According to the latest Oklahoma drought monitor report, exceptional drought remains at zero percent, unchanged from the start of the calendar year.

Extreme drought or worse is at zero percent, unchanged from last week’s percentage.

Severe drought or worse remains at 3.08 percent, unchanged from last week.

Moderate drought or worse remains at 21.64 percent, unchanged from last week’s percentage.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions are now at 44.68 percent, improved from last week’s 46.38 percent.

According to the 6-to-10-day precipitation outlook map, the majority of the state is leaning above a 33 to 40 percent chance of precipitation through January 13. The far west side of the panhandle is leaning above a 40 to 50 percent chance of precipitation, and the southwest corner of the state is at a near-normal percent chance of precipitation through that January 13th date.

To view this week's Oklahoma drought numbers, click the Oklahoma drought map above the story.



The vision of the Oklahoma Beef Council is to be a positive difference for Oklahoma's farming and ranching families and the greater beef community, and its mission is to enhance beef demand by strengthening consumer trust and exceeding consumer expectations. 

To learn more, visit www.oklabeef.org. Also, don't forget to like its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/oklabeef for stories on Oklahoma's ranching families and great beef recipes. 

And Check out this video below that helps you learn more about the Beef Checkoff- It's the latest Drive in Five.

Limousin Brings Feed Efficiency and More to the Crossbreeding Table

At the fourth Cattlemen’s Congress, I caught up with the Executive Director of the North American Limousin Foundation, Mark Anderson, and talked about the state of the Limousin breed.

This will be the third year in a row that NALF membership has met in Oklahoma City during Cattlemen’s Congress for an annual meeting.

“This is one of our better shows for turnout,” Anderson said. “We have a lot of members through the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and other places, but this is close to home for a good portion of our membership, so it is very well attended. It has been a blessing.”

Regarding the state of the Limousin breed, Anderson said it is the best it has been in the last five years. Anderson added that the genetic progress breeders have made over the past few years has been tremendous.

“We bring a lot of feed efficiency advantages in the cross and heterosis you get for these commercial feed yards; they make excellent cattle through a feed yard,” Anderson said.

WW Livestock Systems Participates in Year Four of Cattlemen’s Congress

At Cattlemen’s Congress, I had the chance to visit with the National Sales Manager of WW Livestock Systems, Sam Eck. Eck and I talk about year four of Cattlemen’s Congress and WW Livestock Systems.

“WW started back in 1946 by the Webster family,” Eck said. “We have been building quality livestock equipment and animal handling equipment since then. We started building squeeze chutes back in about 1960, and it has just continued to evolve to what it is today, where we have got about eight different models of squeeze chutes and about anything you need for animal containment.”

One WW squeeze chute will be given to the winner of the Hereford pen show.

“We were contacted by the AHA last year to donate a chute to help generate some interest in this show, and we did it then, and they hit me again this year…,” Eck said.

Eck said that building squeeze chutes is comparable to raising cattle because it is all about listening to what the consumer wants.

Farm Director, KC Sheperd, is talking with BASF Technical Marketing Manager Kim Tutor about fungicide options for farmers.

“BASF is committed to bringing marketing solutions to help growers solve everyday problems,” Tutor said.

While Tutor’s main focus is on fungicides for corn and wheat, she also talked about some options for soybeans.

“In general, this season in the Midwest, it was really hot and really dry,” Tutor said.

While not many producers saw disease during the season, Tutor said there were “pockets” that received more moisture than others. Where there was more moisture, Tutor said, there was disease.

There are three things you need for disease, Tutor said, including the host, the pathogen, and the right environmental conditions.

“This year was the perfect example of that,” Tutor said. “All it took was just a little bit of humidity or a little rain, and that map started to light up like a Christmas tree.”

Feeding the World, Caring for the Land: U.S. Wheat Associates Launches ‘Stories of Stewardship’ Video Series

The time and effort U.S. farmers put into caring for the land makes for a story that is not shared often enough. A new video series produced by U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) aims to change that for overseas wheat buyers by focusing on how producers help feed the world while also acting as stewards of soil, water, and the environment.

USW’s “Stories of Stewardship” project goes straight to the source. Five wheat farmers in five different states appear on camera, from their farms, to talk about their work to assure economic security for the next generation of farmers by leaving their land in better shape than it was when they started farming it.

A preview of the new, six-episode series can be viewed here. USW will debut the series at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Jan. 10, 2024, with a Facebook Live event that can be viewed here.

Council Highlights Exceptional U.S. Corn Quality for Chinese Market

To present the 2023/24 Corn Harvest Quality Report, discuss opportunities for sorghum and break down barriers to defend the market share of these coarse grain commodities in China, the U.S. Grains Council (USGC’s) office in Beijing recently conducted a corn quality roadshow and seminar in Beijing and Guangdong Province.

In addition to reviewing the report, the seminar welcomed speakers who discussed the challenges and opportunities for corn globally; the current drought affecting the Panama Canal; and a 2023 U.S. sorghum harvest and market outlook.

“More than 60 traders and end-users from all over China attended our seminar to learn about the harvest quality of our 2023/24 U.S. corn crop and other critical topics affecting the global coarse-grain market,” said Manuel Sanchez, USGC director in China.

Outside the seminar, the Council’s team had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with COFCO International, in addition to Junjie and the Huaren Group.

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