Last year, The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry announced a partnership with the Farm Journal Foundation to address Oklahoma’s rural large animal and food animal veterinary shortage.

In collaboration with agriculture industry stakeholders, Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur’s goal was to assess the state’s specific challenges in creating a stronger, more vibrant veterinary workforce program that supports practitioners, farmers, and rural economic development.

Farm Director KC Sheperd attended the Rural Veterinarian Shortage Summit on Friday and had the opportunity to speak with OSU President Dr. Jim Hess about the collaborative efforts to find solutions.

Dr. Hess has been working on the issue for nearly three years and expressed gratitude for the creation of the Oklahoma Veterinary Medicine Authority by the Oklahoma state legislature two years ago. He said, “They’ve been gracious enough to give us funding to be able to add faculty, and of course, we have now have a legislative request for a significant amount of funding to be able to build the animal teaching hospital that we desperately need as our facilities are aged and it is affecting our ability to recruit faculty and students both, as well as our ability to place large animal and food animal vets in rural Oklahoma.”

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Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays is attending the 10th Annual Hemphill County Beef Conference in Canadian, Texas, and had the chance to speak with Atmospheric Scientist Matt Makens, who provided a weather outlook for attending producers. In this conversation, the two men are discussing the likelihood of either an El Niño or La Niña weather system dominating.

Makens advised attendees to enjoy the rain while it lasts because, despite it, they are already in a La Niña system. “It’s La Niña; she’s in charge, and she will be for the rest of the year,” he said.

According to Makens, if history repeats itself, La Niña will be in charge well into 2026, which means drought for agricultural producers in the South. He advised producers to appreciate the water they are receiving now because it is abnormal to the expected long-term trend.

“You are going to have to have precipitation timed out very well,” he said. “Rather than having plenty of it, it needs to come on the day you need it. That’s a La Niña.”

Oklahoma Researchers Investigate Strategic Tillage for Herbicide-Resistant Weeds in Wheat

The increasing challenge of herbicide-resistant weeds is prompting some no-till farmers to consider a return to tillage, a move that raises concerns about soil conservation. At the Chickasha Wheat Forage and Field Day, Dr. Liberty Galvin, OSU Weed Science specialist, discussed her research into strategic tillage as a potential tool for managing these problematic weeds in wheat fields.

Dr. Galvin highlighted the reliance on herbicides that contributed to the success of no-till systems. “A lot of our no-till producers became successful no-till producers because of the availability of chemicals. And a lot of producers have used traded crops. So Roundup-ready soybeans, for example. The continual use of those crops year after year after year has created a lot of herbicide-resistant problems, but when you do no-till, you take away all of your mechanical weed control options. So a lot of growers have said, ‘Well, I’m just gonna go back to tillage.'”

As someone with a strong background in soil conservation, Dr. Galvin expressed her apprehension about a widespread return to conventional tillage. “Hearing this now, sometime later, is terrifying because we want to maintain our soil conservation goals, all that carbon. But how do you control herbicide-resistant weeds when you don’t have any more chemical options and you don’t use tillage?”

On Friday, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) issued a statement in response to the Trump Administration’s release of its “skinny” budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 discretionary funding. Based on the few details that are available, the Administration’s proposal would seemingly slash the US Department of Agriculture’s funding by over $4.5 billion in FY2026 alone, with deep cuts to Rural Development, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Farm Service Agency, among others. The following comment is attributable to Mike Lavender, NSAC Policy Director:

“It’s hard to imagine a more effective roadmap for undermining rural communities and the farmers, families, and individuals who call them home. Congress should reject the Administration’s proposal and continue its work to craft a responsible, bipartisan FY2026 agriculture appropriations bill that invests in economic opportunity for agricultural communities nationwide.” 

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) recently started its weekly crop condition calls with states. And farmers in Arizona, California, Texas, and Oklahoma are making last-minute checks to make sure combines and equipment are in shape.

Indeed, the 2025 U.S. wheat harvest is just days away.

Another indication is that USW Vice President of Programs Erica Oakley has announced the information-packed USW Harvest Report will begin May 16. USW Harvest Reports will be published every Friday afternoon throughout the season with updates and comments on harvest progress, crop conditions and current crop quality for hard red winter (HRW), soft red winter (SRW), hard red spring (HRS), soft white (SW) and durum wheat.

While U.S. farmers like to use it as a tool to monitor the crop and harvest progress around the country, the weekly Harvest Report is also a key component of USW’s international technical and marketing programs. It is a resource that helps customers understand how the crop situation may affect basis values and export prices. USW’s overseas offices share the report with their market contacts. They also use it as a key resource in meetings and for answering inquiries. Several USW offices publish the report in the local language.

Ten Students Awarded $1,000 OKFB YF&R Scholarships

The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers committee has awarded nine $1,000 scholarships to one high school senior from each OKFB district and a $1,000 scholarship to a Collegiate Farm Bureau member.

Cora Sullivan was the winner of the Collegiate Farm Bureau scholarship. She is studying animal science at Cameron University.

The nine high school scholarship recipients are:

• Heath Laubach, Woodward County, District 1
• Brayden Buchwald, Tillman County, District 2
• Kynseth Zubrod, Logan County, District 3
• Kylie Whitley, Love County, District 4
• Kyree Donaldson, McCurtain County, District 5
• Lynlee McCurry, Mayes County, District 6
• Zander Peeper, Garfield County, District 7
• Hudson Andrews, McClain County, District 8
• Kale Robison, Payne County, District 9

Public Lands Ranchers Charles and Heather Maude Conclude Trip to Washington

At the end of this past week, public lands ranchers Charles and Heather Maude visited Washington, D.C. following news that criminal charges levied against them under the Biden administration would be dropped thanks to the hard work of Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and President Donald J. Trump.

“Federal overreach on your private property is not an experience any farmer or rancher should ever have to face,” said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President and Nebraska cattleman Buck Wehrbein. “I am thankful that the Maudes can return to their family ranch and their normal life free from the looming threat of federal charges.”

“The Maude family endured a living nightmare and for the first time in months, they can finally rest knowing that an overreaching federal government will no longer be trying to throw them in jail,” said Public Lands Council (PLC) President Tim Canterbury, a federal grazing permittee and Colorado rancher. “We are so thankful for the groundswell of support from the Trump administration, Secretary Rollins, and grassroots ranchers from around the country who rallied around the Maudes. PLC will continue fighting to make sure this situation never happens to another hardworking federal grazing permittee again. We are thrilled that Charles, Heather, and their children can return to regular life.”