According to the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, Oklahoma wheat harvest has moved forward the last couple of days with harvesting still going on in Central and Northern parts of the state where rains have been missed. Large portions of North Central Oklahoma along the I-35 corridor have been plagued with rain this past week which has hindered any movement in that region. Some producers in that area were going to try this afternoon, but many think it will be tomorrow or Friday at the earliest before they can get back in fields if it doesn’t rain again.

The majority of harvest today and the last couple days has been taking place in the Panhandle and in Northeast Oklahoma, where they finally missed out on heavy rains. The statewide average for test weight is still reported at 59 lbs. as much heavier weights were harvested earlier in the season. (Test weights are ranging now from 55 lbs. to 60 lbs. per bushel depending on variety, environment and location.) Yields across the state are ranging from the mid 40’s to mid 50’s for the most part, with some lower yielding wheat being reported due to heavy rains.

Harvest has edged forward- and is now at 82% complete, according to the Wheat Commission.

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.

The Tulsa Farm Show is Oklahoma’s premier agricultural and ranching event- and returns to the SageNet Center (Expo Square) December 11,12 & 13, 2025. 



Now is the ideal time to contact the Midwest Farm Show Office at 507-437-7969 and book space at the 2025 Tulsa Farm Show.  To learn more about the Tulsa Farm Show, click here. 

In today’s Beef Buzz, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays spoke with Dr. Clint Rusk, who shared that there has long been interest in developing a ranch management program at Texas Tech. “The ranchers in west Texas came to town and asked the Dean of Ag for some help. They suggested that maybe it would be good if Texas Tech had a ranch management program.” This interest, coupled with successful models like the one at Texas Christian University that began in 1956 and Texas A&M Kingsville’s program from the early 2000s, inspired Tech to create its own version tailored for current and aspiring ranch managers.

Dr. Rusk has been involved in the beef industry for multiple years- serving as Department Head for Animal Sciences at Oklahoma State University and as a Breed Executive for the American International Charolais Association be fore landing in Lubbock.



Dr. Rusk explained that the development of the program was guided by a 15-member advisory committee - and the consensus was to create a two-year master’s program consisting of two semesters of coursework and two six-month-long ranch internships. This structure was designed to blend academic learning with practical experience.

The Finger Prints Are a Changing...

The email that you read this morning has changed in appearance several times over the nineteen years it has been electronically published- and it's about to undergo another facelift this coming Monday.

Back in 2006, yours truly (Ron Hays) had just switched from the dominant radio network in the state to the much smaller but home owned Radio Oklahoma Network. We had a much smaller broadcast footprint- but people had grown up over the thirty years before that listening to Ron Hays- and this email was seen as one way to remind them that Ron was still around even as the work was being done by Tim West and Wayne Griggs to add the stations to the new network from the older group to make the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network the number one Farm and Ranch Radio Network in the state(which it has become)!

Here's what the early email looked like:

You can click on the picture of it to jump back 19 years to read that edition if you want a feel of the farm and ranch news of that day- our only sponsor was Midwest Farm Shows- I am still so thankful for John Sampson believing in us so much back then- and for John RIles and family still standing strong as our original sponsors today.

By my count- my finger prints have been placed on about 5,000 of these emails since then- my boss Tim West likes to call it the Bible of farm news in our state- and I have been blessed to be a part of the lives of so many people each day as they read our content.

This coming Monday- things will look different- and I will be stepping back from being the primary finger print person in the days to come- our incredibly talented Farm and Ranch Director of our Programming on the radio network- KC Sheperd- will take the lead in shaping what the email looks like and the content found in it. I will still be contributing the daily Beef Buzz and some other stories- but KC is ready and up for the job. I wish her the very best.

AND I thank each and every one of you for allowing me into your home or place of business each day- thank you for making us one of the first things you read each morning.- It's been an honor to serve you. Don't go away- great things are ahead- but the Finger Prints- they are a changing! Apologies to Bob Dylan :)

Oklahomans are preparing for a “really hot” Fourth of July holiday, according to State Climatologist Gary McManus, marking a stark shift from a June that delivered record-breaking rainfall and, for the first time in nearly six years, completely eradicated drought from the state.

This coming Friday will be a gift with highs in the 80s, mostly,” McManus noted, offering a brief respite before the holiday heat intensifies. While heat index values will creep into the 90s, he added, “all this week, not bad. Not bad at all.” However, he warned of the impending heatwave for the holiday, stating, “Next week… not as not bad, but it still could be worse.” He anticipates a slight calming of the rain, despite recent heavy downpours. “It does look like the rain will calm down just a bit. It got out of hand last night. Again. There will be rain chances, but nothing on the too-heavy side, at least the way it looks now. So to sum up, not too bad (except for fireworks!).”

The past two weeks have each featured a federally inspected cattle harvest total of 560,000 head, a 52,000 head per week step back from the same period a year ago. 

Focusing on just fed steers and heifers, the weekly average for the two-week period was 462,000 head harvested, 36,500 head fewer than a year ago. The upcoming Independence Day holiday will darken packing plants on Friday, creating yet another weekly pullback in processing volume. This Monday’s harvest was quite large as packers boosted daily totals to make up for the holiday, while Saturday’s harvest volume will provide an opportunity to further cover missed volume. 

The past two weeks brought on a significant decline in fed cattle values, unwinding the steep escalation that had taken average fed steer values to $238/cwt. The rapid slippage pulled the market down $9/cwt. for the period with last week’s average value at $229.34/cwt. 

Good News and Bad News on New World Screwworm from Dr. Rod Hall

Oklahoma State Veterinarian Dr. Rod Hall has written an open letter on the latest on what is going on with New World Screwworm:

I wanted to give you all an update on the New World Screwworm situation. The good news is that no new cases north of the cases in the southern Mexican states of Veracruz and Oaxaca that were discovered in early May have been found. Mexico is now allowing sterile fly dispersal flights seven days a week and a little over one million sterile flies are being dispersed over the area of the farthest north cases.

The bad news is that cattle from the Southern Mexican states and from Central America are moving to feedyards in northern Mexico with poor mitigation efforts to inspect and/or treat them. This could potentially allow some NWS flies to be present just south of the US/Mexico border.

We are continuing to meet with our Oklahoma NWS Working Group as well as a Working Group of State Veterinarians and USDA veterinarians to develop plans to respond to NWS if cases are confirmed in the USA.