The latest Crop Progress report shows that Oklahoma’s wheat is only 32 percent planted, fifteen percentage points lower than the five-year average. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with Oklahoma Wheat Commission’s Mike Schulte, to talk about the challenges surrounding wheat planting in Oklahoma.

“Wheat planting is certainly a challenge in Oklahoma for us right now with the return of La Nina and drought conditions,” Schulte said. “We are behind the five-year average and if you look at Texas and Kansas, they are at 51 and 32 percent planted, so we are behind those two states as well.”

He said that as October progresses, more and more producers may decide to plant some of their fields while hoping for rainfall to germinate the seed.

“Certainly, we have had long-term drought conditions over the last ten to fifteen years, but I think, as far as planting goes, this is probably the driest I have seen it,” he admitted. “It does have producers concerned.”

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Farm Director KC Sheperd caught up with Oklahoma Cotton Council Vice Chairman and Altus, Oklahoma cotton farmer Mark Nichols.

Nichols began by talking about the condition of cotton across the state which he said is pretty bleak in most areas. He said that in Tillman County and the Carnegie area of Caddo County, fields under pivots look pretty good, and due to a bit of extra rain, the Elk City area of Beckham County is still doing okay.

“Some of the cotton in my area, dryland cotton, looked pretty good,” he admitted. “The plants look pretty good, but when you go out there and look, there is just nothing there. It is just so hot that it didn’t do anything.”

Compared to the 2023 crop, Nichols believes that the irrigated cotton will be better this year, despite how sparse it looks. “We had some underground moisture going into this year that we didn’t have last year,” he said. “It’s really amazing what just a little bit of in-ground moisture will do as you are going into a crop year. I think that is why the crop looked a little better overall this year than last, but it is still not very good in Oklahoma or West Texas.”

Dr. Derrell Peel Sees “Extremely Dry Pattern in the Southern Plains” Impacting Cattle Producers

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays featured comments from Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel about the current state of drought in the Southern Plains and how it affects producers.

For almost a year, meteorologists have anticipated the arrival of a La Nina weather system, but as rain continued to fall, many began to doubt. “I believe it is here. We are locked into an extremely dry pattern in the Southern Plains right now,” Dr. Peel said.

With decent years, weather-wise, in 2023 and 2024, hay supplies are good in Oklahoma for the time being; however, Kansas may not be in as good shape.

According to Dr. Peel, drying conditions are expected at this time of year, so the biggest concern now is water supply. “A lot of stock ponds in the area are low, not critically low, yet, but we typically don’t replenish stock ponds during winter so that will be a source of concern for producers as we go into the winter.”

Editor's Note- this article was written by Dr. Kenny Burdine, Livestock Specialist at the University of Kentucky- and the keynote speaker at the upcoming OSU Ag Economics Rural Economic Conference next week.

The beef cow inventory is at a sixty-three-year low. Tight supplies have driven cattle markets and calf prices have increased by roughly $1 per lb over the last two years. Limited heifer retention and beef cow slaughter exceeding 10 percent of beef cow inventory for the year indicate that beef cow numbers will be even lower in 2025. Cowherd expansion will happen eventually but, there appears to be little evidence that producers have an appetite for that currently. For the cow herd to grow, we need to have the 3 Ps of herd expansion at the cow-calf level: profit, pasture, and patience.

The first P is probably the most obvious – profit. There will be no interest in cowherd expansion without money being made at the cow-calf level. While profit has been there recently, it is important to remember that these strong calf price levels are relatively new. We actually went from November 2015 to February 2023 (7 years and 4 months) with the state average price of a 550 lb medium / large frame #1-2 steer in Kentucky being under $2 per lb. Coming out of that challenging 7-year period, I think a lot of cow-calf operators have been cautious and guarded. Just as importantly, a lot of costs are substantially higher now than they were ten years ago, so comparing current calf prices to historical calf prices is misleading. Still, I think current returns at the cow-calf level are sufficient to see heifer retention if the other two Ps fall into place.

The second P is pasture, and I am using pasture broadly to describe forage/feed availability. While profit may be the first driver of expansion, no level of profit can make it rain, and limited pasture and hay supplies can nix any interest in expansion. As a recent example, drought was so widespread in the US during 2022 that expansion would have been highly unlikely, regardless of calf price levels. Both hay supplies and pasture and range conditions have improved since 2022, but a lot of areas have been dry this year, including my home state of Kentucky. 

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced multiple steps to deliver on the President’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy to promote fair and competitive markets for American farmers and ranchers, and lower food prices for American families. The following actions were announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack during a Farmers and Ranchers in Action event hosted by the White House:

• First, through a multipart framework, USDA is leveraging its funding and research capacity, as well as interagency partnerships, to increase transparency and improve researcher access to seed germplasm, the starting materials plant breeders need to create diverse, resilient, and competitive seed varieties. These were key recommendations identified in USDA’s 2023 report, “More and Better Choices for Farmers: Promoting Fair Competition and Innovation in Seeds and Other Agricultural Inputs.” 
• Second, USDA today published an interim report that assesses competitive conditions in the meat retail industry. The report draws on over 1,600 comments received from the public in response to USDA requests for information, interviews with small, medium, and large meatpackers, distributors, retailers, academics, and farmer or advocacy organizations. It identifies hidden fees and unjust/anticompetitive pricing strategies present in the beef market as a case study.
• Third, USDA announced the next steps in a new rulemaking effort under the Packers & Stockyards Act of 1921 to enhance price discovery and fairness in cattle markets. For years, USDA has fielded complaints from producers around beef packers using reported regional cash or spot prices as base prices for fed cattle formula pricing agreements, commonly known as Alternative Marketing Agreements (AMAs). USDA is issuing an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to seek comment on several possible interventions to develop new benchmarks as AMA base prices and approaches to trading when using benchmarks. 

Today, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane responded to the agriculture event hosted today at the White House:

“Real cattle producers have faced two hurricanes in two weeks and months of devastating wildfires across the West, and instead of addressing these immediate problems hurting farmers and ranchers, the Biden-Harris administration hosted a pep rally to prop up their failing Bidenomics agenda at the White House, with animal rights activists front and center. Had we been invited, we could have discussed more pressing issues like much-needed disaster relief, regulatory overreach, and USDA’s questionable approval of South American beef imports.

“This event makes clear what cattle producers have known for quite some time: when it comes to agriculture, this administration has prioritized politics over policy that supports cattle producers.”

OSU Agriculture Dedicates New Agricultural Hall

More than 300 Oklahoma State University Ferguson College of Agriculture faculty, staff, alumni and friends gathered on Oct. 5 to dedicate and celebrate the opening of Agricultural Hall, the new home for OSU Agriculture.

The OSU Foundation partnered with OSU Agriculture to host the building dedication and a Ferguson College Family Tailgate before the Cowboy football game against the University of West Virginia.

“This ceremony marks the completion of our cutting-edge facility and a time to celebrate the significance of how OSU Agriculture is advancing the land-grant mission of teaching, research and Extension,” said Jayson Lusk, vice president and dean of OSU Agriculture. “I want to thank the Cowboy family and friends for supporting the New Frontiers campaign and making this building a reality.”

The Cowboy Marching Band kicked off the festivities, followed by remarks from Lusk, OSU President Kayse Shrum, OSU/A&M Board of Regents Chair Jimmy Harrel and Ferguson College of Agriculture student Hailey Spray.

Oklahoma Fire Rescue Teams Now in Florida for Anticipated Hurricane Help

No one knows for sure what kind of destruction might be wielded by Hurricane Milton as it arrives in Florida by early Thursday morning.

But Oklahoma fire departments are lending their support for critical rescues, should they occur. The Southwest Ledger’s Mike Ray reported the Lawton Fire Department joined forces with crews from Guymon and Coalgate to help in any recovery efforts.

Lawton sent its Swift Water Rescue Team to Orlando, Florida. A team of seven, comprised of six rescue technicians and one battalion chief, departed Lawton at 5 a.m. Monday and was expected to arrive early Tuesday morning, city spokeswoman Caitlin Gatlin said.

Their mission is expected to last between one and two weeks

and will focus on providing critical support to communities affected by the storm.