A federal district judge ruled earlier this week that the State of Oklahoma has sufficiently proven there has not been any substantive change in poultry litter pollution of the Illinois River Watershed (IRW) following trial. The ruling by Oklahoma Northern District Judge Gregory Frizzell included the finding that phosphorus from poultry waste continues to be a significant source of damage to the waters of the IRW and Lake Tenkiller.

While Frizzell has yet to issue a final ruling in the 20-year-old lawsuit, Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he remains confident there can be an agreement that ensures clean water and a robust poultry industry. Drummond talked with Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays about the latest word from Judge Frizzell and what he hopes to do in negotiating an acceptable resolution in the matter.

National Livestock was founded in 1932 in Oklahoma City. National’s Marketing Division offers cattle for sale weekly at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City. The Finance Division lends money to ranchers across several states for cattle production. The Grazing Division works with producers to place cattle for grazing on wheat or grass pastures. 



National also owns and operates other livestock marketing subsidiaries including Southern Oklahoma Livestock Auction in Ada, Oklahoma, OKC West Livestock Market in El Reno, Oklahoma, and the nation’s premier livestock video sale, Superior Livestock Auction. National offers customers many services custom made for today’s producer. To learn more, click here for the website or call the Oklahoma City office at 1-800-310-0220.

According to the latest Oklahoma drought monitor report, Severe drought or worse conditions remain at zero percent, unchanged since the week of May 29, 2025.

Moderate drought or worse conditions remain at zero percent, unchanged since the week of June 5.

Abnormally dry or worse conditions remain at zero percent, unchanged from last week.

Kansas Drought Monitor shows Moderate Drought decreased from 15.10 percent last week to 10.50 percent. Texas Drought decreased from 34.11 percent last week to 29.66 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.

TCFA's Ben Weinheimer Discusses NWS and Its Effects on the Cattle Feeding Sector

At the recent Beef Improvement Federation Meeting in Amarillo, Texas, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, spoke with the president and CEO of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Ben Weinheimer, to get a detailed update on the war against New World Screwworm (NWS). Weinheimer represents feedlots in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Today is part two of their conversation and focuses on what might happen if NWS makes it into the U.S.

Weinheimer highlighted the efforts of cattle feeders to maintain viable occupancy in feedlots to meet margins, but without Mexican cattle and with the decreasing supply of U.S. cattle, this is becoming increasingly more difficult.

On Thursday, the following Statement from Marvin Childers, President of The Poultry Federation was provided to the Oklahoma Farm Report:

“We are disappointed in the court’s ruling. The Poultry Federation remains deeply concerned that this case is being used by activists and trial lawyers to try to end farming and ranching in the Illinois River Watershed, and potentially far beyond, for decades to come. This two-decade-long legal effort unfairly threatens the livelihoods of farmers, ranchers, and landowners who acted in good faith and in full compliance with state regulations.”

At the end of 2024, Judge Frizzell rejected a request from poultry industry defendants to postpone the case. Two years before that, Frizzell ruled in favor of the state of Oklahoma in a long-running federal lawsuit that alleged poultry industry practices were polluting the Illinois River watershed in eastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas.

The following article is courtesy of Southern Ag Today: By Joe Outlaw and Bart L. Fischer of Texas AgriLife:

We often are asked by the media about the size of and need for government assistance that is provided to U.S. farmers when something goes wrong (e.g., bad prices, yields or both). The first thing we do is highlight that the safety net provided for by Congress is designed to offset some – but not all – of the risks faced by farmers.  It might sound like semantics, but in the policy world…words matter.

The rest of the conversation generally involves talking about uncertainty in U.S. agriculture.  Rather than provide an exhaustive list here, let’s just focus on the three primary determinants of profitability: prices, yields and costs.

Perpetually higher fed cattle prices have persisted over the last several weeks, with the latest market average dollars higher than the prior week. The Nebraska and Iowa/Minnesota reporting regions continue to lead the way with a trading range from $239 to $244/cwt.

Harvested head counts continue to reflect significantly negative packer margins even as boxed beef values continued to advance to new record wholesale levels, excluding the May 2020 pandemic-induced spike. Despite reported employee absenteeism at some plants last week, packer red ink and reduced cattle supply remain the main factors keeping a lid on harvest throughput.

NCGA Reacts to Senate 45Z Proposal

As Congress continues conversations on the future of the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) cautioned lawmakers against recent changes proposed in the Senate. 

“Our champions on Capitol Hill have dedicated an immense amount of time and attention to this complex issue,” said Kenneth Hartman Jr., Illinois farmer and NCGA President. “We hope that effort results in policy that works for American farmers. However, the proposed changes in the Senate reconciliation language cause some concern for corn growers.” 

A Quick Word on Wheat Harvest as We Head for the Weekend

Thursday was finally a day where few if anyone in wheat country in Oklahoma had to battle any rainfall- lots of drying taking place- and while I did not make a fresh plea on social media last night- and many of us were feeling low because of the poor showing by our Thunder- I did get one harvest update- and it was an encouraging one!

From along I-40 west of OKC a ways- Karen Dodson tells us "Mid afternoon we were able to get back in the fields between Hinton and Hydro. Somewhat better than expected."

If you have a harvest report to share this weekend- email me at ron.hays@radiooklahoma.net and we will share with your email family on Monday- ahead of the official reports on harvest that will come out later that day.