U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 9.6 million cotton acres this spring, down 14.5 percent from 2024, according to the National Cotton Council’s 44th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey. (see table attached).

Upland cotton intentions are 9.4 million acres, down 14.4 percent from 2024, while extra-long staple (ELS) intentions of 158,000 acres represent a 23.5 percent decline. The detailed survey results were announced today during the 2025 National Cotton Council Annual Meeting.

Both Texas and Oklahoma are projected to have significant declines- Oklahoma is projected to have a five percent drop in acres to 413,000 acres in 2025- while Texas could see an eye popping 900,000 acre drop this season to just over 5 million acres this year- versus 5.95 million acres in 2024.

Dr. Jody Campiche, the NCC’s Vice President, Economics & Policy Analysis, said, “Planted acreage is just one of the factors that will determine supplies of cotton and cottonseed. Ultimately, weather and agronomic conditions are among the factors that play a significant role in determining crop size.”

Based on ten-year average abandonment rates along with a few state-level adjustments, Cotton Belt harvested area totals 7.8 million acres for 2025. Using the five-year average yield for each state generates a cotton crop of 13.9 million bales, with 13.5 million upland bales and 392,000 ELS bales.

Midwest Farm Shows is proud to produce the two best Farm Shows in the State of Oklahoma annually- the Tulsa Farm Show each December and the Oklahoma City Farm Show each April. 

They would like to thank all of you who participated in their 2024 Tulsa City Farm Show. 

Up next will be the Oklahoma City’s premier spring agricultural and ranching event with returns to the State Fair Park April 3-4-5, 2025.



Now is the ideal time to contact the Midwest Farm Show Office at 507-437-7969 and book space at the 2025 Oklahoma City Farm Show.  To learn more about the Oklahoma City Farm Show, click here. 

Much of the state of Oklahoma is locked in wind chills well below zero this morning- the air temps are mostly in the single digits as we write this at 5 AM- and the roads are in rough shape- they are in the worse shape in northeastern Oklahoma where the heaviest snow rolled in Tuesday afternoon into the evening.

The winter precipitation is now moved out of the state- and now we deal a couple of days of the polar air- the National Weather Service reminds us "Frigid air and breezy winds will lead to dangerous wind chill values today through tomorrow morning across Oklahoma and into western north Texas. Several locations will experience continuous sub-zero wind chills through tomorrow morning."

Temps will only climb into the 10 to 15 degree range-at best today- and then we will be as cold or colder early Thursday morning. Winds will be lighter overnight so the wind chills won't be as bad tomorrow morning.

By the weekend- we push the coldest air away- and will actually see daytime highs back into the 60s- so keep checking on those cattle- keep hay and water available and the weekend will soon arrive.

CAB’s John Stika Discusses Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for High-Quality Beef

During CattleCon 2025, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, visited with the President of Certified Angus Beef, John Stika, about domestic beef demand and the willingness of consumers to pay for quality.

Coverage of CattleCon 2025 is powered by Farm Data Services of Stillwater, Oklahoma.

“We are producing a record percent of choice and prime at around eighty-three to eighty-four percent of our inventory is choice and prime,” Stika shared. “We have listened to what consumers have said they wanted, and that is taste and quality, and that has translated into being reflected in our genetics, management, and ultimately into the carcasses that we send to the packer. It gets translated into real dollars. It has been really exciting to see.”

He noted how many more requests for CAB have been received under the current market than in years before which is indicative of a customer who is price-conscious but also willing to pay more for a higher quality product.

He detailed how retailers and food service establishments want to deliver price value and taste quality to customers, but that value proposition is also influenced by how consumers feel about how producers raise their cattle from a humane treatment and environmental stewardship standpoint.

We will be following the travels of Class XXI of the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program in the tropical country of Kenya this week and next- Program Director Edmond Bonjour offers these insights on their first full day in Kenya- "The OALP’s first farm visit was at the farm of Mike Harries(seen above) - Karamaini Estate near Thika. His grandfather came from South Africa in 1904 and he and his son-in-law had 5,000 acres each. They started with ostriches, then had African buffalo which were important for meat, fat, and hides, and then they grew coffee until 2000 when the coffee prices collapsed.

"Mike inherited 1,300 acres of the farm after his father died in 1963. That same year, Kenya received independence and 95% of the whites left the country. He ultimately sold 800 acres back to the native Kikuyu tribe. He has 160 acres today and after the coffee crash started growing avocados. He planted 45 acres over a five-year period. Their largest harvest has been 400 tons in one year. Trees are pruned to 4 meters. They are irrigated with sprinklers and each tree receives 20 liters per week. Most of the harvesting is done by females. They can pick 25-30 crates per day and each crate weighs 19-20 kg. Harvest occurs in June - August, and occasionally, like this year, the trees are flowering now and they will harvest again in December - January. They hand-harvest in canvas bags. The price ranges from 35-130 shillings per kg. They are currently shipping to Europe around the Cape because of the turmoil in the Suez Canal. Culled avocados are used for oil production."

Learn more about the Oklahoma Ag Leadership Program by clicking here.

AFBF has calculated crop and rangeland damage estimates since 2021 to provide a window into the impacts of natural disasters on domestic food production. This Market Intel updates total crop loss estimates across major weather events for 2024. AFBF’s methodologies changed between 2023 and 2024 to cover more causes-of-loss types. Therefore, totals between years are not directly comparable. The methodology for these calculations is described at the end of this article.

Weather-associated production risk is a part of life for farmers and ranchers. Through heavy rain, hail, snow, winds, fire and drought, farming families prepare land, plant and harvest knowing their livelihoods are reliant on local weather conditions. In 2024, 27 weather disasters, each with damages exceeding $1 billion, struck the U.S. coast-to-coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that 2024 ranked fourth in terms of the total inflation-adjusted economic impact of these events, with industries across the economy experiencing an estimated $182.7 billion hit (compared to $92.9 billion in 2023). With nearly 570 lives lost, these disasters will haunt impacted communities for years to come.

Updated 2024 crop and rangeland damage estimates highlight the devastating impact of natural disasters on U.S. farm production. Total losses to crops and rangeland (including apiculture) from major 2024 weather and fire events exceeded $20.3 billion, accounting for 11.1% of NOAA’s total economic impact from disasters. Of this total, $10.9 billion in losses were covered by Risk Management Agency (RMA) programs as of February 2024, while approximately $9.4 billion remained uninsured, fell outside policy coverage limits, or did not qualify under existing risk management programs.

In 1892, A.C. Magruder initiated a soil fertility study to evaluate Oklahoma wheat production. In 1930, H.J. Harper established 10 separate fertilization treatments on these plots. The rest is history.

Wheat research on the Magruder plots continues today, and the Oklahoma State University wheat research program has earned international acclaim for its ability to locate specific wheat genes that contribute to nutrient-use efficiency and disease and pest resistance.

Brett Carver, regents professor and wheat genetics chair in the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, took over the modern wheat breeding program in 1998, following the retirement of Ed Smith. Twenty-six years later, Carver is one of the most recognized faces nationwide in wheat breeding and genetics.

“I had the idea going into this that we needed to have a more concerted effort for our scientists to work in a more collaborative way rather than in a competitive way,” Carver said. “It’s not unusual for researchers at universities to compete for research funding, but I thought, why don’t scientists just get together and say, ‘This is what we’re going to do?’”

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