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Transcript for June 29, 2019
Transcript to come.
This show includes the following segments:
- New technology helps measure feed efficiency
- Cow-Calf Corner
- Insects & summer crops
- Fireworks safety tips
- Mesonet Weather
- Hydroponics & forage
- Market Monitor
- Food Whys
(upbeat, happy guitar music)
New technology helps measure feed efficiency
>>> Good morning and welcome to SUNUP, I'm Dave Deken,
and this morning on the show, we're gonna start out here
at the north range and Dave, we're doing so
because we're gonna dispel some old wives' tales
of cattle production.
>>> We might do that, for sure. [Dave D. Laughs]
So yeah, we've got an interesting project going out here.
Few, I don't remember now how long it's been,
but a few years ago, we talked about a super cow.
>>> [Dave D.] Yeah, I remember.
>>> That's kind of what we're trying to figure out here.
>>> [Dave D.] How are you doing that with the research
that you're conducting?
>>> So in the previous episode, we defined
that cow as efficient, basically
from her record, her production record.
The piece we didn't have
on that super cow was, how much does she eat?
Now, if we assume that the cows on this project are adequate
or really good from a reproductive standpoint, we're trying
to figure out if there's any opportunity
to increase or improve beef cattle production
with an efficient cow that's efficient
in terms of forage use efficiency.
Thanks to a forward-thinking alumni,
they provided some funding
to help us install this more technical equipment
that measures individual feed intake,
and, in this study, we're providing them
all the feed they want.
So we're trying to see, given a pasture
with lots of grass, it's an indicator
of how much feed those cows would consume
on a daily basis.
So, we pulled out two cows
that we thought would be interesting
just as a example—
>>> [Dave D.] Right.
>>> Of what we're trying to accomplish and the opportunity
that we may have, going forward.
So, these two cows are very, I'd say, similar
in their production record.
One cow, let's see, the cow on the left,
she's a little bit smaller, okay?
She weighs about 80 pounds less, on average,
than the cow on the right.
This cow on the right is about a 1,170 pound cow.
She weighs about 1,080, sorry, 1,180.
So she's about, oh, depending on the day,
80, 90, 100 pounds sometimes, lighter.
>>> [Dave D.] Right.
>>> Which one would you think would eat less forage?
>>> [Dave D.] Oh, boy. (Dave L. Laughs)
Yeah, that's a tough question.
>>> The smaller cow—
>>> Right.
>>> You would think, right?
>>> Yeah.
>>> Well, it turns out she's kind of a big eater,
according to our data so far.
She's consuming 33 pounds on a daily basis, the 4002 cow,
the smaller cow.
>>> [Dave D.] Okay.
>>> [Dave L.] This cow over here on the right
is consuming 13.3 pounds less every day
and she's 100 pounds heavier.
So, you can't tell by looking,
and that's what makes it fascinating,
but it looks like there's a lot of opportunity for progress.
>>> [Dave D.] Well, and that's one question I was gonna ask
was, what is the possibility of measuring full efficiency
of the cow moving forward?
>>> I mean, that would be ideal.
Hopefully, what we can do is find cows that, rank cows
for feed intake, forage intake in particular.
Low-quality forage intake,
or moderate-quality forage intake,
where a commercial cow has to make her living.
>>> [Dave D.] Right.
>>> Right?
And so, if we can rank cows in groups,
in contemporary groups for that trait, we can make a lot
of progress on that characteristics.
And then, of course, there's always gonna be
the other criteria you'd like to sort for,
and fertility being number one.
But, there looks like there is a tremendous amount
of opportunity to accomplish that.
>>> [Dave D.] Okay, thank you very much, Dave Lalman,
Beef Cattle Specialist here at Oklahoma State University.
(happy guitar music)
Cow-Calf Corner
>>> Summer's a very busy time out on most Oklahoma ranches,
especially once haying season gets under way.
One of the chores that we can't just let fall
through the cracks, because we're so busy
in summertime, is checking to make sure
that the cows are getting the mineral intake
that they need out on the summer pastures.
Checking these mineral feeders
on at least a weekly basis, I think, is very critical.
It's especially important if you
and your veterinarian have agreed that you need
to put out a medicated mineral.
One that might be helping prevent anaplasmosis
or some other disease malady that they're trying to prevent.
And of course, we wanna remind you that, if you're using
any kind of a medicated mineral, you and your veterinarian
have to agree on what's called a Veterinary Feed Directive.
And you'll fill that out and have that in place
for wherever you purchase medicated mineral or feed.
Now these mineral feeders, the location of them,
I think is really important so that you make sure
the cattle get access on a regular basis
to the minerals that you're providing for them,
placing them in those areas where cattle are most likely
to lounge and spend a lot of time.
Such things as around the watering source, in shady areas.
Any place that you see the cattle that congregate
and spend a lot of time in that area is a good place
to place your mineral feeders.
How many mineral feeders should you put out?
Well the general recommendation is that you have
at least one feeder for about every 30 cows
or every 30 pairs.
And certainly, don't go past about 50 as a maximum
in order to get the kind of intake
of the mineral that you desire.
I suggest that you download an Extension Bulletin.
It's E-861.
It's Feeding of Vitamins and Minerals to Grazing Cattle.
Has a lot of great information about which minerals
match up with different situations as far as the forages
that we have here in Oklahoma.
There's another piece of software that's available
through the OSU Extension Service.
It's called an Mineral Intake Calculator that'll help you
outline how much mineral is going into these feeders
each week compared to how many cattle are in that pasture,
so that you can calculate whether you're getting
the actual intake that you think they need.
I think if you'll do the simple preparation
of watching these mineral feeders throughout the course
of the summer, making sure that you have
fresh, dry mineral available to those cattle
in those areas where they're most likely to achieve it,
then you'll get the mineral intake that you want
and have a more successful cattle nutrition situation
going through this summer and fall.
Hey, we look forward to visiting with you again next week
on SUNUP's Cow-Calf Corner.
(upbeat music)
Insects & summer crops
>>> Well all this rain that we've gotten has been great
for flies and mosquitoes, but Tom, how's the rain impacted
some of the crop pests that we have for our summer crops?
>>> Well, time will tell.
I'm seeing a little bit of activity right now in these crops
with fall armyworm which tends to like corn and sorghum
at this growth stage.
Everything's planted later, so we might see some
just different things happening with some of these insects
that we might normally expect to see at a certain time.
You know, we've had a lot of rain, and it's always
kind of hard to figure out whether we're gonna have certain,
if it impacts certain insects or not.
But, we're starting to get those southern winds coming up,
and I'm expecting to see things like fall armyworm come in
and be an issue later on.
Maybe a sugar cane aphid come into sorghum later on.
Later on this year, we're gonna be really trying
to survey soybean around the state
to see what's going on with stinkbugs.
According to Josh Lofton and other reports,
they seem to be increasing a little bit in their activity.
But we typically see them cause more damage later on
in the growing season when they're starting to set pods.
>>> You and your team have some great events coming up
that you're gonna be, to use to kind of
study these problems.
Talk a little bit about that.
>>> Well one of 'em is we're going to be introducing
a scouting system for sugarcane aphid this year.
So we wanna start bringing it out to the producers
and let them use it.
It's a really fast, rapid way to gauge whether
you need to treat for sugarcane aphid for not.
>>> You mentioned fall armyworm and you can actually
see some damage right here.
>>> Absolutely.
>>> So let's just kind of go over an overview
of how you can scout and what are some signs
that you might have a fall armyworm problem?
>>> Well a lot of people are gonna get concerned
when they see something like this, because it looks bad.
This isn't necessarily the time that you need
to worry about fall armyworm or headworms in the whirl,
because they aren't really causing that much yield loss.
When the head comes out and they start feeding
on the seeds, the critical things for headworms
is that you catch 'em at the right growth stage,
when they're small, so that you can get effective control.
>>> Now Tom, you also have a trap that's a great tool
to use to see when flights are coming in, and the time
when producers might need to start thinking
about controlling them.
>>> Yeah, the key to fall armyworm is that they don't
overwinter in Oklahoma, so we see flights coming in
from Texas and the Gulf Coast and places like that.
So we have a trap that is baited with a scent
that attracts males, and we can tell when those flights
are coming in.
Gives an early alert to producers
to be out watching for that insect.
The bottom is really sticky and gooey,
it's baited with a pheromone that attracts males.
They think there's a female in the trap,
they come in, they get stuck,
and that's the end.
But it lets us know
what kind of flight activity we're seeing
in any given time.
>>> All right, thanks Tom.
If you'd like some more information
on Summer crop pests and Fall army worm,
go to our website, sunup.okstate.edu.
(upbeat contemporary music)
Fireworks safety tips
>>> With the 4th of July coming up later this week,
a lot of us are gonna be out celebrating.
Oklahoma State University Extension Fire Ecologist,
John Weir, has some tips to help us stay safe
around the fireworks.
>>> People shooting fireworks,
and you try to determine what the wind direction is,
where the embers, where the fireworks are gonna go,
and make sure it's not something that flammable
down range or down wind from that source.
Maybe you may need to mow,
reduce some of that fuel down.
You may need to put some kind of
fire bricks in around some of 'em if possibility,
if you're really concerned about stuff.
But the most often, people shooting fireworks
get into an area that is nonflammable,
nothing else around it,
'cause again, a lot of those fireworks anymore,
they can go quite a ways,
embers can go quite a ways.
And especially if it's dry and windy,
it can be a big time problem.
Also, probably need some type of source of water,
some type of suppression,
something on site,
so that if something was to happen,
you can try to hop on it as quickly as you can.
(upbeat western music)
Mesonet Weather
>>> Welcome to the weekly Mesonet Weather Report.
I'm Wes Lee.
Parts of the West dried out a little this week,
allowing the wheat harvest to continue in full swing.
While rains in the East kept up
the seemingly endless wet conditions there.
Looking at a 30-day rainfall map from Wednesday,
we see just how much more rain has fallen in the East
compared to the West.
Let's focus on two stations
to illustrate this point further.
Miami in the East received 9.8",
Boise City in the West recorded only 2.82".
The soil moisture maps indicate the result.
Here is the average 4" percent plant available water
for the state on June 25th.
Boise City shows 9%, while Miami is near 100%.
Deeper in the soil, we see the same situation;
13% moisture at Boise City, and 99% at Miami.
Another way to look at this difference
is with a fractional water graph for each site.
At Miami, it has been wet near saturation
for the last 30 days.
At Boise City, it started out moist,
but due to less rainfall and a higher evaporation rates,
the soils are now nearing the dry end if the scale.
It would be great of the next rains targeted the West
and skip the wetter East.
Now, here's Gary, discussing Summer forecast.
>>> Thanks Wes, and good morning everyone.
I thought we might take a look at the rain this far in 2019.
Just for a little bit of perspective,
what's happened this far.
And also, take a look as we transform Summer into Fall.
Take a look at the Mesonet Rainfall Map
from start of the year, all the way through June 26.
Now we go from about 8"
out in the far Western Oklahoma panhandle,
all the way up to more than 45"
in far Northeastern Oklahoma.
And around 35 to 40" across much of Eastern Oklahoma.
So lots of rain everywhere, and we take a look at that
as the departure from normal for that same time frame,
we do see those massive surpluses as we go
from West-central up to Northeastern Oklahoma,
of course, covering much of North-central Oklahoma.
And then again, down in far Southeast Oklahoma.
Now, for the year thus far,
the far Western panhandle
is sitting right about normal.
So, that's a little bit shocking,
but, when we look at the overall statewide average,
we do see that it was the 4th wettest on record,
about 8" above normal.
Again, that is dominated though by those surpluses
from West-central up to Northeastern Oklahoma.
Now, let's take a look at the outlooks
for the July through September period.
These are from the Climate Prediction Center.
The temperature outlook shows increased odds
of below normal temperatures across virtually
the entire state, especially up in the Northwestern
and North-central Oklahoma.
Only the far Southeastern and far Western panhandle sections
are excluded.
About the same picture when we look
at the precipitation outlook.
Increased odds of above normal precipitation
across the entire state,
but especially across Northwestern and North-central
over into Northeastern Oklahoma.
We could definitely use a cooler than normal summer.
I'm not sure we want a wetter than normal summer
after all the rainfall we've had,
but we'll just have to see how it goes.
That's it for this time.
We'll see you next time on the Mesonet weather report.
Hydroponics & forage
>>> We're here with Oklahoma State floriculture professor,
Bruce Dunn, talking about hydroponics.
And Bruce, what exactly is hydroponics?
>>> So hydroponics differs than traditional production,
in that we're growing without soil.
So as the name indicates so,
hydro, meaning water, and ponics, meaning labor.
And so, basically it's just a system
of growing plants in water and nutrients.
The traditional kind of hydroponic system
uses just growing the plants in the water,
but you can add some substrates in there too, as well,
like this Hydroton or Perlite, for example,
in order to grow those crops.
>>> So, when we think about hydroponic serum,
when most people do, they're thinking
about growing fruits and vegetables,
but there's actually hydroponic systems
that can be utilized on the family farm
for their production purposes.
>>> Absolutely, so actually,
I was just recently
had a farmer that contacted me
that was interested in hydroponic fodder
production, which differs than just traditional
kind of vegetable hydroponic system
is that, for the vegetables,
we generally grow those out for maturity,
so something like lettuce that might
be something like about five to seven weeks.
But for other ones, like tomatoes, might be two months.
But in the fodder system here,
it's basically just growing sprouts,
so after about five to 10 days,
you're able to produce a fodder crop.
>>> So, what could that be utilized for?
Would be utilized for, like, forage purposes?
>>> Yeah, absolutely, so a lot of times they'll use it
to supplement, feed, specifically, or forage.
So a lot of times during the wintertime.
And you can use different crops in there,
so you can use wheat, rye, they'll even
use, like sorghum and maize, too,
in there, too, as well, but barley
is probably the number one seed
that they'll use for that system.
>>> So, how long does it take?
I mean, you mentioned five to seven days.
You put this in, you know, a week ago
and you're already starting
to get some sprouts coming up.
How long does it take before you're actually
ready to, and what goes into that,
actually, like, harvesting this?
>>> Right, so, it's a fairly simple process.
So, basically, we'll take seed
and, so, if we take one pound of seed,
we can inspect about seven pounds
of fodder back from that system.
So, we'll take seeds, soak it in a five-gallon
bucket for 24 hours just in water
and then the next day, we'll add either 1% bleach
or hydrogen peroxide into that system.
Then, that'll just kinda sterilize it
and make sure that we don't get any mold
to start developing in that system.
Generally, like I said, it's probably
about five days for something like wheat and rye.
For something like oats, it takes a lot longer.
About 10 days.
You can also use it to supplement,
as I mentioned before, something like chickens
and goats and you could even
use it for cattle, too, as well.
But it just depends on the system here
because there is that extra cost
associated with this system.
>>> Yeah, that was gonna be my next question.
Why this is a great option,
it could be a great option for everybody.
>>> Right, so, it depends completely on your system.
So, there's places where they found
that this system will actually
reduce cost by about 30%, but that's in areas
where there's limited water
and there's also high feed cost
to get forage or forage is not readily available.
>>> An you actually have a conference coming up
here in the next few weeks that can help producers
and people who aren't producers
learn more about hydroponics.
>>> Right, so, we do have one.
It's a Soilless Crop Production Conference.
It's gonna be held here on the campus
of Oklahoma State University and, so, basically,
the conference is on July 10.
It's gonna be an all-day conference.
So, we'll talk about growing different crops.
We'll talk about insects, disease is in there, too, as well.
Just kinda introduce what are some
of these different types of hydroponic systems.
>>> All right, thanks, Bruce.
If you'd like more information on the upcoming
Crops Conference, go to out website SUNUP.okstate.edu.
(upbeat music)
Market Monitor
>>> Well, the rain stopped for a while,
which means the Columbines are in the field across Oklahoma.
They're getting the crop cut and the Columbines
are starting to roll into Kansas as well.
Kim, what's happening with the wheat price?
>>> Well, if you look wheat prices,
go back to the first of the month in Oklahoma $4.75.
Stayed there about a week,
fell down to the 4.30 to 4.35 range,
watered around there a couple days,
then back up to 4.63 and now back down to 4.50.
In other words, we've got some volatility in this market.
And as you look prices and you look at the markets,
I think you've gotta look at the situation
where soft-red winter wheat prices are 65 cents
premium to hard-red winter prices.
You just don't see that very often and that kinda
tells you what's going on in the market.
>>> What's driving all of this volatility?
>>> Well, if you look at that, I think quality
in the hard-red winter wheat, our test weight's
a little lighter than we'd like,
but still good milling test weight.
The protein coming in reports 9% to 13%.
This time last year you had 10 to 14 or 15%,
probably averaging 11, maybe a little less than that,
so not the protein we'd like.
Export sales have been good,
but I think expectations are that
they're gonna lighten up a little bit.
I think you gotta take into consideration
that between 20 and 25 percent of the world's wheat
production for the 2019-20 marketing year
has already been harvested, and it's in the bin.
And you gotta consider what's going on
in the Black Sea area.
>>> We always do talk about the Black Sea.
What are we seeing right now?
>>> Well if you look at Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,
Kazakhstan's production probably a little bit below average.
Russia, it's running about 10% above last year.
The Ukraine, we don't talk much about Ukraine,
but their production is supposed to be up about 10% or 20%,
and overall in the Black Sea around 10%.
They're going into this marketing year with relatively tight
supplies, so where we got a 10% increase in production,
we're only looking at a little over 5% increase in exports.
They're controlling the market.
The last cargo that I got priced out on FOB was $5.33.
That's about $4 wheat Oklahoma.
>>> What does that 20 to 25% percent that has been harvested,
how is that impacting the markets?
>>> Well if you look at who it is, it's India,
they're one of the world's largest producers,
they've got a record crop, they're self-sufficient,
and they will export more wheat
this year than they normally do.
Pakistan, above average production.
Again, self-sufficient, their excess
they'll put on export market.
They'll have more to market this year.
Egypt, above average production.
The number one importer, which means
they're gonna import less wheat.
So I think that has a long-term impact
on our export potential.
I don't believe it's as good as it was last year.
>>> Recently you've been saying September's kind of
that hot-shot area that producers need to be looking for
to sell their wheat, are we still gonna lean towards that?
>>> I'm leaning towards that, because look at
what's going on in the Black Sea right now.
They're already harvesting but it's not coming in.
Their main crop comes in in that August time period,
it hits the market in late August and September for shipping
and as that Black Sea wheat comes on the market
they've got an advantage to us
both cost cost-wise and location-wise
and when theirs hits the market
our export demand goes lower and our price goes down.
I think the quality product is tight enough
so that if we lose Black Sea this year,
and there's a potential, not much, but a chance,
then we could see a three or four dollar increase in prices.
>>> Man, that'd be nice.
Kim Anderson, Grain Marketing Specialist
here at Oklahoma State University.
(upbeat music)
Food Whys
>>> If you're in the market for a frying pan,
there are many type available.
So today I thought I'd talk about
three options that are available,
their similarities, and their differences.
Everyone knows about and probably has a stainless steel pan.
They're lightweight, durable, rust resistant,
and don't require any special cleaning,
just a little soap and hot water and they're good to go.
They also won't react with acidic foods such as tomato sauce
so in other words the food won't pick up any off flavors.
Stainless steel pans are also lightweight
and conduct heat easily.
However that also means they tend to lose heat quickly.
You're probably also familiar with cast-iron pans,
but you may not have heard about carbon steel.
They both have many similarities,
however they can react with acidic foods.
Both carbon steel and cast-iron pans
need to be seasoned with oil which serves two purposes.
One, it prevents them from rusting
after they've been cleaned, and two
it allows them to build up a coating, or patina,
that acts as a near nonstick surface.
However this means they should only be cleaned
with a stiff brush and hot water, no soap,
then immediately dried and a thin coating
of oil applied all over.
One difference between these two
types of pans is how they're made.
Cast iron pans are made by molten iron being cast
or poured into a mold, while carbon steel pans
are made from large sheets of steel
that are pressed into forms that take the shape of the pan.
This difference in manufacturing
also effects the look and feel of the pans.
The surface of cast iron tends to be
more rough and irregular grain,
while the surface of carbon steel
tends to be much more smooth.
However the biggest difference
between carbon steel and cast iron is that
a carbon steel pan will be lighter
than an equivalently sized cast iron pan.
So the next time you're in the market
or shopping for a frying pan, hopefully these tips
will have been helpful.
For more information please visit sunup.okstate.edu
or visit fapc.biz or download the FAPC app.
(upbeat banjo music)
>>> Well that does it for us this week on SUNUP,
if there's something on the show
that you'd like to learn more about
visit our website sunup.okstate.edu.
And while you're there check out our social media.
From the North Range Cattle Research Center,
I'm Dave Deken, we'll see ya next time.
And remember Oklahoma agriculture starts at SUNUP.
(upbeat music)