Howdy Neighbors!

The American Farm Bureau Federation last Friday sent letters to President Donald Trump and Congressional leaders to emphasize the severe economic pressures facing America’s farmers and ranchers. Falling crop prices, skyrocketing expenses and trade disputes are creating conditions that are too much for farm families to bear.

“Across the country, farms are disappearing as families close the gates on the farms tended by their parents, grandparents and generations before them,” wrote AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Every farm lost takes with it generations of knowledge, community leadership and the heartbeat of local economies: fewer kids in schools, fewer trucks at the grain elevator, fewer small businesses that keep rural towns alive. As those farms disappear, so too does America’s food independence: our ability to feed ourselves without relying on foreign supply chains.”

Prices paid for crops have plummeted since 2022, and the U.S. agriculture sector has experienced a trade deficit during the same period. Lingering questions with trade partners, particularly China, have added to volatility in farm country and left farmers with uncertainty about their futures.

Record-high cattle prices offer a significant financial opportunity for producers who leverage smart marketing and risk management strategies, according to Dr. James Mitchell, a livestock economist at the University of Arkansas and former Oklahoma State University professor.

In an interview with Farm Director KC Sheperd, Dr. Mitchell discussed the volatility of the current market and how producers can capture even greater premiums by focusing on quality and mitigating price swings.



Dr. Mitchell stressed that even in a strong market, profits can be lost due to poor preparation. He emphasized that the “I can make money selling anything right now” attitude ignores “a lot of money on the table that can be captured by marketing cattle and doing the types of things that we know pay.”

The American Soybean Association today expressed concern following reports that President Trump has canceled his planned meeting with Chinese President Xi amid escalating trade tensions over rare earth mineral restrictions.

ASA President Caleb Ragland, a soybean farmer from Magnolia, KY, issued the following statement: “ASA is extremely disappointed that the planned meeting at the end of the month between President Trump and Chinese President Xi is canceled as of right now due to the recent actions of the Chinese government to further restrict access to rare earth minerals.

ASA was hopeful that these upcoming talks between the United States and China would lead to a deal that would restore U.S. soybean exports to China, traditionally soybean farmers’ largest export by far.

Oklahoma’s brief autumn has been abruptly replaced by summer-like conditions, bringing unseasonably high temperatures and the concerning return of drought. State Climatologist Gary McManus and Farm Director KC Sheperd discussed the deteriorating weather pattern, which is compounded by the official onset of a La Niña episode.

Oklahoma is experiencing temperatures significantly above normal for mid-October, a reversal from earlier, cooler patterns. McManus expressed frustration with the persistent heat. “We had fall in the last week of August and the first week of September, and ever since then, we’ve had summer.”

The State Climatologist noted that temperatures are currently “about 10 to 15 degrees above normal” on days reaching the 80s and 90s, when highs should ideally be in the 70s. This heat wave, combined with a severe lack of precipitation, is rapidly drying out the state.

Associate farm reporter Carli Davenport spoke with Oklahoma State University graduate research assistant Kaylen Stearns, who discussed high altitude disease and bovine congestive heart failure in beef cattle, explaining what causes these conditions, how they are measured, and why they’re becoming more common.

Stearns began by defining high altitude disease as “a non-infectious disease in beef cattle that usually impacts cattle above 5,000 feet of elevation.” She explained that it’s most common in the Mountain West, where “the lack of oxygen at those elevations causes hypertension, which then leads to remodeling of the pulmonary arteries.” As blood flow decreases due to this remodeling, “the animal will then die, and there’s no treatment or cure for this disease.” The only recommendation, she said, is to “take those animals from areas of higher elevations to areas of lower elevation to try to alleviate the stress.”

To help manage the risk of this disease, producers use a PAP score, or pulmonary arterial pressure score. Stearns explained, “PAP scores were invented as a way for producers to help try to mitigate the risk of high altitude disease in their beef cattle herds.” The score “essentially measures the pressure at the pulmonary artery,” determined by “a licensed veterinarian [who] runs a catheter from the jugular all the way to the pulmonary artery and then takes a systolic and diastolic measurement, very similar to human blood pressure.” 

Senior farm and ranch broadcaster Ron Hays speaks with Pat McFerron of CMA Strategies, who warned producers that California’s Proposition 12 has opened the door for anti-agriculture groups to expand their influence. “Proposition 12 has allowed California to dictate pork production and egg production in this country,” he said, noting that it has raised prices for consumers while inspiring similar efforts elsewhere. McFerron cautioned that “the anti–animal agriculture crowd would like to spread the Proposition 12 chaos to other species and other states, including Oklahoma.”

McFerron emphasized how demographic and cultural changes are making agriculture more vulnerable to misinformation. “We’ve continued to become a less rural state every election cycle,” he said. “People get more distance from where they grew up that are in the metro areas, not just space, but time as well.” Because of this, he said, producers must keep working to educate urban voters about “the importance of agriculture and agribusiness, not just to our economy, but also to our values and our core structure of who Oklahomans really are.”

Oklahoma, McFerron explained, has become a prime target for activist campaigns. “You look at Oklahoma as being a deep red state. And so it’s like, hey, if we can make a difference here, we can do that anywhere,” he said. With relatively low costs to run ballot measures or media campaigns, “it puts us at the tip of the spear in these kind of fights.” 

The winners of the 2025-2026 Oklahoma Farm to School Garden Contest have been announced!

Please join us in congratulating:

Best Harvest School Garden: Little Sprouts Learning

Best Pollinator School Garden: Tuttle High School

Best Startup Garden: Middleberg Elementary School

Best Education-Based Garden: Kingston Public Schools

The annual program is sponsored by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Team and is designed to help public or private PK-12 schools, early childhood education facilities and alternative learning environments learn to garden and incorporate their learning into the local food supply.

Each October, approximately one-fifth of CLO agricultural lease lands are appraised and offered at public auction for farming, grazing, and recreational use. Revenue generated from these auctions supports Oklahoma schools, contributing over 88 million dollars in the past five years.

Tracts which go unleased at public auction are offered on a first come, first served basis through the end of the year. Remaining unleased tracts are offered through a sealed bid auction the following year.

Monday october 13ths auction will take place at the Comanche County Fairgrounds in the Annex Building in lawton OK, The auction will begin at 10am and feature leases from Comanche, Cotton, Grady, Jackson, Jefferson, Stephens, and Tillman Counties.

Checking the Markets...

No cash cattle trade was reported in the southern plains states of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico- according to the market summary released on Friday by the Texas Cattle Feeders Association. DTN reports "Northern cattle have been trading at $362 which is $2.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average."

DTN also reported Friday of the huge runup that Feeder Cattle futures has had- "There are good days in the marketplace, good runs, and heck, even good years, but this past week was utterly incredible for the feeder cattle complex. If you look up above to the weekly changes, throughout the week, October feeder cattle rallied $18.33 from last Friday's close, and the spot November feeder cattle contract alone rallied $20.48 from last Friday's close. Steam rolling past anyone's wildest belief, the feeder cattle contracts soared higher as traders continued to advance the market on the understanding that supplies are only going to grow thinner moving into 2026, and with the U.S./Mexico border not expected to reopen anytime soon, prices should remain high as demand is red hot for cattle."

On Friday, October 10, 2025, the Choice boxed beef cutout was $365.57, up $0.35 from Thursday, while Select rose $2.06 to $346.39. The Choice-Select spread narrowed to $19.18 with 124 total loads reported.

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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