For the U.S., it's the first week for corn crop ratings nationally- and the 2024 crop has started off with a bang! In the 18 major corn production states- the crop is rated 75% good to excellent- 11 points better than a year ago. Two states jump out early with ratings in the twenties in the excellent category- Illinois with a fourth of their crop (26%) rated excellent and Nebraska at 21% excellent. In fact that Nebraska crop is rated 80% good to excellent. While Oklahoma is not a major corn producing state- our 2024 crop is also doing super good- matching Nebraska's 80% good to excellent!

Meanwhile here in the southern great plains- our focus remains on the HRW wheat crop as we struggle to get the crop harvested around rain storms.

In Oklahoma, wheat harvested reached 22 percent, up 10 points from the previous week and up 16 points above normal. Winter wheat conditions rated 56 percent good to excellent, 31 percent fair and 13 percent poor to very poor. Last week’s conditions rated 53 percent good to excellent, 32 percent fair and 15 percent poor to very poor. This time last year, winter wheat conditions rated 37 percent good to excellent, 37 percent fair and 26 percent poor to very poor.

In Kansas, wheat conditions rated 34 percent good to excellent, 32 percent fair and 34 percent poor to very poor. NASS has no harvest stats for Kansas as of yet.

In Texas, winter wheat harvested reached 33 percent and conditions rated 36 percent good to excellent, 45 percent fair and 19 percent poor to very poor.

The Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association is the trusted voice of the Oklahoma Cattle Industry. With headquarters in Oklahoma City, the OCA has a regular presence at the State Capitol to protect and defend the interests of cattlemen and cattlewomen.

Their Vision Statement explains the highest priority of the organization- "Leadership that serves, strengthens and advocates for the Oklahoma cattle industry."

To learn more about the OCA and how you can be a part of this forward-looking group of cattle producers, click here for their website. For more information- call 405-235-4391.

Oklahoma Wheat Commission Calls Wheat Harvest 21 Percent Complete

On Monday, June 3, the Oklahoma Wheat Commission released an updated wheat harvest report on Southwest and Western Oklahoma with specific harvest information on towns in those parts of the state.

Oklahoma wheat harvest moved at an extremely slow pace over the weekend in most regions due to continued rains and high humidity. We had a few locations take in large amounts in the Central part of the state late Saturday afternoon. The wheat across the state is ready in most all regions, but rainfall is keeping producers from making progress. We had some small amounts taken in as far North as Shattuck, and have heard test cutting on dryland wheat in the Panhandle, but no reports on what was harvested in the Panhandle out by Hooker.

If it turns dry it is thought dryland wheat harvest in the Panhandle will get a good start either the middle of this week or by late week. In the Northeast part of the state over by Afton and Miami the wheat will most likely be ready by the end of the week, once things dry out. 

The Oklahoma Wheat Commission is calling wheat harvest for the state 21% complete.

Making a Plan When it Comes to Crossbreeding with Kansas State’s Bob Weaber

At the recent Cattlemen’s Conference in Stillwater, Oklahoma, I had the chance to talk with Bob Weaber of Kansas State University about being intentional with heterosis.

While crossbreeding has been around for quite a while, Weaber said heterosis capitalizes on having a breeding plan and what an operation wants to achieve with genetics. When structuring breeding systems to leverage heterosis and breed complementary, Weaber talked about how hybrid vigor becomes more prominent and intentional.

“Because of the really high input costs, producers are now interested again in proving reproductive efficiency and longevity of cows,” Weaber said.

For a few reasons such as high input costs or interest in sustainability, Weaber said the importance of managing efficiently through heterosis is becoming a priority in many operations. Regardless of the size of an operation, Weaber said a producer can be successful in using crossbreeding intentionally.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that agricultural producers and private landowners can now sign up for the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (Grassland CRP). The signup runs from today through June 28, 2024. Grassland CRP, offered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), is a voluntary working lands conservation program that enables participants to conserve grasslands and provide important conservation benefits for wildlife, soil health and carbon sequestration, all while continuing most grazing and haying practices.    

“Grassland CRP is a vital conservation tool that supports two of USDA’s top priorities: the wellbeing of American agriculture and the health of America’s grasslands, which provide critical environmental benefits for wildlife and carbon sequestration,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Over the past three years, we have seen historic interest in the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program with producers signing up to conserve over 6.8 million acres. This historic interest from agriculture has proven that agricultural productivity and conservation priorities are not exclusive from one another, but can coexist and, more importantly, complement and enhance one another.”  

More than 2.3 million acres from agricultural producers and private landowners were accepted through the 2023 Grassland CRP signup. That signup reflects the continued success and value of investments in voluntary, producer-led, working lands conservation programs. The current total participation in Grassland CRP is 8.64 million acres, which is part of the 24.8 million acres enrolled in CRP opportunities overall.  

Statewide Rain for May, 45th Wettest Since 1895

While we have seen several severe weather occurrences across the state this year, rain has been the story for the past few months. There is a chance of severe weather this week, but at the time of writing this, rain again was the leader.

According to State Climatologist Gary McManus, we could see more severe weather this week.

“Those have a chance to pulse on and off severe, but it’s the outflow boundary from those storms that’ll be left that could set off discrete supercells later this afternoon that will come with the risk of all severe hazards," McManus said.

The overachieving severe season continues in Oklahoma. According to McManus the state recorded four more storm-related fatalities in May, bringing the total to eight in 2024, along with hundreds of injuries. At least 43 tornadoes touched down in May, following a record-breaking 55 tornadoes in April, surpassing the previous high of 54 in 2012.

"With two additional tornadoes in March, the preliminary total for 2024 stands at 100, a number that may rise as National Weather Service personnel continue to assess storm damage," McManus said. "The supercell thunderstorms that generated these tornadoes also brought numerous reports of hail, severe winds, and flash flooding. At times, the hail was larger than softballs, and damaging winds reached speeds of nearly 100 mph. Overall, there was at least one severe storm report collected by Oklahoma’s local NWS offices on 22 out of 31 days in May.”

At the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) annual Washington Watch event in Washington, D.C., Farm Director KC Sheperd had the chance to talk with the National Farmers Union Vice President of Advocacy, Mike Stranz, about the Farm Bill, NFU conventions, and the key takeaways from the latest Census of Agriculture, specifically regarding the next generation of farmers and ranchers.

“Those trends in the Ag Census are not encouraging,” Stranz said. “The total amount of farmers that have gone out of business since 2017 clocking in at about 150,000 just in the five years of the census was really shocking.”

Regarding this decline, Stranz said farmers and ranchers around the country are aware that encouraging the next generation is critical.

“We saw some trends related to that baked into the census, and I think there are some glimmers of hope there in how we can foster that and encourage some growth,” Stranz said.



As NFU advocates for the success of the younger generation in agriculture, Stranz said one of the ways that growth is being promoted is through education.