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 has increased to 23.41 percent, up from 11.5 percent last week. Southwest, northeast, northcentral and even southeast Oklahoma all have patches of extreme drought this week.

Severe drought or worse has increased to 45.29 percent, up from 37.39 percent last week.

Moderate drought or worse, increased to 70.27 percent, up from 61.31 percent last week.

Abnormally dry or worse have increased to 84.44 percent, down from 77.18 percent last week.

As for our neighbors, over 2 inches of rain soaked Deep South Texas and the Louisiana Bayou, but amounts decreased rapidly moving away from these areas, and a vast majority of the region saw no measurable rain during the week. Dryness and drought of most intensities (D0 to D3) expanded in coverage across large parts of western and eastern Texas and parts of Louisiana. Much of Texas and western Arkansas are 4 to 8 inches below normal rainfall since early June. Kansas seems to be in slightly better shape for the time being with a few parts in the western part of the state untouched by abnormal dryness, and extreme drought is only affecting a couple of small patches in the southeastern part.

Kansas Drought Monitor shows more than half of the state in Moderate Drought - 56.74 this week versus 50.40% last week. Texas Drought ratings saw an increase from 34.39% a week ago to 41.66.

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

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.

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with National Cattlemen’s Association executive director of government affairs, Kent Bacus, about the tax study that NCBA recently released.

With the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act set to expire at the end of 2025, NCBA collected survey data to better understand how key tax provisions, such as Death Tax relief and business deductions, impact family-owned cattle operations.

“This tax survey report is a reflection of our grassroots network from across the country,” Bacus said. “What we found was very revealing. As we started to dig into this, we really learned about how some of these tools are used and how important they are to cattle producers.

The respondents to the tax survey indicated that 99% operated family-owned farms or ranches and 64% were third-generation cattle producers or greater. Additionally, the survey showed strong support for provisions such as the 1031 Like-Kind Exchange, Section 179 Expensing, Bonus Depreciation, and Section 199A Small Business Deduction. The data also showed that a quarter of respondents spend more than $10,000 annually for tax preparation, filing, and potential audits, all expenses that only add further pressure to agricultural operations.

On SUNUP: Wheat Planting and Fall Harvests: Insights from John Michael Riley

This week on SUNUP, Dr. John Michael Riley discusses the progress of wheat planting and summer crop harvests.

Across the U.S., 50% of the wheat crop has been planted while Oklahoma lags behind at 32% with 14% emerged. Dr. Riley commented, “I was driving around this weekend and saw a little bit of green in those fields, but most of them look fairly bare or just planted. We are behind schedule compared to where we are typically at this time of year.”

Dry conditions are to blame for a lot of that, but Dr. Riley is confident that wheat planting will continue to progress despite continuing drought in the foreseeable future.



Regarding the harvest of summer crops, corn is right on schedule at 30% harvested, and 47% of the soybean harvest is complete, which is slightly ahead of normal.

“Our summer crops across the U.S. have really been strong all year,” Dr. Riley stated. “That has put some pressure on prices, but it is still shaping up to be pretty decent.”

Packers were aggressive last week on a smaller total volume of fed cattle trade as the market average price moved nearly a dollar higher to $186.59/cwt. Weekly spot fed cattle prices have charted a $5.50/cwt. recovery since the $181/cwt. early September low that ended the futures-induced lower cash prices beginning in early August. Weekly fed cattle harvest head counts continue to run at an impressive pace contrasted against multiple previous months. Each of the latest four weeks have featured head counts larger than a year ago with an average of 496,750 per week, a 2.1% increase for the period compared to 2023.

Amidst the upturn in live cattle prices, boxed beef cutout values have been locked in a downward pattern since mid-September. Larger weekly fed cattle slaughter in recent weeks, coupled with carcass weights 30 pounds heavier than a year ago, has pushed fed cattle carcass tonnage 2% higher than a year ago. Even so, cull cow harvest has been 14.5% smaller than a year prior for the recent four-week period. This pulled the weekly count lower by about 16,000 head. Seasonally, weak beef demand during the month of September tends to extend into the first half of October. In the past five years, the price drop for the comprehensive cutout value has been 7% from the last week of August through mid-October. The current market shows a 4% decline since late August through last week. This suggests that the boxed beef price action is well within the historical trend although we’ve yet to cross the mid-point in October. The daily trend this week shows strength in cutout values with a $4/cwt. increase in the USDA Choice cutout over last Friday’s quote. This is aligned with last year’s trend where the price increase began a bit earlier in the month than is typical.

The second week in October brings thousands of visitors to the annual Watonga Cheese & Wine Festival. Enjoy two days of fun-filled musical entertainment as well as a wine and cheese tasting, art show, quilt show, fiber arts show and children’s games. Don’t miss the parade down Noble Street at noon on Saturday, and sign up for the Great Rat Race to participate in a 5K run, 10K run or a 1-mile fun run.

Visitors to this event will also enjoy a great assortment of vendors in three locations, including the armory and the craft tent, which offers a collection of items ranging from handmade crafts and food items to home décor and gifts. Visit the Made in Oklahoma tent for unique items and food products made throughout the state.

View the beautiful works of many talented artists at the Watonga Cheese & Wine Festival art show and make sure to fire up your appetite with cheese tastings and selections from the festival’s cheese food contest. Satisfy your hunger with a number of fantastic food options from multiple food vendors set up in downtown Watonga. 

The whole family will enjoy the carriage and amusement rides on Main Street. This festival also features a classic car show and musical entertainment in various locations. In addition, many area stores will be open during the festival. 

Kids Zone Carnival will kick off Saturday at 9am with Carnival rides, Zip Line Tower, Extreme Rockwall, Mindwinder, Pirates Revenge and Boomerang! Carnival activity will be held on East Main Street!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an additional $250 million in automatic payments for distressed direct and guaranteed farm loan borrowers under Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act. This significant step continues USDA’s commitment to keeping farmers and ranchers financially viable and support for agricultural communities.   

Over the past two years, USDA acted swiftly to assist borrowers in retaining their land and continuing their agricultural operations. Since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022, the USDA has provided approximately $2.4 billion in assistance to more than 43,900 distressed borrowers.   

“USDA continues to invest in the future of producers through our loan portfolio. These ongoing investments made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act come on the heels of critical Farm Service Agency Loan Reforms that became effective last week,” said Zach Ducheneaux, USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator. “The payments announced today help to ensure that more than 4,600 producers across the country will see another production season. Importantly, however, we’re not only addressing current crises. We’re also creating a more resilient and supportive loan system for the future.” 

Building on this momentum, USDA is announcing an estimated additional $250 million in assistance to approximately 4,650 distressed direct and guaranteed farm loan borrowers. This includes approximately $235 million in assistance for an estimated 4,485 delinquent direct and guaranteed borrowers who have not received prior IRA 22006 assistance, and approximately $15 million in assistance for an estimated 165 direct and guaranteed borrowers with Shared Appreciation Agreements.  

Court Denies Petition for Stronger EPA Regulation of Large Livestock Farms

A federal judge rejected a petition from environmental activists for more strict regulation of large livestock operations in a win for the U.S. meat industry. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco, threw out a lawsuit that would have changed how the Environmental Protection Agency regulates concentrated animal feeding operations.

Pork producers applauded the decision. Last month, the National Pork Producers participated in oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit, successfully urging the court to reject the baseless lawsuit. At that hearing, the Ninth Circuit expressed frustration and significant concerns with Food & Water Watch’s approach and candor.

The lawsuit, filed and led by Food & Water Watch, challenged the EPA’s decision last year to deny a petition that would have required all farms to obtain permits to operate their CAFOs unless they could prove they’re not a source of pollution. In their petition, activist groups argued livestock operations are releasing pollution into waterways in violation of the Clean Water Act.

In its decision, however, the court agreed with the EPA’s approach to regulating livestock production, including the formation of a subcommittee to study water quality issues, saying it was important to “seek information about how best to tackle the problem” before crafting new regulations.