Winter Wheat Conditions Hold Steady in the Southern Plains This Week- Texas Begins Harvest

According to the latest U.S. Crop Progress report released Monday, winter wheat conditions rated 50 percent good to excellent, 32 percent fair and 18 percent poor to very poor. This time last year, winter wheat ratings for the U.S. were at 29 percent good to excellent, 30 percent fair and 41 percent poor to very poor.

In Oklahoma, winter wheat conditions rated 53 percent good to excellent, 35 percent fair and 12 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 52 percent good to excellent, 41 percent fair, and 7 percent poor to very poor. This time last year, conditions rated 11 percent good to excellent, 38 percent fair and 51 percent poor to very poor.

In Kansas, winter wheat conditions rated 31 percent good to excellent, 32 percent fair and 35 percent poor to very poor. This time last year, winter wheat ratings in Kansas were at 10 percent good to excellent, 22 percent fair and 68 percent poor to very poor.

In Texas, winter wheat harvested reached 5 percent, up 1 percentage point from the five-year average. Winter wheat conditions rated 42 percent good to excellent, 35 percent fair and 23 percent poor to very poor. This time last year, conditions rated 20 percent good to excellent, 28 percent fair and 52 percent poor to very poor.

Pasture and Range conditions for Oklahoma are up to 53 percent good to excellent conditions- up one point from last week. Our neighbors in Texas are struggling with only 28% good to excellent on Pasture and range ratings- 42% of Texas in poor to very poor condition. New Mexico is worse state in the country on pasture and range ratings- 77% are poor to very poor this week.

The Oklahoma Agriculture Mediation Program knows this is a hard time for farmers and ranchers. We want you to know we are still open, and we are still here for you. The Ag Mediation program is a free service that provides mediation to agriculture producers who may need help with ag-related disputes.

At Oklahoma Ag Mediation, we have been helping people in agriculture resolve conflicts since 1987. We know firsthand about working together to resolve conflicts, so you don’t have to go through the court systems. Let our professional mediators help you. Mediation is allowed for lease issues, farmer/neighbor disputes, family farm transitions, and more. These services are available at no cost for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers in all 77 counties. For more information, you can go to ok.gov/mediation, or give us a call at 800 248 5465.

Dr. Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist, offers his economic analysis of the beef cattle industry as part of the weekly series known as the “Cow Calf Corner,” published electronically by Dr. Peel and Mark Johnson. Today, Dr. Peel talks about heifer dynamics in the cattle industry.

There are numerous unique factors that make the beef cattle industry complex. Chief among those are the heifer dynamics that are central to cattle cycles. Two biological facts are critical: cows have one calf at a time in a rather slow biological process; and two, heifers can be used for current beef production or breeding for future production in a one for one trade-off. This means that when cattle numbers, specifically the cow herd, are low, retention of heifers to increase beef production makes the already short supply of beef even smaller before the cow inventory can expand and lead to increased beef production with 2–3-year lag. 

Dr. Peel says a key number is the percentage of heifer slaughter versus steer slaughter. Heifer slaughter as a percent of fed slaughter is as high as it has ever been at 40 percent in 2023. This matches the previous high of 40 percent in 2000 and 2001. At the same time, the replacement heifer inventory has been decreasing and the beef cow herd continues to get smaller. In the first quarter of 2024, the heifer slaughter percentage was 40.5 percent, down fractionally year over year for the same period. 



It is not clear if the next herd expansion will require the heifer slaughter percentage to drop as much as the 2015-2017 period, but it must drop below the long-run average of just over 37 percent and likely to the 35-36 percent range. There is no indication that is happening yet.

Advantages of LRP with Dakota Moss of Livestock Risk Services

In this episode of Beef Buzz, I am talking with Dakota Moss of Livestock Risk Services about the advantages of utilizing Livestock Risk Protection (LRP).

As the cattle markets can be described as “choppy” lately, Moss talks about factors impacting the markets and how LRP can give producers peace of mind.

“Over the past few weeks, we had that bird flu scare so to speak, which really hasn’t turned into anything for the beef cattle side of the industry, but it seems like the cattle business and the cattle industry is so sensitive to any possible bad news we may have, that it just has a volatile impact with the way cattle futures is trading nowadays.”

By locking in price protection with LRP, Moss said producers can ensure a good profit coming into the fall months or early next spring, regardless of events that may impact the market.

At the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) annual Washington Watch event in Washington, D.C., Farm Director KC Sheperd had the chance to catch up with Senator Markwayne Mullin.

During the month of April, Mullin (R-OK), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), hosted U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on numerous Oklahoma military installations to better understand current needs and future readiness of the installations and their units. Mullin accompanied Chairman Reed on visits to Tinker Air Force Base (AFB), U.S. Army Fort Sill, and Altus AFB. They also visited the Will Rogers Air National Guard Base and McAlester Army Ammunition Plant.

The Oklahoma wheat needed a drink of water over this past weekend, and a LOT of the state did get some rain. In fact, according to State Climatologist Gary McManus, 77 counties in Oklahoma did receive *some* form of precipitation, but others didn’t get much.

“77-county rains," McManus said. "Technically, that’s correct, although some got a lot, some unfortunately still got a little. But, like it says…everybody got at least a little. Also, we’ve managed to largely reset these nasty-looking maps.”

If you look at the rains for all of May thus far- the drought that was starting to creep back into parts of Oklahoma has been largely slapped down for now. You can click on the map to see station by station Mesonet total rainfall since the start of May

McManus says we do have some other rain opportunities this week for rain.

According to the forecast this week, there is another chance of showers and thunderstorms moving in on Wednesday and Thursday and lesser amounts this coming weekend.

Agencies Release Biotechnology Regulatory Modernization Plan

Last week, USDA, EPA, and FDA jointly released a plan to modernize the U.S. federal regulatory system for products of biotechnology. This long-awaited plan was welcomed by ASA and comes as a positive next step for implementing a 2022 Executive Order from the administration that aims to advance the use of biotechnology and the bioeconomy. Public feedback was used to develop the plan, including comments provided by ASA and other stakeholders.

The regulatory plan is very comprehensive and includes proposed regulatory changes for many applications of biotechnology and genetic improvement technologies, including plant gene editing, animal biotechnology, genetically engineered microbes, biomedical applications, disclosure of bioengineered products, among others.

Going forward, ASA will more thoroughly review the plan to engage with the respective regulatory agencies to advance aspects of this plan that will enable better access to genetic innovations for farmers.