U.S. farmers’ perspective on the future improved in March helping to push the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer up 3 points from February to a reading of 114. The Index of Current Conditions at 101 was 2 points below a month earlier while the Index of Future Expectations reached 120, 5 points higher than in February.

The split between the current and future indices was driven primarily by farmers’ perception that their financial condition has deteriorated over the last year while they expect their financial situation to improve modestly in the next 12 months. The March Ag Economy Barometer survey was conducted from March 11-15, 2024.

Farmer sentiment improved modestly in March with the rise primarily attributable to producers expecting financial conditions on their farms to improve in the year ahead. The improvement in farmers’ financial outlook was buttressed by an improved interest outlook with nearly half of this month’s respondents saying they expect interest rates to decline over the next 12 months.

Farmers’ short-run outlook for farmland values also improved this month as the short-run farmland index climbed 9 points above its February reading. Interest in using farmland for solar energy production and sequestering carbon appears to be on the rise with 12% of respondents discussing solar energy leases and 18% saying they or their landowners were approached about possible Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage on farmland.

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.



I am talking with the CEO of the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion Board, Greg Hanes, about planning for the year ahead with fewer Checkoff dollars available.

While high cattle prices are cause for celebration, Hanes said the cattle numbers are much lower, and it doesn’t look like the rebuilding phase will begin anytime soon. To learn more about the work underway from the Beef Checkoff, visit drivingdemandforbeef.com.

“That does make it a challenge on the Checkoff side because with less cattle we have less Checkoff dollars,” Hanes said. “On the positive side to that, the last few years as we were kind of going through more liquidation, we were actually getting higher collections than we anticipated during those few years, so we were able to hold some back in anticipation that this would be happening.”

Due to higher collections in years prior, Hanes said the Checkoff has been able to spread out funding across several programs and keep them level.

Visit Our Sponsors at the Annual OKC Farm Show April 4-6!

This is the Opening Day for the 20th Annual Oklahoma City Farm Show- 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. The show is free to attend and there is plenty of free parking at the OKC Fairgrounds complex.

To visit the OKC Farm Show website to see more information, CLICK HERE.

Come and check out some of our Oklahoma Farm Report sponsors who will be at the show!

• Oklahoma Ag Credit (Booth 2087)
• Oklahoma Farm Bureau (Booth 4035)
• Stillwater Milling Company (Both 4048/4055)
• P&K Equipment (Booth 6057)
• Great Plains Kubota (Booth 4109)
• National Livestock (Booth 4083)
• Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association (Booth 5102)
• Stockman Oklahoma (Booth 5058)
• Western Livestock (Booth 5100)

AND- plan on stopping by and saying howdy to Ron and KC at the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Booth in space 6032!!!!

And- you can also stop by the Show Headquarters and offering a big thank you to Midwest Shows for being our longest running sponsor of our daily farm and ranch news email!!!

CHS Inc., the nation’s leading agribusiness cooperative, today released results for its second quarter ended Feb. 29, 2024. The company reported quarterly net income of $170.3 million and revenues of $9.1 billion compared to net income of $292.3 million and revenues of $11.3 billion in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023. For the first six months of fiscal year 2024, the company reported net income of $693.2 million and revenues of $20.5 billion compared to record net income of $1.1 billion and record revenues of $24.1 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2023.

Second quarter fiscal year 2024 highlights:

• Performance was solid across our segments, although earnings were down from the record second quarter of fiscal year 2023.
• In our Ag segment, earnings rose as agronomy markets were stronger compared to the prior year and grain and oilseed margins were stable.
• In our Energy segment, margins declined from the highs in the prior year due to changing market conditions including the impact of a historically warm winter.
• Equity method investments continued to perform well, led by our CF Nitrogen investment.

“The first six months of our fiscal year have delivered overall good financial results,” said Jay Debertin, president and CEO of CHS Inc. “Our supply chain investments and well-diversified portfolio, empowered by our people and technology, are helping us perform well as we connect farmers and local cooperatives with the inputs and services they need to help feed the world.”

Don’t Forget Your Horses When Making Regenerative Grazing Plans

Perhaps the most challenging part of managing horses’ grazing is the fact that for most, the herd size is sometimes just one or a handful of horses. With these differences in mind, here are the top five lessons Joe Pokay learned while incorporating his horses into a regenerative grazing plan:

1. Create stock density, even with small numbers. As with ruminant animals, the key when grazing horses is still to create opportunity for adequate plant rest and recovery. With small numbers on small acreage, that often means creating many very small paddocks.

2. Consider mechanical harvest if the horses are too choosy.  Even with a high stock density, he doesn’t always get the even graze he desires.

3. Use smart solutions to keep water from being your limiting factor. An advantage of building small grazing cells close to a house or other outbuildings when possible can be the presence of convenient water hydrants. To take advantage of this, Pokay mounted a float onto the side of a heavy-duty, two-wheeled hand cart. Now it’s a portable water tank he can reach with simple garden hoses to fill, then easily dump and roll on to the next paddock.

4. Get creative with paddock shapes, sizes for back-grazing success. Even with a convenient, mobile watering system, Pokay still uses back-grazing to keep horses moving to fresh grass without having to move equipment constantly. Back-grazing allows animals to return to a previously grazed area, usually in order to return to a fixed point of water or shade.

5. Regain overused areas with variation, focused recovery. In some cases, he’s built a travel lane that leads animals back to shade or water, creating what he admits is a short-term sacrifice.

Crabgrass: A weed can be a forage

On today’s Cow-Calf Corner, Mike Trammell, Oklahoma State University Southeast Regional Forage Agronomist, talks about the grazing value of crabgrass.

Crabgrass is an annual, warm-season grass that is fast growing, easy to establish, and capable of natural and prolific reseeding, all of which allows it to excel as a “weed.”

Despite its bad reputation, crabgrass was originally used in Europe as fodder before being introduced into the United States, likely around the mid-1800s, as a forage for grazing livestock. During the past 30 years or so, there has been an enormous change in the perception of crabgrass with forage and livestock producers. It is now considered a legitimate forage crop.

Crabgrass works well when planted following small grains such as cereal rye or wheat. The small grains provide forage for late fall into spring and the crabgrass fills in during the summer and early fall to provide high-quality forage. Light tillage is recommended when the cereal forage is done being grazed or harvested in the spring. This improves seed germination and promotes better volunteer crabgrass stands for the summer.