According to the latest Oklahoma drought monitor report, exceptional drought remains at zero percent, unchanged from the past few weeks.

Extreme drought or worse is now at 8.48 percent, down from last week’s 14.34 percent.

Severe drought or worse is now at 29.44 percent, down from last week’s 32.40 percent.

Moderate drought or worse is now at 43.11 percent, down from last week’s 45.3 percent.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions are now at 63.32 percent, up slightly from last week’s 63.29 percent.

To view the latest Oklahoma drought numbers, click the Oklahoma drought map above the story.

Across our region- Texas Drought Monitor Numbers show some improvement as the Severe Drought or worse number drops from 62% to 56% this week- Kansas sees little change as Severe Drought or worse goes from 48.4% last week to 47.97% this week- Missouri also sees sideways numbers as Moderate Drought or worse goes from 59.1%a week ago to 59.7% this week. Finally- Louisiana is about as bad as it can get- Exceptional Drought is seen in 62% of the state.



Oklahoma Farm Bureau works to improve the lives of all Oklahomans by supporting our state’s agriculture community. As Oklahoma’s largest general farm organization led by Oklahoma farmers and ranchers, OKFB takes grassroots values and advocates for agriculture at the state Capitol and in Washington, D.C., to ensure our way of life continues for generations to come.

Farm Bureau hosts leadership events, supports our state’s agricultural youth and connects consumers with agriculture in order to build a brighter future for our state. Become an OKFB member today online at okfarmbureau.org/join. Together, we are rural Oklahoma.

OSU’s Jayson Lusk Looks to Prioritize Improved Research Facilities and Extension

Farm Director, KC Sheperd, is visiting with the Dean and Vice President of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University, Dr. Jayson Lusk, about New Frontiers Agricultural Hall and his priorities going forward.

The construction of the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall is on track, Lusk said, as the new space will not only be a great place for students and faculty to learn, work, and research, but it will also aid in the recruitment of new students.

“A wonderful facility that is made possible by the generous support of donors and alums,” Lusk said. “We are aiming for that facility to be done this summer because we have classes scheduled for the fall.”

Some of Lusk’s priorities, he said, involve improving the school’s ag farms and livestock facilities. As OSU is known for releasing top-of-the-line wheat varieties, Lusk said improving those facilities will be vital to continued success in the future.

“Thinking about how we can grow extension and add new capacities in a new modern way is something I am looking forward to working on in the next year or two,” Lusk said.

Higher Cattle and Beef Prices are Projected for 2024 and 2025 as Supplies Will Continue to Tighten

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am back talking with Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Dr. Derrell Peel about cow number projections.

Beef cow herd numbers declined through 2023, Peel said, and will be smaller as of January 1, 2024.

“When you look at the slaughter numbers and work through the math, there is no way that we could have avoided getting smaller,” Peel said.

Looking ahead, Peel said there is a possibility that 2024 may see the lowest cow herd numbers yet.

“It is not clear yet, particularly with the amount of drought and poor conditions we have around, what will happen in 2024,” Peel said. “We will be watching this going forward, but I am pretty sure we will be smaller going into 2024.”

Recently, Peel said many producers have been embracing tools such as Livestock Risk Protection.

“We have got higher prices, and we are very bullish over the next couple of years for prices in general, but there is also a lot of risk in this market, and certainly lots of potential for outside shocks that could come in and impact our market, so producers are very wise to consider using tools like LRP…,” Peel said.

Following the release of the WASDE (World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates) report released on October 12, 2023, Farm Director KC Sheperd visited with Allendale’s Rich Nelson about the big takeaways from the report.

“On the wheat side of things, we did see USDA incorporate those larger production numbers from the Small Grains Summary Report at the end of September, and we did see ending stocks raise from 615 to now 670 million bushels,” Nelson said.

Wheat is seeing tight stocks on a world basis, Nelson said, as well as a U.S. basis.

Looking at cotton, Nelson said while smaller acreage is predicted, there will hopefully be better-harvested numbers from last year. According to the latest reports from USDA, Nelson said stocks for cotton are looking tighter than the last two years.

“What USDA did today, is they lowered planted acres yet again, and they also lowered harvested, so our increase in harvest acres is only about 700,000 from last year,” Nelson said. “So, we still have, in this case, a tightened production number.”

October Crop Production Estimates Oklahoma Cotton Down 11 Percent from 2022

On October 12, 2023, USDA NASS released the October Crop Production report. Overall, corn production was down less than 1 percent from the September forecast, soybean production was down 1 percent, and cotton production was down 2 percent.

For the U.S., all cotton production is forecast at 12.8 million 480-pound bales, down 2 percent from the previous forecast and down 11 percent from 2022. Based on conditions as of October 1, yields are expected to average 767 pounds per harvested acre, down 19 pounds from the previous forecast and down 183 pounds from 2022.

In Oklahoma, cotton production is forecast at 270 thousand 480-pound bales, up 10,000 bales or 3.8 percent from the September forecast and down 11 percent from 2022. Based on conditions as of October 1, yields are expected to average 418 pounds per harvested acre, up 15 pounds from the previous forecast and down 216 pounds from 2022. For 2023, it is estimated that Oklahoma will harvest 310,000 acres of cotton, up 34.7 percent from 2022.

OSU’s Kim Anderson Discusses Key Takeaways from 2023 Rural Economic Conference

This Week on SUNUP is Oklahoma State University Extension grain market economist Kim Anderson. During this week’s edition, Anderson talks about takeaways from the 2023 Rural Economic Outlook Conference, which took place on October 11 at Oklahoma State University.

“It is almost impossible to predict price, but you have to estimate prices so that you can develop budgets and you can compare different crops and different enterprises to see which one would be the most profitable for you,” Anderson said. “Then, we talked about the change in land use in Oklahoma over the last four years.”

With land use in mind, Anderson said since the mid-80s, cropland has declined from about 14 million acres to a little less than 12 million.

“You look at the pasture or the range or the hay land; it increased from 16 million acres to 22 million acres,” Anderson said. “Wheat-planted acres has declined from 8 million to 4.5 (million acres). Corn has increased from 100,000 acres to about 400,000 acres, and soybeans are from 300,000 (acres) to 500,000 (acres).”

Anderson said cotton acreage declined from the 80s to the 90s, then increased in the last couple of years.

More Stories for Your Weekend Reading