USDA's weekly Crop Progress Report shows that nationwide, the US Corn crop now stands at 68% good to excellent - up one point from last week. Soybeans were unchanged this week at 68% good to excellent - Cotton fell one point this week to 46% good to excellent and Sorghum improved four points to 51% good to excellent.



Oklahoma's spring-planted crop conditions are remain steady to better than a week ago. Corn conditions rated 64 percent good to excellent. Soybean conditions rated 52 percent good to excellent. Cotton conditions rated 61 percent good to excellent, and Sorghum conditions rated 62 percent good to excellent.

Kansas's conditions are pretty good with soybeans rated at 60 percent good to excellent. Cotton conditions rated 67 percent good to excellent. and Sorghum conditions rated 49 percent good to excellent.

Texas's spring-planted crop conditions are mixed as compared to last week with Corn conditions improved to 41 percent good to excellent from last week's 35 percent. Cotton conditions are up to 33 percent good to excellent from last week's 32 percent rating. Sorghum conditions improved to a 50 percent good to excellent rating from last week's 41 percent.

Pasture and Range Conditions for the 48 states are unchanged from last week at 35 percent good to excellent. Oklahoma has improved 6 points this week to 55% good to excellent - Kansas improved 1 point to 47% good to excellent - Texas declined three points at 28% good to excellent while Missouri declined 6 points to a 74% good to excellent rating.

The vision of the Oklahoma Beef Council is to be a positive difference for Oklahoma's farming and ranching families and the greater beef community, and its mission is to enhance beef demand by strengthening consumer trust and exceeding consumer expectations. 

To learn more, visit www.oklabeef.org. Also, don't forget to like its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/oklabeef for stories on Oklahoma's ranching families and great beef recipes. 

And Check out this video below that helps you learn more about the Beef Checkoff:

Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays talked on Monday with Oklahoma State Statistician Troy Marshall about the August Crop Production report released on August 12th.

The 2024 Oklahoma Winter Wheat Crop in Oklahoma was left unchanged in the August report compared to the July USDA Crop Production report. NASS says Oklahoma wheat farmers have harvested 2.7 million acres- getting a yield of 39 bushels per acre for a total production of 105.3 million bushels, up 54% from the 2023 crop of just over 68 million bushels. Marshall told Hays there will be one more look at the 2024 crop in the September report- and that might tweak the crop slightly larger.

The Texas wheat crop was three million bushels smaller in 2024 versus 2023- at 74.25 million bushels. Meanwhile in Kansas, the largest wheat state in the union saw a 56% jump in total production in 2024 versus 2023 at 314.6 million bushels. Kansas is far and away the largest winter wheat producing state in the US- Washington is second with 125 million bushels and Oklahoma stands third based on the 105.3 million bushel 2024 crop.

The 2024 Oklahoma Cotton crop is forecast at 430 thousand bales,105 percent higher than 2023.

Yield averaged 655 pounds per acre, compared with 560 pounds last year. Acreage harvested, at

315 thousand acres, is up 75 percent from last year. Keep in mind that this is based on crop conditions as of August first- with critical growing conditions still ahead.

USDA lowers its forecast for wheat production to 1.98 Billion bushels

Farm Director KC Sheperd talked with Allendale’s Lynsey Such to discuss the latest WASDE report and its implications for the agricultural market.

Such provided an analysis of the latest USDA crop production report, highlighting significant surprises in the data. The report showed a 1 million acre increase in soybean production, a 1 million acre decrease in wheat production, and a surprising drop in wheat acreage.

“Wheat ending stocks were trimmed from 856 to 828 million bushels. This came from yield increase to 52 billion bushels per acre as acreage dropped from all wheat by 900,000 acres,” Such said. “On the global front for wheat, Australia’s production was increased by one million metric tons. Europe was reduced by 2 million metric tons while Ukraine was increased. So we did have some changes on the domestic as well as global front for wheat, which was a little bit friendly for now.”

She also noted that the USDA’s confidence in their production data has led to earlier changes, now made in August rather than October. She also pointed out that soybean exports would be a key factor to watch in the coming months.

Spring means baseball and softball, and it also means the kickoff to summer grilling season. This year, the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand, funded by the Beef Checkoff, is excited to announce the perfect partnership between beef and baseball/softball as a proud partner of the Little League® World Series- which begins in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays recently caught up with Jennifer Nealson, the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Research for the National Cattleman’s Beef Association to talk about how the Beef Checkoff supports the Little League World Series.

“We are an official partner of Little League, which is the largest youth sports organization with 2 million players,” Nealson said. “We are very excited about having exposure to those kids and their parents.”



A favorite at the ballpark and at home, beef makes dinner easy. As the official sponsor of the Perfect Home Plate with Little League, the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. brand will make mealtime even easier with delicious, balanced recipe inspiration, perfect for the busy sports family navigating a hectic schedule.

Today, the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and Trust In Food™ (TIF), a sustainability initiative of Farm Journal, signed a letter of agreement during NACD’s Summer Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. 

This letter of agreement affirms the partnership between NACD and TIF and builds on recent collaborations. Both organizations share common ground championing a locally-led approach to natural resources conservation and the importance of partnerships and continuous improvement. 

“We look forward to growing our partnership with Trust In Food™ and encourage conservation districts to participate in activities like field days and peer networking with TIF’s America’s Conservation Agriculture Movement (ACAM),” said NACD President Kim LaFleur. “It’s great to have TIF—with their research-backed insights into what makes producers adopt regenerative and climate-smart agricultural practices—as a partner to help producers get more conservation on the ground through voluntary programs.” 

House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, released the following statement issuing condolences for the passing of longtime animal advocate and philanthropist Louisa McCune on August 11, 2024- McCune, at the age of 54, passed this past Saturday after an extended battle with cancer:

“Oklahoma City has experienced a great loss with the death of Louisa McCune after her brave battle with cancer,” said Leader Munson. “My heart goes out to her family, friends, and colleagues during this time, especially her three boys. Louisa worked tirelessly to advocate for animals and those without a voice to provide a safe, humane future for all living things. She was notoriously kind and intelligent and will be honored forever for her instrumental work with the Oklahoma Animal Alliance.

"McCune was the executive director of Kirkpatrick Foundation and served on the board of Patrons of OKC Animal Welfare and the Neighborhoods Subcommittee for MAPS4. She was previously the board president of Animal Grantmakers and in 2021, served as committee chairman for the Philanthropy Southwest Annual Conference."

The Daily Oklahoman wrote in their article on her passing about McCune's involvement with State Question 777. "Former Attorney General Drew Edmondson worked closely with McCune to respond to the 2016 State Question 777, which Edmondson argued would have allowed big agriculture to operate without regard to environmental concerns and animal welfare.

"The state question, the Right to Farm bill, failed 60% to 40%.

“Because she was working with a nonprofit with limits on campaigning, her mission was to educate, not politick,” Edmondson said." The former Attorney General added McCune was instrumental in the defeat of the state question.

In more recent days- she has been a voice against gestation crates for sow housing- and was the lead in a 2023 conference in Oklahoma on that subject- and also the editor credited with a report released by the Kirkpatrick Foundation titled "The Way Forward" which has as it's central theme "It’s time for Oklahoma pork producers to... eliminate cruel gestation crates for the betterment of pig health."