The Mesonet graphic above offers a snapshot of rainfall across Oklahoma stretching back to last Wednesday morning- and captures most of the moisture that will be considered in developing the next Drought Monitor that will be released on Thursday morning of this week. (linked back to the Mesonet so you can look at location by location in real time)

The 5-day Rainfall Accumulation map displays accumulated rainfall observed at each Mesonet site in the last 5 days. This map also displays the NWS Arkansas-Red Basin River Forecast Center's rainfall estimates (in color) across Oklahoma based on radar.

There are areas in the state that remain in drought- I saw our friend Matt Boyer who is not far from Grand Lake commenting on Facebook on Sunday morning- "This morning, I can literally see the rain south of me. Many of us up here in "green" country are definitely not green. We are still 6 inches below normal. I know some of you have stopped but many of us are still praying for rain & we need it bad my friends." The Mesonet map above suggests Matt's rainfall totals have been well under an inch over the last five days.

The most recent Drought Monitor showed 74% of the state in Abnormally Dry or worse and 36% in Moderate Drought or worse- take a look at that map below(also linked to help you see things county by county)- and the rainfall seen above will likely reduce both of those categories a fair amount. BUT- it doesn't mean that we won't continue to be dealing with drought as the summer wears on.

There is yet another shot of rainfall ahead for mostly southern Oklahoma this evening- but we are all well aware it's July- daily highs will be at least into the 90s daily between now and Labor Day- and time will tell if the absence of La Nina will help us keep getting rains along the way in the next few weeks or not.



Union Mutual of Oklahoma Turns 85 Years Old

Back in July of 1938 when Union Mutual of Oklahoma was founded, FDR was in the White House, EW Marland was in the Governor’s Mansion, and the Soldiers of Gettysburg were gathering for a reunion on the old battlefield. Union Mutual was born out of necessity in Oklahoma and serves as one of the oldest rural insurance carriers serving only the people of Oklahoma. Union Mutual was created 85 years ago for one purpose, that was and is to serve and protect rural Oklahomans and their property. That mission has bever wavered.

Union Mutual Insurance of Oklahoma 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, “Protection for Oklahomans by Oklahomans.” In poor economic times, in times when national insurance companies either stopped writing or completely left the state, Union Mutual has been there for Oklahomans. Today, Union Mutual writes insurance in all 77 counties of Oklahoma through almost 300 agency locations. These agents provide fast and reliable quotes for most lines of insurance.

Union Mutual of Oklahoma CEO Monica Collison had this to say on the company turning 85 years old. “I am humbled to lead such and extraordinary company and team with the history and legacy of Union Mutual. Union Mutual has stood with rural Oklahoma for 85 solid years and I look forward to helping it for the next 85 years.”

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

Associate Farm Editor, Reagan Calk, had the chance to visit with the owner of U.S. Hunts, Greg Willis. Previously named Okie Hunts, U.S. Hunts has been a service for landowners and hunters since 1999.

As landowners have many different responsibilities on their plates, from ranching to farming, U.S. Hunts takes the weight off their shoulders when it comes to hunting lease management.

“We manage the entire process for landowners so they can continue to ranch and farm, or even a lot of them today are working second jobs,” Willis said. “We make it easy.”

Willis said U.S. Hunts handles all legal paperwork, including hunting liability lease wavers and more.

“We insure the property, and we screen the hunters,” Willis said. “We are hunters ourselves, so we know the types of questions to ask.”

Land is listed on the U.S. Hunts website, Willis said, and hunters can go look at the lease options free of charge. All forms are electronic, Willis added, as the automated process makes things easier for everyone involved.

May Pork Exports Highest in Two Years; Beef Exports Below Record-Large, Year-Ago Totals

Led by another outstanding month in Mexico and robust demand for variety meat, exports of U.S. pork continued to gain momentum in May, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). While well below the record-large volume and value posted in May 2022, beef exports improved from April and were the second largest (behind March) of 2023. 

May pork exports reached 261,361 metric tons (mt), up 16% from a year ago, the ninth largest on record and the largest since May 2021. Export value climbed 12% to $731.1 million, also the highest since May 2021 and the seventh highest on record. Pork variety meat exports were particularly outstanding in May, setting a value record of $127 million. 

Through the first five months of the year, pork and pork variety meat exports were 14% above last year’s pace at 1.22 million mt, valued at $3.35 billion (up 13%). 

“While pork shipments to Mexico are on a remarkable pace, it takes a wide range of markets to achieve double-digit growth,” explained Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO. “Demand is strong throughout the Western Hemisphere and the U.S. industry continues to make gains in Asian markets where supplies of European pork are much tighter than a year ago.” 

The 2023 hard red winter wheat harvest has been one for the record books in the southern great plains- and not particularly in a good way. I talked this past Friday with Oklahoma Wheat Commission Executive Director Mike Schulte about the OWC’s final harvest report of the season released last Thursday- and how the rains that started in May and have continued into early July have made it difficult to harvest the smaller wheat crop expected because of dry conditions in the majority of the growing season.

Schulte says “we did start getting rain the third and fourth week of May when the crop was ready (to harvest) and in all instances producers across the state have been so thankful for it have not been complaining about it- it did allow us to harvest some things that we never even thought would make a crop at all so in those instances, it did help us in central Oklahoma but there was just so much loss to begin with.

“Once we got into the fields, farmers have had to struggle just getting it out- it seems like we were able to get on the combines and cut a half a day and then overnight- we would get a half inch to an inch to halt things- and that has been happening from Memorial Day all way to the Fourth of July and now even into week after the Fourth.”

Schulte says we are still right around ninety percent complete- but he simple does not know if in locations where the rains have continued to fall- where the fields are muddy and have rapidly growing weeds- those locations may not be able to complete the harvest of those fields- and that could add up to thousands of acres that are abandoned. Schulte adds that those acres being abandoned won’t be reflected in the next Crop Production Report from USDA due out this coming Wednesday.

Robust Animal Vaccine Bank is a Top Priority for NCBA Looking into 2023 Farm Bill

In today’s “best of” Beef Buzz edition, I am featuring comments from the Executive Director of Government Affairs at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Allison Rivera. While in Washington, D.C., Farm Director KC Sheperd had the chance to visit with Rivera about the vaccine bank and more.

As summer moves along and we wait for Congress to write a completed 2023 Farm Bill, we look back at spring comments with Allison on NCBA Farm Bill requests and more.

“In the last farm bill, we created this three-legged stool, if you will, and one of the legs of the stool in the animal health space was the creation of the vaccine bank,” Rivera said. “I lovingly call it the FMD (Food and Mouth Disease) vaccine bank because that is what is currently in it. We did create this bank so that down the road, if for our pork friends, there is an ASF (African Swine Fever) vaccine and they want it in there, then we can find some dollars and pop it in there.”

Rivera said funding requested for this next vaccine bank will be based on a study from Dr. James Roth out of Iowa State University.

“He basically breaks down the number of strains of FMD out there and basically mentions what we might need and what would be beneficial to protect our industry from the outbreak of foreign animal disease like FMD,” Rivera said. “This go around, we are, again, asking for more of those dollars so that we can make sure we have enough antigen, and our bank is robust.”

USDA Reminds Agricultural Producers of July 14 Deadline to Apply for Pandemic and Natural Disaster Revenue Loss Programs

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers of the July 14 deadline to apply for both the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) Phase Two and the Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program (PARP). These revenue-based programs help offset revenue losses from 2020 and 2021 natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic. 

ERP and PARP offer a holistic approach to disaster assistance and provide economic support for producers who bear the financial brunt of circumstances beyond their control. 

“With a focus on revenue-based assistance, our goal is to provide all producers of eligible crops and livestock, including new and underserved producers, with the financial support they need to recover from the compounded, adverse economic impacts of market and weather instabilities,” said Steve Kouplen, State Executive Director for FSA in Oklahoma . “Applying this holistic approach to assistance acknowledges the myriad of crises that producers have faced in recent years, from the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic to the more frequent and intense natural disaster events that have devastated farms, ranches and communities across rural America.” 

Sen. Montgomery announces resignation, accepts new role with Lawton Chamber

Sen. John Michael Montgomery, R-Lawton, released the following statement Friday after announcing that he will be resigning from the Oklahoma Senate, effective Aug. 1, 2023, to accept the role of president and CEO of the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce.

“It has been an honor and truly humbling to have been able to represent at the state Capitol the community that I have grown up in and call home for the last nine years. I am deeply grateful for the trust my constituents have placed in me, for the outpouring of support I have had, and cherish my colleagues I have worked with these many years. I consider it a great blessing to be able to continue to work for my home in a new role as president and CEO of the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce and believe that my resignation from the Oklahoma State Senate, effective August 1, 2023, will be a long term investment in our community.”