Corn and soybean planting progress moved ahead by double digits last week, and winter wheat conditions edged slightly higher nationwide thanks to much-needed rain across parts of the Southern Plains, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress Report on Monday.

Winter Wheat headed for the U.S reached 21 percent, down 4 percentage points from last year and down 2 points from the five-year average. Winter wheat conditions rated 27 percent good to excellent, 30 percent fair and 43 percent poor to very poor.

OKLAHOMA:

Winter wheat jointing reached 92 percent, up 8 points from the previous year. Winter wheat headed reached 43 percent, up 6 points from the previous year but down 5 points from normal. Winter wheat conditions rated 9 percent good to excellent, 30 percent fair and 61 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 6 percent good to excellent (zero percent excellent), 31 percent fair and 63 percent poor to very poor. 

Corn planted reached 37 percent, up 6 points from the previous year and up 3 points from normal. Corn emerged reached 21 percent, up 15 points from the previous year and up 10 points from normal.

Soybeans planted reached 5 percent, down 10 points from the previous year and down 4 points from normal.

Pasture and range conditions rated 16 percent good to excellent, 26 percent fair and 58 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 14 percent good to excellent, 25 percent fair and 61 percent poor to very poor. 



Oklahoma AgCredit supports rural Oklahoma with reliable and consistent credit, today and tomorrow. We offer loans for land, livestock, equipment, operating costs and country homes (NMLSR #809962) to farmers, ranchers and rural businesses across 60 counties. As a cooperative, we are owned by the members we serve. Through our Patronage Program, we have returned more than $74 million to our members since 1997.

For more information on our services or to find a location near you, visit our website here.



Rural broadband is a game changer, and rural electric cooperatives know that too well. The Cooperative Broadband Coalition (CBC) unites 10 distribution electric cooperatives with fiber subsidiaries in the state of Oklahoma. Collectively, these cooperatives have reached the milestone of connecting 100,000-plus subscribers in rural areas, a significant investment in the quality of life for rural Oklahomans and the statewide economy.

“The cooperative business model is uniquely suited to provide this essential service,” says Hunter Robinson, Chair of the CBC and CEO of Central Rural Electric Cooperative based in Stillwater, Okla. “More than 80 years ago, co-ops brought electricity to areas that were left in dark. We stand on a legacy of bringing service to the unserved and underserved; it’s in our DNA. Co-ops will be here for the next 80-plus years to come, serving Oklahomans with the best possible service.”

Co-op broadband customers have access to the latest and most advanced technology, enjoying the benefits of fiber broadband with at least 1 gigabyte symmetrical speed and consistently high customer satisfaction rates.

Co-op fiber subsidiaries are experiencing adoption rates as high as 52%, far exceeding industry averages.These subsidiaries are bringing reliable, high-speed internet not only to residences across rural Oklahoma but to county offices, city offices, small businesses, farming operations, health organizations, public schools and educational institutions

Congressman Dusty Johnson says the World is a Safer Place When America Plays a Leading Role

While in Washington, D.C., the National Association of Farm Broadcasters group had the chance to visit with Congressman Dusty Johnson. Radio Oklahoma Ag Network’s Farm Director KC Sheperd features comments from the South Dakota Republican talking about the 2023 Farm Bill, smart policy, and more.

Johnson first talks about the threat that China poses to the United States.

“The Chinese Communist party has a pattern of decades of aggression toward our country, and there are certainly some issues with the Chinese Communist party that garner more headlines,” Johnson said. ‘We talk about spy balloons and Tik Tok, but the reality is, this is a multi-dimensional threat, and Tik Tok doesn’t even make the top 50 list of the greatest concerns that we should have.”

The reality is, Johnson said, is that China has been very deliberate in gaining what experts call “coercive power,” particularly over food and critical minerals across the globe.

The world is a lot safer when America plays a leading role, Johnson said, and a lot less safe when people look to the Chinese Communist Party for leadership.

When it comes to the Biden Administration’s overwhelming push for the use of electric vehicles when China has most of the parts for those, Johnson said American passivity in developing critical mineral capacity here at home has been a strategic blunder.

Ahead of the Oklahoma Wheat Crop Report at the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association- Some Numbers to Consider

Ahead of the 125th Annual Meeting of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association annual meeting that will once again have an estimate of the size of the Oklahoma Wheat Crop- we have gone back and looked for the biggest and smallest wheat crops produced in Oklahoma.

In the era of wheat crop production in Oklahoma since the establishment of Freedom to Farm in the 1996 Farm Law- which allowed farmers to get away from continuous wheat farming and select crops that offered a better return for that particular year- we have seen the trend to fewer acres being harvested for wheat- which has meant in less productive years- we have dipped below 100 million bushels 10 times since 1996.

The worse wheat crop in Oklahoma in that era was the 2014 crop when, because of drought conditions, we harvested just 47.6 million bushels on a 17 bushel per acre crop. (The Wheat Crop Estimate that year at the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association meeting was 66.52 million bushels, based on 3.59 million harvested acres and a yield per acre of 18.52 bushels statewide- obviously things got worse after that snapshot of the crop)

The best yields per acre in the Freedom to Farm era have happened in 2019 and 2020 when we have hit 40 bushels per acre- but with fewer acres being harvested for grain- we hit 110 and 104 million bushels respectively.

This year's crop may be a really low one- will be go lower on total bushels than in 2014? We will get our first guess on that later today.

By the way- the WORSE wheat crop in Oklahoma history (post Dust Bowl) happened in 1955- we produced just 23.78 million bushels that year on an 8 bushel per acre yield- drought meant that we harvested 2.9 million acres that year.

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am visiting with the director of sales and feed additives at Central Life Sciences, Paul Kropp, about Altosid® IGR fly control.

“We consider it the gold standard of feed-through fly control,” Kropp said. “There are a lot of different options that we have out there for trying to control flies. Altosid has been around for a number of years and really does an outstanding job in a very user-friendly way of controlling horn fly infestation in our pasture cattle.”

Altosid® has a unique approach, Kropp said, because it is passed through the animal into manure, where it breaks the life cycle of horn flies to prevent adults from emerging. 

By breaking the fly lifecycle in the manure, Kropp said the horn fly infestation is kept to a minimum.

“We will never be fly-free,” Kropp said. “That is the one thing to kind of keep in mind. I don’t care which product that you use, but their data will support that we can keep that horn fly population below 200 flies per-animal, then they are going to have a great chance of success to reach their genetic potential and flourish.”

A study conducted by Oklahoma State University confirmed that cattle treated with Altosid® IGR experienced a 15.8% increase in average daily weight gains compared to untreated cattle. This represents a potential return on investment as high as 13:1 with Altosid® IGR, now priced at 2 to 3 cents per animal, per day.

2023 Cotton Denim Ball Inducts Jeannie Hileman and the Late Wayne Winsett into the Cotton Hall of Fame

The 4th annual Denim Ball was held April 14-15 at The Skirvin in Oklahoma City, Okla. Oklahoma and Texas cotton producers, as well as other industry personnel came together for a fun-filled weekend of celebrating the cotton industry and raising money for the Committee for the Advancement of Cotton. CAC is the political action committee for the National Cotton Council.

The Denim Ball, established in 2019, has grown exponentially. More than 250 people attended the event including producers, sponsors, legislators and the two new inductees into the Oklahoma Cotton Hall of Fame.

The weekend started on Friday night with Casino Night. A great time was had by all and was still being talked about the next morning during the golf tournament and well into the evening of the main event.

Saturday night began with Master of Ceremonies Brad Harrison, welcoming guests, and the invocation given by Oklahoma cotton producer Jimmy Smith, Elk City. While dinner was served, Dennis Vernon, member of the Denim Ball committee, began introducing the 2023 Oklahoma Cotton Hall of Fame inductees.

For several years, the Oklahoma Beef Council has worked to make sure to future registered dietitians understand beef production through the dietetic intern programs at OSU, OU and UCO. The goal has been to ensure they have a foundation grounded in the science of beef nutrition and provide them opportunity to learn about the raising of beef in the U.S. through farm and ranch tours. Recently, this opportunity expanded in a very exciting way with a national dietetic intern program based in Tulsa, called KADDI (Keith and Associates Distance Dietetic Internships).

KADDI has up to 90 dietetic interns from across the U.S. who come in once a year to Tulsa for further training and education. The relationship the OBC is building with them more than triples the potential impact with this very important group who are future nutrition influencers.

After a successful first event sponsoring a beef luncheon and speaker, the OBC took the step of offering an optional ranch tour for the interns coming to their week-long orientation event. The Armitage family with the A-Bar Ranch in Claremore, Oklahoma, offered to host them for an optional tour and 18 interns chose to participate in the OBC’s first ranch tour with KADDI.  

The tour began with introductions and Sheri Glazier, OBC nutrition consultant, presenting basic information about beef nutrition on the bus ride to the ranch. Once on the ranch, Turner and Sarah Armitage and Merrit and Michelle Armitage showcased their cattle handling facilities and cattle. From the beginning of the tour, the students had many questions and were interested in cattle production and ranch life.

Ag Retailers Association Focusses on Improving Supply Chain and Transportation

While in Washington, D.C., Associate Farm Editor Reagan Calk had the chance to visit with the Senior Director of Public Policy at the Agricultural Retailers Association, Hunter Carpenter, about the ARA’s most recent priorities for producers and their latest work.

“We want to continue to work with industry coalitions to promote development and use of all liquid fuels and kind of support an ‘all of the above” energy strategy,'” Carpenter said. “This legislation goes a long way to help do that. Obviously, we want more U.S. independence on energy, and we want to make sure that we have a less volatile market, not only for diesel and gas but also for Nitrogen and natural gasses.”

The energy sector plays a large role, Carpenter said, as it pertains to on-time delivery or products for ag retailers delivering to their former customers.

Carpenter also talked about some of ARA’s main priorities concerning transportation and supply chain.

“We have always been concerned with supply chain disruptions and trying to make sure that our members can get the inputs to their farmers on time,” Carpenter said. “Obviously, you want to make sure that the surface transportation board is reauthorized. (We) continue to be interested in what goes on with entry-level driver training requirements. That certainly increases costs for ag retailers and employing drivers. We also have continued concerns on freight rail and what is going on in that industry right now, not only on the labor dispute side but on the safety side of things as we continue to see more and more train derailment.”