To view the latest Oklahoma drought map, CLICK HERE.

Drought continues to expand in the state. The good news is that we continue to have NO extreme or exceptional drought but severe and moderate continue to grow.

Severe drought or worse is now at 5.50 percent, up from last week’s 3.05 percent. Most of that is in Woods, Alfalfa, Grant and Garfield Counties.

Moderate drought or worse is now at 35.54 percent, up from last week’s 26.70 percent.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions are now at 65.87 percent, up from last week’s 58.88 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 May 4th. The eastern border of the state along with the southeast corner stands at a near normal percent chance of precipitation through May 4th. The panhandle and a strip of southwest Oklahoma is leaning above a 40 to 50 percent chance of precipitation through May 4th.

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We invest in Oklahomans, and we take pride in their success. Our energy facilities provide jobs, tax revenues, landowner payments and other sources of local economic development.

For more information, visit www.InvenergyOklahoma.com

I am talking with the Vice President of Producer Relations at Enriched Ag, Billy Cook, about how data and insights can improve forage recovery, reduce supplemental feed with optimized grazing, and more.

“We gather data wherever we can find it, whether that is soil data, weather data, or satellite imagery,” Cook said. “Imagery is really our niche. If we can get imagery, we can make an analysis from the imagery. We started with satellite imagery- high-resolution frequent satellite imagery-with these other data sources. We bring all that data together in such a way that we can provide the insights to make grazing management decisions without having to do all of the work.”

To collect accurate data for every type of operation, Cook said Enriched Ag utilizes imagery. By giving producers a “dash camera” for the vehicle they use to drive around the ranch, Enriched Ag is able to make a detailed analysis of the property based on the images captured.

Through this imagery technology used by Enriched Ag, the possibilities are endless. Cook talked about how this technology can calculate the average body condition score of cattle on the property, to the overall cover of eastern red cedar, opening up new horizons for pasture and range management.

Introducing Kyla Bonds of the Mustang FFA Chapter, Your 2024 Southwest Area Star in Agriscience

This morning, our coverage of the 2024 Oklahoma FFA Star Award Finalists continues with Agriscience competitor Kyla Bond of the Mustang FFA chapter representing the Southwest Area.

Farm Director KC Sheperd interviewed all 18 Star finalists recently in Stillwater after they were judged in their respective areas- and you can hear KC talk with Kyla by clicking on the blue button at the bottom of this story.

“I have done a variety of projects in plant systems,” Bonds said. “I have done projects over seeing if the metals in the soil have an effect on plant growth, testing different growth mediums for cabbage using hydroponic systems and just the normal traditional method as a control group.”

This year, Bonds said her project involved 100% Aglime and a water treatment Aglime. In this project, Bonds said she tested to see which treatment is more effective in raising the pH of soils.

Bonds also talked about how she is grateful for the knowledge she has gained through her projects.

“It taught me about the agricultural community and about how much of an impact it has on the world,” Bonds said.

Bonds said she plans on continuing her research at Redlands Community College, which she will attend after graduating high school.

Our coverage of the Stars and the 2024 State FFA Convention is powered by Hilliary Communications.

Farm Director KC Sheperd is talking with Emily Ague about some fun summer events coming up hosted by Oklahoma Ag In The Classroom, including the AITC summer road trip.

“We did one in December, and we have one coming up this Saturday, April 27th, and then we will actually do a couple more throughout the summer and then during the fall,” Ague said. “This Saturday, we are going to see strawberries and grapes around Oklahoma.”

Ague said coming up June 4th through June 6th is the bedlam themed AITC summer road trip.

“We have several teachers that are familiar with agriculture on some sort of level that do come on the road trip, but we have several teachers that have never been around agriculture before, so there are so many things that are brand new to them,” Ague said. “Of course, it is nice for us to be able to teach certain aspects of agriculture that are so important that they may not otherwise learn and be able to pass on to their students.”

When it comes to implementing the resources offered on the Ag In The Classroom website, Ague recommends that teachers start small. The lessons available on the website cater to agriculture that is relevant at different times of the year.

This week on SUNUP is Oklahoma State University Extension grain market economist Kim Anderson. During this week’s edition, Anderson talks about the latest in the crop markets.

Anderson said there is good news in the crop markets this week, especially with wheat prices, which broke $5.50 this week and are now up around $5.60. The average is about $5.80, Anderson added.

When it comes to selling wheat, Anderson said there is a lot of variability in price during the summer months, and he talked about lows and highs in prices from the past few years.

There was a bit of a rally on corn prices, but Anderson said they are still moving slightly sideways.

“For harvest prices, they (corn) are knocking on that upper level and will maybe break through that,” Anderson said.

As for soybeans, Anderson said he sees them starting a sideways pattern.

“This is a relatively good week for prices,” Anderson said. “Cotton prices are still going down a little bit.”

OKFB taps six Oklahoma businesses for 2024 Activate Oklahoma rural development cohort

Oklahoma Farm Bureau has named six rural Oklahoma businesses to the 2024 Activate Oklahoma cohort, part of the organization’s Oklahoma Grassroots Rural and Ag Business Accelerators program.

The accelerators program is a collaborative rural development initiative from OKFB along with national and state-level partners that develops Oklahoma-based innovators creating ideas, technologies and products creating economic opportunities in rural Oklahoma.



The members of the 2024 Activate Oklahoma cohort are Grillblazer, a company specializing in cooking torches from Chouteau; Allied Innovation Partners, a Cashion-based business that blends e-commerce with traditional commodity exchanges; Perfect Pose of Altus, a company that helps hunters capture quality photos of trophy animals; Bay Block from Corn, which has developed fall-alert devices; and The Diabetes Revolution of Salina, which provides personalized diabetes and weight-loss care. One cohort member prefers to remain anonymous.

Properly Prepared Beef Remains Safe; Meat Institute Calls For Guidance to Protect Workers at Beef Facilities

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a nationwide order including requiring lactating dairy cows to test negative for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) before interstate transport, the Meat Institute today said that properly prepared beef remains safe to eat and called for USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide worker safety guidance specific to beef processors to ensure workers are protected from infection.

“USDA and CDC are working overtime to understand the spread of the virus and to determine its effects on the health of people and animals,” said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. “We encourage USDA and CDC to conduct additional testing and monitoring to continue to ensure properly prepared beef remains safe to eat.

“We are also calling on USDA and CDC to issue additional, specific guidance for beef processing facilities to ensure USDA inspectors and meat company workers are protected from infection.”

“It is important to ensure the free flow of healthy animals to slaughter. The Meat Institute and its members will continue to work with USDA, state and local veterinarians and our cattle producer partners to both stop the spread of the virus and to ensure beef production continues.

“We call on Biden Administration officials to anticipate international trade concerns and encourage our trading partners to abide by internationally recognized scientific standards as determined by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).”

For more on today’s orders and APHIS’ monitoring of HPAI go here.