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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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)