Howdy Neighbors!

After an extraordinary period of drought eradication, Oklahoma’s weather patterns are once again shifting, bringing a return to hot summer conditions and the potential for increasing dryness. This comes as agricultural producers across the state, and indeed the country, remain keenly attuned to environmental factors, including the re-emergence of the New World screw worm fly.

According to Matt Makens who spoke at the OCA Meeting to our own Ron Hays, Makens says the recent remarkable lack of drought in the region is a testament to “a series of systems that just didn’t stop coming.”

Makens pointed to the “real soaker that came through last, late October, early November” as a catalyst, moistening soils and setting the stage for “a gravy train… of just progressive storm after storm after storm with this rainfall.” This led to a continuous improvement on the Drought Monitor week by week, a “very remarkable for mid-July, late July” situation.

In today’s Beef Buzz, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays spoke with Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel to discuss the latest USDA Cattle on Feed report, emphasizing the continuing tightening of cattle numbers. “The July report came in with placements down about 7% from a year ago,” Peel said, noting this was even smaller than industry expectations. “The on feed total then comes in about a half a percent smaller,” rounding out to 98% of the previous year’s level. Despite these declines, Peel said, “marketings was pretty close to expected,” though slightly down overall.

Over the past few years, there has been a steady decline in placements and marketings, though Peel acknowledged this hasn’t always been reflected in the on-feed totals due to feedlot management strategies. “Feedlots have done a lot of tricks to try to keep inventories high… but I think the overall tightness of numbers is catching up with them.” With placements now clearly trailing marketings, Peel warned, “That’s going to pull the on feed inventory down faster.” The reality, he said, is “there’s just fewer cattle out in the country, absolutely.”

This tight supply is becoming increasingly visible in feedlot economics. “You have to pay a lot of money, you gotta have a lot of cash to be able to get an animal into the feedlot these days,” he said. Rising input costs are putting pressure on all segments beyond the cow-calf producer. “It’s all about a Buy-Sell margin… that input cost has gone up dramatically.” Peel noted that the challenge lies not only in the cost but also in the timing of inputs and outputs: “That gets trickier and trickier as we go forward.”

At the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association annual convention, Associate Farm Editor Carli Davenport spoke with Debbie Mullen, recently honored as the Cattlewoman of the Year by the Oklahoma CattleWomen’s Association, who expressed heartfelt gratitude about the recognition. “I’m just feeling overwhelmed, excited, a bit shocked, but just so happy.” A fourth-generation cattle producer, Debbie has been immersed in agriculture her entire life. “I’m back on our home farm raising cattle. Raise a little bit of hay. It’s a small operation, but it’s who I’ve been my whole life.”

Her involvement with the Oklahoma CattleWomen began out of curiosity and quickly evolved into a leadership role. “Several years ago, I decided to join them, just to see what they were doing.” Encouraged by Connie Tabor, she became Southeast Director and helped launch the Green Country CattleWomen, representing McIntosh and Muskogee Counties. Leveraging her teaching experience at Connors State College, she collaborated with Dr. Cheryl DeVuyst from OSU to establish the Connors State Collegiate CattleWomen. “Started out with eight, and it just took off… in May of ‘25, we ended up with 30.”

Debbie’s passion lies in advocating for beef and educating others about its value. “We wear our eat beef T-shirts. We pass out beef sticks. We’re always advocating for beef.” She emphasizes the importance of joining the CattleWomen’s Association, explaining, “There are so many avenues we can be involved in and get that message out there.” She encourages members, especially students, to share the nutritional benefits of beef and to “always look for opportunities in the community, at the college level, in the schools.”

Oklahoma Farm Bureau hosted nearly 100 FFA members at the organization’s fifth-annual FFA Communications Conference Monday, July 21, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Edmond.

The one-day conference gave FFA members the opportunity to learn from agricultural communications professionals in several segments of communications to ignite students to share their FFA chapter’s story through communications work.

FFA members were split into four breakout sessions, including design, photography, videography and social media.

The design session was taught by Elizabeth Perdue, marketing assistant for Ruth Inman Creative Services. She taught students how to use the design platform Canva to make social media graphics and flyers for their FFA chapters.

The White House released additional information today on the trade and investment agreement reached with Japan.

U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom issued the following statement:

USMEF greatly appreciates the Trump administration’s agreement with Japan, reassuring and expanding opportunities in the #2 export destination for U.S. beef and pork. In President Trump’s first term, the critical U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement was reached, returning U.S. red meat to a level playing field in Japan and restoring its position as an extremely reliable market. According to the information released by the White House, the new agreement focuses on reinforcing the long-term economic partnership between the U.S. and Japan, which for decades has delivered tremendous benefits for the U.S. livestock and meat industries and for Japanese consumers, importers and customers.

Osage County Rancher Ford Drummond has become the 40th President of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association as the group concluded their 73rd Annual Convention in Norman. Drummond succeeds Dr. Troy Shelby who has served the past two years as President. Drummond moves up from President-Elect. The organization elected Jess Kane of Bartlesville to be their next President-Elect.

Ford Drummond is a part of the Drummond family ranching legacy in Osage County and told the Oklahoma Farm Report’s Ron Hays that he is proud to be elected to the same position that his dad, Frederick F. Drummond served in back in 1985. He adds that his mom Janet also is a part of the family’s leadership legacy as she served as Cattlewomen President a couple of years later. He says he believes in giving back to the industry that his family has been a part of since the family arrived in the US from Scotland before Oklahoma’s statehood. He adds that it has been enjoyable working with Dr. Shelby the last two years as leaders in the organization.

Ford Drummond will serve a two year term as President for the organization, which is a leading advocate for Oklahoma’s beef cattle industry, working to protect and promote the interests of cattle producers across the state. The OCA provides a unified voice for ranchers, offering resources, education, and policy support to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of the industry.

Robert A. Funk, a prominent businessman, philanthropist, beloved father and friend to many, went to be with the Lord on July 15, 2025.



A service honoring the life of Bob Funk, Sr. will be held on Today, July 28th at 2:00 p.m. at Crossings Community Church, located at 14600 N. Portland Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73134.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that memorial contributions be made to Oklahoma Youth Expo (OYE).

For those unable to attend in person, to view the service: https://vimeo.com/event/5257765/f5731b377a

Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with Dr. Brian Arnall, who joined the discussion to highlight several exciting developments in sorghum research and outreach in Oklahoma. “We’ve had the opportunity this year, with the support of the Oklahoma Grain Sorghum and US Sorghum groups, to do a concerted effort to get out there and help growers with sorghum.” One key initiative is the upcoming “Sorghum in the Field” event on July 29 in Dacoma, which aims to be an interactive and hands-on experience. “We’re going to be doing scouting tours. How do we scout for aphids? How do we scout for chinch bugs? Let’s cut some plants and get a little dirty.”

Unlike traditional seminars, the field day is designed to foster conversation rather than lectures. “We really want it to be a back-and-forth. We don’t want this to be a bunch of folks wearing orange talking at the farmers.” Along with Dr. Arnall, the event will feature a strong lineup of specialists from Oklahoma State University. The goal is to provide insights into forage trials, soil fertility, cropping systems, and regional adaptations specific to sorghum.

Dr. Arnall also discussed sorghum’s vital role in Oklahoma agriculture. “Sorghum is a beautiful crop for us especially in the western part of the state. Sorghum is a tough crop. It has the ability to just shut down when it gets ugly in Oklahoma, it just stops.” He emphasized its value for marginal or drought-prone land and its potential as a double-crop option where corn may not be as viable. “We’re probably running 250,000 to 400,000 acres of sorghum at any one time so sorghum as a whole is a really important crop for the state.”

Checking the Markets...

Superior Livestock kicks off their 2025 Video Royale sale today at 10 AM central- 133,826 will sell over the next four days. Today, yearlings and calves from our region will be selling.

Hot weather will keep the numbers light at the Oklahoma National Stockyardson this last Monday of July- as of 9pm last night- they had 2,746 head on the yards. The sale will start at 8:00 am.

This past week- In the Southern Plains, a few live sales in Kansas ranged from $230.00 to $237.50, though volumes were too light for an adequate market test; the most recent established prices were $230.00–$231.00 in Kansas and $230.00 in the Texas Panhandle.

Boxed beef prices declined on Friday, with the Choice cutout closing at $366.68, down $1.41 from Thursday’s $368.09. Compared to last Friday’s close of $373.55, the market dropped $6.87 week over week. 

OKC West is our Market Links Sponsor- they sell cattle three days a week- Cows on Mondays, Stockers on Tuesday and Feeders on Wednesday- Call 405-262-8800 to learn more. Click here for our Markets Page on OklahomaFarmReport.Com- there you will find many of the reports we have linked on the right hand column found on the previous format of our email.

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