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Dr. Temple Grandin, renowned animal behavior expert and animal science professor at Colorado State University, recently shared her insights on how livestock handling has evolved over the years and what challenges remain today with Oklahoma Farm Report Intern, Karleigh Erramouspe at the recent 580 Cattle Conference. Grandin highlighted the crucial role of calm, knowledgeable handlers combined with increasing awareness of genetic health problems in livestock.

“First of all, people need to calm down, because when cattle get all scared and excited, it takes 20 minutes to calm down,” Grandin began, emphasizing that skilled livestock handling starts with composure. She explained that understanding animal behavior is equally important: “You need to learn some of the basic behavioral principles, like how the flight zone works, point of balance works, and working on the edge of the flight zone. Then, when they move where you want them to go, back off.”

Grandin shared practical advice on minimizing stress caused by the environment: “You bring cattle in and they stop halfway up the chute, they might be seeing a reflection on a vehicle’s bumper. Well, then move that vehicle, or a little piece of string, something like that, will stop them. Take those distractions out of facilities.” Adding to this, she recommended low-stress movement techniques, saying, “I showed a little movement pattern when you walk back by the cattle in the opposite direction to get them to go forward. That can really help on getting them to move forward in chutes, those are just some real simple things people can start to do. And no yelling. Calm down. Stop the yelling.”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, joined by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., hosted Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey and signed six new food choice state waivers to further advance President Trump’s efforts to Make America Healthy Again. The signed waivers will amend the statutory definition of food for purchase for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) in West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, each commencing in 2026.

“It is incredible to see so many states take action at this critical moment in our nation’s history and do something to begin to address chronic health problems. President Trump has changed the status quo, and the entire cabinet is taking action to Make America Healthy Again. At USDA, we play a key role in supporting Americans who fall on hard times, and that commitment does not change. Rather, these state waivers promote healthier options for families in need,” said Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

“We are making Oklahoma healthy again, and I’m grateful for the support of Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rollins,” said Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. “It’s common sense that taxpayer money shouldn’t pay for foods that make us sicker. I’m glad we’re finalizing this waiver for the health and well being of Oklahomans.”

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays was at the 580 Cattle Conference in northwestern Oklahoma, where Kent Bacus, Executive Director of Governmental Affairs for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, discussed the ongoing complexities of trade with China. Speaking about the current status of U.S. beef access to the Chinese market, Bacus said, “With the Chinese, we’re still out of that market. On the beef side, they’re still putting even further restrictions.” He explained that China has backed away from commitments made in the Phase One agreement and is leveraging trade strategically: “These are the most capitalistic people in the world. So they’re looking for a lot of different opportunities they’re going to continue to put the squeeze on us.”

Bacus emphasized the significant cost of being locked out of the Chinese market. “Loss of that market means we’re losing about $150 per head on exports by not having access to a market that really takes a lot of the spare parts that we can’t sell here in the U.S.” While China remains the most powerful single market, Bacus noted the importance of diversification. “When you look at the UK, Indonesia, Philippines none of them have the buying power that China does. But…you start to be able to diversify away from the Chinese market.”

He addressed the ongoing nature of trade talks, hinting that some progress may be on the horizon. “It looks like here in the next few days, the administration may announce a further delay of those retaliatory tariffs but we’ll see, because these negotiations are ongoing.” Bacus warned that a full decoupling from China would cause significant global economic disruption: “We’re so heavily invested in each other’s economies…to do that would really cause some global problems.”

Ben Hale from Western Livestock noted strong activity at the Oklahoma National Stockyards this week, despite buyers being a bit choosy. “We wound up 6000, you know, with close to 4000 a year ago,” Hale said, adding that “a lot of it was the quality cattle.” He emphasized that prices jumped “from, you know, 10 to 20 higher” in just a week. Hale highlighted one impressive offering: “580 yearlings off one deal, predominantly all black hide it… they look like they come out of the same cow.”

Prices were notably strong for heavier cattle. “Some of those 777-pound steers bring 350, some 860 threes at 335, and, you know, some 927 at 325, and the 1000 pounders at 305,” he detailed. Hale made it clear that “the better kind of cattle, I don’t know, it was any cheaper—maybe even a little bit better.” However, he noted that “plainer type cattle, or cattle carrying a little more flesh, might have been steady to a little softer,” though overall, “it was an awful snappy market yesterday.”

Discussing current grazing conditions, Hale was optimistic. “People are… wanting to try to, you know, use the grass and potentially maybe some wheat down a few weeks down the road.” He acknowledged some variability, noting “North Texas didn’t get much rain,” but emphasized that “the big part of west northwest Oklahoma’s got good rains… people in awful good shape.” This favorable environment is fueling demand, especially with light calves: “There’s still not a lot of them moving… they’re getting softer and shorter, weaned or unweaned as you go.”

In response to questions received after the article last week on the expected beef yield from a butcher calf, this week additional information is provided. First, a quick recap of last week’s article. When having a butcher calf processed we face the question of how much freezer space will be needed for the take home product. As a general guideline, expect to take home about 42 percent of the live weight.

If basing the prediction off of the HCW, expect to take home roughly two-thirds. For example, if we had a butcher calf with a 1,500 pound live finished weight, a dressing percentage of 63% would result in a 945 pound hot carcass weight. After breaking down the carcass and packaging the cuts, we should expect about 630 pounds of beef. The actual amount of product taken home for consumption will vary based on degree of fatness and muscularity, cutting specs and carcass aging.

The number of steaks yielded can vary a great deal based on the desired cut and thickness – most consumers prefer a steak between .75 – 1.5 inches of thickness. Steaks result from the rib and loin, which collectively account for just under 27% of the beef carcass. The remainder of the carcass is usually divided into roasts, tenderized steaks (often used for Chicken Fried Steaks), stew meat and ground beef.

Bayer has established additional provisions of around 1.2 billion euros for the Roundup (glyphosate) litigation. This figure is included in the around 1.7 billion euro total. In addition to covering defense costs, these additional provisions were mainly attributable to an adverse verdict on the company’s appeal in the Anderson et al. case. The company has taken further legal action against the ruling and filed an application for the case to be transferred to the Missouri Supreme Court for review.

Furthermore, the company has achieved a major settlement with a plaintiffs’ law firm, reducing the total number of unresolved glyphosate claims to 61,000. Of the 192,000 claims in total, 131,000 have been settled or are not eligible.

Settlements are part of the company’s multi-pronged strategy to significantly contain the US litigation by the end of 2026.

For PCBs, Bayer recorded 530 million euros in additional provisions and liabilities for the Burke case, potential future settlements related to the Sky Valley Education Center (SVEC) in the U.S. state of Washington, and other litigation costs. This figure is likewise included in the around 1.7 billion euro total mentioned above. Most of the claims alleging personal injury due to PCB exposure relate to the SVEC, a school building in the Seattle area. With respect to the past SVEC verdicts, Bayer continues to await a ruling from the Washington Supreme Court on the Erickson case.

Ten innovation-driven enterprises will go head-to-head for the top prize of $100,000 in the 2026 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, continues to encourage agricultural innovation through the Challenge.

“With the world around us changing at a rapid pace, there’s a near-constant need for folks to innovate in the agriculture space. Farmers and ranchers are no stranger to the need to roll up our sleeves and lean into this entrepreneurial spirit,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Farm Bureau is proud to offer innovators an opportunity to present new businesses and technology that have the potential to bring forth a better tomorrow for agriculture.”

The Challenge is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to present to a panel of judges their emerging ideas and businesses in the agricultural industry, with a chance to earn $100,000 in startup funds. Farm Bureau is offering a total of $145,000 in funding throughout the course of the competition.

Associate Farm Editor Carli Davenport spoke with Dr. Jerry Dunn from Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU), who shared insights into their relatively new agriculture business degree. “Southwestern does have a business in agriculture degree. It kind of surprises people, because we have not had one in the past, nor do we have a history of agricultural programs per se,” he explained.

The program was approved in 2019 and is housed in the College of Business rather than a College of Agriculture, which SWOSU does not have. “When we were designed, we were a regional institution primarily for education, pharmacy and business,” Dunn added, noting that the ag business program has grown in popularity and student numbers despite setbacks from COVID.

The curriculum is built on a business core with an agricultural specialization. “Students primarily take a business core for their class schedules — the accounting, the management, the marketing, etc. —. And then we put a agricultural specialty with it,” Dr. Dunn said. Some of the unique classes offered include “economics in agriculture,” “financial issues in agriculture,” and agricultural sales and marketing courses taught by Dr. Amanda Everett, as well as Ag Law taught by Dr. Raygan Chain.

Checking the Markets...

At the Beaver County Stockyards in Beaver, Oklahoma with 3,196 head on Tuesday August 5th- it was well above the last sale of July. Compared to last week: Feeder steers 15.00-20.00 higher. Steer calves 7.00-12.00 higher. Feeder heifers 9.00-14.00 higher. Heifer calves 11.00-15.00 higher, with 350-400 pound heifer calves 25.00 higher.

OKC West in El Reno reported 2,800 calves on Tuesday- Compared to last week: Cattle trade was very uneven today, with quality ranging from hard-weaned, high condition calves to unweaned and plainer type offerings. For the Wednesday yearling sale- OKC West expects 3,500 head- 1,400 Feeder Heifers @ 9:00 am and 2,100 Feeder Steers @11:00 am.

Boxed beef values continued to climb on Tuesday, with the Choice cutout rising to $369.94, up $4.15 from Monday, and the Select cutout reaching $345.94, up $4.35. The Choice/Select spread narrowed slightly to $24.00. Over the past three days, the Choice cutout has gained a total of $8.62.

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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