According to the latest Oklahoma Drought Monitor report, exceptional drought and extreme drought remain at zero percent, unchanged from the start of the calendar year.

Severe drought or worse is still at 3.78 percent, unchanged from last week.

Moderate drought or worse, is now at 22 percent, which increased from 17.79 percent last week.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions are now at 69.21, up from last week’s 62.72 percent.

As for our neighbors, central Kansas has seen reports of dry ponds and fear of total crop failures. Statewide- Kansas saw Moderate Drought double from 18.9% last week to 36.23% this week. Abnormally Dry or worse in Kansas jumped thirty points to 88.8% of the state this week.

West of south-central Texas, northeastward to central Arkansas saw trace amounts of rain. The Texas Drought numbers were little changed from last week to this week.

Click here for the Kansas Drought Monitor Page and Click here for the Texas Drought Monitor Page.



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Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, got the chance to visit with Tanner Beymer, Senior Director of Government Affairs at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, about Ag Appropriations and how over the years it has been used for more than just funding the government..

“The appropriations process is how we fund the federal government,” Beymer said. “Very rarely does NCBA go to appropriators with a funding request.”

Beymer said that most of the time, they go to ask Congress to rein in federal agencies’ regulators who are creating ridiculous rules; however, after the Chevron Deference decision, new opportunities have been revealed.

“These federal agencies no longer have unilateral authority to broadly interpret vague statutes. That is a very positive step in the right direction,” he stated hopefully. “Maybe in the future, we will have to rely on the appropriations process less, which would probably make those bills function more like they are intended to, but until that happens, we heavily rely on that process to get Congress to rein in some of this regulatory red tape.”

Supporting Climate-Informed Decision-Making to Reduce Agricultural Production Risk with Dr. Andres Cibils

Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with Dr. Andres Cibils, Director of the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub, to learn more about the most recent National Weather Assessment. Dr. Cibils is a Rangeland Scientist whose professional interests revolve around resilient rangeland-based animal agriculture systems.

The USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub, based in El Reno, Oklahoma, serves Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. The Climate Hub’s central mission is to support climate-involved decision-making, reduce agricultural risks, and build climate resilience. This is accomplished through three main workstreams: Science and data synthesis, Technology for development and decision support, and outreach by partnering with extension offices and other agencies.

During the Peanut Symposium, Dr. Cibils shared the results of the fifth, and most recent, national climate assessment. The report, published every four years by the U.S. Government, is mandated by Congress, and summarizes recent trends and climate projections.

Some of the trends outlined in Dr. Cibils’s presentation showed through weather records from the previous century, that temperature and precipitation trends are changing. Roughly, he said, there is somewhat increased precipitation on the eastern side of the continental U.S., and decreased precipitation on the western side according to a comparison of the latest 30-year normal to the 20th-century average for rainfall.

Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center will celebrate the Cowboy Meats Retail Store’s second anniversary from 1-5 p.m. on Aug. 23.

Cowboy Meats is the meat processing facility at the Food and Agricultural Products Center. In 2022, Joel Jackson, Food and Agricultural Products Center meat pilot plant manager, accomplished his goal of opening the Cowboy Meats Retail Store. The shop is open to the public from 1-5 p.m. every Friday on Dock 4 of the Food and Agricultural Products Center.

“The Cowboy Meats Retail Store has become an integral part of the meat processing activities at the Food and Agricultural Products Center as beef, pork and lamb products are regularly produced from meat science and evaluation courses, meat judging contests, workshops and demonstrations,” Jackson said. “In the past two years, the retail store has grown in the OSU and Stillwater communities and provides many benefits in fulfilling its initial goal to minimize wasted product and cover expenses.”   

Cowboy Meats offers a variety of locally processed meats including beef, pork, lamb and value-added products. It is a student-operated meat processing plant where student employees assist with harvest, fabrication, further processed products (such as smoked sausages, bacon and boudin), packaging, labeling, marketing and sales.    

The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) elected Verity Ulibarri, a past chairwoman of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program, as its new chairwoman this week during the USGC’s 64th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting held in Salt Lake City.

“We are thrilled to see Verity elected as chairwoman of the U.S. Grains Council,” Sorghum Checkoff CEO Tim Lust said. “Her leadership and dedication to the sorghum industry is exceptional, and we are confident she will continue to drive innovation and growth in international markets for sorghum, and the other commodities the Council represents, in her new role at the USGC.”

Ulibarri brings extensive experience and leadership in the sorghum industry to the forefront of the Council’s efforts. As a former chairwoman of the Sorghum Checkoff, Ulibarri has been instrumental in promoting the value and benefits of sorghum both domestically and internationally.

“I am honored to be elected chairwoman of the U.S. Grains Council,” Ulibarri said. “My experience with the Sorghum Checkoff has prepared me well for this position, and I look forward to working to further the Council’s mission to develop markets, enable trade and improve lives.”