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Latest Drought Monitor Shows Seventy Five Percent of Oklahoma in Drought as 2017 Closes Out

 
Southeastern Oklahoma has received some rainfall in recent days- and that has lessened the level of drought in that part of the state of Oklahoma. However, northwestern counties have continued dry- and the result is that now three fourths of Oklahoma is in at least D1 Drought or worse as we end 2017. The 75% drought total is up from 65% a week earlier- as seen in the Weekly Drought Monitor map above. 
 
Minimal precipitation is in the forecast for the next few days while arctic air will roll into Oklahoma- and the cold wind chills will envelope all of the state by Monday morning- January first.
 
Wind chills could go as low as fourteen below in the Bartlesville area according to the Tulsa National Weather Service Office- while the Oklahoma City office sees wind chills to zero in Durant and two below in Ardmore that same morning. 
 
The map below captures what the NWS office in Oklahoma City is currently thinking. 
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Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday



Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.