a week or two to help Frank.

I run a combine, work on combines, trucks, maintenance, service things.

I'm going to steal you back in and check it.

Help is hard.

I mean, even in today's time period, to find people that can operate a machine, drive a tractor and a grain car and then transport this to the elevator.

Well, when you put all that together, it takes a lot of help to get all of it done.

They've got to have help.

We have good weather.

We can get through and you know, 10 days, maybe two weeks.

All hands on deck or combine rather.

That's where I come in.

I've been coming to help with wheat harvest for as long as I can remember.

Frank, he's my great uncle and Brad.

Can you hand me that five eights?

Well, that's my dad.

It was 1080.

Before I was able to run the combine by myself, I was the steering wheel operator.

Then when I was about 14 years old, I got a promotion.

My dad grew up coming out here and decided to give me and my sister the same opportunity.

I didn't grow up on the farm, but my grandparents had the farm and I spent all my summers out here.

I started getting to run equipment when I was probably about 14 and pretty much been helping every year, at least during wheat harvest because that's when they need the most help.

I don't give up in harvesting all my life.

Yeah, so 50 some years.

You don't really get these kinds of opportunities unless you grew up on a farm.

And what does that kind of opportunity mean?

Well, I think my dad sums it up best.

I felt privileged to build, have the opportunity to be on the farm and to learn what it takes to farm and to produce the food that we eat.

And I just wanted to give that same opportunity to my kids to get an idea of what that was.

An opportunity that will not be soon forgotten.

A family of four piling in a 1480 international harvester.

A little girl learning to drive that very same combine.

Trips to the elevator with dad.

Get any responsibility of more steering wheels.

And some slightly more questionable things.

Like I said earlier, unless you grew up on a farm, you probably don't have these kinds of memories.

But I didn't grow up on a farm.

I grew up in the city limits two and a half hours away from here.

And looking back, I thank God for these experiences because without them, I wouldn't be where I'm at today.

In Kingfisher County, I'm Elizabeth Hockett.

[Music] Thanks so much for joining us for Sun Up this week.

A reminder you can see us anytime in our website and also stream us anytime on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/sunuptv.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

Have a great week, everyone.

Remember Oklahoma agriculture starts at Sun Up.

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