Howdy Neighbors!

Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with Heather Hampton Knodle, president of Knodle Farms, at the Rural Economic Outlook Conference, who discussed both the promise and the challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) in modern agriculture. Knodle emphasized that while AI can seem intimidating to producers, it offers real, practical opportunities already available today. “I tried to share with the audience some opportunities, some concerns about artificial intelligence, but also technologies that are already in place for us today that we can tap into,” she said.

Knodle highlighted examples of AI applications in weed control, livestock management, and precision farming. Technologies like “see and spray” systems can reduce labor, cut chemical costs, and improve efficiency. In livestock operations, barn cameras can track animals individually and detect illness earlier than the human eye — a breakthrough tool for operations facing labor shortages. “It provides that kind of amazing, early warning detection and sometimes even diagnosis to help us make better decisions,” she explained.

When asked where producers should start, Knodle pointed to a summary slide created by a professor at Lincoln Land Community College. Knodle said, “Start by experimenting”. The chart categorized programs by function — from Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, to Transcription and Summary apps such as Otter.ai and Fireflies, and Visual Content Creation platforms like Canva and Adobe Express. 

Farm Director KC Shepered spoke with Scott Hays of the Missouri Pork Association reflected on the state of pork production. He noted, “Our producers have just come off a really tough time 2023 and then on into 2024 was was one of the toughest periods, at least in my career, my lifetime, for pork producers. But things have really turned around. We had a good summer. As far as prices go, input costs are down. Missouri’s pork industry seems to be healthy right now, which is always a plus.”

Hays voiced some frustration with the big beautiful bill, explaining, “Most of our ask are not budgetary ask, and that’s all they could deal with in the big beautiful bill. So, you know, we’re still looking for a Prop 12 fix. You know, we just cannot have a patchwork of markets to produce into, it drives up costs for consumers, puts uncertainty in the market and uncertainty for farmers.”

On Prop 12 itself, Hays was blunt: “If you want designer food, which is really what we’re talking about, you can find that… but don’t force everyone, and most especially poor children, to eat designer food. What we produce on American farms is safe, it’s wholesome, it’s healthy. We take great care of our animals and we can produce affordable food for everyone, if we’re allowed to.”

Senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with OSU Extension Livestock Market Economist Dr. Derrell Peel, who says dry weather has slowed progress on what many expected to be an excellent wheat pasture season. “It’s kind of slowed things down a lot in terms of both planting wheat in some cases, for even the wheat that got planted,” Peel said.

Peel explained that stocker operations are currently facing some of the toughest economic conditions in the cattle business. “The stocker situation is pretty tricky right now, arguably one of the trickiest pieces of the entire cattle industry,” he said. With calf prices at record highs, “the purchase price from a stocker standpoint is extremely high,” while feedlots—eager to maintain numbers amid tight feeder supplies and cheap feed—are “buying down into the feeder supplies in a bigger way, and kind of squeezing the stocker guy from the other end.”

Despite the challenges, Peel highlighted the continued importance of dual-purpose wheat systems in Oklahoma and surrounding states. “It’s an excellent forage,” he said, “that’s why we use it for stocker cattle.” Producers can graze cattle through the winter and still harvest grain in the spring, or adapt their programs to support breeding heifers or cow-calf herds.

Our ability to produce American corn is outgrowing demand for the crop. And if growers are going to get some relief from sagging corn prices, our nation’s innovators are going to have to find new uses for the commodity. Fortunately, corn is a versatile crop that can be processed into all manner of plastics, fibers and distillations.

And with this year’s Consider Corn Challenge, the NCGA shone a spotlight on some of these innovations, while also incentivizing new research. In this episode, we meet Curtis Firestone, the co-founder and CEO of Aerterra, an air filter manufacturer that sources its household and commercial products from the corn grown in our fields. The filters are eco-friendly and can be used interchangeably with the petroleum-based versions commonly found in homes and businesses.

We’ll be joined as well by Chad Epler, a farmer from southeast Kansas who serves as the chair of the NCGA action team dedicated to research and new uses for corn.

Together, we’ll discuss how the Consider Corn challenge is a game changer for innovators, how it’s driving growth in corn demand, and what other future uses we’re pioneering.

Oklahoma State University Extension Beef Cattle Nutrition Specialist Paul Beck says Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) remains the leading health issue in feedlot cattle, costing the U.S. beef industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year not only in treatment and death losses but also in reduced life-time productivity of calves that get sick. While cow-calf producers often see little direct economic incentive to manage BRD of calves sold at weaning, what happens on the ranch has lasting effects downstream in the stocker and feedlot phases.

A recent review paper in the special issue of the Applied Animal Science journal, I mentioned last week, “Vaccination against respiratory pathogens during the cow-calf phase: Effects on productive and health responses of feedlot cattle,” highlights how vaccination strategies early in life can improve animal health and performance later.

Vaccines against BRD pathogens—such as IBR, BVD, PI3, BRSV, Mannheimia haemolytica, and Pasteurella multocida—are widely available, but their effectiveness depends heavily on timing and management. Modified-live vaccines generally produce stronger immune responses than killed vaccines, but they require careful handling and can pose risks to pregnant cows if not used correctly.

Quantity and quality, the yin and yang to Certified Angus Beef ® brand product supply. While overall cattle herd numbers are down, carcass weights are up. And so is the overall quality for carcasses moving through packing plants. That’s the harmony for Certified Angus Beef (CAB), and a theme of the 2025 CAB Annual Conference.

A record-high 800 registrants from 17 countries gathered in Austin, Texas, to learn more about the Certified Angus Beef ® brand, become inspired by the culinary work of chefs and pitmasters, and celebrate sales and production success. But at the forefront: supply and demand, a reflection of the chaotic past year, and preparing for what’s ahead.

In his annual State of the Brand, CAB president, John Stika, noted that the forecast for CAB’s annual sales volume looks to be one of the strongest years for the brand. That said, it’s not been without some peaks and valleys.

One man’s waste can be a beetle’s treasure, according to Oklahoma State University entomologist Wyatt Hoback. Who would have thought that beetles pushing dung and dead carcasses into the ground would benefit soil, livestock and even human health?

Worldwide, beneficial insects face growing threats from changes to weather patterns, natural ecosystems and the food they eat as well as unintentional exposure to insecticides. These threats have decreased the population and dispersal rate of some species by more than 90%.

When the American burying beetle buries animal carcasses, it returns nutrients to the soil and controls fly populations. The saliva the beetle uses to break down animal carcasses contains unique antibiotic and antifungal properties that could lead to new medications for humans and livestock as the world faces increased antibiotic resistance.

Dung beetles bury animal feces in the ground and use them to raise their children in their underground home. By removing the animal waste from the surface, dung beetles improve cattle grazing, improve plant growth, reduce fly populations and gas emissions, and put nitrogen and phosphorus into soil.

Slime Mold Metabolites Are a Promising, Eco-Friendly Repellent of Root-Knot Nematodes Japanese researchers found slime mold secretes organic compounds that repel parasitic nematodes from plant roots without harming soil fertility.

Root-knot nematodes cause widespread damage to crops, but chemical pesticides that control them also severely harm soil fertility. Soil-dwelling slime mold secretes compounds that repel these nematodes, but their specific nature was unknown. Using novel culturing techniques, researchers have identified 14 compounds of high potency in repelling nematodes, paving the way for the development of non-toxic control methods.

Root-knot nematodes (RKNs) are worm-like parasites of the genus Meloidogyne that are found in many parts of the world. They attack the roots of plants, causing them to wilt and eventually die. It is estimated that crops worth nearly USD 173 billion are lost every year due to RKN infestations. While chemical pesticides are effective in controlling RKNs, they also kill other microorganisms that are beneficial to plants, thereby reducing soil fertility. New, less toxic control methods are needed to prevent the loss of crops and soil fertility to RKNs.

Checking the Markets...

Boxed beef prices rose for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. The Choice cutout increased by $0.19 to $366.16, while the Select cutout declined $3.64 to $345.24, widening the Choice/Select spread to $20.92. A total of 142 loads were reported. 

OKC West in El Reno has 5,711 on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week- Manager Bill Barnhart writes on Facebook "The market raced higher at the auction today. It appears the market made its seasonal bottom last week. The futures and the boxed beef market turned sharply higher. November Feeder Cattle futures have now rallied an incredible 18.00 since early last week. Consequently, cash feeders erupted out of last week’s doldrums and sold 5.00-20.00 higher."

Cash Wheat Prices across Oklahoma were one and a quarter cents higher on Wednesday- highest quote anywhere in the state was Shattuck at $4.33.1/4.

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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