The 21st Annual Oklahoma City Farm Show, featuring the latest in agricultural machinery, equipment, technology, and services, is set for April 3-5, 2025, at the OKC Fairgrounds. This year’s event will showcase more than 1,000 products and services from hundreds of exhibitors, filling both the indoor Bennett Event Center and the outdoor exhibition area directly in front of it. Admission to the show is free, and ample free parking is available at the OKC Fairgrounds complex.

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with show manager Penny Swank to talk about the event. “We like the Bennett Event Center,” Swank said. “The building is set up perfect for us because there are huge doors to get big tractors in. There is a lot of big farm equipment out there now, and we can get it all inside here.”

This year, the 279,000 square foot building is full with 94 new companies added this year. In addition to over 150,000 square feet of agricultural and ranching exhibits, the show will offer a variety of activities and amenities. Complimentary coffee and rolls will be served each morning until 10:00 AM, thanks to Purple Wave Auctions.

Early attendees can also enter the daily $1,000 Showbucks prize drawing, sponsored by Great Plains Kubota. The drawing, which takes place at 1:00 PM each day, allows winners to use the Showbucks as cash for purchases from exhibitors. Sign up for the drawing at the Great Plains Kubota booth.

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. 

HAPPENING THIS WEEK- Oklahoma City’s premier spring agricultural and ranching event that returns to the OKC Fairgrounds April 3-4-5, 2025.



To learn more about the Oklahoma City Farm Show, click here. 

Come see us at the Farm Show- starting Thursday!

Weaker expectations for the future led to a decline in farmer sentiment in March as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer index fell 12 points to a reading of 140, down from 152 a month earlier.

Farmers’ view of the future was decidedly less optimistic in March than in February, as the Index of Future Expectations dipped to 144, which was 15 points lower than in February. A weaker Current Conditions Index, which dropped 5 points in March to 132, also contributed to the weakening in farmer sentiment.

Falloffs in key crop prices since mid-February, combined with concerns about the future of agricultural trade and farm policy, were important factors behind the sentiment shift. Even with the decline in expectations for the future, farmers were still more optimistic about the future than the current situation, as the Future Expectations Index remained 12 points higher than the Current Conditions Index. The March barometer survey took place from March 10-14, 2025.

A breakdown on the Purdue/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer March results can be viewed at https://purdue.ag/barometervideo. 

Oklahoma Cattlemen Address Black Vultures and Estate Tax Concerns in Washington D.C.

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays caught up with the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association’s Executive Vice President, Michael Kelsey, who just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., along with several members of the OCA Leadership team. (Pictured above is the OCA delegation in the office of Oklahoma Congressman Kevin Hern)

Kelsey described it as a “great trip,” saying that OCA President Troy Shelby led the delegation and the group covered a lot of issues, including big topics like the farm bill and tariffs, and more specific things, like Black Vultures.

U.S. Representative John Rose (TN-06) introduced H.R.1437, which removes take limits on black vultures to protect their livestock; however, it does require reporting how many vultures are taken each year to state Fish and Wildlife Officials or the respected delegated agency.

“We are very much supportive of that for a couple of reasons,” Kelsey explained. “We don’t think these birds are migrating like they used to. They have a buffet right here! Plus, the number of them is atrocious. A rancher being able to defend his cattle, take these birds appropriately, and then report them. That just makes good common sense.”

A federal judge has struck down a Biden administration rule that would have split the lesser prairie chicken into two distinct populations for the first time. The decision is a major victory for ranchers and others who had challenged the rule.



The Biden administration finalized a rule on Nov. 25, 2022, extending Endangered Species Act protections to what was the threatened northern distinct population of the lesser prairie chicken.

In its order, the U.S. District Court for the District of Western Texas said this week that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not follow the law in promulgating the rule.

“By acknowledging that the Endangered Species Act requires the government to balance conservation efforts with their economic impact, the court restored the ability of these ranching families to earn a living,” said Charles Yates, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “Unburdened by the shackles of Chevron deference, the court made clear that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service failed to follow the law when it issued the rule, and accordingly overturned it.”

The Biden-era rule split the lesser prairie chicken into two distinct populations for the first time. The southern population of lesser prairie chickens is now considered endangered in the southern area, which includes parts of western Texas and eastern New Mexico. The bird is listed as "threatened" in a larger northern territory that includes eastern Colorado, western Kansas, western Oklahoma and a few counties in the Texas Panhandle.

The Kansas plaintiffs asked the court to set aside the final rule regarding the northern population and send the rule back to U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

The Court agreed.

Mark Johnson, Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Breeding Specialist, offers herd health advice as part of the weekly series known as the “Cow Calf Corner,” published electronically by Dr. Derrell Peel, Johnson, and Paul Beck. Today, Johnson talks about spring pasture management.

Much of Oklahoma finished the summer and fall of 2024 with drought-stressed pastures. As we approach the season when soil temperature and photoperiod are priming warm-season grasses to grow, it is important to assess damage to drought-stressed pastures and manage them accordingly. Following drought, stand damage is readily apparent even on well-managed pastures.

The National Milk Producers Federation celebrated strong bipartisan Senate support for the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act as senators begin considering this critical legislation.  

In a Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry hearing held Tuesday to review the measure, committee members and panelists highlighted the role this bill could have in increasing student milk consumption and nutrition access while also potentially decreasing waste.  

“NMPF commends Sens. Roger Marshall, R-KS, and Peter Welch, D-VT, for advocating for our nation’s students to have more access to nutrient-rich dairy by allowing schools to offer whole milk with school meals,” NMPF President & CEO Gregg Doud said. “We know that Americans are under-consuming dairy products, and as we heard today, students have said they want the milk they are familiar with and that they find satisfying. For many students, that’s whole milk.” 

NMPF also thanks Chairman John Boozman, R-AR, and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, for voicing their support for the bill. 

“We are grateful to Chairman Boozman and Ranking Member Klobuchar for convening today’s hearing, and we look forward to working with them and the bill’s bipartisan sponsors to move it forward,” Doud said. 

The House of Representatives is considering similar legislation led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson, R-PA, and Rep. Kim Schrier, D-WA. The bill was approved by the House Education & the Workforce Committee with bipartisan support Feb. 12, and it now awaits floor action. Similar legislation passed the House by an overwhelming bipartisan margin in 2023 but was not taken up in the Senate.