Howdy Neighbors!

At Express Ranches in Yukon, Oklahoma, Congressman Frank Lucas joined Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Senator James Lankford for an update on the fight against the New World screw worm. Senior Farm and Ranch director Ron Hays had a chance to talk with Congressmen Lucas, who praised Secretary Rollins’ leadership, noting both her background and her influence with the White House. “It helps being our neighbor from Texas, a similar focus, a similar kind of agriculture, and she also has the president’s ear,” Lucas said.

He emphasized the urgency of her efforts to secure resources, recalling her explanation of why it was necessary “to shut down all livestock coming across the border from Mexico” and to push for “$750 million for more facilities.” Lucas highlighted that this funding supports not only sterile fly facilities but also additional research and development.

Reflecting on past battles against the pest, Lucas described the origins of sterile fly technology from the 1950s and 60s. “Instead of using chemicals, they use X-rays to sterilize them, and you produce an infertile fly that mates with wild flies,” he explained, adding that improved detection and cost-effective tools are critical for the fight ahead. He stressed the reality that screw worms will always exist in parts of Central and South America, meaning “we’ve got to continue this fight.”

The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the NASDA Foundation, and the National Agricultural Law Center signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand collaboration on agricultural law, policy, research and student development initiatives today at the NASDA Annual Meeting.

“This MOU formalizes the long-term partnership between NASDA, the NASDA Foundation, and the National Agricultural Law Center, building on our shared history of collaboration and creating new opportunities to inform agricultural policy, education and public engagement,” NASDA & NASDA Foundation President, Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture, Wes Ward said.

“NASDA has been a key partner for the National Ag Law Center for many years, and this strategic partnership will further enhance our ability to fulfill our national agricultural law research and information mission. We’re looking forward to launching several new initiatives in the coming weeks and months that will help us better serve state agriculture departments and others through the nation’s agricultural industry,” Harrison Pittman, Center Director for the National Ag Law Center said.

Hale said the run after Labor Day was a bit lighter than usual: “We had about 500 less than a year ago. But we always have kind of a bigger push right after Labor Day, then we’ll probably slow back down a little bit.” He noted some producers are taking advantage of current conditions: “A lot of them are going to take advantage and sell these calves off the cow, although it was cheaper yesterday, still dollar now at a tremendous amount per head on these cattle.”

On the calf market, Hale explained that differences in quality and condition affect spreads: “the weaned ones and unweaned ones, there’s not a big spread on the top end, the lower end can be a bigger spread. But that’s what you get into in these fall runs.” He added, “Sometimes you’ll see a set of unweaned calves that the quality is out of the park, and they may sell right pretty close with the weaned ones.”

Weather swings have also been a challenge: “The weather’s switching, we were in the 60s and 70s, and then we were back at 100. I know those cattle are getting sick, whether they’re 60–90 days wean, or they’re right off the cow, you know, it’s hard on all of them.” Despite some weekly pressure, prices remain strong. Hale said, “Even though there’s still a lot of pressure on it we can kind of be from $4 to, in some cases, $15 down on these calves. But it’s still a tremendous price, you know, these cattle bringing $1,700–$1,800 a head up to $2,000.”

Oklahoma’s Secretary of Agriculture, Blayne Arthur, highlighted the importance of a unified effort between state and federal agencies to address the challenges faced by the agriculture industry. During her comments at Express Ranch during Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins’ Visit, Arthur emphasized that challenges are an inevitable part of agriculture, and the key to overcoming them is collaboration.

“In agriculture, we’re always going to have a challenge,” Arthur stated. “I don’t think that any of us would have thought that the new world screw worm would have been the challenge that we would be navigating through.” The New World screwworm is an insect that can infest livestock and other animals, and its recent re-emergence has been a concern for agricultural producers. Arthur praised the “incredible responsiveness” of the Secretary and her team at the USDA, who have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to combat the threat through measures like building a new sterile fly production facility in Texas.

Arthur also expressed her pride in working for Governor Kevin Stitt, whom she described as “very attentive to the ag industry here in Oklahoma.” She noted that the governor always takes her phone calls, a gesture she appreciates. Governor Stitt appointed Arthur as Oklahoma’s first female Secretary of Agriculture in December 2018.

Some basic rules of thumb to follow when determining the hay supplies you will need to sustain your cow herd over the winter and into next spring.

1. Determine your average mature cow size. This can be done by weighing your 4 – 7 year old cows and calculating the average weight. From mature cow size, we can approximate the amount of forage dry matter cows will need to consume per year or per day. For example: a 1,000 pound cow will consume about 26 pounds of forage dry matter per day. A 1,400 pound cow will consume about 36.4 pounds of forage dry matter per day.
2. Determine your cow inventory
3. Estimate the amount of time you expect to be feeding cows.

From this information you can calculate the total amount of hay needed. For example: 100 cows weighing 1,400 pounds will consume about 3640 pounds of hay per day. We should take into account that a certain amount of the hay fed will be wasted and there will be a certain amount of spoilage of each bale fed that won’t be consumed. With this in mind we will add another 10% to the daily total to bump it up to about 4000 pounds (2 tons) per day. Remember the amount of hay wasted or spoiled could be higher. If we are feeding hay carried over from last year, expect a higher percentage spoiled in each bale.

A team of 21 producers representing the pork, beef, corn, and soybean industries recently traveled to South Korea to observe the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s (USMEF) investments in this key market. South Korea is currently the leading market for U.S. beef exports and the third-largest market for U.S. pork muscle cuts.

Producers on the tour noted a significant shift in the Korean diet, moving away from starchy staples like rice and toward a greater consumption of protein. According to Cattlemen’s Beef Board Chair Ryan Moorhouse, beef exports to Korea are “kind of straight up” over the past decade and he expects this demand to continue growing as the country’s population consumes more and more protein. He further stated, “I think the growth is there. They like our product, they like American products in general”.

Eloy pork producer Josh Maschhoff also observed this dietary shift firsthand, noting the abundance of restaurants advertising meat. He stated that Koreans are “choosing to eat less of a starchy staple and more protein”. Maschhoff believes the average Korean consumer is currently eating more protein than the average U.S. domestic consumer, who eats about 60 pounds annually.

Highlighting the downturn in the farm economy, the president of the National Corn Growers Association and leaders from 17 state corn grower groups sent an open letter to Democratic and Republican =Congressional leaders today, calling on them to pass legislation, yet this year, that would extend nationwide, consumer access to fuels with 15% ethanol blends as a way to begin to address the economic decline.

“The most durable way to help farmers through these troubling times is by creating more demand for corn and corn products,” the letter said. “The most immediate path to begin to address this issue is by increasing consumer access to higher blends of corn ethanol.” The letter, which was sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), comes as corn growers across the country have been dealt a very difficult hand with input costs near record highs as corn prices fall to unsustainable lows.

To make matters worse for growers, a recent report released by the Department of Agriculture suggests that farmers are on course to produce a massive corn yield that is expected to be the largest on record, an outgrowth of exceptionally efficient and continually improving management practices. But additional corn on the market will only drive prices even lower.  

The 2025 Schantz Family Farm Field Day, honoring Merlin Schantz, is scheduled for October 9, 2025. The event, located a few miles north and west of Hydro, Oklahoma, will bring together agricultural experts and producers to discuss the latest research and management strategies for cotton, peanuts, soybeans, and corn.

The day’s agenda begins with sessions dedicated to cotton. Attendees will hear from OSU Cotton Specialist Dr. Jenny Dudak, along with representatives from Bayer and Corteva, on a Cotton Race Trial. Following this, Maxwell Smith will discuss weed management in cotton. The focus will then shift to peanuts, with Dr. Rebecca Bennett from the USDA-ARS presenting on a Peanut Variety Trial, and Dr. Maira Rodrigues Duffeck from OSU covering peanut disease and nematode management.

The event will continue at the Schantz Barn with presentations on soybean and corn. Maxwell Smith will return to discuss soybean weed management, while Dr. Ashleigh Marie Farris will cover soybean stink bug management and corn pests, including leafhoppers and corn stunt disease. The day will also include a corn market update from Kevin Huddleston, a presentation from AgriAero, sponsor introductions, a drawing for door prizes, and a lunch catered by Pecinas. Attendees can also earn

Checking the Markets...

Boxed beef fell again on Tuesday, extending its slide to nine straight sessions, down a combined $23.39 over that stretch. Choice cutout closed at $392.62, down $5.91 from Monday, while Select ended at $373.17, down $5.63. The Choice/Select spread narrowed slightly to $19.45 on 166 loads.

OKC West had 2,100 calves on Tuesday- Compared to last week: Steer calves 5.00-10.00 lower. Heifers calves 10.00-15.00 lower. The Wednesday yearling market is expected to sell 3,000 head at OKC West.

Beaver Livestock had 6,516 on Tuesday- Compared to last sale: Feeder steer 600-800 lbs. 7.00-10.00 higher on better quality cattle. Feeder steer over 800 lbs. 5.00-7.00 lower. Feeder heifers 3.00-8.00 higher, 850 lb. weight class 20.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves 10.00-20.00 lower on lesser quality. Calves weaned less than 45 days and those with 1 round or no shots were as much as 40.00 lower.

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.

Our daily email is free because of our Sponsors!

© 2025 Oklahoma Farm Report - All rights reserved