Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Rodd Moesel was a part of a group of Oklahoma Ag Leaders who met with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Monday, providing insight into the state’s agricultural landscape and discussing key issues facing farmers and ranchers. The meeting, held in Oklahoma City, allowed agricultural leaders to share their concerns and perspectives directly with the Secretary.

Our own Ron Hays caught up with Moesel after the meeting and Moesel expressed his positive impression of Secretary Rollins, stating, “She is a just a very, very impressive leader. Her grasp of a wide swath of issues and the depth of knowledge she had on them for being new to the job is very impressive.” He also noted the productive nature of their 45-minute discussion, saying, “It was very insightful. And I feel much better that she has a real strong grasp of what’s going on.”



Moesel emphasized the farmers’ support for President Trump’s long-term vision, while also addressing their immediate concerns. “Many of our members and many farmers, across the globe, are very supportive of President Trump and believe in the long-term potential that some of these moves and tariffs may make, but there’s a lot of concern about surviving the short term until getting to that long term.” He added that they discussed “how to make it over those hurdles and how we can help crop farmers in particular and talked about trying to get the price levels addressed, possibly in a reconciliation bill, instead of waiting for the Farm Bill.”

The Oklahoma Wheat Commission promotes greater use of wheat in domestic and international markets through research, market development and public education.

Our Commissioners develop policy and programs, direct the funding, represent producer interests and, of course, promote Oklahoma wheat!

Learn more about the Oklahoma Wheat Commission by clicking here for their website.

According to the latest Oklahoma drought monitor report, Severe drought or worse conditions have decreased to 2.74 percent, down from 13.60 percent last week.

Moderate drought or worse conditions have decreased to 32.02 percent, down from 39.93 percent last week.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions have decreased to 46.00 percent, down from 53.11 percent last week.

Kansas Drought Monitor shows Moderate Drought decreased from 65.96 percent last week, to 63.84 percent. Texas Drought ratings decreased very slightly from 58.37 percent a week ago to 58.05 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.

Connecting Farms to the Capitol: Pork Council’s Outreach Efforts on Display

Ag Day at the Oklahoma State Capitol provided an opportunity for various agricultural organizations to connect with legislators and the public, and the Oklahoma Pork Council’s booth, led by Cathy Vaughan, appeared to be a standout. Farm Director KC Sheperd visited with Vaughan, who humorously acknowledged their booth’s popularity. “We love to hear that!” The make-your-own charcuterie boards proved to be a significant draw. 

Beyond the appealing food, the Oklahoma Pork Council also boasted memorable swag. “Nobody can beat bacon socks, squeezy pigs, or squeezy bacon,” Vaughan asserted, highlighting their unique giveaways.

She explained that their presence at Ag Day, alongside other commodity groups like the egg organization, serves a crucial purpose: “I think for all of us in agriculture, it’s a great opportunity to make sure that the people of Oklahoma connect to what it is that we do and the value that we bring to the state.”

This week, our coverage of the 2025 Oklahoma FFA Star Award Finalists continues with Agribusiness competitor Jansen Shirley of the Alva FFA chapter representing the Northwest Area.

“My project is a custom haying business, where I custom bale for local farmers in my community,” Shirley described. “I decided to start my business because I looked at my community and what it needed, and I found a need for custom haying.”

She said that her biggest challenge is time management, so she can accurately tell farmers when she will be there to start baling and when she will finish, so they can begin retrieving their bales. She rents the equipment she uses from her father.

Shirley’s FFA career began with showing pigs and livestock judging, but has also included speech contests, vet science, and attending alumni camp and the Lead 360 Conference.

This week on SUNUP, OSU Agriculture Economist Dr. John Michael Riley discusses the highs and lows of current grain and cotton markets.

According to Riley, most crop markets have been down this week. Wheat prices for the futures markets are down about $0.20 per bushel. Corn and Soybean futures are each down about $0.10 per bushel.

“That can be attributed to a number of different things,” Riley explained. “We’ve gotten some rain across most of the growing region, so whether we are speaking toward wheat, which is in development stage to nearing harvest or the crops that we are currently planting, its good news for soil moisture, and potential for the overall yield per acre, but that tends to be a negative in the marketplace given that it could add some bushels to the overall supplies.”

The U.S. dollar’s continued downward trend in value when compared to foreign currencies over the past few weeks could be contributing to the poor futures markets, but Dr. Riley said that it has strengthened some in the past twenty-four hours. The strengthening could make U.S. commodities more expensive to potential export purchasers and affect trade overall.

Oklahoma State University multi-disciplinary scientists are teaming up to research how cover crops can improve the environmental impacts of cattle foraging.

“We need to find new approaches to beef cattle production systems that are economically beneficial to producers, and ideally, would have an environmental benefit as well,” said Andrew Foote, associate professor in the OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences. “The industry is making great progress with improving methane emissions from beef cattle, but we are lacking in improvement with nitrogen emissions.”

Fertilizing crops and cattle foraging on harvested cropland cause methane and nitrogen emissions.

“That’s why we came up with this research project to look at using legume cover crops in the summer to fix nitrogen in the soil to minimize the amount of fertilizer producers need to put down for planting wheat in the fall,” Foote said. “We want to see if we can better use wheat cropland between harvesting winter wheat in the spring and planting it again in the fall. On the economic side, could you get another grazing period over the summer or more hay using these four-season cover crops? Then there is the environmental benefit of fixing the nitrogen into the soil.”

Express Ranches Grass Time Sale Starts at 12 Noon Today- April 25th

The Annual Grass Time Sale at Express Ranches is happening today, April 25th at high noon at the ranch in Yukon, Oklahoma. Over 750 head will be on offer.

Express offers multiple resources on their website to help your in selecting the right genetics for your cattle operation- check these links out:

Sale Book

Sale Videos

Sort the Angus Bulls

Sort the Angus Females

Sort the Hereford Bulls

Sort the Hereford Females

Supplement Sheet (Updated 4/24/25)

Online Bidding Available at

Live-Ag

LiveAuctions.tv

Sale day phone is 405-350-0044