Opening day for the 20th Annual Oklahoma City Farm Show is Thursday April fourth- and the Show is set to feature the latest agricultural machinery, equipment, technology, and services from hundreds of exhibitors representing more than 1000 products and services. Indoor exhibits will fill the Bennett Event Center, along with outdoor exhibits located directly in front of the event center.

Ahead of the start of the show- I caught up with Penny Swank as exhibitors were busy moving in on Tuesday. Swank says that she is excited that 74 new companies will have exhibits at the 2024 show. You can listen to our conversation by clicking the blue button below.

OSU Extension seminars will be featured on Thursday and Friday at 11:00am and 1:30pm. OSU Area Agronomist, Mike Trammell, will present “How to Save Money by Calibrating Your Sprayer” at 11:00am Thursday 1:30pm Friday. On Thursday at 1:30, OSU Small and Beginning Farms Specialist, Josh Campbell, will present “Producing Eggs for Your Family and Others.” And on 11:00am Friday, OSU Farm Management Specialist and Bee Group Advisor, Courtney Bir will present “Raising Honey Bees.”

The Oklahoma City Farm Show runs April 4, 5 & 6 at the Bennett Event Center, located on the OKC Fairgrounds Complex in Oklahoma City. Show hours are 9AM-5PM on Thursday and Friday, and 9AM to 4PM Saturday. 

As the premier John Deere dealer across Oklahoma & Arkansas, P&K Equipment is proud to serve our 20 communities and the surrounding areas. From residential, small ag & hay, large ag, & compact construction equipment- the P&K team makes it easy to buy & own your John Deere equipment. You’ll find transparent pricing & easy financing options on the website & in stores. You’ll have technology, sales, parts, and service support long after the sale. So when you’re ready to experience the ease of operating John Deere equipment- you can trust the experts at P&K Equipment.



On March 27th, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the 2022 Census of Agriculture State and County profiles and the State Market Value of Agriculture Products rankings.

“The State and County profiles and State Market Values rankings give a very viewable look into the 2022 Census of Agriculture at the State and County level,” said NASS Oklahoma State Statistician Troy Marshall. “The county profiles are very useful to data users trying to understand the importance of agriculture to a local county area.”

Click here to see your 2022 State and County Profile.

These updated profiles and rankings will be the from the 2022 Census of Agriculture and can be used to compare back to older iterations of the same release to show agricultural trends at a more local level.

Donnell Brown Sees Opportunity for Improving Cattle Health and Wellbeing Through Gene Editing

In part two of our Beef Buzz series with Texas rancher Donnell Brown- we talk gene editing. Click here for Part One which focused on EPDs.

“The gene editing front is exciting, we have got new things coming along on those fronts, and we are able to edit multiple traits,” Brown said. “We have changed a couple of bulls from Black Angus to Red Angus, building an identical clone that was a Black Angus and now a Red Angus, so we are excited about those things.”

Brown said he believes the most exciting part of gene editing is the ability to improve the health and wellness of cattle.

“What a huge advantage that can be to the industry, especially as consumers are saying, ‘Hey, I want to make sure that if I can get cattle without antibiotics, that I feel better,’” Brown said. “Even though we are judicious users of safe and healthy use of antibiotics just like we are with our families, we are with our livestock.”



If gene editing can help increase productivity, longevity and overall health of cattle, Brown said the value is something that cannot be overlooked. On the gene editing front, Brown said research is being conducted on diseases such as Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD), and Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD).

HPAI Confirmed in Idaho Dairy Herd- Making 12 Herds in Five States Positive with the Disease

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a dairy herd in Idaho. APHIS shared on Friday, March 29 that its National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa, was working to confirm presumptive positive test results from an Idaho herd; this announcement is a follow up to that information. 

This marks the first known case of HPAI in cattle in Idaho. To date, USDA has confirmed the detection of HPAI in dairy herds in Texas (7) Kansas (2), Michigan (1), and New Mexico (1). With Idaho- dairy cows in 12 herds have tested positive for HPAI.

The NVSL is currently performing confirmatory tests on presumptive positive results from Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas. 

On Monday April 1, CDC reported that a dairy worker in Texas has tested positive for HPAI A(H5N1) virus- this case was apparently the spark that caused the sharp selloff in Live Cattle and Feeder Cattle Futures in the final minutes of the day's trade. The market partially recovered on Tuesday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has registered Tolvera™ herbicide for effective broadleaf and grass weed control in spring and winter wheat, durum and barley. The product features two modes of action – tolpyralate, an active ingredient new to the cereals market, and bromoxynil – to help combat the spread of resistant weeds while providing flexibility in application and crop rotation. Tolvera herbicide will be available for the 2025 season. 

A proven weed control tool for corn growers, tolpyralate is an HPPD inhibitor (Group 27) with less known resistance than some other herbicide groups. Tolvera herbicide provides farmers with tank-mix flexibility for ease of use, along with excellent control of many challenging weeds, including all common herbicide-resistant biotypes of kochia, Russian thistle, waterhemp, green and yellow foxtail, and barnyardgrass.

“Tolvera herbicide offers growers a new, effective tool to manage hard-to-control weeds and expands their choices for crop rotation options the following season,” said Drew Clark, Corteva Agriscience Cereal Herbicide Product Manager. “We’re excited to deliver a new active ingredient to the cereals market, expanding farmers’ access to effective crop management tools.”

To learn more, visit Corteva.us/Tolvera or contact your local Corteva territory manager.

2024 Alltech Agri-Food Outlook shares global feed production survey data and influential trends in agriculture

Global animal feed production remained steady in 2023 at 1.29 billion metric tons (BMT), a slight decrease of 2.6 million metric tons (MMT) — or 0.2% — from 2022’s estimates, according to the 2024 Agri-Food Outlook, released today by Alltech. The annual survey, now in its 13th year, includes data from 142 countries and more than 27,000 feed mills.

The overall lower demand for feed was due, in part, to the more efficient use of feed made possible by intensive production systems that focus on using animal nutrition, farm management and other technologies to lower feed intake while producing the same amount of protein, or more. A slowdown in the overall production of animal protein, in response to tight margins experienced by many feed and animal protein companies, also contributed to lower feed demand. Changing consumption patterns caused by inflation and dietary trends, higher production costs and geopolitical tensions also influenced feed production in 2023.

OSU Wheat Varieties are the Most Planted in Oklahoma

The top seven wheat varieties planted in Oklahoma in 2024 were developed at Oklahoma State University, according to the USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service’s annual report. This is the 10th consecutive year that OSU varieties have ranked in the top seven varieties planted statewide.

“The adoption of OSU wheat varieties across the state highlights the value that the OSU Wheat Improvement Team brings to the industry,” said Wade Thomason, head of the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. “Dr. Brett Carver’s pursuit of excellence generates varieties that provide the highest level of performance while thriving in Oklahoma’s challenging environment. As a public breeding program, OSU can focus on the needs of the Oklahoma wheat grower and deliver varieties that provide the most value now and into the future.”

“As producers find more efficient ways to manage operations, they look at varieties that have good yield characteristics and strong disease resistance. The OSU wheat research team also places strong emphasis on these attributes,” said Mike Schulte, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. “These key components and main-stay attributes continue to be important when giving producers choices for making variety selection decisions.”