Oklahoma Wheat Commission Reports Harvest Progress in Southern Oklahoma- 15% Complete

Oklahoma Harvest Report by the Oklahoma Wheat Commission

Oklahoma Wheat harvest has moved steadily in most regions of Southern Oklahoma this past week. Rains have hindered progress in other parts of the South Central and Western regions. The rains in Central and Northern Oklahoma this past week along with the high humidity continue to delay ripening in those places. Test weights for the most part remain favorable on what is being taken in, although some areas are reporting lower test weights where the crop has been more stressed. Several locations are reporting 60-64 lbs. per bushel. Some lower test weights are being reported in the mid to high 50’s but overall the state average is still coming in between 60-61 lbs. per bushel.

Moisture has been ranging from 12-13%, with most wheat being taken in at around 12.5%. Early yields being reported in Southern Oklahoma are ranging from the low 20’s to the mid 50’s depending on location and management practices. Some high management intensive producers in rare instances have reported yields in the mid 70’s to low 80’s. (Keep in mind this is in an area that received timely moisture in the Grandfield-Devol region. This area is predicted to have the best overall crop conditions for Oklahoma this year.) Protein averages are being reported in a wide range from 10.5% to 12.5% depending on location. Some have reported protein to be as high as 15.5% on few select fields.

The Oklahoma Wheat Commission is calling Oklahoma Wheat harvest 15% complete.



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Nationally- the weekly Crop Progress Report shows a slippage of 5 percentage points in the US Corn Crop ratings from a week ago- the good to excellent ratings at 64% versus 69% a week ago- and this week is 9 points under the 73% GE rating of a year ago.

In Oklahoma, winter wheat harvested reached 15 percent, up 1 point from the previous year and up 7 points from normal. Wheat conditions rated 36 percent good to excellent, 37 percent fair and 26 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated were 30 percent good to excellent, 43 percent fair and 27 percent poor to very poor.

In Texas, winter wheat headed harvested reached 29 percent, down 5 percentage points from the previous year and down 3 points from the average. 

As for other Oklahoma Crops:

Sorghum planted reached 32 percent, unchanged from the previous year but down 4 points from normal.

Soybeans planted reached 40 percent, down 1 point from the previous year and down 9 points from normal. Soybeans emerged reached 18 percent, down 1 point from the previous year.

Cotton planted reached 46 percent, down 5 points from the previous year but up 3 points from normal.



Hay: The first cutting of alfalfa hay reached 43 percent, unchanged from the previous year but down 12 points from normal. The first cutting of other hay reached 36 percent, unchanged from the previous year but down 8 points from normal.

Pasture and range conditions rated 53 percent good to excellent, 35 percent fair and 12 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 45 percent good to excellent, 39 percent fair and 16 percent poor to very poor.

Derrell Peel- June Heats up…and Not Just the Weather

Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, offers his economic analysis of the beef cattle industry as part of the weekly series known as the “Cow Calf Corner” published electronically by Dr. Peel and Mark Johnson. Today, Dr. Peel talks about the beef cattle markets.

Summer temperatures are not the only thing heating up as we move into June. Beef and cattle markets are rising in recent weeks as well. Tighter supplies of beef and cattle are dominating market fundamentals and will continue to do so.

Choice boxed beef prices finished last week at $309.93/cwt., up $6/cwt. from the Friday before Memorial Day. Boxed beef prices had previously peaked in late April but decreased through May with holiday buying completed. The increase in Choice boxed beef prices into June suggests that post-Memorial Day beef demand remains strong. With few exceptions, wholesale beef cut prices are higher year over year and the Choice boxed beef price is 14.8 percent higher than this time last year. 

Beef supplies continue to tighten with beef production down year over year every week this year except one week in January. For the first 20 weeks of the year, beef production is down 4.8 percent year over year. Total cattle slaughter is down 2.8 percent so far this year compared to last year, with fed slaughter down 2.4 percent and total cow slaughter down 4.1 percent year over year. However, heifer slaughter remains 0.6 percent higher year over year for the year to date and total female (heifer plus cow) slaughter so far this year accounts for 52.4 percent of total cattle slaughter. Beef cow slaughter is down 11.2 percent thus far in 2023 but is partially offset by a 4.7 percent increase for the year to date in dairy cow slaughter. Steer carcass weights have averaged 12.8 pounds lighter year over year, while heifer carcasses are averaging 15.2 pounds lighter this year. Cow carcass weights are lighter this year by 9.8 pounds on average.

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am talking with Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Nutrition Specialist Paul Beck about the value of wheat pasture. The southern plains offers wheat farmers who also run cattle an additional opportunity to harvest their wheat crop annually. Harvest for grain is the way that is the most common cash harvest method- but in the hard red winter belt from north Texas, throughout Oklahoma and into southern Kansas- fall planting of the crop allows producers to turn cattle out into the growing wheat fields and harvest via grazing in late fall into the winter season. Pounds of fresh forage grazed by stocker cattle are turned into pounds of gain worth up to several hundred dollars of live weight when those calves are marketed as yearlings.

“Wheat pasture is an awesome resource for us,” Beck said. “It has been really short the last couple of years due to the drought conditions. We are seeing the cattle that are coming into town from some of these graze-out wheat fields, and the performance has been really good this year coming off from these wheat pasture calves.”

Most calves in the U.S. are born in the spring, Beck said, so there is an abundance of calves available in the fall during weaning to go out to graze wheat pasture.

“There are not a lot of other forage resources that are green and growing, and high in quality during the fall and winter,” Beck said. “That gives the wheat producers in Oklahoma a pretty good competitive advantage in buying calves that would be seasonally low in price in the fall, and then marketing them at a point in the spring when they are generally higher in value.”

Noble Research Institute launches Essentials of Regenerative Ranching

Noble Research Institute announces the launch of Essentials of Regenerative Ranching, a new program designed to help ranchers monitor and improve the health of their land, livestock and livelihood. Essentials provides producers with practical tools, hands-on experience and guidance to break free from the cycle of high inputs and low returns. The first in-person Essentials course will be held July 11-12, 2023, at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. Registration for the event opens to the public today.

Farmers and ranchers navigate uncertainty from weather, fluctuating market prices and skyrocketing inputs. Many producers are seeking new skills and tools that offer greater control and reduce their operational uncertainty. While regenerative ranching can help mitigate or avoid some of these issues altogether, ranchers may struggle to find reliable information about implementation or fail to receive the ongoing support they need for lasting success.

In response to these challenges, Noble Research Institute designed Essentials of Regenerative Ranching to offer farmers and ranchers guidance in using core principles and proven monitoring methods. This program allows them to overcome obstacles, become more informed problem solvers and more resilient to the highs and lows of the industry. By participating in this program, ranchers join a community of like-minded producers who are shaping the future of ranching and leaving a lasting impact on their land and families.

CFTC's Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson Regarding Settlement with Cody Easterday for Ghost Cattle Fraud

Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington issued an order granting a permanent injunction to resolve pending litigation against Cody Easterday (Consent Order). Easterday had previously been charged by the Commission for engaging in fraud in connection with the sale of more than 200,000 head of “ghost” cattle—which did not, in fact, exist—to Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. (Tyson), a beef processor and part of a corporate family that together constitute one of the largest food suppliers in the world, as well as with making false statements to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and violating exchange-set position limits. As a result of Easterday’s fraud, Tyson paid him and his feedyard, Easterday Ranches, Inc. (Easterday Ranches), more than $233 million to which they were not entitled.[2]

Easterday’s fraud arose out of his need to cover for losses of more than $200 million he incurred over a ten-year period through speculative trading in the cattle futures markets.[3] In order to cover margin calls, he devised a scheme to cause Easterday Ranches to submit false invoices to Tyson for reimbursement of the costs associated with procuring the “ghost” cattle he never actually purchased and caring for “ghost” cattle that did not actually exist.[4] At the same time, in connection with his speculative futures trading, he made false statements to the CME that Easterday Ranches had a larger cattle inventory than it in fact had to obtain a hedge exemption for permission to exceed its speculative position limits that would otherwise have applied, and to avoid disciplinary action; because these statements were false, Easterday also caused Easterday Ranches to violate CME’s position limits without a valid hedge exemption.[5]

Corn Belt Classic Kicks Off Summer Road Trips for Superior Livestock

The 2023 Corn Belt Classic of Superior Livestock happens Wednesday and Thursday of this week in South Sioux City, Nebraska with 64,500 head on offer.

It's the first of several "on the road" events that Superior has for their summer schedule again here in 2023.

After this week's Corn Belt Classic- they quickly regroup to head to Emporia, Kansas next week fo the Tallgrass Classic- featuring some of the great cattle coming from the Flint Hills in Kansas and the Tallgrass Prairie in Oklahoma. The date for this sale is June 15 and will originate live from Emporia, Kansas.

July will take Superior to Colorado for their Week in the Rockies Sale July 10-14- that sale will originate in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The end of July and first of August will showcase the Video Royale sale in Winnemucca, Nevada- the sale dates are July 31 through August 4.

Finally- the Big Horn Classic will conclude the summer road trip season for Superior- that sale will once again return to Sheridan, Wyoming August 21st through the 25th.

Click here for the Superior website to learn more about each of these dates and locations.