High Temperatures Cause Lower Crop Condition Ratings In This Week’s Crop Progress

The high temperatures and limited rainfall in Oklahoma have caused some crops to begin to show signs of stress. Rainfall totals in Oklahoma averaged 0.53 inches. According to the August 1st US Drought Monitor Report, drought conditions were rated 48 percent abnormally dry to exceptional drought, down 52 points from last year. Additionally, 18 percent of the state was in the moderate drought to exceptional drought categories, down 81 points from the previous year. Statewide, temperatures averaged in the mid to upper 80’s.

Corn silking reached 89 percent, down 5 points from the previous year and down 1 point from normal. Corn dough reached 55 percent, up 13 points from the previous year and up 14 points from normal. Corn conditions rated 63 percent good to excellent, 32 percent fair and 5 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 77 percent good to excellent, 16 percent fair and 7 percent poor to very poor.

Soybeans blooming reached 68 percent, up 10 points from the previous year and up 16 points from normal. Soybeans setting pods reached 17 percent, down 6 points from the previous year and down 2 points from normal. Soybean conditions rated 60 percent good to excellent, 29 percent fair and 11 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 64 percent good to excellent, 31 percent fair and 5 percent poor to very poor. 

Peanuts pegging reached 67 percent, down 2 points from the previous year and from normal. Peanut conditions rated 98 percent good to excellent and 2 percent fair. Last week’s conditions rated the same.

Cotton squaring reached 90 percent, down 4 points from the previous year but unchanged from normal. Cotton setting bolls reached 67 percent, up 21 points from the previous year and from normal. Cotton conditions rated 42 percent good to excellent, 21 percent fair and 37 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 57 percent good to excellent, 20 percent fair, and 23 percent poor to very poor.

Pasture and range conditions rated 49 percent good to excellent, 34 percent fair and 17 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 58 percent good to excellent, 27 percent fair and 15 percent poor to very poor. 



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.



In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am talking with cattle industry leader, Bob Drake. Drake has served as the president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, the last President of the old National Cattlemen’s Association, and vice president of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau.

In the most recent episode of the Road to Rural Prosperity podcast that I host, Drake is featured talking about his lifetime of service in the cattle industry.

Drake said did not grow up with dreams of being in the cattle business, but he was pulled in any way in the 1960s.

“It wasn’t intentional,” Drake said. “My father passed away when I came out of the service, and I was going to law school.”

After his father’s passing, Drake said everything changed.

“My brother, myself, and my mother became partners with a very unforgiving partner- one that no one wants to deal with,” Drake said. “The name of that is the IRS. I say that because if anyone is listening and they haven’t done their estate work, get an expert to do it for you. Don’t try to think you can do it yourself.”

Annual OCA Ranch Rodeo Coming up on August 18 & 19 at the Lazy E Arena

The 39th Annual Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Ranch Rodeo is coming up on August 18 & 19 at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma. 12 historic Oklahoma ranch teams will compete in the rodeo in six different events comprised of work that makes up day-to-day ranch jobs.

Associate Farm Editor, Reagan Calk, had the chance to talk with OCA Ranch Rodeo board chairman Kent Trentman about his year’s event.

Ten ranch teams will be returning from last year’s event, Trentman said, and there will be two new teams invited to this year’s event. Those new teams include the A Bar Ranch out of Claremore and the Barron-Highsmith Cattle Co/T and R Ranch out of Oologah.

Aside from the two rodeo performances, the event also hosts a trade show made up of over 50 vendors, with something for everyone!

“This year, we have upped the game a little bit,” Trentman said. “There are new vendors.”

On Saturday, before the second ranch rodeo performance, there will be an OCA Ranch Horse Competition and a LongRange Kids Dummy Roping contest.

The selected charity for the Annual OCA Ranch Rodeo is the Children’s Hospital Foundation, as each year, proceeds from the event are donated to the miracle network. Because of this, many refer to the event as “cowboys helping kids.”

Agriculture plays a key role in everyday life. As the membership in the National FFA Organization continues to grow, it’s evident that students today understand the important role they can also play in agriculture.

Today, the National FFA Organization has a record-high student membership of 945,988, an increase of 11 percent from last year. In addition, the number of FFA chapters continues to grow — increasing by 168 this year, resulting in 9,163 chapters in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“It’s exciting to see our numbers grow and know we continue to influence the next generation of leaders,” said National FFA CEO Scott Stump. “This generation is making a difference in their communities and agriculture. We’re excited to see the enthusiasm for agricultural education and FFA reflected in our membership.”

The top five membership states of the organization are Texas, California, Georgia, Illinois and North Carolina. More than 43% of the membership is female, and 49.8% is male, with less than one percent reporting as nonbinary and 6.4% undisclosed.

According to the National office in Indy- Oklahoma FFA is in the top ten in membership with 29,210 members in the state- up just over 5% from a year ago. That makes Oklahoma the 8th largest state in total membership in the US.

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

U.S. Agricultural Land Values and Cropland Cash Rents Reach New Highs

Agricultural land values increased by $280 an acre over 2022, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The Land Values 2023 Summary report, released on August 4, shows a 7.4% increase following 2022’s record-breaking numeric increase of $420 per acre (12%) over 2021. Cash rent values for cropland were up 4.7% to a record $155 per acre and up 7.1% to $15 per acre for pastureland. This annual report provides one of many indicators of the overall health of the agricultural economy and illustrates yet another heightened production cost and barrier to profitability faced by farmers and ranchers.

Farm Real Estate Value

The U.S. average farm real estate value, a measurement that includes the value of all land and buildings on farms, clocked in at a record $4,080 per acre. This 7.4% increase over last year is less than the 12% bump between 2021 and 2022, which was the largest change since 2006, when values increased 14% over 2005. Excluding last year, 2023 farm real estate values had the largest percentage increase since 2014. Looking at the dollar value of the change, the $280 per acre increase over 2022 is the second-highest increase since the USDA began the survey in 1997.

These levels vary significantly throughout the country, with the highest real estate values concentrated in areas with larger volumes of high-value crops (think wine grapes and tree nuts in California), as well as areas experiencing upward pressure due to proximity to urban areas with little remaining developable land, like the small states of the Northeast. Much of the Midwest had higher real estate values, followed by the South and Pacific Northwest, and finally the Plains and Mountain states. Part of this increase can be linked to high 2021/2022 commodity prices that have translated to a higher farming value for land in row crop-heavy heartland states like Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and Indiana. 

Dairy Checkoff Shifts Schools Strategy To Meet New Demands

The dairy checkoff marked its 13th year of impact through Fuel Up to Play 60 – a school wellness program in partnership with the NFL – while preparing an evolved strategy that will bring more partners together to support dairy’s role in youth wellness and improve education of the contributions of America’s dairy farmers.

Beginning this school year, the checkoff will shift to the “Fuel Up” platform with a goal of bringing new and diverse partners together to expand opportunities to increase access to dairy with other nutritious foods and engage youth around healthy eating and food production.

With this change, Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) is transitioning from a partnership with the NFL to a no-cost collaboration, which paves the way to co-create programs that support youth wellness. In addition, as students’ food choices and understanding of nutrition is increasingly impacted by factors outside the school building, Fuel Up will allow for a more integrated approach to engaging youth and their parents.

“This is our opportunity to reinforce dairy’s support for greater access to nutrition in cafeterias and classrooms but do it in new and more effective ways,” said Barbara O’Brien, CEO and president of DMI. “Fuel Up to Play 60 helped secure the reputation and legacy of dairy farmers for being champions of youth wellness, but the school environment has changed dramatically the last few years. We need to think differently to protect farmers’ ability to deliver long-term value to children and in schools.”

Merck Partners with OSU to Bring Bovine Health and Technology Summit to Stillwater

Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Intern, Maci Carter, had the opportunity to talk with Hope Harrington of Merck after the 2023 Bovine Health and Technology Summit put on by Oklahoma State University and Merck. Harrington and Carter discussed Merck’s role in the summit, what they presented to the veterinarians, and Merck’s plans moving forward.

“The Bovine Health and Technology Summit was an idea that our group had because, in our conversations with veterinarians, we noticed that there was a real lack of large amounts, 10 plus hours of CE (Continuing Education), really focusing on cattle medicine, and their role in a bovine practice,” Harrington said.

Harrington said their realization led to a successful first summit at Texas A&M last year, providing practical, applicable Continuing Education. After receiving great feedback, Merck partnered with OSU to bring the same thing to Stillwater.

“I’m hoping that producers are taking or veterinarians are taking home today is just the knowledge of the precision agriculture elements that are available to them, as well as an update in veterinary medicine and industry challenges,” Harrington said.

With Merck recently buying Allflex, a technology company, Harrington said she is hoping that the veterinarians at the summit are really taking home a better understanding of what resources there are out there available for them.

Heat Break With a Dose of Rainfall- Check the Totals

Rain from parts of northwestern Oklahoma have spread eastward across the state- and a significant part of Oklahoma has received some nice and much needed August rainfall.

Along with the rain- the triple digits across Oklahoma have taken a short hiatus although they are returning today in southwestern Oklahoma- and much of the state will face triple digits by Friday. (Altus is predicted to hit 101 degrees this afternoon)

Best rainfall totals are in east central Oklahoma(Stigler leads the pack as of early this morning with over 3.6 inches)- but there are a lot of inch or more totals at Mesonet sites west of I-35. The map above is clickable and you can click on it for a cyber trip to the Mesonet site where you can review the numbers on a location by location basis.