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 conditions remain at zero percent, unchanged since the week of October 29, 2024.

Severe drought or worse conditions are unchanged at 0.33 percent since January 2.

Moderate drought or worse conditions have increased to 25.66 percent, up from 18.43 percent last week.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions remain at 80.89 percent, unchanged since last week.

As for our neighbors, temperatures were mostly warmer than normal. Scattered drought degradations occurred in the western halves of Texas and Oklahoma, due to increasing precipitation deficits and locally decreasing streamflow and soil moisture. Groundwater and reservoir levels continued to drop in central Texas in the San Antonio area amid very large precipitation deficits, leading to the development of a small area of exceptional drought. Similar conditions in southwest Texas led to the expansion of exceptional drought along the Rio Grande to the El Paso area.

In southern Kansas, abnormal dryness expanded in response to unusually dry weather throughout the last few months.

Kansas Drought Monitor shows Moderate Drought unchanged from 24.82 percent last week. Texas Drought ratings increased slightly from 49.01 percent a week ago to 53.92 percent.



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

Click here for the US Drought Monitor details for this week.

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Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays had the chance to talk with Altus, Oklahoma, farmer and outgoing National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) President Keeff Felty as he completed his year serving wheat farmers in that capacity.

Several years ago, Felty’s friend and neighbor, Bob Howard, asked him to serve with the Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association. He readily accepted and served for a few years before becoming a state delegate on the NAWG board of directors. “At my first NAWG meeting, I volunteered to be on the budget committee. That was in January 2017, then I got elected to Secretary in March 2020 – two weeks before COVID shut everything down,” he shared.

He has since moved through the different chairs in NAWG leadership until he was elected president during the 2024 Commodity Classic.

Each year since 2023, farmers have been looking for an updated farm bill to be approved and are now hoping it will finally happen in 2025. Felty noted that it is the second full year that the farm bill has been extended. With the new Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, and the Ag Committee working towards finalizing the bill this year, optimism is still present.

Inside “Cowboys at the Capitol”: Grassroots Advocacy for Missouri Cattle Producers

In today’s BeefBuzz, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays is talking with Mike Deering, Executive Vice President of the Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, about the organization’s success at advancing policy initiatives that benefit Missouri cattle producers.

“It is largely because of our membership,” Deering said. “We have a grassroots program called ‘Cowboys at the Capitol.’ We have our members at the Capitol every single Wednesday at legislative sessions, to where it isn’t lobbyists, it is producers talking to legislators.”

The strategy of success doesn’t stop there. Deering explained further, “We are also engaged in the process, and we elect leaders who have common sense and an appreciation and understanding of the importance of that industry, not only to our state, but also to feeding the country.

He noted that the organization strongly supported Missouri’s new governor, Mike Kehoe, a Missouri Cattlemen’s Association member and producer.

This week on SUNUP:

• SUNUP welcomes Mark Turner, the new OSU Extension wildlife specialist. Dr. Turner discusses ways hunters and landowners can help counteract decreasing turkey populations.

• Dave Lalman, OSU Extension beef cattle specialist, explains why body condition scores are important to cow-calf operations. Dr. Lalman also discusses a data set collected that reinforces OSU findings on these scores.

• State climatologist Gary McManus talks about the recent rainfall event and looks ahead for the rest of March.

• Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock marketing specialist, says there is a lot of unknown in the cattle markets given the new administration’s possible policy decisions.

• Mark Johnson, OSU Extension beef cattle breeding specialist, explains why the cheapest bulls may not be the best options for your long-term cattle production goals.

• SUNUP previews the upcoming OSU Extension Cow-Calf Boot Camp.

• Finally, SUNUP learns why prescribed fire is not only important for the land but also for the community.

Oklahoma Agriculture Starts at SUNUP!

Weekly Statewide Broadcast: Saturday at 7:30 a.m. & Sunday at 6 a.m. on OETA (PBS)

Stream Anytime: YouTube.com/SUNUPtv

On Thursday evening- U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins praised President Donald J. Trump’s action to make adjustments to tariffs imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico that fall under his historic United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in addition to a reduction of tariffs on potash, a key ingredient in fertilizers that farmers depend on. 

“President Trump’s announcement which includes a reduction of tariffs on potash not already covered under the USMCA from 25% to 10% is a critical step in helping farmers manage and secure key input costs at the height of planting season while reinforcing long-term agricultural trade relations,” said Secretary Rollins. “The temporary tariff exemption for Canada and Mexico is a smart, strategic move to keep trade negotiations on course while delivering real results for American agriculture. Canada must commit to fair trade practices—including those in dairy, eggs, and poultry, and Mexico must maintain open markets. Once again, the President’s leadership ensures that U.S. farmers remain at the forefront—fighting for fair trade, lower costs, and stronger market access.”

Several Ag Groups cheered the decision by the White House for this decision- click on the blue buttons below to read those we have gathered ahead of sending you this email

Oklahoma State University Extension is teaming up with Native American tribes to hire three additional Extension educators in northeast Oklahoma.

One position is sponsored by a grant awarded by the Fully Recognized Tribes Extension Program via the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture; Lexi Patrick has been hired to work directly with the Osage Nation on agriculture, 4-H, and family and consumer sciences projects.

Two new educators are funded with support from the Native American Agriculture Fund. Educator Jamie Foster in Ottawa County works with the region’s Inter-Tribal Council to conduct family and consumer sciences and 4-H activities. The Inter-Tribal Council includes participation from the following nine tribes: the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, the Modoc Nation, the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma, the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, the Seneca-Cayuga Nation, the Shawnee Tribe, the Quapaw Nation and the Wyandotte Nation.

Alicia Morgan is the director of alternative education at the Miami Innovation Center in Miami, Oklahoma, where Foster visits regularly to facilitate programming. Foster recently hosted a barn quilt class for students at the alternative school, many of whom are Native American.

Blackjack, McFerran and Pfeiffer Angus Holding 2025 Bull Sale Saturday March 8

Keith and Janet Grissom, Keith and Amber McFerran and John and Gaye Pfeiffer invite you to their 2025 Bull Sale this Saturday, March 8th at 12 noon- being held once again at Blackjack Farms in Seminole, Oklahoma.

They believe their offering of Angus, Simmental and Sim-Angus Bulls will improve your herd.

The offering is semen tested and fully guaranteed.

You can attend the sale in person or participate via LiveAuctions.TV- click here for the Blackjack sale site on this platform.

Matt Sims with MCS is the Sale Manager- his sale day phone is 405-641-6081

Click here for the Sale Book.

Click here for the videos of the offering.

Last Call- ODAFF is Accepting Nominations for the 2025 Oklahoma Ag Hall of Fame Selection

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry is accepting nominations for the 2025 Gov. Stitt’s Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture Award.

The winner will be inducted into the Oklahoma Agriculture Hall of Fame, which is the state’s most prestigious award honoring distinguished Oklahoma agriculture producers. The Governor’s Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture award honors leaders in the agriculture industry who exemplify personal values, performance and achievement.

Last year, Terry Stuart Forst, a fifth-generation Oklahoman who manages the state’s oldest and most continuous family-operated ranch became the 27th inductee into the Oklahoma Agriculture Hall of Fame, and the first female to earn the state’s most prestigious agricultural honor.

The nomination application is available HERE.

Nominations will be accepted through Saturday, March 8.

The inductee will be honored with a recognition ceremony during Oklahoma Ag Day at the State Capitol on April 22, 2025.