Cattlemen’s Congress is back for the fourth time at the OKC Fairgrounds- and is poised to once again be easily the largest beef cattle show in North America in just its fourth year. The numbers are impressive- over 8,000 entries spread out over 25 beef breeds with shows happening daily through January 11th- 15 sales featuring elite genetics that will generate several million dollars- not to mention the countless private treaty sales that exhibitors will be able to close back in the barns.

When it was established in 2021- Cattlemen’s Congress’ goal was to provide a world class event specifically designed for cattlemen and women to gather, showcase and market their elite cattle genetics. Congress is a stock show that from day one, is for cattlemen and women managed by cattlemen and women. The Fourth Cattlemen’s Congress continues to follow that course.

I talked with Executive Vice President Bray Haven during the opening weekend as the Show was jumping into road gear- listen to our complete conversation by tapping on the blue button below.

Haven says the barns are filling up and cattle producers from across the United States are excited to return to Oklahoma City and the OKC Fairgrounds for another Congress.

There are 25 breeds on display and showing this year- the newest addition being the Highland breed. One of the more recently added breeds- the Texas Longhorns– were showing on the opening weekend and experienced a thirty percent growth in numbers from year one of their show. 

Click here for the schedule of the 2024 Congress



The Oklahoma Agriculture Mediation Program knows this is a hard time for farmers and ranchers. We want you to know we are still open, and we are still here for you. The Ag Mediation program is a free service that provides mediation to agriculture producers who may need help with ag-related disputes.

At Oklahoma Ag Mediation, we have been helping people in agriculture resolve conflicts since 1987. We know firsthand about working together to resolve conflicts, so you don’t have to go through the court systems. Let our professional mediators help you. Mediation is allowed for lease issues, farmer/neighbor disputes, family farm transitions, and more. These services are available at no cost for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers in all 77 counties. For more information, you can go to ok.gov/mediation, or give us a call at 800 248 5465.

I recently had the chance to visit with the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Mike Schulte, about 2024 priorities for the Commission- the body that is charged with promoting and improving demand for Oklahoma wheat.

Schulte says the Commission will continue to work to up the interest level for the most recently harvested crop in Mexico and South America. “In November, we did have great successful crop quality tours where we presented to millers and bakers in South America on the quality attributes of this crop” adding we are getting more competitive in the international markets as market factors shift as the old year ends and the new year begins.

Schulte says the wheat breeding research at OSU that is funded in part by wheat checkoff funds – and that will include continuing work on end use quality functionality of the hard red wheat lines being developed. He’s also hopeful about “work with blends of soft red winter wheat(with HRW wheat) for utilization of this product in markets in South America that can be utilized for cookies, crackers and pasta lines.”

Other things that Schulte is hopeful will unfold is a campaign that may be coming to replace the aging greenhouses on the OSU Research Farm- he says those structures have been used since the 1950s and they must be replaced to not lose momentum in our wheat research efforts going forward.

Learn more about the efforts of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission by clicking here.

Beltwide Cotton and Red River Crops Conference Happening Here In January

We are busy covering Cattlemen's Congress this week and next- but we want to remind you a few other events happening.

The National Cotton Council and its cooperating partners are hosting the 2024 Beltwide Cotton Conferences January 3 through 5 (Wednesday - Friday) at the Omni, Fort Worth, Tx.

Three days of individual reports, panel discussions, hands on workshops and seminars are designed to provide attendees with information they need to help producers make key cotton production/marketing-related decisions. A dynamic program, along with the opportunity to network with peers from across the Cotton Belt.

Details are available here.

Meanwhile- the 11th annual Red River Crops Conference for producers in southwestern Oklahoma and the Texas Rolling Plains regions will be held on Jan. 17-18 in Altus.

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service collaborate each year to offer the event, alternating hosting duties between the two states.

The conference will be from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Jan. 17 and 9 a.m.-3:15 p.m. on Jan. 18 at the Jackson County Expo Center, 300 South Todd Lane.

Cost is $25 per person for one or both days. Lunch will be served each day, and preregistration is encouraged by Jan. 13 for meal counts

More details are available here.

Farm Director, KC Sheperd is talking with the Vice President of Agricultural Sales at Big Iron Auctions, Kurt Campbell, about the services offered on the website and how this year has been in the ag sales realm.

Big Iron conducts online auctions to help individuals sell land, equipment, and livestock. Campbell said over 1.4 million individual IP addresses view the auction site per month.

“There are quite a few items coming up for several sellers, not only just in Oklahoma, but the surrounding states and Texas, and Arkansas, and Kansas…” Campbell said.

Campbell added that there are over 8,000 items posted on the Big Iron website for auction.

One highlight of the year Campbell mentioned is having the chance to be the platform utilized to auction off items from the Oklahoma Youth Expo ag mechanics competition.

“It has been a pleasure to work for that organization, and that auction is in March,” Campbell said. “Looking forward to helping again and the items are very well made, and the prices are good. We are happy to be able to support that.”

Got Alfalfa Hay Available? It’s a Great Supplement for Pregnant Beef Cows

On today’s Cow-Calf Corner, Dr Paul Beck of OSU’s Animal Science Department looks at a cost/benefit analysis of supplements for mama cows during the winter months.

It is well past time to consider supplementation options for getting our cows through the winter while preparing them for spring calving. Although down some, feed prices do not feel like they have returned to levels we are used to. Good growing conditions have blessed us with better hay production than we have seen in the last couple of years, so using high-quality hay as a supplement can definitely be an option this winter. The USDA Oklahoma Direct Hay Market Report for December shows (https://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/ams_3095.pdf) that Good/Premium grade alfalfa in 4 x 4 large square bales is pricing at $180/ton while Premium/Supreme alfalfa is pricing at $200 per ton. Compare this to 20% Range Cubes priced at $10/bag ($400 per ton). Good grade alfalfa is 18 to 20% crude protein and 58-60% total digestible nutrients.

Premium grade is 20 to 22% crude protein and Supreme is >22% crude protein. These nutritive qualities make alfalfa hay an attractive option compared to feeding cubes.

Using the Cowculator Beef Cattle Nutrition Evaluation program (available at https://extension.okstate.edu/programs/cowculator.html) we see that a 1250 pound cow in the third trimester of gestation grazing stockpiled native range in January and February would need 6 pounds of supplemental 20% Range Cubes per day to meet protein and energy needs. This would cost $1.67 per cow each day.

Kansas State University researchers have reported a breakthrough in developing wheat-based foods that contain lower amounts of gluten, a discovery that may lessen the adverse effects for those with celiac or other autoimmune diseases.

Scientists from K-State’s Wheat Genetics Resource Center and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service — in partnership with Kansas Wheat — successfully used a gene editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9 to reduce the presence of two types of gluten-coding genes called gliadins that are known to be abundant in immunoreactive peptides – the amino acid building blocks that form proteins.

Gluten is a protein often found in wheat, barley and rye. When people with celiac disease eat gluten, their body mounts an immune response that attacks the small intestine and the small, fingerlike projections known as villi that help the body absorb nutrients properly.



According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, celiac disease affects 1 in 100 people worldwide, but only about 30% are properly diagnosed.