(lively music) - Hello everyone and welcome to sunup.

I'm Lyell Stout.

Wheat Planting season has arrived.

Welcome rains and an improving drought picture means that things are a little easier than they were this time last year, for now at least.

Dr. Amanda Silva, our OSU extension small grain specialist gets us up to speed.

- Yeah, so it's that time of the year where we are all getting ready for planting.

Of course, conditions were really rough so very hot, very dry.

So we haven't seen many drills around out yet, but that's gonna change after the latest rains we received.

So we'll probably start planting our forage trials, our dual purpose plots next week.

And with the moisture, just to take advantage of the moisture.

And actually this is mid, mid-September is the optimal timing for planting dual purpose wheat.

So that is the time of the year where we can maximize forage production while also minimizing yield losses from planting too early.

One of the issues that usually we are afraid in this conditions is that we have enough moisture for that we seed to germinate, but we don't receive enough rain later on to sustain that seedling growth.

So that's always something on our mind.

And so there is also concerns about should I, in some conditions, should I dust it in?

Should I plant deeper to get that soil moisture?

So that will depend on a lot of factors and it is on a farm by farm decision.

I usually prefer to keep that planting date on the optimal time.

So we try to plant the wheat during the optimal time.

And so last year, for example, we dusted in a lot of wheat, but then conditions were really rough.

We never received any rain in the fall and the forage situation was what we all know about, it was really low.

So hopefully this year it seems like with the forecast that hopefully we'll get a little bit more moisture.

I'm hoping that we'll have a little better fall for our forage production.

So a few things for producers to have in mind is just right now it's a good time for soil sampling to know what is the fertility situation in each field before actually doing that.

Nutrient management, controlling volunteer wheat.

So making sure you plant wheat on a completely brown dead volunteer wheat to prevent any issues with future diseases.

So wheat chromite, and then later on with streak mosaic viruses infestations.

We haven't heard issues with fall armyworms, so, but it's always good to keep your eyes out, and yeah.

So let's look for the conditions.

Like I mentioned before, that will be on a farm by farm case or basis for decisions, but hopefully it will have a better fall this year.

If producers are interested in seeing variety differences not only in yield and protein, but also forage, we have all results posted on our website.

We have also included some results that we have on the difference in seed size among varieties that we have in the variety trials.

So all that information is posted on the website and available to everybody.

So grain yield, protein, test weight, and also forage production, and first hollow stem.

So, so they can see the differences that we have among varieties.

(country guitar music) - Hi, Wesley here with the Mesonet Weather Report.

Wow, what a difference a week makes with Oklahoma weather.

We went from very dry soils in 100 plus temperatures two weeks ago to widespread rain and temperatures below normal this past week.

Early week rains were seen at all 120 Mesonet sites.

The Oklahoma Wheat Belt was especially blessed as you can see on this five day map from midweek.

All the green areas on the map had received one inch or more of rain.

Additional rains were expected to add to this by the end of the week.

This had a very positive impact on the shallow soil moisture for this critical fall planning season.

In the northwest, dark green ones are seen on this four inch fractional water index map.

This indicates a soil sensor reading as wet as it possibly can.

Along with the rain came very pleasant cooler temperatures.

From a very hot start of the month, we are now seeing high temperatures that were at least 10 degrees below normal midweek.

On Tuesday, the highest struggled to get out of the seventies for all areas except in the far southeast.

The good news is that these more seasonal temperatures may continue for a while.

The forecast for next week shows a little warming, but with temperatures near the normal 85 degrees for this time of year.

Now here's Gary with some improvements on the drought map.

- Thanks Wes, and good morning everyone.

Well, the cooler and wetter weather that Wes talked about, certainly a boon to Oklahoma's farmers and ranchers.

Did it help the new drought monitoring map?

Let's take a look.

Unfortunately not for this map.

Now remember, we can only accept the rainfall through Tuesday morning for the current week's map.

So any rain that fell after that.

- We can't expect until next week's map.

But even then, the rains that fell this week were mostly up in northwest Oklahoma where drought wasn't really a problem.

But let's take a look at that newest map.

We do see the southwestern half the state still experiencing that flash drought situation, actually a little bit worse than what it was last week.

Little bit more of that extreme to severe drought moving a little bit farther north, as well.

And even up in north central Oklahoma, we still have that long-term drought.

So, the drought map needs a lot more help.

Hopefully we got a little bit of that more, a little bit more of that rain this week.

Let's take a look at that rainfall.

This is from the 60-day rainfall.

This is through Wednesday, so we might have gotten some rain after that, but still this shows the problem with that flash drought situation where the rainfall amounts generally from about an inch to maybe two and a half inches at the most.

So, that's the area that we're concerned with.

Hopefully they got more rain, but still, we need a lot more to impact that drought monitor map.

It shows up even better on the departure from normal rainfall map from the last 60 days, again through Wednesday.

But even if we did get more rain, unfortunately, the deficits are from two to three to as many as six inches.

So, even one or two inches of rainfall aren't going to impact deficits of five to six inches as much.

Certainly a help, but we definitely need a lot more.

And of course, that shows up even better on the percent of normal rainfall map.

Considering the time of the year, it is our secondary rainy season here in the fall, so as we go back through those 60 days we're some cases less than 25% of normal and in some cases less than 10% of normal.

And in fact, south central Oklahoma, you go back past this past 60 days, this is the driest such period in at least the last 100 years.

So, definitely some problems going on across southwestern and especially south central Oklahoma.

Okay, so I hope we got some more rain and hopefully have a better map to present to you next week.

But again, even if we got some decent rainfall amounts, we do need more to get completely outta drought.

That's it for this time.

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

(lively music) - Heading back out now to the recent Panhandle Crops Field Day to learn about insect pressure in that part of the state.

Here's Sunup's Curtis Hare with OSU entomologist, Dr. Kris Giles.

- We're back here at the McCall Research Station with our OSU Entomologist, Dr. Kris Giles and Kris, so what are you talking about at the field day today?

- I'm talking about mites in corn and that's been a perennial issue and on a regular basis, producers are having to deal with that and make application of pesticides to protect their corn.

But this year, the numbers are a lot less and so we're able to monitor before making decisions.

- So why are numbers less than they would usually be?

- I think the rainfall.

There's been a little bit more rainfall recently, a little bit more moisture, even though that's gonna disappear.

So they're gonna have to look out for it.

So, a slower developing population of mites, but they're starting to move in, they're starting to increase and so people are really gonna have to pay attention to this.

- Yeah, and here you just spoke a little bit earlier and you were definitely one of the most popular speakers.

It sounded like you had a lot of questions thrown your way.

So what were some questions that you were receiving?

- I think the questions are what pesticides to use and we can look at OSU extension fact sheets for that information, but also when to treat to prevent these mites from getting into the ears, 'cause that's really the most critical part.

They can be on the lower plants, they can be on the leaves not causing much damage.

When they get in the ears, that's a real issue.

So preventing that is the key.

And some of the producers, we had a nice discussion about how we would prevent that and making sure that doesn't happen.

- So what are some tips that you're giving?

- Oh, the tips are really monitoring the populations early on, but also really paying attention to the natural enemies, some of the predators that eat these mites.

There's other mites, there's lady beetles, there's lace wings, a whole suite of natural enemies that do a great job of keeping populations low.

And these producers who are talking to each other about monitoring both and making sure that we're keeping track 'cause we wanna preserve those natural enemies for the rest of the pests that are out there.

- Yeah, 'cause sometimes you might look out there and you might see a ladybug and think, "Ah, that might be an issue actually."

But in reality it's actually trying to keep those mites down.

- Yeah, and they do a nice job if their numbers are high enough.

But at some point in time when it becomes too hot and too dry and those natural enemies are not out there, the mites really have to be taken care of.

- So, in a place like out here in the panhandle, what are some different types of insect pressure that you might see out here comparatively to like what you might see in central Oklahoma?

- Yeah, so I think mites in corn would be a big issue, but also the sorghum aphid is just starting to build up a little bit in this part of the country.

On late planted-sorghum, still vulnerable, we're seeing those sorghum aphids just starting.

But again, the same natural enemies that attack mites attack those.

We're trying to pay attention to both and make decisions about that.

- All righty, thanks Kris.

Dr. Kris Giles, OSU Entomologist here at Oklahoma State University.

(lively music) - Dr. Derrell Peel, our livestock marketing specialist is here, Derrell, the fall calf marketing season is right around the corner.

What are you seeing as we head into fall?

- Yeah, it's the time of year.

We expect to see that fall run start here and we get through September and into October.

Seasonally we expect larger volumes of calves but of course, cattle numbers are down this year.

Auction volumes in Oklahoma are running about 10% down this year, actually quite a bit more than that, over 20% down since the middle of the year.

So I expect to see a smaller calf run even though we may go up on a week to week basis a little bit, but I think overall, it'll be a smaller calf run this fall.

- With that in mind, are we expected to see some of our typical patterns when it comes to prices?

- Well, you know, we haven't seen seasonal patterns all year, really.

We've had a tremendous run up in prices.

Calf prices of course, typically peak in the spring and they go lower in the second half of the year to a fall low in that calf run in October typically.

We haven't seen any decrease in prices really through the summer, kind of flattened out.

But the bottom line is I really don't expect to see much seasonal weakness in these prices.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see them actually move higher from here to the end of the year.

- What about cold cow markets?

- Cold cow markets, a similar story in many ways.

Obviously, numbers are down.

Again, volumes, particularly in the last few weeks of cold cows in Oklahoma auctions have been down significantly.

The prices are high because numbers are down and not only that, the market for lean beef, processing beef, that comes from those cold cows is very strong right now.

So again, I don't know that I expect to see much seasonal weakness in these cold cow prices in the fall of the year.

- As we know, it's wheat planting time, always an exciting time of year.

What are the prospects in terms of wheat pasture this fall?

- Well, from a production standpoint, we've kind of had some ups and downs.

We had rain earlier, good subsoil, moisture, then we got terribly hot and dry in late August, early September.

Now we're getting some moisture again in some critical areas in the state.

So I think there's some prospects for it from that standpoint.

USDA actually said recently that we're slightly ahead of our planning progress for wheat in Oklahoma.

About 10% so far, and it's normally about 5% at this point in the fall.

That said, if we can get some wheat pasture, I think from a market standpoint, there will be some producers interested in wheat stalkers this fall.

Now, obviously prices are very high and the margins are a little tricky, so I guess my best advice is just to pencil carefully.

It looks to me like when you take into account the future's market and possibilities for locking in some margin, that there is some potential there.

But I think it's gonna be a little bit tricky and it requires some pretty careful evaluation.

- It gives us lots to talk about, right?

- Absolutely.

- All right, Derrell, thanks a lot.

We'll see you next time.

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

This is the time of year when we think about spring calving beef herds in Oklahoma that a lot of us are beginning to wean or we're gonna be weaning here in the next few weeks or next couple of months.

And weaning time when we think about it, is really the best day of the year to collect data in a cow calf operation.

Why do I say that?

Well, if we've got an ink pen or something to write with, a notepad to write down some records on, and we have lined up an adequate amount of help, the day that we wean is probably the one day of the year that we have got all of our beef inventory actually captured, caught in a corral, and available there where we could process it.

And that means that we could collect data on the weaning weight of calves, we can check the weight on our cow herd, we can actually preg check those cows, determine if they're pregnant, if they're open, what stage of pregnancy that they're actually at.

We can evaluate udders, eyes, temperament on the cow herd.

Depending on how long we've been documenting cow herd performance and how thorough our record keeping system is, and accordingly, what is the age of our cows?

We may evaluate mouths and teeth on those cows, the day we wean, and if we've not collected bulls and they're still out with cows we've even got the bulls available on that day to weigh and collect data on as well.

So weaning day is a day that we can not only practice herd health measures, vaccinate, we can collect a lot of other useful information that we can then in turn use to figure out what our cow herd's productivity is.

A beef cow is like a production factory in a cow calf operation.

She utilizes our soil, our pasture plants, she turns that into a calf hopefully, to wean every year.

All those input costs that we have tied up in that cow are going to determine our profit potential based on whether or not she yields a calf annually that is more valuable than the actual expense of those inputs.

A lot of the good decisions we can make is gonna be based on those benchmarks of performance and what's going on on our cow herd.

It goes beyond just looking at the percentage of our exposed females that actually got bred and how many of 'em actually ended up calving.

But how many of those calves that were born survived a weaning?

And so holistically of all the beef females, we exposed.

- How many of those the next year actually weaned off a calf?

That's the first key to profit potential.

We wanna dig a little deeper.

We can take these records we collect at weaning, look at the average of our four- to seven-year-old cows and those weaning weights that we're taking on those calves.

And we can look at things relative to the entire cow herd as to what percentage of our cows' mature weight are they actually weaning off for us in the form of a marketable weaned calf.

Again, this and financial records are essential to the long-term profit potential.

We live in a beef market right now, as we think about the beef cycle, where it appears that markets are gonna be robust and very good for the years to come.

We wanna position ourselves to capture all that profit potentially we possibly can.

And the key to that is the collection of some information, and weaning day can be a bountiful day of that information if we line up the help, we've got adequate facilities, we've got the things we need to get it collected.

We can get a lot of useful information there to help us long-term.

Thanks for joining us on Cow-Calf Corner.

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

Kim, the latest supply and demand report is out.

Any surprises?

- I don't think there's any surprises.

There were some changes and you would always expect those changes.

Now, what's important in these reports aren't necessarily the numbers.

It's how those numbers match the market's expectations.

You look at wheat and compare it to, say, the August WASDE, there was no changes in US wheat situation.

They lowered both world production and world ending stocks, and that's significant.

World production is no longer a record.

So those about five years in a row records, we're breaking that.

But we're only about 100 million bushels below that record, so it could change.

You look at corn, they increased both US and world corn production and increased world ending stocks and US ending stocks.

You look at soybeans, they lowered both the production and ending stocks for both the US and world.

And cotton, again, they lowered the production and lowered ending stocks.

So some significant numbers.

The question is: Did the market expect it?

- Well, and that's the next question.

What was the impact on prices?

- If you look at price impacts, you'd think for wheat, there's a possibility for higher prices, and we saw that.

We saw about a 14-cent price increase the next day after the report.

Current price up to around $6.85.

You look at corn, that's negative, higher US production and ending stocks and world.

So we had corn price, they dropped off just a little bit for the next day.

Oh, somewhere down around $4.70 for 2023 delivered crop.

And if you look at soybeans, now, soybean numbers were positive with a lower production around the world and the US.

And prices fell off six, eight cents, which is nothing.

So soybeans, those estimate and those numbers were just right at expectations.

- Wheat planting is now underway in Oklahoma.

Of course, the rain has lifted spirits.

How's the market shaping up for 2024?

- Well, if you look at what is going on in planting that wheat crop, it was behind schedule.

I think we're gonna catch up relatively fast.

That rain is a blessing coming on to get this wheat in the market.

Again, you look at the prices for the July or the '24 harvest.

Relative to the current price, it fell off just a little bit.

You know, those prices were running relatively close together.

You got 6.85 in Pond Creek for current price.

You got 6.65 for '24 harvested wheat.

So it's still relatively good, but it backed off just a little bit.

- What's happening with the Russia-Ukrainian war?

- Well you look, that's gonna be a long-time war.

Ukraine is attacking the positions.

They are making some progress.

That progress is slow.

I think the big news is is that Russia is just put hundreds of thousands of landmines in that, they captured 20% of Ukraine's crop land.

And they've just inundated that with landmines.

Even if this war ended, you couldn't get in there and plant those crops and fill it.

You also look at Russian wheat exports, they're going relatively good.

They had record exports year-over-year, this year versus last year, of wheat.

Ukraine is having some problems getting their wheat out, but they are managing to get some out.

So it's just same old, same old.

However, it is still the thing the market's watching relative to price.

- And how are things shaping up for cotton?

- Well, cotton prices, they're, of the futures price, 84, 85 on that harvest contract.

Not much changes there.

You look at the WASDE report, they lowered production in both US and the world for cotton.

That's positive for prices.

I think the market was expecting that, and that the current numbers support that 80- to 83-cent harvest price for Oklahoma cotton.

- Okay, Kim, lots of great information.

We'll see you next week.

The recent widespread rains coming after weeks of hot and dry temperatures mean there could be some dangers for grazing cattle right now.

OSU Extension beef cattle specialist, Dr. Rosslyn Biggs, tells us what to look out for.

- We've received reports last week that a number of cattle producers were running into issues, in particular, with Johnson grass, which we've got some here behind us.

- And losing cattle from eating Johnsongrass.

We've got a couple of issues we worry about with Johnsongrass, and really we wanna make sure that we get really anything in that Sudan family.

So grazing Sudan puts us in that category too.

You wanna know, first and foremost, what's in your pasture, what's in your hay, what are your cattle eating?

The biggest issue we're running into right now is that these cattle that we had deaths on were believed to be prussic acid, which is also known as cyanide.

When we have certain members of this Sudan family, and they become stressed, particularly in drought conditions, they've got...

They produce a compound that when that plant is damaged then turns itself into cyanide.

It important to recognize that for when we're dealing with cattle deaths, we can have a number of different toxins that can give us problems.

With Johnsongrass, we can see nitrates as well.

And so producers really need to be aware that we need to do some testing on both our pastures, know what's there.

And then also any time we're dealing with hay, we wanna make sure we're testing those hays as well.

Producers need to get in connection with their local county extension educator as well as their veterinarian.

And OSU has laboratories that can do quantitative testing where we can know, you know, how much exactly is in that plant.

But there's also a field test that can be done on site.

But it's a little tricky, so we wanna make sure that it is being performed correctly.

Otherwise, it may give us a false sense of security.

You know, Johnsongrass is really everywhere.

It's in pastures, it's along the side of the road, it's in the bar ditches.

And so, and it doesn't really take all that much to impact a cow once she eats that.

It's usually gonna be a sudden death.

We will note with prussic acid, with cyanide, related to these kind of toxins, when we draw blood on those animals, it is bright cherry red because that's what the cyanide is doing is keeping the oxygen moving into the cells and the tissues.

In particular, the treatments for both of these type of toxins need to be administered quickly.

They need to be administered into the bloodstream, which many may not feel comfortable with.

Additionally, the antidotes to both of these toxins, it have become harder and harder to get our hands on.

And so we wanna be prepared in advance.

It's important to note too that this is a condition that can impact all ruminants.

So sheep and goats, we can see problems with potentially too.

Horses, for some reason, seem to be more tolerant of grazing Johnsongrass than others.

You know, trying to get rid of Johnsongrass is harder than one would like.

And so we wanna manage those pastures and talk to our local county extension educators about options of managing our pastures really at all times from all kinds of toxic plants.

(upbeat country music) - And that'll do it for our show this week.

A reminder, you can see "SUNUP" anytime at sunup.okstate.edu.

And also follow us on YouTube and social media.

I'm Lyndall Stout.

Have a great week, everyone.

And remember, Oklahoma agriculture starts at "SUNUP."

(upbeat country music) (soft guitar playing)