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 has increased to 5.4 percent, from 3.78 percent last week.

Moderate drought, or worse has increased to 43.79 percent, from 22 percent last week.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions are now at 86.47 percent, up from last week’s 69.21 percent.

As for our neighbors, deterioration occurred in northern and western portions of Texas, eastern Oklahoma, southern Arkansas, and Mississippi, while near- to above-normal precipitation during the past 30-day period led to widespread improvements across Tennessee. 

The Kansas Drought Monitor stats showed Moderate Drought or worse jumping ten points to 46.6% this week versus 36.2% a week ago while the Texas Moderate Drought number is at 24.08% this week versus 20.6% last week.

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



The Oklahoma Wheat Commission promotes greater use of wheat in domestic and international markets through research, market development and public education.

Our Commissioners develop policy and programs, direct the funding, represent producer interests and, of course, promote Oklahoma wheat!

Learn more about the Oklahoma Wheat Commission by clicking here for their website.

June exports of U.S. beef reached the highest value in nearly two years, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). While June pork exports were lower year-over-year, shipments through the first half of the year remained ahead of the record value pace of 2023. USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom gives details on both beef and pork exports through the first half of 2024 in this week’s Audio Report.

Beef exports totaled 110,155 metric tons (mt) in June, down 4% from a year ago but the second largest of 2024. Export value reached $938.3 million, up 3% year-over-year and the highest since August 2022. Through the first half of the year, beef export value climbed 5% from a year ago to $5.22 billion, despite a 4% decline in volume (643,733 mt).

“June beef exports performed very well in Japan, which was great to see given the significant headwinds U.S. beef has faced there this year,” said USMEF President and CEO Dan Halstrom. “Export value also rebounded nicely in Korea and shipments to Taiwan and Canada were outstanding. This made for another strong month in terms of export value per head slaughtered, which was nearly $460 in June.”

June pork exports totaled 224,392 mt, down 9% from a year ago and the lowest since September, while export value fell 5% to $659.7 million. However, January-June volume still reached 1.52 million mt, 3% above the first half of 2023, while export value increased 5% to $4.26 billion.

The Rise of Lopez Dorada Foods: From McDonald’s Franchisee to a Major Beef Supplier

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays had the chance to talk with the President of Lopez Dorada Foods, John Patrick Lopez about how his family’s business became a top ground beef supplier for the McDonald’s Corporation.

Lopez Foods was started in the ‘90s and has grown to become one of five suppliers of beef patties to the McDonalds Corporation.

After operating for several years, Lopez Foods was instrumental in helping transition McDonald’s from frozen to fresh beef in their quarter-pound burgers.

“McDonalds was looking at the quality score associated with their sandwiches. Notably, McDonalds was losing out to other quick-service restaurants,” Lopez explained. “If someone said that their beef was fresh, never froze, then obviously, the consumer had a higher perception of that product.”

When McDonald’s decided to change that, Lopez Foods went to work to develop a fresh beef program for them. The pilot was first introduced in Fort Worth, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the consumers showed an obvious preference for the quarter-pounders served at those restaurants.

The pilot program was a success and McDonald’s went nationwide with fresh beef for their quarter pounders. “We developed the full program, worked with the grinders to implement it at their facilities, and when we launched it, it was a huge success,” Lopez said, proudly. “The fresh beef program has been an outstanding success, and we are very proud to have been a part of developing that and launching it nationwide.”

At the Pork Congress, Farm Director KC Sheperd talked with Dr. Alicia Gorczyca-Southerland, Assistant State Veterinarian, about being on the front lines of animal disease preparedness. Dr. Gorczyca-Sutherland said that there are things that both commercial and show pig producers can do to prevent disease in their operations.

She warned that any detection of African Swine Fever initiates a national response. It would invoke a national standstill, which means that no hogs would be permitted to be moved for 72 hours. During and after that time, state vets would establish control areas to determine where the disease exists and does not. Movement for business continuity would be permitted, but things only after enhanced biosecurity has been implemented and along with extensive testing.

“Education and outreach are pivotal because we need to be able to discuss what biosecurity is and bring it to a level that farmers can understand,” she said. “There are things that folks can do today to help protect their farms, but we also have to talk to them about what response looks like so it isn’t such a scary concept. We hear a lot of misconceptions about how the state, or feds, will come in and kill all of a person’s pigs.”

The outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) only served to prove that having good biosecurity practices in place is of the utmost importance. “It isn’t necessarily animal movement that spreads HPAI, but rather a break in biosecurity, as far as what we call fomites: the movement of the disease itself on vehicles, people, and equipment. If we can take steps today to prevent that from happening, on everyday farms, we are going to be in better shape for any type of outbreak.”

• Dave Lalman, OSU Extension beef cattle specialist, discusses creep feeding and offers guidance on effectively implementing it in your operation.

• Wes Lee, OSU Extension Mesonet agricultural coordinator, looks at the current soil moisture maps in comparison to what they looked like in June. State climatologist Gary McManus explains why drought is expanding. 

• Jonathan Cammack, OSU Extension livestock entomologist, says the late summer months are the peak season for seed ticks.

• SUNUP previews the upcoming 2024 Fall Pecan Field Day.

• Roger Sahs, OSU Extension agricultural economist, discusses updates to land values. 

• Mark Johnson, OSU Extension beef cattle breeding specialist, has advice on when to begin weaning spring-born calves. 

• Finally, SUNUP attends the Oklahoma Beef Quality Assurance train-the-trainer event.

SUNUP can be seen:

Weekly Statewide Broadcast: Saturday at 7:30 a.m. & Sunday at 6 a.m. on OETA (PBS)

Stream Anytime: YouTube.com/SUNUPtv

The negotiated cash fed cattle trade last week was technically lower than the week prior by a little more than $1/cwt. For all practical purposes, prices have been steadily sideways for the past four weeks, trading in the low to mid-$190s for the period. Weekly packer needs for spot market cattle reflect good demand. This remains especially true in the northern feeding region, where last week‘s prices remained stout at $196/cwt., down from the $198/cwt., live basis, highs recently achieved.

The headline news in cattle presently surrounds the massive sell-off in both Live Cattle and Feeder Cattle futures beginning July 29. In a week’s time the free-fall devalued the August Live Cattle contract by roughly $7/cwt. while the October and December contracts dropped $10/cwt.

As is often the case, beef market fundamentals were no factor in the multi-day routing of cattle contracts. Rather, the headline-grabbing correction in equities fueled the sell-off as hedge funds exited positions and algorithm trading created a continuation of the snowball effect. Meanwhile, the August Live Cattle contract is currently priced $10/cwt. lower than last week’s cash fed steer price.

The small 593,000 head of federally inspected cattle harvest signals a continuation of the slowed harvest pace. Looking at fed steers and heifers alone, the week’s 483,000 head harvest total was interestingly 2,000 head larger than the same week last year. The prior week ran 3,000 head larger than a year ago.