According to the latest Oklahoma drought monitor report, exceptional drought remains at zero percent, unchanged from the start of the calendar year.

Extreme drought or worse is now 4.56, up from zero since the start of the calendar year.

Severe drought or worse has increased to 17.52 percent, up from 10.24 percent last week.

Moderate drought or worse, has increased to 47.55 percent, up from 39.66 percent last week.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions are now at 74.36 percent, up from last week’s 72.17 percent.

As for our neighbors, a strong ridge of high pressure maintained its grip across the central part of the contiguous U.S. bringing abnormal dryness and drought that expanded and intensified across the southern Plains. Most of the South region had no rain this week. Abnormal dryness and moderate to severe drought expanded in all of the states, while extreme drought expanded in Texas and developed in Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Tennessee. 

Kansas Drought Monitor continues to show roughly half of the state in Moderate Drought- 50.07% this week versus 50.55% last week. Texas Drought ratings jumped 8 percentage points to 48.13% versus 40.01% a week ago.

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



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A high-level rodeo stock contractor in Canute, Oklahoma, lost over seventy head of performance horses after receiving feed containing sodium monensin, a common additive intended for cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry. Known by the brand name Rumensin, when fed to the correct species, it is known to increase milk production, control ketosis, reduce bloat, control coccidiosis, and improve feed efficiency and reproductive performance.

When ingested by the wrong species, horses, pigs, or dogs, it can be fatal. The horses would have experienced myocardial necrosis, heart failure, and death. Horses that survive will likely suffer from chronic heart damage. It takes 2 mg per kg to poison a horse, which is more than a bite or two, but still not a large quantity.

Senior Broadcaster Ron Hays contacted Dr. Rosslyn Biggs, OSU Professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine, to hear her take on the situation.

She said that the tragic event serves as a reminder to others to pay close attention when they are feeding multiple species on the same ranch. It is important to read labels carefully and communicate their needs clearly and effectively with feed dealers.

“We have cattle and horses at our house, and oftentimes it isn’t me dumping the feed so I make sure I communicate very clearly,” she said. “At my house, we don’t use anything with monensin because it is always a concern that we might give the wrong feed to a horse and run into a problem.”

The Agronomy of Improving Soil Health with OSU’s Dr. Brian Arnall

At the Women in Agriculture Conference, Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with OSU Professor Plant & Soil Science and Extension Specialist Dr. Brian Arnall about soil health and crop resiliency.

Arnall said that his definition of soil health begins with where the soil is at in terms of structure, its ability to resist weather extremes including both drought and flooding, and its ability to grow a crop, both economically and environmentally within a sustainable realm. Steps to soil health include increasing organic matter, and in effect, carbon in the soil, thus changing the structure of the soil which will allow for better water retention and more microbial and fungal activity to increase soil diversity.

Dr, Arnall said the soil in Oklahoma is nearly as varied as it gets and what works in one part of Oklahoma may not work in another. “We go from ‘gators to antelope all in one state, and there’s not many states that can say that,” he said. “Every soil is different – we have rainfall, we have how the soil was formed – but even within a farm, you have different soils. You have the side slopes, the bottoms, the good ground, the poor ground, and the eroded ground. We have the clay soils in Ottawa County, we have the red soils in the middle and in the high plains. Maybe we need more cover crop for carbon and soil stability on a slide slope, but our bottom ground needs something that increases water infiltration depth, so maybe a deep-rooted tap crop or a rotation that helps our roots go deeper.”

Our thoughts and prayers here at Oklahoma Farm Report go out to Bennie, Rhett, and all the Beutler Family as they navigate through the grief and loss of some of their most beloved Rodeo Stock. Right now, it’s being reported that Beutler and Son Rodeo Company has lost upwards of 70 horses due to feed contamination.

This is an update from Kendra Santos Facebook Page, a Family Friend to the Beutlers:

“The level of catastrophic loss that’s still unfolding at the Beutler Ranch in Elk City, Oklahoma right now is beyond comprehension. The horror of so many dead horses—the death toll is now approaching 70 and counting, I’m told—is devastating a family-dynasty breeding program that’s a 95-year-old cowboy empire. What Elra, Jake and Lynn Beutler started in 1929, and Elra’s grandson Bennie and his son Rhett built onto with Beutler & Son Rodeo Company today can’t be replicated or replaced."

Santos goes on to say "I’ve had many off-the-record conversations with cowboy people about this tragic turn of events in the last few days. I just had my first one on the record with the friend and veterinarian the Beutlers have entrusted with their four-legged family, Dr. Gregg VeneKlasen. Because of what may lie ahead legally, we will stick to only the facts that can be appropriately shared publicly at this time. More to come later, when the time is right for the Beutler family.

"Early reporting that many of the Beutlers’ horses were accidentally fed cattle feed is false, according to VeneKlasen.

“What these horses got was actually a horse feed mix with a huge amount of the cattle drug monensin (brand name Rumensin) in it,” VeneKlasen said. “This was a tragic case of human error somewhere along the line, because tiny amounts of monensin is poison to horses. It kills them. Monensin is used in some cattle feed, but this amount in this horse feed delivered to the Beutlers would have killed cattle, too."

Efficiency and efficacy are the two things Doug Branch is looking for in a parasite control program. As manager of the Buford Ranch Osage Division in Oklahoma, Branch oversees a registered herd of Hereford cattle, a large part of the ranch’s commercial cow/calf herd and a registered Quarter Horse operation. Keeping the cows and calves healthy with a solid vaccination and parasite management program is important to the ranch’s success.

“With spring calving and fall calving herds, we are always doing something with the cattle,” said Branch. “We are fortunate that the cattle can graze the majority of the year, so managing our forages is critical. That is also why parasite management is so important for our operation.”

Branch noticed some rough hair coats showing up and it just didn’t seem like cattle were responding the same way after being treated with parasite control products. “I suspected that we had some resistance but wasn’t sure,” said Branch. “We agreed to participate in an Oklahoma State University research project about prevalence of resistant parasites in Oklahoma cowherds.”

As part of the project, university researchers pulled individual fecal samples on the ranch’s spring-born bred Hereford heifers to conduct fecal egg count reduction tests (FECRT). Half the heifers were treated with Dectomax® Injectable and the other half received Ivomec® Plus. Then, 14 days later fecal samples were pulled again. “The reduction of egg counts wasn’t as high as it should have been, indicating we were seeing some resistance issues with our parasite management program,” said Branch.

Dr. John Michael Riley Discusses the Highs & Lows of Grain Markets

This week on SUNUP, OSU Agriculture Economist Dr. John Michael Riley discusses the highs and lows of current grain markets after the last WASDE report.

Soybeans dropped about 40 cents on the day of the WASDE report and the day after. Prices have leveled out since then, and have currently risen 10 to 20 cents since the aftermath of that report to the mid to upper nines which is similar to futures.

Dr. Riley said that corn and wheat didn’t have any big news in the last WASDE report. “They did well coming out of the report counter to what soybeans were. Cotton had a little bit of a bright spot in terms of lower acres expected and lower carryover, but mostly benefited that day and then tailed off shortly thereafter.”

Cotton has strengthened in terms of overall price over the past week, upwards of 70 cents per pound nearing the prices of early to mid-July. Cotton’s success is relative to where the U.S. dollar compares to other currencies. Due to the dollar’s weakness, cotton prices have been elevated.

The legislature mandates massive changes in how to tag a newly purchased vehicle in Oklahoma on or after September 1.

Starting September 1, 2024, the new vehicle registration process will expedite the issuance of metal license plates along with two temporary decals provided during a pre-registration that is completed with the initial purchase of a vehicle. Oklahomans can learn more at ReadySetTag.com.

KC Sheperd caught up with Jay Doyle, Chief Executive Officer for Service Oklahoma, to talk about Ready Set Tag, which is set to take effect on September 1.

Ready Set Tag is a public awareness campaign around the Mason Treat Act. What this means is that any vehicle purchased September 1 or after in the state of Oklahoma will be subjected to a pre-registration process. The goal of the preregistration process is to get a metal plate on the back of the vehicle as soon as possible.

Interviews Worth Checking Out Over the Holiday Weekend