Oklahoma's Latest Farm
And Ranch News
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Here is your daily Oklahoma farm and ranch news update.
- Steady Improvements Continue for Oklahoma in This Week’s Drought Monitor Report
- Biden’s WOTUS Part Two: Deep Dive with Attorney Charles Yates
- OKFB’s Steve Thompson Talks Highlights from Week One of 2023 Oklahoma Legislative Session
- Economic Numbers in on Cattlemen's Congress Impact to OKC
- Tough Spring Ahead for Farmers and Ranchers as Drought Impacts are Forecasted to Linger
- OSU’s Kim Anderson sees Higher Wheat Prices Due to Russian-Ukraine War to Continue
- New home to benefit OSU Agriculture’s award-winning faculty and staff
- More Stories for Your Weekend Reading
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Steady Improvements Continue for Oklahoma in This Week’s Drought Monitor Report |
This week’s drought monitor is finally seeing some more subtle improvements after portions of the states received some good moisture last week, not to mention the impacts of the moisture the week prior. It will be interesting to see how the monitor moves into next week after this week’s precipitation.
Exceptional drought has decreased from last week’s 11.7 to this week’s 10.17 percent.
Extreme drought or worse has improved by over two percentage points from last week’s 57.9 to this week’s 55.7.
Severe drought or worse has also decreased from last week and is now at 79.2 percent, down from 81 percent.
Moderate drought or worse has decreased a few percentage points this week from last week’s 89 percent to this week’s 84.9 percent.
Lastly, abnormally dry or worse conditions are now at 94.8 percent, down from last week’s 97.9 percent.
According to the 6 to 10-day precipitation outlook map, the majority of the state, with the exception of the far southwest corner, is leaning above a 40-50 percent chance of precipitation through February 18. As for that southeast corner, that part of the state is leaning above a 33 to 40 percent chance of precipitation through that February 18 date.
Click the drought map above the story to view this week's drought numbers for Oklahoma.
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National Livestock was founded in 1932 in Oklahoma City. National’s Marketing Division offers cattle for sale weekly at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City. The Finance Division lends money to ranchers across several states for cattle production. The Grazing Division works with producers to place cattle for grazing on wheat or grass pastures.
National also owns and operates other livestock marketing subsidiaries including Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction in Ada, Oklahoma, OKC West Livestock Market in El Reno, Oklahoma, and the nation’s premier livestock video sale, Superior Livestock Auction. National offers customers many services custom made for today’s producer. To learn more, click here for the website or call the Oklahoma City office at 1-800-310-0220.
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Biden’s WOTUS Part Two: Deep Dive with Attorney Charles Yates |
Associate Farm Editor, Reagan Calk, is back talking with Charles Yates, attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation and attorney in the Sackett v. EPA case, for part two of a deep dive on Biden’s WOTUS (Waters of the United States.) This time, Yates talks about the new WOTUS rule and how it impacts private landowners such as farmers and ranchers.
After being asked by many groups to “press pause,” the Biden administration has recently put out their new WOTUS rule, knowing that the Sackett v. EPA decision in the spring of 2023 could very well change everything.
“It sort of boggles the mind as to why the Biden administration would have done this now, and it certainly will make things more difficult because it is just yet another episode in this back and forth that has been occurring,” Yates said.
In the Sackett case, Yates said the federal government’s assertion of authority is being challenged, as they are referring to the significant nexus test in regulating the Sackett’s ability to build their home.
“At the Supreme Court, the Sacketts have argued that this assertion of authority was illegal, and their reason they have argued it is illegal is because a significant nexus test upon which it relies is illegal,” Yates said.
Yates said the Biden rule relies predominantly on the significant nexus test.
If the Sackett case wins at the Supreme Court, Yates said, essentially, this means the Supreme Court has entered an order that the significant nexus test is illegal. This would have major implications for the Biden rule, meaning that it is also illegal, Yates said, forcing them to have to go back to the “drawing board” on their rule.
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OKFB’s Steve Thompson Talks Highlights from Week One of 2023 Oklahoma Legislative Session |
I got the chance to talk with the Vice President of Public Policy at the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Steve Thompson, about the highlights from week one of the 2023 Oklahoma Legislative Session.
“The one that is really at the top of our list of concerns right now has to do with giving authority to county commissioners to be able to add additional zoning regulations in rural Oklahoma,” Thompson said. “Tulsa County has made the proposal a number of times in the past, and we have always been able to defeat that with the ag groups and some of the other industries, oil and gas, particularly, that operates in a lot of rural areas.”
Effort to tax rural areas, Thompson said, seems to come up each year, and individuals are seeking to exempt property in town from property tax increases. That issue has been fought off successfully each time it has presented itself, Thompson said, and it will be fought once again this year.
“It is very frustrating because I think there are some misconceptions from our urban cousins in regards to the amount of land someone might own, and frequently, even though we have large acreages, that doesn’t necessarily mean that our profits are any larger than someone who has one acre inside town,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the good news is, ag groups and friends of rural Oklahoma have been able to accomplish keeping that agenda out of the legislature.
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For our farmers who have either- always have had cotton on their farms- or those who have more recently have added the fiber crop to their operations- we have a daily report heard on several of our Radio Stations- It's Called Cotton Talk!
Click on the Button below to listen to our most recent report
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Economic Numbers in on Cattlemen's Congress Impact to OKC |
According to the Journal Record, the third Cattlemen's Congress racked up impressive numbers as reported by Fairgrounds and Oklahoma City officials.
They estimate that the two week beef cattle show and sales had attendance that exceeded 104,000 people and that 90% of those who came were from out of town. The paper says "the event generated more than $24.15 million in direct spending into the local economy."
That number does not reflect the impact within the beef cattle business. We reported in mid January as the breed shows were wrapping up "the 2023 Cattlemen’s Congress showcased 28 breeds of Beef Cattle from 42 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Over 2,200 exhibitors came to the 2023 show and competed with over 10,000 cattle since December 31st. The sales of live animals and frozen genetics were tremendous again in 2023, with 24 total sales at the OKC Fairgrounds and at several other venues in the metro area grossing over $10 million, which does not include the many sales that were concluded by private treaty in the barns in the last two weeks."
The Fourth Cattlemen’s Congress will be held December 30th through January 12, 2024 at the OKC Fairgrounds.
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We invite you to listen to us on great radio stations across the region on the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network weekdays-
if you missed this morning's Farm News - or you are in an area where you can't hear it- click below for this morning's Farm news from Ron Hays and KC Sheperd on RON.
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Sponsor Spotlight
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At Oklahoma Ag Mediation, we have been helping people in agriculture resolve conflicts since 1987. We know firsthand about working together to resolve conflicts, so you don’t have to go through the court systems. Let our professional mediators help you. Mediation is allowed for lease issues, farmer/neighbor disputes, family farm transitions, and more. These services are available at no cost for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers in all 77 counties. For more information, you can go to ok.gov/mediation, or give us a call at 800 248 5465.
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Tough Spring Ahead for Farmers and Ranchers as Drought Impacts are Forecasted to Linger |
One of the highlights every year for the Cattle Industry Convention is the CattleFax market outlook seminar. One of the reasons the seminar is so popular is because of the weather product CattleFax puts forward during convention. In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am featuring comments from this year’s seminar as Matt Makins with Makins Weather, LLC out of Colorado talks about the transition from La Niña to El Niño.
While we continue to be in La Niña now, Makins said it is almost over, although the drought it has brought along may linger a little longer.
“We are progressing to get rid of La Niña, but this spring, La Niña is still controlling our atmosphere,” Makins said. “In the summer, both are neutral. As we get into the fall, we will start to bring in some El Niño elements. I don’t want to directly tell you that 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 is a direct comparison, but remember how long that transition took from the drought of La Niña in ’11 and ’12 and ’13 to the lack of drought by 2017. It can take time. That is the point.”
Makins also talked about how he puts his forecast together.
“Now, since 1950, I have about five or six years that are best-fit matches for our current pattern,” Makins said. “Best fit years for the spring outlook still look very La Niña in terms of moisture. Dryness overspreads the southwest again.”
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OSU’s Kim Anderson sees Higher Wheat Prices Due to Russian-Ukraine War to Continue |
This Week on SUNUP is Oklahoma State University Extension grain market economist Kim Anderson. During this week’s edition, Anderson talks about the latest in the commodity markets.
Regarding the February WASDE report, Anderson said there were not any big surprises in the supply and demand numbers.
“Minor changes on corn, wheat, beans and cotton,” Anderson said. “All the reports were just almost exactly what we had in the January report.”
The wheat price outlook, Anderson said is around what would be expected over the last couple of months. Anderson said in northern Oklahoma, forward contract prices for harvest are around $8.15. In the panhandle, he added, forward contract prices are around $8.20.
The Covid pandemic and the war in Russia and Ukraine have increased wheat forward contracting prices for wheat, Anderson said, although the impacts from Covid in the market have started to wear off.
“I think the Russian and Ukraine war, with the amount of wheat and the little bit of corn coming out of there, they are definitely going to have an impact on prices,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the war is not expected to end anytime soon, so he recommends producers continue to put their best foot forward, focus on yield, and the price will take care of itself.
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New home to benefit OSU Agriculture’s award-winning faculty and staff |
Oklahoma State University Agriculture is known for having some of the brightest professors, researchers and specialists in the state, region and nation. Soon, their expertise will be heightened with the opening of the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall.
The excellent reputation of OSU Agriculture is evident from the number of honors our faculty and staff received during the University Awards Convocation held recently, said Thomas G. Coon, vice president and dean of OSU Agriculture.
“Our faculty and staff go above and beyond what is expected of them and make significant contributions to not only OSU Agriculture, but also the university, state and nation,” Coon said. “The New Frontiers Agricultural Hall will help promote innovation to advance our teaching, research and Extension efforts and bring even more distinction to OSU Agriculture.”
Since launching the New Frontiers campaign in January 2020, 628 donors have committed more than $50 million through gifts and pledges, helping to reach the fundraising goal in record time. Many of these donors are OSU Agriculture faculty and staff who understand the need for a new state-of-the-art facility.
“New buildings don’t necessarily produce new results,” Carver said. “What produces new results is new thinking, and the right learning environment is fertile ground for new thinking and can take place in a classroom or laboratory. I think this facility is that fertile ground for new thinking.”
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More Stories for Your Weekend Reading |
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OKC West is our Market Links Sponsor- they sell cattle three days a week- Cows on Mondays, Stockers on Tuesday and Feeders on Wednesday- Call 405-262-8800 to learn more.
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Today's First Look:
Ron on RON Markets as heard on K101
mornings with cash and futures reviewed- includes where the Cash Cattle market stands, the latest Feeder Cattle Markets Etc.
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Wholesale Boxed Beef Prices were higher- Choice Beef was up $2.09 and Select Beef was up 85 cents on Thursday 02/09/2023.
Click on the Button below for the latest report from USDA Market News
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Weekly Cattle Auction Reports
The buttons below allow you to check out the weekly Cattle Auctions in the region that we post on our website and here in our daily email update.
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Okla Cash Grain:
Daily Oklahoma Cash Grain Prices- as reported by the Oklahoma Dept. of Agriculture- The report available after the close of the Futures Trade for that day.
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Our Oklahoma Farm Report Team!!!!
Ron Hays, Senior Farm/Ranch Broadcaster and Editor
KC Sheperd, Farm Director and Editor
Dave Lanning, Markets and Production
Reagan Calk, Farm News and Email Editor
Pam Arterburn, Calendar and Template Manager
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Rural Oklahoma is full of some of the greatest success stories throughout the entire state and is a big reason why Oklahoma is on track to become a top 10 state.
The Road to Rural Prosperity dives into these stories, bringing you stories covering rural life, agriculture, energy, healthcare, tourism, and politics affecting rural America.
The Road to Rural Prosperity is here to tell stories about rural America, for rural America.
Oklahoma Farm Report's Ron Hays talks regenerative agriculture and ranching with Jimmy Emmons. Jimmy is a long time resident of Leedey, OK. He is the third generation on the family farm in Dewey County. He and his wife Ginger have been farming and ranching together since 1980. They have a diverse 2000 acre cropping operation growing wheat, soybeans, sesame, sunflowers, irrigated dairy alfalfa hay, canola, grain sorghum and several cover crops for seed.
Jimmy has been monitoring soil health with soil testing since 2011 utilizing cover crops to enhance soil health.
Jimmy and Ginger also have a 250 cow/calf herd and take in yearling cattle for custom grazing on the nearly 6000 acres of native range. Ginger is the primary cattle manager in the operation. The Emmons’ utilize an adaptive multi-paddock grazing system on their range and forages grown on crop ground. They use the system to keep the native grasses and soils healthy, maximize biological diversity and optimize animal health.
As Jimmy Says- Long Live the Soil!
Search for Road to Rural Prosperity and subscribe on your favorite Podcast platform.
To hear this podcast, you can click here or tap below:
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Our thanks to Midwest Farms Shows, P & K Equipment, Oklahoma Farm Bureau, Oklahoma Ag Mediation Program, Great Plains Kubota, Stillwater Milling Company, National Livestock Credit Corporation, Oklahoma Beef Council, Oklahoma AgCredit, Union Mutual Insurance, the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, and KIS Futures for their support of our daily Farm News Update.
For your convenience, we have our sponsors' websites linked here- just click on their name to jump to their website- check their sites out and let these folks know you appreciate the support of this daily email, as their sponsorship helps us keep this arriving in your inbox on a regular basis- at NO Charge!
We invite you to check out our website at the link below too that includes an archive of these daily emails, audio reports and top farm news story links from around the globe.
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God Bless!
Reach Out To Us:
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Tim West
President/General Manager
Rural Oklahoma Networks
405-317-6361
***************
Mike Henderson
Director of Sales
405-615-4922
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KC Sheperd
Farm Director
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network
405-443-5717
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Ron Hays
Senior Farm/Ranch Broadcaster
Radio Oklahoma Ag Network
405.473.6144
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