McAlester News-Capital 05/03/2015

Copyright (c)2015 McAlester News-Capital, Edition 05/03/2015 May 4, 2015 5:42 pm / Powered by TECNAVIA

B4 SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2015 • MCALESTERNEWS.COM local

As temperatures start to increase and the summer growing season begins, here are

a few simple things that can keep your landscape in perfect condition

TURFGRASS

• Cool-season lawns can be fertilized.

• Warm-season lawns may be fertilized now.

• Seeding of warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass, buffalograss, zoysiagrass and centipedegrass is best per-formed in mid-May through the end of June.

• Vegetative establishment of warm-season grasses may continue all of May through June.

TREES AND SHRUBS

• Watch for Bagworms on junipers, Elm leaf beetles on elms and Lace bugs on syca-mores and azaleas.

• Remove tree wraps during the summer to avoid potential disease and insect buildup.

• Soak new transplants and newly planted trees unless

rainfall is abundant.• Protect trees from lawn-

mowers and weed eaters by mulching.

FLOWERS

• Annual bedding plants can be set out for summer color.

• Plant summer bulbs such as canna, dahlias, elephant ear, caladiums and gladiolus.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

• Plant watermelon, canta-loupe, cucumber, eggplant, okra, etc.

• Fruit tree spray programs should be faithfully continued during the next several weeks.

• For more information on summer care of the lawn and garden contact your local OSU Extension Office.

David CantrellOSU EXTENSION

It’s warming up fast: May horticulture tips

Staff photo by KEVIN HARVISON

BETA IOTA OF EPSILON SIGMA ALPHA INTERNATIONAL is a service and philanthropic organization raising funds annually to support local, state and international projects. The Beta Iota presents a check to Hospice House of McAlester Wednesday. Pictured from left are, June Miller, Brandy Patton, Shaun Keef, Brenda Beed and Betty Balkman.

HOSPICE DONATION Crude oil prices spurt to new highO

il prices are gushing to new highs for the year as drilling activity dropped to the lowest level since

2010. Oil producers have been losing money over the past year as prices plunged due to oversupply. With the current cutbacks, some analysts are expecting that US supplies will soon stop rising, which has encouraged buyers to jump back into the oil market. However, supplies now stand at an eighty-year high, which could dampen further gains.

Meanwhile, as drillers have been losing money and shut-ting down production, refiner-ies have been benefitting. Re-finers have been able to buy cheap US crude oil, producing gasoline and diesel fuel at profitable margins, especially when they are in a position to sell it to foreign markets like Africa and South America.

As of midday Friday, crude oil for delivery in June was worth $58.50 per barrel.

HOGS RUN WILD

Hog prices charged to a two-month high this week as pork processors chased the market higher. Recently, there has been a shortfall of mar-ket-ready hogs, limiting sup-plies to meatpackers, which has forced them to pay up for pork. Meanwhile, consumers are beginning to fire up their grills, which should provide increased demand throughout the summer.

Despite the rally, pork prices are still at a significant discount to beef, which could encourage bargain hunters to continue buying hogs instead of cattle.

As of midday Friday, June lean hog futures were worth $0.81 per pound, while June live cattle traded for $1.50.

CASH CRASHES

US paper dollars tumbled

like a rock this week as for-eign currencies, notably the euro, gained value in com-parison. The greenback’s value has risen sharply (over 20%) since mid-2014 as cen-tral banks of our major trad-ing partners have raced to expand their money supplies, lower their interest rates, or create quantitative easing programs to stimulate their economies.

The sky-rocketing dollar made a downturn this week as signs emerged that the Eu-rozone economy was improv-ing just as unemployment and retail sales data indicated that the US economy is weakening in comparison. Midweek, the euro was further boosted by hopes that the potential Greek debt default will be delayed as the radical finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, was effec-tively removed from decision-making within the Greek gov-ernment.

U.S. investors, importers, and exporters, can be affected enormously by these develop-ments depending whether they borrow, lend, or hold as-sets priced in dollars or for-eign currencies.

• Opinions are solely the writers’. Walt & Alex Breitinger are commodity futures brokers with Paragon Investments in Silver Lake, KS. They can be reached at (800) 411-3888 or www.paragoninvestments.com. This is not a solicitation of any order to buy or sell any market.

Walt & Alex BreitengerTHE FUTURES FILE