On Wednesday, approximately 106 people on the Wheat Quality Council’s 2023 winter wheat tour made their way from Colby to Wichita, Kansas, stopping in wheat fields along six different routes. 

Wednesday’s wheat tour scouts made 276 stops at wheat fields across western, central and southern Kansas, and into northern counties in Oklahoma. The wheat in Southwest Kansas looks rough, with intense drought conditions, poor stands and some freeze damage. During the tour, participants saw how far east these drought conditions reached. Short wheat plants even extended into central Kansas, like around Wichita. In central Kansas, many scouts reported seeing hail damaged wheat, and the first apparent signs of pest damage.

One of the participants that was in group that dipped into Oklahoma was the President of the Oklahoma Wheat Growers, Dennis Schoenhals. I talked with him last night about the fields they stopped and surveyed- click on the button below for our full report from Day Two to listen to our conversation.

The calculated yield from all cars was 27.5 bushels per acre. This yield estimate is only for the fields that will make it to harvest, and does not account for the large amount of abandoned fields that were seen. This compares to the 37 bushel per acre average for day two a year ago and 56.7 bushels per acre seen two years ago in 2021. The graphic below shows details of Day Two.



Union Mutual was chartered in 1938 to write property and casualty insurance in the state of Oklahoma. Over the years, Union Mutual has maintained the attitude that started the company and continue to be that company that understands Oklahomans’ insurance needs when they contact any member of the UMIC team.

That’s 83 years of protecting rural Oklahomans, providing town and country, poultry house and legacy rural actual cash value policies.

With over 80 years of experience and 300 agents in all 77 Oklahoma Counties to serve you, it’s time to take a good hard look at Union Mutual Insurance Company.

For the agent nearest you, go to unionmutualic.com or give them a call at 405 286-7703.

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am back visiting with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s CEO, Colin Woodall, about misinformation in the beef industry.

“There are people that believe that NCBA is the Checkoff, that we control the Checkoff and that we ultimately write our own checks out of the Checkoff funds, and that is not the way this program works,” Woodall said. “NCBA is one of nine groups that serve as a contractor. We are the largest contractor of the National Beef Checkoff, but each year we have to go to a group called the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, sometimes just called the ‘OC,’ which is made up of cattle producers- ten of them representing the Federation of State Beef Councils, and ten of them representing the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.”

Woodall said any ideas from the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. campaign to research must be pitched to the Beef Promotion Operating Committee for approval.

“Only if they like what we are pitching, will they authorize us to do that work and provide the funds to do that work,” Woodall said. “That work has to be audited. We audit it internally at NCBA, and it is audited and approved by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board, and also by USDA. Every once in a while, the Office of Inspector General will come in and look at it too.”

Woodall said great effort is put forward into making sure those Checkoff dollars are being spent properly.

Senator Darcy Jech Applauds Oklahoma’s Beef Industry

During Beef Day at the Capitol on May 16, Farm Director, KC Sheperd, had the chance to visit with Senator Darcy Jech about the significance of the beef industry.

“There is no question, beef is important not just in Senate District 26 but all over the state of Oklahoma,” Jech said.

Beef producers have faced numerous challenges this year, Jech said, from input prices to drought.

“Fortunately, lately, we have been blessed with some rain, so things are looking good or better, at least,” Jech said. “Unfortunately, the wheat crop is probably too far into that to make a difference in that. It is great to see Director (Michael) Kelsey here, and he has got some board members here. It is always good to see them show up on Beef Day at the Capitol.”

It is great to see the beef industry well represented at the Capitol, Jech said, as they visit with legislators, and advocate for their issues on an informal basis.

“This is a great bunch,” Jech said. “These are people I deal with a lot in my other life outside of the Senate, but also within the Senate. It is good to see them here."

Whether you’re an owner-operator, tenant, or landlord, the success of regenerative management rests upon adopting a long-term mindset, Noble Research Institute livestock consultant Robert Wells says.

“It’s looking at everything you do as a lifelong journey — actually, more than lifelong,” he explains. “Everything you do on that land impacts generations down the road; our lives are just a small fraction of time.”

If you’re a non-operating landlord striving to find a tenant who will take care of your soil and practice regenerative management for the long haul, the first step is to identify the health and regeneration of the land as your No. 1 shared priority.

“If both parties keep the land as the center of their focus, and we’re both doing the right thing for the land first, then everything else will come,” Wells says.

If you’re a new landowner or simply taking a new approach to longstanding holdings, an important first step toward finding a leaseholder with shared, regenerative values is to get involved in the right networks.

OSU students eager to experience new Ferguson College of Agriculture home

As the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall is taking shape on the Oklahoma State University campus, the Ferguson College of Agriculture family eagerly awaits the completion of the new, state-of-the-art facility.

Baylee Bowen, Easton Fraser and Hailey Spray are three students pursuing degrees in the OSU Ferguson College of Agriculture and will experience opportunities in the new building when it opens in fall 2024.

A Journey to New Frontiers video series was created to learn more about these students and capture their perceptions of the new facility, said Cynda Clary, associate dean for the Ferguson College of Agriculture.



“Over the next couple of years, we will follow these students on their college journey and record their experiences inside and outside the classroom,” Clary said. “We will get their perspectives on how the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall will foster their learning during their time as part of our Ferguson family, and we will watch them grow towards their career goals in the agricultural field.”

Students Selected to Attend OKFB Youth Conference

Twenty incoming high school seniors were selected to attend the 2023 Oklahoma Youth Leading Agriculture conference June 13-16 in Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma Youth Leading Agriculture conference is hosted by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers committee to instill leadership skills and provide attendees a deeper look into Oklahoma agriculture.

The conference features a variety speakers, team-building opportunities, and media communications training. Selected students will also complete a community service project at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and visit different agricultural businesses surrounding the Oklahoma City metro.

Selected students are those at the top of their class with the intention to pursue a post-secondary education, especially in the agricultural industry. Students plan to attend multiple universities including Black Hawk College, Murray State College, Oklahoma State University, Redlands Community College and Rogers State University.

No Bull – The Value of Castration for Calves

In this episode of Cow-Calf Corner, Kellie Curry Raper, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Economist talks about castrating calves.

A look at previous numbers collected by OSU Extension specialists indicate that, in 2013, 10.3% of the lots coming through the livestock auction at selected weaned and feeder calf sales were lots containing bulls. That number dropped to 7.1% in 2014, 4.7% in 2020 and 2022 data indicate that only 5% of lots at these selected sales contained uncastrated males. With the exception of a blip at 12% in 2021 – likely attributable in part to an untimely extended arctic blast – this decrease is a trend in the right direction.

Castration of bull calves prior to marketing has long been encouraged by Extension educators and the recommendation is backed by objective research, from multiple perspectives. From a health perspective, calves castrated at less than three months old experience lower stress levels, less sickness, and lower rates of death loss (Campbell). From an animal welfare perspective, older calves experience more stress at castration and a longer period of stress-related impacts relative to calves castrated at birth or at branding. Bull calves also show more aggressive behavior while uncastrated, implying greater risks of injury for other animals and for humans. From a beef quality perspective, calves weighing more than 500 pounds at castration generally have carcasses with less marbling and lower tenderness ratings. In addition to potentially missing out on quality grade premiums, from an economic perspective, bull calves castrated past 3 months of age will weigh 20 pounds less, on average, at slaughter and will take 12 days longer to reach slaughter weight in the feedlot relative to a calf castrated at less than 3 months of age, resulting in a higher cost of gain at the feedlot.