Drought expanded in Oklahoma again this week-- with over 60% of the state now in drought of one level or another.

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

Extreme drought has increased to 5.62 percent, up from 5.31 percent last week.

Severe drought or worse has increased to 28.63 percent, up from 18.44 percent last week.

Moderate drought, or worse, has increased to 60.63 percent, up from 48.22 percent last week.

Abnormally dry or worse has increased to 78.58, up from last week’s 74.36 percent.

To view the latest Oklahoma Drought Monitor map- click here or click on the map above.

Our neighbors in Kansas also saw a slight uptick in moderate drought- from 51.22 percent last week to 56.14 percent this week. Missouri has also gotten drier- moderate drought in Missouri is up to 36.89% this week versus 14.8% last week. Texas actually saw a third percentage point drought in moderate drought this week- from 35.9% to 32.16% this week. Click on the name of each state to see their respective Drought maps.

National Livestock was founded in 1932 in Oklahoma City. National’s Marketing Division offers cattle for sale weekly at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City. The Finance Division lends money to ranchers across several states for cattle production. The Grazing Division works with producers to place cattle for grazing on wheat or grass pastures. 

One of the newest additions to the National Family is Dakota Moss- and Livestock Risk Services.

National also owns and operates other livestock marketing subsidiaries including Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction in Ada, Oklahoma, OKC West Livestock Market in El Reno, Oklahoma, and the nation’s premier livestock video sale, Superior Livestock Auction. National offers customers many services custom made for today’s producer. To learn more, click here for the website or call the Oklahoma City office at 1-800-310-0220.

Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s “Demo Day” was held yesterday. It was an event for six startups from rural Oklahoma, supported by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau. Farm Director KC Sheperd was on hand at the event to visit with Rural Economic Development Coordinator Amarie Bartel, who said that this event shows off six special innovators in Rural Oklahoma: “We really run the gamut in terms of the types of folks that we work with. For example, we have an online e-commerce platform for trading of agricultural commodities all the way to a device that can light your Charcoal grill in seconds.”

These startups, ranging from an e-commerce platform for agricultural commodities to a device for lighting a Charcoal grill, are showcasing their progress and seeking investment and partnerships to establish a strong presence in rural Oklahoma.

The program has assisted these startups with both equity and debt funding, and the goal is for them to secure the necessary capital to grow and contribute positively to their communities, “Next Steps are to engage with the right capital partner for them. So we help folks with both dilutive and non-dilutive funding, meaning investors or debt, grants, you name it, we want to connect with those types of partners.”

Allendale's Rich Nelson Talks WASDE & Crop Production with KC Sheperd

USDA released its September Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) reports on Thursday. Going against analysts’ pre-report estimates, USDA raised corn production slightly, bumping the yield up to a record level.

Farm Director KC Sheperd visited with Rich Nelson at Allendale to discuss this month’s numbers. Nelson said this month’s report was neutral for wheat with no changes., “We are holding back on the wheat discussions until we see production revisions at the end of this month in the small grains summary.”

Nelson said that for this month’s report, corn and soybeans saw declines in stocks, but wheat remained neutral.

Nelson said the new crop numbers for stocks were lowered to 2.05 billion bushels. He noted that the USDA has a light decline in Russian production for this year and expects lower exports in the next few months, We are going to see lower production out of Russia and lower exports, which we haven’t seen yet, but they will be coming in the next two or three months we will see that trend begin to change.

On this edition of the Beef Buzz, we feature an interview that KC Sheperd had this summer with Cheyenne Sparks about her role to be a CattleCon Influencer for the 2025 Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show.

Former Oklahoma Cattlewoman President and current National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s 2025 CattleCon influencer Cheyenne Sparks about her role.

“As influencers, we get to go around and tell people about the education, entertainment, and networking opportunities that you will find at the Cattle Convention down there in San Antonio, Texas, this year. You can grow as a producer, learn new technologies, learn about legislation, and anything else in the cattle industry that you are interested in. You are going to find it at CattleCon 2025,” she said.

CattleCon will be February 4-6, 2025, and registration is now open at convention.ncba.org. For anyone interested in keeping up with activities and events to be held at CattleCon, Sparks invited them to follow her on Instagram @Twosparkscc or through her other social media channels.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump revealed their priorities for American agriculture in responses provided by their campaigns to a questionnaire distributed by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Farm Bureau asked the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees to respond with their stances on several topics that directly affect farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Topics include crop insurance, taxes, labor and rural infrastructure.

“The challenges facing America’s farmers and ranchers continue to mount, from falling commodity prices to stubbornly high supply costs,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “The next president will set the agenda for trade, regulatory reform, labor and sustainability. It is important that our members, and others in rural America, know where the presidential candidates stand on issues that will affect the vibrancy of their communities and their ability to pass farms to the next generation.”

The questionnaire includes 14 questions. In addition to the topics listed above, it covers food system resiliency, regulatory reform, international trade, sustainability, energy and biotechnology.



The answers are presented unedited, to give members an unfiltered look at each candidate’s platform. AFBF has invited candidates from both parties to respond to election questionnaires for more than 40 years. The survey responses are available now on FB.org/election2024.

This week on SUNUP, John Michael Riley discusses the recent price movements in row crops, citing uncertainty among sellers and buyers. Riley says the price increases are attributed to a lack of sellers in the market, forcing buyers to initiate transactions.



Riley says Weather conditions in Oklahoma are a concern for wheat planting, with producers waiting for rain and soil moisture before making decisions. “I think the focus is on drying conditions here in Oklahoma. There has been a lot of conversation about what we do with wheat planting.

Oklahoma wheat planting as of September 8, was at zero, so we’re normally around 4% planted.” Producers are waiting to see what the soil moisture will look like and the forecast for rain.

Riley says producers are advised to consider their budgets and input costs before making decisions.

Click on the BlueButton below to hear John Michael and to see the lineup set for this weekend's SUNUP as produced by OSU Ag Communications.

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