At the Oklahoma Cattleman’s Convention, Intern Kate Munson visited with OCA Ranch Rodeo Committee Chairman Kent Trentman about the OCA Ranch Rodeo to be held August 16 -17, at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

“The eleven ranches that will be competing a mostly all in good standing with OCA and are true ranches that will represent all corners of the state. We are in coordination with the Oklahoma Ford Dealers, who is a major sponsor,” Trentman said. “We have a great committee. All of our stock has been donated because this is a charity event to benefit the Children’s Hospital Foundation.”

With the tagline “Cowboys Helping Kids,” the OCA Ranch Rodeo has benefited the Children’s Hospital Foundation by raising funds for the children’s hospital in Oklahoma City for 27 years and continues to grow each year.

“At some point in the rodeo, we’ll pass a boot through the audience and every dollar donated goes directly to the CFA,” he said.



Dating back to 1891, Stillwater Milling Company has been supplying ranchers with the highest quality feeds made from the highest quality ingredients. Their full line of A & M Feeds can be delivered direct to your farm, found at their Agri-Center stores in Stillwater, Davis, Claremore and Perry or at more than 125 dealers in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Texas. We appreciate Stillwater Milling Company’s long time support of the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and we encourage you to click here to learn more about their products and services.

  

The latest report from the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Barometer indicates that U.S. farmers’ inflation expectations have subsided while overall producer sentiment changed little.

The December barometer recorded a reading of 114, just one point lower than in November. Both sub-indices of the barometer, the Index of Current Conditions and the Index of Future Expectations, mirrored this slight decline, settling one point below their respective November figures at 112 and 115. Notably, farmers’ inflation expectations for the upcoming year were markedly lower than those reported a year ago for 2023. This month’s Ag Economy Barometer survey was conducted from Dec. 4-8.

Farmers reported another improvement in their farms’ financial performance during the month of December. The Farm Financial Performance Index saw a 2-point increase compared to the previous month, marking a continued positive trend. Since late summer, the index has climbed 11 points, and at year-end, it was 21 points above the low point for 2023, which occurred in May.

“The shift in farmers’ perception of financial performance during the fall quarter corresponds with USDA’s (U.S. Department of Agriculture’s) more optimistic 2023 farm income outlook released in late November, which was $10 billion higher than their previous forecast,” said James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.

Colin Woodall – We Need to Lower Entry Barriers for Newcomers in the Beef Cattle Industry

We continue to feature parts of an extended conversation that we had recently with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall. One of his responsibilities is ensuring that young people have the opportunity to succeed in the beef cattle business.

To read and listen to Hays’s earlier conversation with Woodall about the Beef Checkoff, click here.

Woodall says he believes the organization has an obligation to help keep the barriers to getting into the business as low as possible.

Woodall acknowledged the barriers to entering the beef cattle industry not the least of which is the current prices of cattle and land. “One area where NCBA can have a big influence is making sure that price of entry, because of government regulations is as low as possible. That is a big focus of ours. Not only the regulation part, but also on taxes. For example, we are going to be facing a significant tax increase here in the next year, year and a half, if we can’t maintain the tax incentives and tax decreases that were passed by the Trump administration.”

Hays and Woodall also talked about the problems of getting a 2024 Farm Bill across the finish line. Woodall admitted that like everyone else involved, the NCBA is frustrated with the slow progress of the Farm Bill and emphasized that everyone in agriculture needs the certainty that the Farm Bill would provide.

“Chairman Thompson did a tremendous job getting that bill out of the House Ag Committee, but unfortunately, that is where it sets,” Woodall said. “We are in a full-fledged campaign season, so we don’t expect a whole lot more out of Congress, yet, we need them to get to work on a whole host of issues especially pushing back on some of the rules and regulations that we are seeing out of this administration.”

Celebrate National Farmers Market Week! Secretary Vilsack proclaimed Aug. 4-10 as National #FarmersMarketWeek to champion the direct-to-consumer producers, market managers, and customers that make their communities come alive during market days.

Whether your local farmers market is online, drive-thru, or in-person, make sure to support your local farmers during National #FarmersMarketWeek.

The Farmers Market Directory lists markets that feature two or more farm vendors selling agricultural products directly to customers at a common, recurrent physical location. Maintained by the Agricultural Marketing Service, the Directory is designed to provide customers with convenient access to information about farmers market listings to include: market locations, directions, operating times, product offerings, accepted forms of payment, and more.

USDA AMS’s new and improved Local Food Directories are up and running!

American Farmers & Ranchers (AFR) Cooperative has announced its 2024-2025 AFR Youth Advisory Council. This year’s council members were chosen by popular vote during the organization’s 2024 Senior Leadership Summit, which was held July 26-29.

Members of the 2024-2025 AFR Youth Advisory Council are LeAundre Delonia, Okmulgee; Darla Fesmire, Oklahoma Union; Addyson Schneberger, Hydro-Eakly; Coy Davidson, Elgin; and Taryn McCaa, Elmore City-Pernell.

The AFR Youth Advisory Council is an opportunity for high school seniors who are active in the AFR Youth Program to further their leadership and program management skills. Council members assist in planning many AFR Youth Program events, facilitate general AFR events and act as mentors for younger Oklahoma youth. Council members also participate in agriculture-based service projects throughout the year.

“The AFR Cooperative is proud to invest in the future of Oklahoma through our state’s youth,” said AFR President Scott Blubaugh. “The AFR Youth Council is a unique opportunity to recognize and encourage some of our exceptional program participants.”

Dairy cow slaughter rebounded sharply in the two weeks after the holiday shortened fourth of July week.  It’s pretty normal for dairy cow slaughter to climb seasonally after early July but, the magnitude of this weekly increase is larger than usual.  Even with the rebound in culling, weekly slaughter remained smaller than last year and the average of the last 5 years.  The trend of smaller dairy cow culling is likely to continue the rest of the year, even though culling may increase seasonally.  

Over the last 8 weeks dairy cow culling is 18 percent smaller compared to the same time period last year.  Dairy cow slaughter is reported by region.  Region 4 (Southeastern states), region 6 (Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana), and region 3 (Virginia and Pennsylvania) include Southern states.  Dairy cow slaughter in regions 3 and 4 are down 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively.  Slaughter in region 6 is down 32 percent.  Regional differences in slaughter rates continue to indicate shifts in regional milk production with faster than average culling rates in the South but slower culling in the Southern Plains.  On an interesting note, region 8, which includes Colorado and the Dakotas, has reported larger dairy cow slaughter this year than last year and is the only region to do so.  Dairy cow culling is likely to remain relatively low in coming months due to fewer dairy cows in total, relatively few replacement heifers, and rising milk prices.

The overall decline in dairy cow slaughter is further supporting cull cow prices across the South and the country.  Dairy cow slaughter has made up, on average, about 48.6 percent of all cow slaughter over the last decade.  This year dairy cow slaughter represents 48.3 percent of all cow slaughter.  Reduced dairy cow culling coinciding with reduced beef cow slaughter is further cutting supplies of lean beef.  Wholesale boneless 90 percent lean beef hit a new high of $3.76 per pound last week.  The cow-beef cutout is in record territory at over $290 per cwt.  Lean slaughter cows at auction continue to hover around $125 per cwt.  The lack of dairy replacements and need for replacements by some has bred dairy cow and heifer prices up from $300 to $600 per head in Kentucky dairy auctions.  

Overall, reduced dairy cow culling is supporting cull cow prices.  Reduced total cow culling is putting additional strain on cow packing plants across the region.