Howdy Neighbors!

Oklahoma FFA is experiencing significant growth and success, with a strong focus on scholarships, leadership development, and preparations for a landmark centennial celebration. In a recent interview, Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with Jacey Fye of the Oklahoma FFA Foundation to discuss the organization’s latest achievements and future plans.

“FFA in Oklahoma is really important because it is training our future youth for agriculture, knowing where their food, fiber, and natural resources systems come from,” Fye said, highlighting the organization’s foundational mission. With approximately 370 chapters and a growing membership of around 30,000 students, the state’s FFA association is one of the largest and most active in the nation.

Scholarships and National Recognition The Oklahoma FFA Foundation has had a banner year for scholarships. At the recent state convention, the foundation was able to fully fund all proficiency and career development event awards, a first for the organization. This meant every state winner in those categories received a $1,000 scholarship. Additionally, the four state star winners were awarded scholarships of over $29,000 each.

The long-awaited final push to close Oklahoma’s digital divide is officially underway. Farm Director KC Sheperd recently sat down with Oklahoma State University’s Brian Whitacre, a leading broadband specialist, to discuss the state’s plan for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds. The conversation revealed a significant stride toward universal internet access, a move with massive implications for rural Oklahoma.

“Each state is finally in the process of announcing their final broadband equity, access, and deployment funds, and who won those funds and where they’re going across the state,” Whitacre told Sheperd, kicking off the discussion with the exciting news. This latest announcement marks the final major broadband program, with Oklahoma set to receive nearly $800 million.

Whitacre confirmed the years-long effort and shared a surprising detail: the state is sending back approximately $225 million of the federal money. “We said we can do it for cheap,” he explained, a nod to the state’s ability to efficiently allocate the funds.

Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association about the recent human case of New World screw worm and how federal agencies have responded. He said the CDC’s work was effective, noting, “their protocol worked well.” But the bigger focus for cattle producers, Woodall explained, is USDA’s plan to protect livestock. He stressed that Secretary Rollins’ recent announcement in Austin was “very important to the cattle industry.”

One of the key elements of that plan, Woodall said, is building a domestic sterile fly production facility. “We only have one that’s up and running. It’s that one in Panama producing about 117 million a week.” He explained that eradication requires around 500 million sterile flies per week. “With the 300 million that will come from this facility… couple that with the facility in Panama and also the facility in Mexico we’re going to get close to that 500 million so we’ll be prepared.”

The timeline is still a challenge, Woodall admitted. “The question is, just how quickly can we get our facility up and running? Take a while to build that.” That is why he sees Secretary Rollins’ announcement of funding for research as critical. “Her announcement of $100 million for new technology is also important to either make the process faster or look at ways to genetically engineer pests to be able to fight back. I think that could very well be a game changer for us.”

We have excellent prospects for wheat pasture this fall, but the market conditions and low cattle numbers will make purchasing stocker calves more difficult than normal. How can we best use this valuable forage resource? Small-grain winter pasture is an excellent protein and energy source for beef cows. Fall-calving, lactating cows perform extremely well when grazing abundant wheat pasture throughout lactation. We tracked performance of lactating Angus cows and their calves grazing wheat from January through grazeout in May.

Notice cows averaged 26 pounds of milk yield during late-lactation and still managed to gain over 2 pounds per day along with tremendous increase in body condition. The combination of forage quality and high forage intake can result in cows becoming over-conditioned. This would certainly be a concern in spring-calving cows as their nutrient requirements are substantially lower during gestation.

Limiting wheat pasture forage intake can serve to control cow condition and stretch the expensive, high-quality forage over more grazing days. One approach is to limit-graze the wheat as a protein and energy source to complement low-quality standing forage or hay. We discovered that about 9 to 12 hours per week of access to wheat pasture (3 to 4 hours per day, 3 days per week) met supplemental protein and energy needs for lactating beef cows. Using this method, we were able to stock cows at about a cow/calf pair to 0.7 acres of wheat pasture from mid-November through mid-May. 

The United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP) recently announced the launch of the first human clinical trial to evaluate whole grain sorghum’s health benefits. Conducted by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and co-funded by USCP in partnership with USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Commodity Board program, this landmark study will investigate how daily consumption of two whole-grain sorghum varieties — a traditional white sorghum and a phenolic-rich “sumac” sorghum — influences key health markers such as insulin resistance, inflammation and gut microbiome composition.

The trial is designed as a randomized crossover study in adults with obesity. Throughout the study, researchers will measure changes in insulin resistance, as well as secondary outcomes like body weight and composition, blood pressure, blood lipids, antioxidant and inflammatory biomarkers, and gut microbiota profiles.

“This first-of-its-kind human study is a direct result of sorghum producers’ commitment to scientific research,” said Lanier Dabruzzi, MS, RD, LD, Director of Nutrition & Food Innovation of the Sorghum Checkoff. “For years, we’ve seen promising evidence of sorghum’s health benefits in vitro and in animal studies, and now we are taking the critical next step of exploring these and other benefits within the complexity of the human body. By investing in rigorous clinical research, we aim to provide the science-backed evidence health professionals and food companies need to recognize sorghum as a truly beneficial grain for whole-body health.”

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is concerned about the tough financial reality facing many farmers today. While NCGA maintains a persistent focus on driving additional sources of demand for U.S. corn in effort to improve the outlook, it is also analyzing input costs that remain near record highs. This is Part 2 of a three-part series highlighting the financial challenges facing corn farmers and a deeper look at the cost of growing corn.

Investigating the Influence of Inflation on Production Costs Rising inflation significantly affects the costs farmers face for inputs, machinery, and services. When costs rise for the businesses selling these products and services that farmers need, they can raise their prices to stay profitable or at least economically viable. That translates to higher costs for farmers.

These businesses may face short-term influences of supply and demand fundamentals and other supply chain factors related to their specific product or service. Over longer periods of time, farm input prices are significantly correlated with general inflation.

On the campus of Colorado State University, a unique event recently unfolded, bringing together a diverse group of international retailers, importers, and buyers of U.S. red meat. This gathering, the Global Innovation Symposium, was a collaborative effort by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), supported by the National Corn Growers Association, and designed to spark new ideas and practical applications for American beef and pork around the world.

Paige Parker, USMEF Manager of Technical Programs, highlighted the core mission of the symposium: innovation. “We want these individuals to be able to go back to their markets and use innovative technologies such as sous vide, how to cook things differently, different grinding practices, all of the above,” Parker explained. The goal was for attendees to discover new ways to utilize U.S. products, expand on existing methods, and ultimately “increase their market share in different products that they can potentially use in their own operations.” The focus was on hands-on learning, ensuring that the insights gained could be directly applied in various global markets.

Among the experts sharing their knowledge was Dr. David Velazco, Director of Food Science Innovation at Colorado Premium Foods. Dr. Velazco captivated the audience with insights into the versatile sous vide cooking method. He broke down the process, noting, “How it works is we put meat on their vacuum with more ingredients if you need, and then we put it in a water bath.” The beauty of sous vide, he elaborated, lies in its precision. “The water bath holds a specific temperature. So you can leave it as long as you like for the exact temperature that you need to achieve the quality aspects that you desire.” 

A planned sale of the historic Oklahoma National Stockyards (ONSY) has fallen through, leaving its future in uncertainty. In a late-night Facebook post, the stockyards informed the agricultural community that the proposed sale would not be happening. This comes after an announcement in May that ONSY, a vital part of the nation’s agricultural infrastructure, had been placed under contract for purchase by a group led by Oklahoma cattleman and business owner, Chris Franklin.

The acquisition was seen as a way to ensure the continued operation of one of the nation's premier livestock markets. Chris Franklin, the managing member of the purchasing group, had expressed enthusiasm for the deal and a commitment to preserving ONSY’s legacy of excellence. However, the Facebook post stated that an unspecified "obstacle" was too great to overcome, leading to the collapse of the transaction.

The current management is now seeking a new buyer who shares its vision for the stockyards. The hope is to find an investor committed to both developing the surrounding "main street" area and preserving the stockyards' core livestock operations. The announcement concluded by encouraging producers and customers to stand with them as they seek a solution. We will provide you with more information as details become available.

Checking the Markets...

After trading a lot higher during the day-  October live cattle closed $1.32 higher at $239.52 on Wednesday. Cassie Fish with The Beef offers her take on this historic time- "The rally seems to be mostly fueled by the growing realization of just how short feeder cattle supplies are, with the loss of access to Mexico, and how short fed cattle supplies will be as a result. No one expected the border to remain closed this long and there seems to be little clarity at present regarding when it might reopen. Futures markets have responded this week by attempting to price that short supply." Boxed beef eased lower on Wednesday, marking only the fourth down day in August. Choice slipped $1.33 to $411.84, while Select dropped $3.05 to $387.71.

OKC West sold 6,721 on Tuesday and Wednesday of This week- Bill Barnhart, their Manager, writes on Facebook of the week: "Much of our trade area was blessed with a nice soaking rain (4” here) this week. Although some classes were steady at the auction most others were 2.00-10.00 higher. Producers are enjoying the rarified air of this soaring market as there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. Due to Labor Day there will be no cow sale Monday but we will have our regular Tuesday/Wednesday auctions next 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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