How's our winter wheat and corn doing

Sep 12, 2023

Winter wheat planting is progressing. We've got Oklahoma at 5% planted, Kansas at 4%, and Texas at 7%. Bit of a dip from last year, but still in line with the usual pace.

Now, the corn harvest – it's shaping up quite well. Overall, we're doing better than usual, and here's some good news, over half of our corn fields are in good to excellent shape. Soybeans aren’t far behind, with more than half in great condition.

Quick word on cotton – it's having a mixed year. We've done well with setting bolls, but some parts, like Texas, have seen their cotton fields struggle a bit more.

Oklahoma friends, sorghum's been slower this year, lagging last year's progress. But don't fret, a majority still looks good to excellent.

On the livestock front, conditions are mostly positive. However, pasture and range conditions have seen drier spells, with many areas needing a splash more rain.

Source : wisconsinagconnection

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.