Hurricane Harvey came ashore this past Friday night and brought devastating rains, a storm surge and now the non stop rains that are flooding vast amounts of Houston and southeast Texas. 

Southeast Texas is home to a couple of million head of beef cattle- including at least a million mama cows.  Along and south of the I-20 corridor that stretches from San Antonio to Houston are some of the biggest beef cow counties in the largest beef cow state in the country- counties like Gonzales, Lavaca, Dewitt, Brazoria and Fayette- all with over 50,000 beef cows each.  

Ahead of the storm- the Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers posted a story urging cattle producers to move animals and equipment to higher ground- here is their post which includes lot of emergency links.

While the cattle numbers are not quite as large in the bullseye where the rain continues in huge amounts- counties like Waller, Liberty and Jefferson east of Galveston Bay all have more than 30,000 beef cows per county- and they likely have cattle stranded this morning and in danger of flood waters.

An unknown this morning is how much damage may be happening to the grain export facilities that Oklahoma farmers rely on to ship wheat to many international destinations- Houston and Galveston port locations may well be out of commission for weeks or longer.

Of course, those damage assessments will come later- right now, the drama in and around Houston is the flooding that continues in areas that have received historic rainfall amounts and could easily receive another ten to fifteen inches of rain between now and Wednesday.

Here's a graphic that shows flood and rain potential for today- and it captures a lot of those beef counties we mentioned above:

This month the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that Oklahoma's cotton crop is looking pretty good so far - but some good, cooperative weather will be necessary for the remainder of the growing and harvesting season if the crop is to finish out strong.

According to the NASS crop production report, farmers in Oklahoma have planted around 470,000 acres this year and expect to harvest about 450,000 of those acres. This is the most planted acres in Oklahoma since 1982, and if lint yields come in as anticipated, the state's crop stands to produce roughly 720,000 bales - which would make this year's crop the most productive since 1942.

Since her father handed her the reins 1992, Terry Stuart Forst has managed the 46,000 acre Stuart Ranch in Waurika, Okla. with the help of her two sons, Clay and Robert.

The ranch was founded in 1868 in Caddo, Oklahoma. To put that into perspective - the ranch was established, "a few months before Ulysses S. Grant was elected President, five years before barbed wire had been designed and half a century before World War I broke out." Under its fifth generation of ownership, with two more generations already working on the operation, Stuart Ranch is the oldest ranch in the state under continuous family ownership. It's also interesting to note that a portion of the Chisholm Trail runs right through the property.

The USDA came out with its latest Cattle on Feed Report, Friday. I caught up with OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel for his initial reaction to the numbers, reflecting August 1 data.

Peel's impression was very mild, feeling that the industry had a firm handle on what to expect, unlike the previous month that sent the industry for reeling with unexpectedly high placements.

For more of Dr. Peel's insight into this report, click here for a chance to listen in on our complete conversation as we breakdown the numbers and discuss their reflection on the current state of the industry.

In recent years, the threat of bacterial resistance to antibiotic treatments, has prompted concerns not only in the human health sector, but also over the use of antibiotics in livestock production as a contributor to the issue. Hence, the recent enforcement of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) that now governs antibiotic use in production agriculture. Kansas State University Veterinarian Mike Apley, is one of the nation's foremost authorities on the subject. He spoke with me about his perspective on the issue.


"The question - is about stewardship vs. judicious use," he asserted, explaining that the judicious use of antibiotics is when a veterinarian has diagnosed an infection and prescribes an effective dose of antibiotics for an animal for a specific duration of time. "We've made that decision, to use it for just as long as I need to and I'm only going to expose the animals that absolutely have to have it. Stewardship brings in the part of me doing everything I possibly can to avoid the need to use the antibiotic."


In his work with peers and fellow scientists, Dr. Apley arrived at the point of view that stewardship should be practiced, in order to ensure the continued use of antibiotics be allowed and remain an effective treatment. This is a position he feels adamant about.


"On ag, we're being asked about the nature of the production systems that have evolved to very, very efficiently produce food at a very low cost," Apley said. "What it comes down to is, antibiotics are incredibly valuable in human and veterinary medicine. So, we better be paying attention to stewardship."


Listen to Dr. Apley explain his position regarding the appropriate use and value of antibiotics in the livestock industry, on Friday's Beef Buzz - click or tap here.