This past Friday, Farm Director KC Sheperd had the chance to visit with Oklahoma State University associate professor of agricultural economics, Dr. Amy Hagerman, about programs to help producers whom the recent wildfires in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles have impacted.

“There are still some flare-ups happening out there and we have got some conditions happening this weekend that we need to be very careful of,” Hagerman said.



As producers make it back onto their properties, Hagerman said documentation should be of top priority for producers wanting to take advantage of some of these programs.

“If you have dead livestock, it is making sure we get some documentation of that and documentation to apply for the Livestock Indemnity Program, which pays for those excess losses that you experience due to a disaster event,” Hagerman said. “These wildfires certainly qualify as a disaster event.”

Aside from livestock, Hagerman said producers also need to take a record of repairs that will need to be completed on their property, such as fences, equipment, and buildings.



Midwest Farm Shows is proud to produce the two best Farm Shows in the State of Oklahoma annually- the Tulsa Farm Show each December and the Oklahoma City Farm Show each April. 

They would like to thank all of you who participated in their 2023 Tulsa City Farm Show. 

Up next will be the Oklahoma City’s premier spring agricultural and ranching event with returns to the State Fair Park April 4-5-6, 2024.

Now is the ideal time to contact the Midwest Farm Show Office at 507-437-7969 and book space at the 2024 Oklahoma City Farm Show.  To learn more about the Oklahoma City Farm Show, click here. 

Congressional leaders released bill text Sunday afternoon of half a dozen spending measures, a critical step toward funding the government five months after the start of the fiscal year.

Lawmakers hope to pass the six-bill package this week, which includes spending for the U S Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

According to the House Republicans’ summary of the package- the highlights of the USDA/FDA portion of the deal include:

Rejects President Biden’s proposal for 4,700 new full-time equivalents (FTE) at the USDA

headquarters in Washington, D.C., and instead encourages the hiring of staff in the county

offices that work directly with producers and rural communities.

• Addresses foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land.

• Continues critical investments in agriculture research, rural broadband, rural water

infrastructure, and animal and plant health programs.

• Provides sufficient resources to ensure the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices.

• Maintains a funding restriction on the FDA from conducting research on a human embryo

that is intentionally created or modified to include a heritable genetic modification.

Beyond USDA/FDA, the House GOP leadership point to a 9.4% cut in spending for EPA.

We have scanned thru the hundreds of pages of the bill and the directives documents- and have highlighted several programs/policies from the measure- read more by clicking on the Blue Button below.

Linking Sustainability to Profitability with NCBA’s Samantha Werth

I had the chance to talk with the Director of Sustainability at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Samantha Werth.

NCBA launched sustainability goals in November of 2021, Werth said, and since that time, one focus of NCBA has been defining what sustainability means for the cattle industry.

“For us, that comes down to the animals, the people, and the planet,” Werth said. “We are really focused on what we can do as a cattle ranching and producing community to advance sustainability initiatives, continuously improve as we have been for decades, and be able to leverage that work we are doing to share across the broader industry.”

When it comes to talking to producers about sustainability efforts, Werth said profitability is a big concern.

“If we are talking about a new grazing management strategy that is going to help with enhancing biodiversity on the land, are there ways we can enhance biodiversity for producers to help get them paid, essentially, for that work they are doing to enhance biodiversity,” Werth said. “In anything we are doing, we are looking at what are the opportunities to get support and what are the ways we are going to improve profitability for a producer if we are implementing sustainability practices.”

Wildfire can leave a ranching operation without forage, requiring a sudden and radical change in management to maintain animals immediately after the event.

Fortunately, the ruminant animal is resilient and can adapt to a wide range of diet composition and feeding management levels. David Lalman, Oklahoma State University Extension beef cattle specialist, and Dana Zook, OSU Extension west district livestock specialist, suggest the stop-gap nutritional management strategies provided below. These alternatives are intended to minimize stress and weight loss in cases where standing forage or hay is limited or non-existent.



These emergency nutritional management programs are based on a limit feeding strategy because a) digestive upset and founder can occur when concentrate feeds are overfed to unadapted animals, and b) it is assumed the hay resource will be limited for the next several months until pasture green-up occurs. Limiting the amount of hay that is fed dramatically reduces hay waste and stretches the forage supply.

Strategy No. 1: Creep feed for four to five days

Strategy No. 2: Limited hay with creep feed

Bayer Carbon Program Expands Eligibility, Creates New Potential Revenue Streams for Thousands of US Farmers

Bayer announced today several enhancements to its Bayer Carbon Program that provide all-new opportunities for more U.S. farmers to earn incentives for implementing regenerative agriculture practices that sequester carbon while promoting soil health. Within these enhancements includes the addition of Oklahoma into the Bayer Carbon Program.

The updates include expanded enrollment eligibility that gives more farmers access to potential new revenue streams for participating. In addition, an extended historical performance period for fields with eligible practice changes and a new Nitrogen Management Program could increase a farmer’s per-acre payment potential.

The Bayer Carbon Program is part of ForGround by Bayer, Bayer’s digital platform of resources and program options, designed to help U.S. farmers realize the soil health benefits of regenerative agriculture practices, like reducing tillage and planting cover crops. The carbon program creates a mutually beneficial model that pays farmers for their efforts to sequester carbon through regenerative agriculture practices. 

AFBF Market Intel: Chaos at Shipping Chokepoints

An estimated 80% of world trade is transported via ship. Maritime trade is most vulnerable to disruption at a series of geographic chokepoints across the globe (Figure 1). Some chokepoints are human-built canals, which provide extremely valuable shortcuts to connect the world’s oceans, and others are naturally narrow points between bodies of water. In recent months, water level issues at the Panama Canal and attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, specifically around Bab el-Mandeb, have severely limited trade through two of the world’s most important passages. This Market Intel does a deep dive on these twin issues, which have compounded to create major headaches for global trade.

Water Woes at the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is the most important chokepoint for U.S. trade, with approximately 14% of all U.S. maritime trade transiting through the canal. In fiscal year (FY) 2023, 72.2% of cargo by weight transiting the Panama Canal was either originating from or destined for the United States. As a significant portion of bulk U.S. agricultural exports are shipped down the Mississippi River, through the Gulf of Mexico and on to East Asia, the Panama Canal is an essential transit point for U.S. agricultural products.

In fiscal year/marketing year 2023, roughly 91% of U.S. sorghum exports, 29% of U.S. soybean exports and 18% of U.S. corn exports transited through the Panama Canal (calculated using Panama Canal Authority data for Atlantic to Pacific cargo (October 2022 – September 2023) and USDA Production, Supply and Distribution export data (September 2022 – August 2023).